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Manabu Namiki
BiographyThis biography was written by Dave exclusively for use at Square Enix Music Online. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission, as this is a violation of copyright. On September 13, 1971 in Funabashi, Manabu Namiki, now one of the most distinguished electronica composers in the video game music industry, was born. Despite never being too attached to music in his childhood, he played a huge amount of arcade games while at elementary school and grew to love their bouncy electronic sounds. While at junior high school, music became a true passion, as he was influenced by the 80's Western mainstream music boom, with bands such as Tangerine Dream and Metallica being particularly important. It was here that he first lent his hand to composing, purchasing an analogue synthesizer and personal computer, and he soon created some very mature creations, often based around guitar riffs with a hard rock edge. From hereon, composing became a main part of his life. After graduating, Namiki was first given the opportunity to work on a game after being encouraged by a friend to seek work with a game developer. He was asked to participate on a part-time basis as an artist, despite the fact he had almost no experience of drawing previously, and his positive experiences here encouraged him to work on future games. With his love for music and interest in games firmly established, Namiki decided to combine his abilities in each area by trying to compose video game scores. Having already made many game music-like themes when younger, most of which he played to many of his friends, he composed for two minor games in 1993, the Game Boy's America Ouda Ultra Quiz Part 4, and the Arcade's Super Space Fortress Macross II. Following this, he received his first taste of resident employment when he sent a tape of his music to NMK, who were creating games he enjoyed to play at the time; the tape presumably included a mixture of early compositions and those featured in the two aforementioned games. It obviously impressed them, as he was hired as a member of the sound team in 1993, first composing the score for Thundere Dragon 2. This was his first major experience of composing for arcade games, which he has worked on many times during his experience in the game music industry. His other works for NMK were Operation Ragnarok, Mighty Bomb Jack, and Quiz Panikuru Fantasy. Namiki's first taste of major success came with his employment with Raizing (now Eighting) from 1995 to 2000. His first work with the company, creating sound effects for Soukyuugurentai, saw him collaborate with the highly reputable Hitoshi Sakimoto for the first time. His subsequent work, the score for Battle Garegga, had the benefit of a promotional soundtrack release, giving Namiki a taste of commercial success. It was the fact that this soundtrack was re-released eight years later as part of the Insanity DVD-CD box set The Madness Battle Garegga along with an arranged section that was truly remarkable, however; in this industry, where trends shift so quickly, the fact that he was on the development team for a game that has continued to receive support for such a long time is a great achievement. Other games where he oozed musical goodness were the scores of Armed Police Batrider, Bloody Roar, and Bloody Roar 2. Despite Bloody Roar only featuring a single composition from him, it stands out in that it was a collaboration effort that also involved Sakimoto and Masaharu Iwata, and also benefited from a soundtrack release, though the Bloody Roar Original Arcade Soundtrack is now immensely rare. In spring 2000, Namiki quit Raizing to become a freelancer. He produced several electronic scores between 2000 and 2003, including those for Di-Gi-Karat Deji Communication, Digital Monsters Deep Project, and Doki x Doki Sasete!. His most significant collaboration during this period, however, was with Cave, the company who were founded in 1995 for the release of the bullet-infested Donpachi, and are most well known for the development of the Dodonpachi and ESP series. Namiki has been solely responsible for the scores of the PlayStation 2 shooters Dodonpachi Ketsui ~KizunaJigokuTachi~ and Dodonpachi Dai-Ou-Jou (arranged from Namiki's arcade score for the same game), as well as the i-mode's Dodonpachi Zero. These scores demonstrated his great versatility beyond composing for arcade games, though fast-paced electronic beats and bouncy melodies remained characteristic of his work. The Dodonpachi Dai-Ou-Jou/Ketsui ~KizunaJigokuTachi~ Original Soundtrack was released in June 2003 and included arrangements from Sakimoto, Iwata, and Sizilla Okamura. This is widely regarded as one of two albums that are especially representative of Namiki's trademark style and high quality level of composition. Autumn 2003 represented the start of a whole new era: Manabu Namiki's employment in Basiscape. Having been one of the three composers that set up the company, he was frequently designated roles by the company's leader, Hitoshi Sakimoto, to compose and arrange for various games and albums; here, he often worked alongside Super Sweep composers, other Basiscape composers, and ex-Square composers, resulting in significant expansion of his discography. His creation of arrangements on the collaborative arranged albums Mahou Shoujou Ai 2 "transformation" Full Arrange Album and Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II Premium Arrange allowed him to focus on an intricate level much more effectively and mix genres. He has also produced an arrangement on Cave's ESPGaluda Original Soundtrack and created a medley of themes from Kid Icarus, Metroid, and Famicom Wars for the less critically acclaimed Famicom 20th Anniversary Arrange Soundtracks. Aside from this, he continued to work on less well-known scores, such as Digi Communication 2 Datou Black Gemagema Dan, which didn't receive the benefit of a soundtrack release. Probably Namiki's biggest recent project has been the score for Mushihimesama, where he worked alongside Sakimoto, Iwata, Shinji Hosoe, and Ayako Saso. 2004's Mushihimesama Original Soundtrack saw him return to his electronica style once more, and, with other composers being present, too, it remains one of his most diverse albums to date; this can be regarded as the second definitive album for sampling Namiki's work. This has not been the only soundtrack released recently that features Namiki's work on behalf of Cave; Team Entertainment's Storm! Shooting Game Sound Omnibus Vol. 2 featured two tracks from Dodonpachi Dai-Ou-Jou, while 2005's Dodonpachi Dai-Ou-Jou & ESPGaluda -Perfect Remix- featured a huge array of arrangements of his original work on the same game from well-known names, with Namiki himself arranging "Stage 5." Having recently worked on the PSP's BLEACH - Heat the Soul with Kanata Yoshihiro and the PlayStation 2's Jikuu Boukenki with Iwata Kouji, Namiki's next major work is with Cave once more. He will be scoring for ESPGaluda II, ESPGaluda's direct sequel, and his experience composing for similar games should again mean allow him to succeed admirably. List of Game ProjectsNote: This list only includes games that the composer has actively worked on, so those games that feature reprises of the composer's work from older titles are not included. Key: C = Composer, A = Arranger, P = Performer, S = Sound Programmer, E = Sound Effects, M = Synthesizer Operator
List of AlbumsOriginal Scores
Arranged Albums
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