“I had originally joined the industry wanting to write RPG music, but when Capcom also dabbled in that industry with ‘Breath of Fire’, they only put me in charge of one piece of music. And so, I left Capcom and took Square’s company entrance test.

With Square, I worked on many collaborations such as those for ‘Live A Live’ and ‘Super Mario RPG’, but the most famous was ‘Kingdom Hearts’.
In Kingdom Hearts, there are pieces of music that were Disney originals, but there was still the pressure of writing new versions without wrecking the feel of that world.

On the other hand, Kingdom Hearts had a heavy story, with themes of dark and light. Mr. Nomura told me, ‘I’d like pieces in the style of Verdi’s Requiem.’ And so, I wrote ‘Destati’, but at the time I wondered whether I hadn’t made a mistake, it being Disney and all.

But, when I wrote the theme for Hollow Bastion in the latter half, it felt like suddenly the Disney worlds and the serious music were connected in one thread. I can’t really explain it in words, but inside me, there was a moment when I became very satisfied with it.”