Rockman ZX Soundtrack: ZX Tunes Booklet Translation

Released back in October, 2006, ZX Tunes is the physical release of the Rockman ZX remastered soundtrack divided into two discs, one for each hero of the game: an Aile disc and a Vent disc. The soundtrack also includes the game's image song "Innocence" sung by the Japanese lyricist and vocalist CAO (Kaori Nakamura). One of the peculiarities of this album is that it comes with eight different CD covers by artists that worked on the Rockman series from Hitoshi Ariga to Toru Nakayama, among other well known names.

You can see their respective covers after the break along with the fully translated booklet - which contains plenty of interesting information - courtesy once again to Sidier.

Liner Notes (by Kunihide Shida)

A game’s music is a time machine. When a familiar melody is played, memories of it naturally emerge. When a famous song from a game rings out, you instantly remember that game. What area it was, what character it was, what action it was… along with the pleasing rhythm the experiences of past games revive within your brain.

The fans of game music must’ve had this experience, right? For example, with games such as “Gradius”, “Castlevania”, “Ninja Warriors”, “Xevius” or “Super Mario Bros.”... The ringing electronic sounds make the game be recreated within your mind. The excitement that comes with playing a game, the thrill that you felt… All come together. Why are we so moved by it, I wonder? Does game music have some magic to it!?

If you want to unravel that enigma, we could look back at the history of game music. Game music was made out of the fight between technology and technique. For example, the famed Family Computer (Famicom - NES) could only play four sounds at once (simultaneous sound production: four sounds). And you couldn’t put as much music as you wanted, either. There was a limit to how much memory could be allocated to sound so there was no choice but to constantly repeat very short one-phrased tracks.

Even with these harsh conditions, game sound staff recreated great orchestrations, cool rock tunes, pleasant Latin music. If possible, I’d like for famous NES music to be turned into music scores. What was but base sound transformed into main melodies and the notes that dictated the rhythm sing melodies. three sounds and one noise change their roles and perform a single piece of music. One can only be impressed at the subtle technique of sound staff. The melody loops constantly and folds over. And this how famed tracks can be engraved within the brains.

The “Rockman” series music, back on its (early) days, was also born out of those techniques. “Rockman 2 (NES)”, filled with famed tracks, pushed the music memory to its limit. Compression shaved up the melodies. The Wily Stages tracks are such masterpieces that they’ve left a name in the history of game music. Even now I get excited at remembering them! It was a miracle born out of the limitations indeed.

The music-making for games, whenever the game console improves, is easier to make. When the PS2 arrived, game consoles improved their sound playing systems. Now you can play melodies in game using synthesizer patches close to that of the real music.  It’s a very good environment for music. But it sharpens the blades of technology and technique and the environment in which famous tracks were born might be gradually vanishing, even.

But it’s not like it’s totally vanished, though. The Game Boy Advance. And the Nintendo DS. Portable game consoles. They are still with us. It’s the last environment to create famous tracks.

Nowadays they say that the specs of portable game consoles have improved but when looking at it from a technical point of view, it’s still a ground in which there’s many restrictions. For example, the GBA can play simultaneous sounds in 12 channels, while the NDS has 16 channels. But even if you have that many, SFXs will take up some of them. And if you play rhythm tracks and chords you’ll fill up all of the channels. In the end what you must do is to make the sounds as simple as possible.

This where the battlefield of technology and technique is at. The soundtrack of this “Rockman ZX”, developed for the NDS, has famed tracks born from within those struggles. “Green Grass Gradation”, that begins with the excitement of the fanfare. “Cinq ville - c’est notre espoir-” which speeds up at a pleasant rate, and with the keyboard leaking out. “Misty Rain”, combining a powerful guitar and a quiet piano. And lastly we have “Dream Weaver”, with a fusion-like fresh melody. Sound mixtures which overcome genres and which prioritize beautiful sounds are gathered here.

The making of the sound for “Rockman ZX” is very interesting. The basis come from the instructions about how they must match each scene, which is then turned into music by the Musicians Mr. Masaki Suzuki and Mr. Ryo Kawakami . At this point in time, the game console limitations aren’t factored in, so the musicians can make tracks without any limits, as they see fit. When the source track, full of many timbres, is done, Sound Director Mr. Ippo Yamada  drops it into the game. The NDS and its 16 channels limitation… Coupled with the SFXs, which eat up some channels. And thus he has to resize the bountiful source tracks.

Of course, if one simply resizes then you have sounds, structure and effects lost due to the game console’s limitations. But Mr. Yamada uses his accumulated experience and technique to exploit the essence of the source tracks and seeks to recreate it within the NDS. While adding staging to fit the game’s scenes.

This is where the collaboration between technology and technique is born. When the old and good magic of game sounds is lodged. The sounds of “Rockman ZX”, played in the NDS, might be considered the official legacy (in terms of sounds) of “Rockman 2” for the NES.

I’d like of you to turn on your NDS and listen to this game’s sounds once again. And then those famed scenes as well as those actions you struggled at will revive. You will feel the excitement you felt when playing the game once again.

This album, “ZX TUNES”, doesn’t simply record the game’s sounds as they are but it has remastered tracks, which have been re-arranged. The Arranger is Mr. Luna Umegaki and and Mixing / Mastering is by Mr. Tsutomu Kurihara .

By coming close to the source tracks, we seek to make them easier to listen as music tracks, so we keep their magic as game music. It can be said to be an album that’s twice as delicious as one grain. You can hear the changes that a track undergoes when it becomes “game music”.

The guest arrangers are artist who’ve left their names in the history of game music. “Super Aniki”, Mr. Koji Hayama , “Breath of Fire”, Ms. Akari Kaida , “Battle Garrega”, Mr. Manabu Namiki , “Kotoba no Puzzle, Mojipittan”, Mr. Satoru Kosaki . This indeed a recital contest of game music. I hope you enjoyed it as much as you enjoyed the game.

Back of the Obi from the soundtrack

Notes on Tracks (by Yamada Ippo )

AILE DISC

·Innocence

Aile Disc begins with the “Rockman ZX” image song. The hook is the lyrics by Yukido (Yuki Terakado ) which are a torture that makes the vocalists cry, added so that it was purposely hard to junction it but CAO smoothly sung all of the song. Maybe they can pull a live concert next? (laughs) I’d like of this to be the opening theme for the anime! (wishes)

·Awake

The track used in the opening and ending. It’s actually Girouette’s theme. The makers know the whole plot since the start of the game making but they go on thinking a universal staging while keeping it a secret and letting us know of it. Girouette’s role is to entrust the future to both Aile and Vent, he’s the one who does the baton touch to the next generation… Or so I assume myself. The beginning of the future -> morning (in my own image).

·Fragments

The track that had been (temporarily) named “Memories”. It’s an arrangement of the Serpent Company track. The memories of the town and its inhabitants exist alongside the Serpent Company. The panoramic view of the Serpent Company HQ seen in the demo and standing in the midst of the city. The design uses “System Ciel” as a model. The energy tech that they brought along might be the “System Ciel”.

·Green Grass Gradation

The track of the forest. It can be called the main theme of “ZX”, too. And the track that cements the direction of the ZX soundtrack. The background was re-drawn several times by Kazuki (Hidenori), who wanted to draw a new world. I do think the end result was splendid, a fusion between mechanics and nature. I think this stage is a symbol of the world of “ZX”. The boss battle background has the remains Ourobockle and Altroid on it.

·En-trance Code

The Transerver’s track. You can do many things in the Transerver in this game so I readied a melody with 2 loops so that it feels comfortable to listen to it for a prolonged time. Umegaki’s arpeggio style melody, added by her, is a personal bull’s-eye for me (laughs)

·Brilliant Show Window

This nation’s name is “Cinq Ville”. And this is the track of the city. The metallic Agogo sequence is emblematic. As you progress the game, not only do the (NPCs) dialogues change, the outcome of the missions makes new people appear and you get more quests asked to solve. The city’s evolution has many conditions to it. So there’s a huge amount of text aside of the main scenario text! The underground room has a lot of  the city’s junk accumulated; you can see Pantheon remains as well as an E-Tank. One room has a container with the text “110-P” written on it. “I(1)TOO(10)-PLANNER”... It’s the (game) Director, our fellow Ryo ( Ryota Ito).  Did you know about him? (laughs)

·Cinq Ville - c’est notre espoir - 

The track used in the Cinq Ville highway. The first ZX track I worked on, and it began with the question of “what kind of city is Cinq Ville?”. I began making it as a kind of PR song for the city. Cinq Ville doesn’t only mean “the 5th” but it’s the city’s name too. Try to guess why it’s “5”. (laughs). I remember how I began working on this as if it was an RPG instead of an action game. We recorded the whispering voices in the sound room (laughs)

·Wonder Panorama

The track of the snowy mountains. The boss, Lady Lurrere, is very strong (laughs). Ms. Asai (Lurrere’s VA) seems to like the game, and she got hooked up! She’s No. 1 in the popularity poll, too! There’s a mode to link up with “Zero 3” and “Zero 4” to fight bosses from those games but you can find Inarabitta behind some breakable ice blocks.

·Industrialism

The track of the power plant. The weebolt’s clattering sounds of the wire mesh and the footsteps of the slowly walking tank are added in too. After defeating the Crash Impact, you can get a glimpse at a Sub Tank, but since you can’t take it now you postpone it… We used veteran players’ experience against them. Yes, I got fooled as well. Hitoshi (Ariga) was fooled, too! (laughs)

·Ultramarine Meditation - Blessed Pop - 

The melodious seabed transport tunnels track; Akari (Groves Akari) has been turned into a splendid pop track with a different flavor to it. According to her, her image comes from a certain RPG game, and it does feel new, but also has some kind of nostalgia somewhere; that was her concept. I’d like to hear it as an insert song in the ZX story.

·Sky High - Grand Nuage - 

The track of the Guardian Base. A fresh guitar sound is, like Area A, another track to signal the birth of a new Rockman. Grand Nuage is the name of the airship. What comes below is a caption by Takashima (Kazuhito).

It’s a huge ship that’s used by the Guardians as their base, and it’s over 200m long. This world has very limited means of transport between “Inner” areas, this is one of the very few ships with almost unrestricted displacement capacity. It’s equipped with the latest generator model, and has a great propulsive power, equivalent to ships that come and go from outside the atmosphere. The outer shell is made of very dense Ceratanium as well as solidified metallic gel: several layers of them create a composite armor. To counter attacks by flying Irregulars, it’s equipped on both sides with auto-controlled AA pulse cannons. Apart from being the symbol of “shield” that protects all of the people, the Guardians, they are a bit of an awkward existence for the governments, who have no means to control their actions.

·Metallic Soul

The Live Metals’ theme. They were planned to be “transformation items” that would speak in broken language but in the end product, fan service included, they turned very talkative and at some point earnt the position of “mysterious small animals of a little witch” (laughs). The souls of legendary Repliroids. Whether they are those who you fought in the past, it’s a secret.

·Danger Attraction

The amusement park’s theme. When the composer, Ryo (Ryo Kawakami ) suggested of using a “blip blop” sound like in the NES, I did think to use that suggestion at once. This stage is very colorful and full of gimmicks, and I like it. The boss has Wataru* muscles at full throttle and is a psycho (laughs). Did you find the candies?

*Translator Note: Probably a reference to Purprill’s VA, Wataru Takagi

·Misty Rain

The theme of the imprisoning facility. I like environmental sounds such as the thunderstorms and the huge air conditioners, hence why I inserted them. You can break the wall’s needles using the Angle Cannon, and apart from the darkness and the platform moved by electricity, there’s the platform that rides up with the plasma cyclone. The breakable walls and 2 mid-bosses. It might be plain but it’s a stage full of gimmicks. Hurricuane might have an old heart but is a pretty firm missy (female). Don’t get the wrong idea about her.

·Ultramarine Meditation

The theme of the seabed transportation tunnels. It was going to be a seabed stage but at some point it turned into tunnels for transportation. It’s the tunnels leading to the Serpent Company secret warehouses,and in the boss room background there’s also a tunnel drawn on it, with the company mark atop the entrance.

·Babel Tower

The scenes in which they talk about Serpent’s ambitions. “Project Haven” - power is justice. By becoming one with Model V, one becomes the King of all Rockmen, and will use power to rule over the world --- it’s indeed like trying to make a Babel Tower that reaches until the heavens. Like how the current humans are trying to control nature. They drown in their own power; it’s indeed the human ego itself, isn’t it?

·Fate - deep-seated grudge - 

The track that plays before the boss battles. The beginning of the track is made to be unrecognizable but “that person’s” grudge is filling this track. Did you realize? I guess it’s indeed terrifying?

·Black Burn - Electpital Dance - 

This person is the biggest topic nowadays (laughs). Kosaki (Satoru) summons sounds similar to “Kotoba no puzzle” (or are they?). And so the bombing stage goes and… Whoa!? 80's dance pop and Japanese electric pop; it beautifully changes to a taste that feels like a mix of those two! The vocoder sounds make me get emotional, actually! (laughs)

·Innocence - PV Version - 

The bonus track. The PV version of Innocence. At first I wanted it to be 90 seconds long so Kurihara (Tsutomu) did a lot of trial and error and ultimately, to make use of the idea, it ended up being this current version. That last voice phrase’s “acting” can only be heard in this version.

A Shitajiki that was given to people that preordered the soundtrack

VENT DISC

·High-press Energy - Super Aniki Edition - 

The thunderclap and explosions which close in! The Vent Disc begins with Big Bro’s Hayama (Koji) Special Edition! It makes the volcano stage heat up further, and it makes the screams of the soul scream! The “roots” of “ZX” are “Rockman”! So this will do! Let’s go! ROOOCKKK BUSTEEERRR!!

·Crisis Zone

The track of the scene when you’re being attacked by the Galleons and the Irregulars. The same “phrase” is used in the title (screen). You can’t use them but there are bikes used for displacements. They did get to shine in the anime CM. I think that that cliff is a place the protagonists passed through while coming over from another city, a mountain pass they have to cross to get into this city (Cinq Ville). So there’s a road on the opposite side of it… should (laughs)

·Mountain Rider

The track of the mountain area. The intro phrase has a good “mood” to it. I like the techno-like arranged towards the end of the track. The event of this area, if you play as Vent, is that Girouette “casually” transformed using Model Z, but if you play as Aile he says that he transformed “from the start”. In both scenarios, he’s always been a part of the Guardians, had the Model Z from the start, and the “Express” was a subordinate organization of the Guardians to protect the “Matches”. That’s the actual facts. Given how he only told Aile about his affiliation, does that mean he thinks different of her compared to Vent?

·Trinity

The track used in the Double Rock On scene. Making is always on tight schedules but the animation was very hard to make. Voice recording was made with a video that included the line drawings (of the scenes) and the SFX adding was incomplete, so I had those SFXs that Miki (Ito Miki) had added, and, almost when the deadline, edited them to fix them. The hairs that spread around during the transformation scene as if they were feathers aren’t real hairs but “parts” added by the transformation. Apparently a long version of the protagonists’ blonde hair was thought of, but since they wanted it to be “the protagonists have Model X but they’re actually Model ZX” then they went for short, brown hair. And thus the blond hair was made to appear during the transformation.

·Ogre Claw

While thinking of (the game) as a newborn Rockman (series), we did add one Zero-like track by Masaki Suzuki. The track of the burning city. The motif of the melody makes you think of “that red guy”. Apparently they did try to add the Inti building within the burning buildings in the background, and make it burn but it wasn’t added in the end. Furukawa (Eri) sure can be dangerous (laughs). I don't know if it serves as a compensation, but there’s two hidden Cyber Elves. Try to find them.

·Dance-macabre

There’s a lot of mid-bosses in “ZX”. The image of the melody comes from that thorny road roller. The fly is an homage of “that”. Nostalgic. The Mettool Powered is my favorite. The Lava Devil moves so much that I first thought it was a boss. What a luxurious mid-boss (laughs)

·Rockin’ On

The boss battles. We got a pretty good track this time around too, right? I remember that I struggled to build a good atmosphere when I began working on this track. ZX has a new component to boss battles, the TFS (Technical Final Slash). Those who want to beat them at once can attack the weakness as much as they want, but those who get used to gameplay or have confidence on their skills could try to beat the bosses without hitting their weaknesses. When that hit SFX rings out, it does annoy you… (laughs) Even though I AM the one who added it!

·High-press Energy

The stage I hate the most (laughs). The track of the geyser and lava area. There’s a lot of gimmicks such as the hidden stage or the gondola so at first I wasn’t really sure what kind of stage it was (laughs). I dunno what those towers in the hot springs area from which steam comes out are but they’re based on the Lava Devil. The robot in the boss room showing its nose is apparently named “HANA-MOGERA (NOSE-MOGUERA*)”. It’s not the Morgul!? (laughs) By the way, the presence that Flammole felt wasn’t Model V. Looks like it was the “extra”.

Translator Note: Moguera is a giant monster who appeared in two TOHO films, and its name is based on “mogura (mole)”. As for the Morgul, it’s probably a reference to a monster from some other media / game but the reference eludes me.

·Gauntlet

The theme of the lab facility. I often get caught by the jammer parabolas… You can dodge them if you get used to them and eventually be able to make your way through while irradiated by the “poisonous radio waves (?)” [<-- that won’t do, obviously. (laughs)].  The round tanks in the boss room background are the data servers you’re told about when undertaking the mission. The design is based off “him” (laughs). His emoji is drawn on the walls, too! To think he was being used as a server… By the way, the walls will blown away by Protectos’ “Atomic Core”. Beat him before he does that! It’s but self-satisfaction, though…

·Brilliant Show Window - Shooter Trance - 

This pleasant sound which feels like it’s rushing through the blue skies… And this up-tempoed trance music is what Namiki (Manabu) is really made of. He can transform the city stage music into a shooting stage music in the blink of an eye (laughs). Oh, by the way… A Rockman Shooting (game)... Doesn’t exist, right?

·Onslaught 

The track of the attack on the Guardian Base. This event existed since the beginning of (game) planning so, conversely, it’d seem that because they wanted to create the situation of “in the corridor leading to the reactor, an enemy attack will cut it off”, they designed a corridor for the Guardian Base… But the track itself wasn’t in the schedule so I made it on a rush...

·Trap Factory

The best track in “ZX”! But I struggled with this one because I couldn’t make a good groove feeling. It wasn’t a track suited for battling but I wanted to use it somewhere where it’d leave an impression so I used it as the theme of the rivals of the protagonists, Prometheus & Pandora. If there’s a sequel then I guess they’ll appear again? (laughs). By the way, who exactly are they?

·Doomsday Device

The track of the ancient ruins. This unique winding background is made from the remains of Ragnarok. Its design took into account the Ragnarok from “Zero 4”, made imitating the wires in the final battle, and so I was told to add “tortuous” SFXs (laughs). The Omega battle background has dedication put on it, and it feels like a broken TV.

·Black Burn

The bombing scene. I didn’t know how to get there and I got lost in the way…Those stairs… I didn’t notice them. The bombing sounds were made with dedication but you can’t really tell them in the NDS (bitter laugh). At first, the plan was for a giant robot weapon to appear. Guess it would’ve advanced while destroying the city behind the highway?

·Phalanx

The theme of the Irregulars. In the world of “ZX”, “Irregular” means Repliroids or robots turned wild. Especially those amongst them which attack people. Like the monsters in RPG games. In this world where humans and machines are almost the same, “those that oppose the will of humans” = “Irregular” is mostly gone nowadays. The meaning of “Irregular” goes on changing as the series go on.

·Snake Eyes

Interior of the Serpent Company Home Office. The final battle is upon you. Pay attention to the sound of walking over the chandeliers and the System CIEL-shaped transfer devices. The track for the PV, the very first version, was a mix between this and the instrumental version of “Innocence”, did you see the PV? I guess you can call it one of the representative songs of “ZX”, too.

·Pallida Mors

The former Guardian member who annihilated the research team and stole the Model V. The CEO of the hero-like corporation that protected the nation from the Irregulars. Controlled the Irregular raids from behind the scenes, and is the one who caused for the mother of each protagonist to die. The man who finished Girouette off in front of them. Serpent, has fused with Model V and evolved into “the one who rules all”, while the protagonists, as “the ones who protect all”, overcome anger and sadness to challenge him to the final battle! For some reason, the (track) is death metal. Why, I wonder?

·Dream Weaver

The track of the staff roll. The one who spins dreams. I tried making it into a comfortable track, “ZX-like”, with hope poured into it. This scene is an homage to “that”, too. So that means that the condition to use Model X is to keep on pressing the X button…?  I’m actually a game fool indeed (laughs)

·Cannon Ball - hard revenge - 

A bonus track. The game making had ended, and one day… But the CEO (Aizu Takuya) told me “there’s no time but add a track from “Zero”, too!”. A hard revenge from Inti. Both the track and the game (laughs). Let’s have fun, shall we!


Designer’s Comments (by Makoto Yabe)

Last days of April, ‘02. A game software I bought in a game shop, impressed by the illustration. “Rockman Zero”. I was searching for a new job so, some weeks later, I knocked at the door of Inti Creates. I joined development with “Zero 2”, went through scenario writing and background design in “3” and “4”, and reached this new series, “Rockman ZX”. I’d never imagined that I’d be doing the character design after Nakayama and Maeda of the “Zero” series. Even now I still can’t believe it. Sorry. I’ll do my best.

Amongst the discarded designs there’s those of the protagonists not simply “transforming” but simply “arming up”, Girouette’s lil bro and sis who vanished due to several reasons (in Vent mode it’d been the sis, and in Aile mode it’d been the brother, who’d appear as the “heroines” of the game). Amongst other ideas. These two siblings did end up appearing after a bit of a redesign as the 3 Operator sisters of the Guardian Base. I’d originally joined Inti because I was impressed at Nakayama’s art so I felt a lot of pressure when drawing up things. But thanks to the support of many people, I could finish my duty. I am very thankful indeed.

The Remastered Tracks series go on, and “ZX” gets its CD, too. Here we support the world of “ZX” from the musical side. Many tracks with new forms are recorded here. Designs I struggled to make while feeling the pressure, and those in charge of the characters turn them into sprites to make them move around the opening stage, the forest. That alone was enough to make feel emotional, but when you add the music then you suddenly find that there’s a “world” in there… That’s what surprised me. The image that I could only tell through vague words yet the power of “sound” can make it very clear indeed; I’ve always thought so whenever I worked on a game.

The many music tracks that make up the world of “ZX”.  Rest the fingers tired from playing hard mode (laughs) and now try feeling the world of “ZX” through your ears.


Guest Arranger Profile:

• KOJI HAYAMA (Musician / Composer)

Born in Yokohama City. Enters “Messiah” (Brand name of Nippon Computer Systems Corp.) in the year ‘86 and debuts with games such as “Gaia Emblem (PC)”. Joins “Brain Grey” in the year ‘88 and is put in charge of “Last Armageddon (PC)”. He joins the foundation of Winds in the year ‘89 and, after working on titles such as “Kaizō Chōjin Shubibinman 2: Aratanaru Teki (PCE)” and “Ranma ½ (PCE)”, he becomes a freelancer. He records a big hit, no. 16 in the “Oricon Ranking” in the year ‘93, “Super Big Bro”.  In his debut live, he’s greeted by the great “Big Bro Call” and ever since then he’s referred to as “Big Bro”. His unique style of song-making by the use of sampling, as represented by “Super Big Bro” and “Muscle Genus Bat#1”, is called “Big Bro Sound” and is involved in orthodox games such as “Front Mission Third (PSX)”, “Super Robot Taisen Alpha (PS)”, “Ape Escape 2 (PS)” and in vocal songs such as “The Ballad of Men”, “Tomorrow Will Be Sunny”, “Lucky Raper Party”. Has released 14 CDs and has worked in about 30 titles as game music maker. Has acted with Kouda Mariko and Mizuki Ichiro, is a radio personality, been in magazine column serializations, and emits an independent feeling of existence as a game music practitioner.

• NAMIKI MANABU  (Composer)

Born in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture. Felt an attraction for the electronic sounds of videogames, so he poured energies in games and music and a result of his part-time job, joins NMK in the year ‘92. Moves to Rising in the year ‘95. Works 8 years as Sound Creator. Becomes a freelance on the year 2000, and in the year ‘03 joins Basiscape as a base of operation, where’s he’s working at. His representative titles are “Battle Garegga (AC)”, “DoDonPachi DaiOuJou (AC)”, “Ketsui: Kizuna Jigoku Tachi (AC)”, “Mushihime-sama (AC)”, “Espgaluda II (AC)”, “Metal Slug 6 (AC/PS2)”, amongst others. He provides music of many different genres. AKA “Santa Ruru”.

• AKARI KAIDA (GROVES AKARI) (Composer)

Born in Hyogo Prefecture. Graduated from the Osaka Musical College’s Junior College of Music. Joins Capcom in the year ‘94. Worked in the music of games such as “Cyberbots - Full Metal Madness - (AC)”, “Darkstalkers’ Revenge (AC)”, “Resident Evil (PSX)”, “Breath Of Fire III (PS2)”, “Dino Crisis (PSX)”, “OniMusha III (PS2)”, “Rockman and Forte (SNES)”, “Rockman EXE (GBA)”. Became a freelancer in the year ‘05, and has provided music for overseas radio CMs and for artists. She’s working in other fields apart from game music.

• SATORU KOSAKI (Composer)

Born in Toyonaka, Osaka Prefecture. Graduated from the Kyoto College of Engineering. Joined Namco in the year ‘99. The “TEKKEN (AC)” Series, “R:Racing Evolution (PS2)”, “Kotoba no Puzzle, Mojipittan (AC)”, “Yumeria (PS2)”, “THE ID@L MASTER (AC)” are some games in which he’s worked on. To carry out musical work in wider fields, he moved to Monaca in the year ‘05. Worked on the BGM of the anime “The Melancholy of Harumi Suzumiya”. The insert song “Harumi Suzumiya’s Combination / The Legend of the Love Mikuru” was a big hit, reaching no.5 in the Oricon (Ranking).


Multi-jacket Artist Profile

YOSHIHIRO IWAMOTO (Mangaka)

Born in Takatsuki, Osaka Prefecture. The Kamen Rider cut in “Comics BonBon Special 81 Kamen Rider SD Encyclopedia” (1992) is his first job. Then, in the “Comics BonBon Special Issue” he makes his manga debut with “Karakuri Kansuke”. Begins serializing “Rockman X” in “Comics BonBon” in the year ‘94. His own serious and “hot” interpretation overcame the game and he was encouraged (to keep it on). His main works are the “Rockman X” series, “Mushrambo”, “Transformers Galaxy Force”, and others. He did the boss designs for the game “Rockman & Forte”. His hobbies are collecting goods of “Kamen Rider Stronger”.

HITOSHI ARIGA (Mangaka)

Born in Tokyo Prefecture. He began drawing illustrations for walkthrough books in the year ‘90. He joins Winds out of contract in the year 91. Works as a graphicher for “Kaizou Choujin Shubibinman 3 (PCE-CD)” and others. Past the year 92, he becomes a freelance spriter and works in games such as “Ranma ½  Explosive Battle (SNES)”, “Bare Knuckle 2 (MD)”, and in the year 93 makes his debut as mangaka in “Comic BonBon” of Kodansha Publisher. He draws manga of the “Rockman Series” and temporarily co-works as a spriter. Joins “ActRaiser 2 (SNES)”, “Illusion of Gaia (SNES)”, “Beyond Oasis (MD)” and others. His representative manga works are “Rockman X Gigamix”, “THE Big O” and others. He currently is serializing “Teppan Shoujo Akane!!”, “Aka-chan (Star) Baby Marine-chan” and “TRIO DE PINCH!”. “Akane” will be made into a drama TV series by TBS. He has busy days.

HIDEKI ISHIKAWA (Illustrator)

Born in Osaka Prefecture. Joins Capcom in the year ‘93. Works in production of “Disney’s Bonkers (SNES)” and others. Then joins Design Department and mainly works in package designing for the “Rockman”, “Rockman X” and “Rockman DASH” Series. Turns into a freelancer in the year 2000. For a time he switches to making illustrations for public magazines. He’s currently working in illustrations for magazines and card games such as “Sengoku BASARA”.

TORU NAKAYAMA (Illustrator)

Born in Toyama Prefecture. Enters Capcom in the year 92.  He works in the making of games such as “Goofy’s and Max’s Pirate Island Adventure (SNES)”, “Resident Evil (PSX)”, etc. He joins Inti Creates in the year ‘96, when it was founded, and works in games such as “Transformable Attacking Gunbike (PSX)” (Character / Mecha Design) “LOVE & DESTROY (PSX)” (Enemies Design), “Rockman Zero (GBA)” (Character Design), “Rockman ZX (NDS)” (Package Illustration), “Eithéa (PSX)”, “Super Mike-chan (PS2)”, he’s also worked in the publicity illustrations of “Rockman Zero” as well as the insert illustrations of the novel of “Transformable Attacking Gunbike”. He became a freelancer in the year ‘05.

MAKOTO YABE (Graphic Designer)

Born in Kyoto Province. Joins KCE Roppongi in the year ‘96. “Taisen Tokkaedama (AC)”, “Winning Spike (AC)” are games he works in as a Designer. After being transferred to KCE Shinjuku in the year ‘97, he works as Designer for “YU-GI-OH! Capsule Monsters Breed & Battle (PSX)” and “Harlem Beat - You’re The One - (PS2)”,  and does the package illustrations for “HUNTER X HUNTER The Longmai Altar (PS2)”, “HUNTER X HUNTER The Forbidden Treasure (GBC)”, then joins as Director & Designer for “GROOVE ADVENTURE RAVE Battle of Light and Darkness (GBA)”. Shifts to Inti Creates in the year ‘02. After joining “Rockman Zero 2 (GBA)” as backgrounds designer, works on the scenario of the games of the series and in “Rockman ZX (NDS)” he’s General Manager, Character Designer and Scenario Writer.

HIDETAKA KATSUKI (Graphic Designer)

Born in Fukuoka Prefecture. Graduates from Digital Entertainment Academy. Joins Inti Creates in the year 2000. Works on Coloration for “Eithéa (PSX)”. Afterwards, he makes the graphics data for “Super Mike-chan (PS2)” and “Digimon Tamers Digimon Medley (WSC)”. He works on Background Graphics for all the “Rockman Zero (GBA)” series. He’s mainly worked in Backgrounds for “Rockman ZX (NDS)”. He also did the publicity illustrations for “ZX”.

RIE OHNISHI (Graphic Designer)

Born in Aichi Prefecture. Graduated from Trident Computer Specialized School. She joins Inti Creates in the year ‘02 as a part-time job while studying at college. She soon joins “Rockman Zero 2 (GBA)”, as Character Graphics staff. She then joined “Rockman EXE Battle Chip GP (GBA)”, “Rockman Zero 3 (GBA)” and “Rockman Zero 4 (GBA)”. She worked as Main Graphics for “Rockman ZX (NDS)”. Her project proposal was used for the backside of the band of the “Remastered Tracks Rockman Zero Telos”, her unique Zero-like drawings got the spotlight, and they were turned into polygons for “Physis”.

III-Sound Create Unit

• Ippo Yamada - Sound Designer / Producer

Born in Kanazawa Prefecture. Graduated from Chiba University of
Science. Joined Capcom in the year 93. Worked on “Super Street Fighter II (SNES), “Demon’s Crest (SNES)”, “Resident Evil (PSX)”, etc. Also joined as support of (sound team) for “Rockman X2 (SNES)” and “Rockman 7 (SNES)”. Joins Inti Creates in the same year. Works in “Convertible Running Attack Gunbike (SNES)”, “LOVE & DESTROY (PSX)”, “Crayon Shin-chan The Adventure of Cinemland, the Wind-Beckoner (GBA)”, “Fantastic Children (GBA)”, “Crayon Shin-chan Legend-beckoner Extra City, Shock Gun (GBA)”, “Eureka Seven (PSP)” all sound of the “Rockman Zero Series”, “Rockman ZX (NDS)” as well as CD production. Also involved in “Shin Megami Tensei Devil Children The White Tome (GBC)” as Director of Monster Designs.

• Tsutomu Kurihara - Guitarist / Producer

Born in Tokyo Prefecture. Debuts in the year 84 at EUROX from Warner Pioneer. Works in anime songs for anime such as “Panzer World Galient” as well as in CMs for Suntory and Miki House. Provides songs to many artists like Nakamori Akina, Nyangilas and such.Joins in many recordings, such as those of: CLASS,  Ono Masatoshi, Tanaka Minako, Sendo Akiho, Tamura Eriko, Tone Mariko, Funta, etc. Forms EGQ in the year 98. Releases 2 albums with Crown Records. He’s currently teamed up with Umegaki Luna to form Lu7 and released 2 albums, “Efflorescence” and “L’esprit de l’exil”.He’s also taken part in “Wave Rally (PS2)” and “Drihoo (XBOX)” as guitarist.

• Luna Umegaki  - Composer / Keyboardist

Born in Tokyo Prefecture. Joined the making of the Drama CD “Angelic - The Saclear of Light and Darkness” while he was studying.Then he went on making the soundtrack and SFXs for many games such as “Ape Escape 2001 (PS2)”, “Drihoo (XBOX)”, “Everybody’s Golf 2 (PSX)”, “Jumping Flash (PSX)”, “The Legend Of Dragoon (PSX)”, “Koneko mo issho (PSX)”, “Battle Arena Toshinden 3 (PSX)”, “Choro Q2 (PSX)”, “Choro Q3 (PSX)”, “SIMPLE 1500 Hello Kitty Vol. 1~3 (PSX)”,  “Crayon Shin-chan The Adventure of Cinemland, the Wind-Beckoner (GBA)”, “Fantastic Children (GBA)”, “Crayon Shin-chan Legend-beckoner Extra City, Shock Gun (GBA)”, “World Tank Museum For Game, Eastern Front (PS2)” while being active as a musician. He’s currently the leader of the instrumental band Lu7.

• Masaki Suzuki  - Guitarist / Composer

Born in Yokohama City. Began live support of SHAZNA and Kawamoto Makoto and is active as a new-gen guitarist. His guitar songs have charmed many with the emotion poured in them. He’s not only a performer, he also works as a composer. His main works are Kawasumi Ayako’s “Dream It - I Want to Meet You (Love Candidate (PSX & OVA)) Main Theme”, Tamura Rion’s “It’s Only You and Me”, YURIA “YOU (Theme of TV Anime “Shuffle”)”, '' as well as “Parallel Days”, Heiya Aya (Character song for Haruhi Suzumiya, in the anime “The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya”), “Hyappatsu Hyakuchū Toraburun♪ (Ui Miyazaki & Ryoko Shintani, main theme song of anime “Hime-sama Goyojin”)”, “HYBRID UNIVERSE” by Mizuki Nana; and he’s also joined the recordings of Akina (Folder5) and Kuraki Mai amongst others.

• Ryo Kawakami  - Composer / Keyboardist

Born in Tokyo Prefecture. Ever since he met electones as a child and synthesizers in junior high, he dedicated himself to making songs and taking part in bands. CLUSTER BULLET in the year ‘99, and CYBERNATUS in the year ‘01. He’s currently acting on his own. He also joined the united band MIN2. He made the drama CD “Tailor Shop”, and provided music for games such as “MEDICAL 91 (Win/PS2)”.

• CAO - Singer / Lyrics Writer

Born in Shizuoka Prefecture. In October 2. Libra. Blood type: A. Debuted with Cutting Edge in Unit Tiptory, in the year ‘98. Then debuted on her own as “SAO” through Togei Entertainments. Released CM songs such as the one for “Petit Pudding”. She’s currently working as a Session Vocalist. She’s also been in choruses with Sakura Nogawa, Tokyo Purin, “Emoji D”. She’s also taken part in the game “Little Aid (Win/PS2)”, and the anime “Rabu Dollar”.