is a Japanese video game composer and musician. Formerly employed by Square Enix, he joined them in 1999 as a synthesizer programmer on Legend of Mana, working for them on several games. In 2002, he was promoted to the role of composer, beginning with World Fantasista, and composed for several large-budget games, such as The World Ends with You, the Final Fantasy series, and the Kingdom Hearts series. In addition to his work for Square Enix, he is a composer and guitar player for the band The Death March. He left Square Enix at the end of 2017, becoming a freelancer.
Biography According to Ishimoto, he first got into music due to living in the country, where there was nothing else to do. He first worked as a synthesizer programmer, beginning with Legend of Mana in 1999, before becoming a composer starting with the PlayStation 2 soccer game World Fantasista. In 2004, he began to compose for games in the Final Fantasy series, which he had previously worked on as a synthesizer programmer for Final Fantasy X. His last work as a synthesizer programmer was for Kingdom Hearts II in 2005; since then, he worked exclusively for Square Enix as a composer.
Ishimoto was also a member of the Japanese musical group SAWA, which he formed along with Sawa Kato in October 2008, performing with the group under the name HIZMI. Kato sang some of SAWA's songs, also writing lyrics on Ishimoto's soundtrack for The World Ends with You. The band released an album, 333, in 2008. After SAWA disbanded, in 2012 Ishimoto formed The Death March, a band that played and re-arranged music from soundtracks composed by him. In December 2017, Ishimoto announced that he would be leaving Square Enix and becoming a freelancer. Ishimoto stated that the decision to leave was his own, leaving on amicable terms with the company.
Style and legacy Ishimoto was named by IGN as number ten in a list of the top ten JRPG composers in 2008. Ishimoto composes songs in many different genres, including rock, hip hop, electronica, and pop.
Works YearTitleRoleRef.1999Legend of Mana Synthesizer programmerFront Mission 3Synthesizer programmer2000Vagrant Story Synthesizer programmerAll Star Pro-WrestlingSynthesizer programmer2001Final Fantasy X Synthesizer programmerAll Star Pro-Wrestling IISynthesizer programmer2002World Fantasista Music with Masayoshi Soken2003All Star Pro-Wrestling IIISynthesizer programmer2004Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VIIMusicKingdom Hearts: Chain of MemoriesSynthesizer programmer2005Last Order: Final Fantasy VIIMusicKingdom Hearts IISynthesizer programmer2007MonotoneMusicThe World Ends with YouMusicCrisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Music2008Dissidia Final FantasyMusic2010Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Music with Yoko Shimomura and Tsuyoshi Sekito2011Dissidia 012 Final FantasyMusic Final Fantasy Type-0Music2012Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance Music with Yoko Shimomura and Tsuyoshi Sekito2014Final Fantasy Agito Music2015Final Fantasy Type-0 HDMusicRampage Land RankersMusicDissidia Final Fantasy Music with Keiji Kawamori and Tsuyoshi Sekito2018Dissidia Final Fantasy NT Music2019Kingdom Hearts III Music with Yoko Shimomura and Tsuyoshi Sekito2021The World Ends with You: The AnimationMusicNeo: The World Ends with YouMusic2022Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion Arrangements2024 Tsurugihime Music2025 BLEACH Rebirth of Souls Music
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