After listening to "The World Ends With You" the other day, I wondered what the rest of you think of its composer, Takeharu Ishimoto.

It seems to me that, with the departure of many former Squeenix staff composers for the greener fields of freelancing (which presumably means they become more expensive), Ishimoto has become the go-to man for the Square side of things. With TWEWY, Before Crisis, Last Order, and Crisis Core under his belt, and Dissidia to come, he's put out a lot of content for the company over the last year or two, and I've heard rumors that he's to score the new KH mobile games as well.

What do you all think of this? I hesitate to start a thread just to hate on the guy, but I have to say that none of his work has connected with me. He's a tremendously gifted arranger and synth programmer/operator, but his original compositions just feel empty to me--lots of atmospheric, industrial, grunge and such sounds, but very little substance.

Anyone care to comment, or to confirm/deny those rumors?

Yeah, I concur. Supposedly, it all works well in game, but man, it's annoying when you have pretty much no substance to the music. As for synth operator, I have no idea what you are talking about. Kingdom Hearts 2 was horrible! I do think his FFVII arrangements, well, at least some of them, were pretty good though.

I honestly haven't heard anything by Ishimoto, but I have to admit I would like to hear something of his (like Crisis Core) at some point and see what's what for myself. I have the sneaking suspision that because many dislike what he brings to the table I'd end up liking it for some reason because it be ironic.

Still, I never thought I'd see the day when they would be a Square or freelance composer hired by Sqaure that takes more flack than Kenji Ito.

I've said this on other boards, but there is probably no other composer that has moved me away from modern VGM as this guy. None of his material has approached borderline-tasteful to me and the fact that he IS getting major projects has me wondering just what the standard for hiring VGM composers is anymore (especially at SE, since I don't care for the majority of their inhouse staff...either dislike or indifference or in the case of Soken, running out of patience for him to actually get something to work on!). Wonderful World is easily, without question the worst VGM release I've ever come across. Yes, we need new blood and I'm tired of a lot of the usual suspects, but I'd sniff red ants while chewing the head off a bat while dating...no, wait...while screwing Sharon Osborne before I willingly listen to another dose of this guy's stuff again. Yes, it IS that bad!

My two cents and a scary coincidence, because orion and I NEVER agree on anything.

I didn't know he was doing Dissidia - I haven't heard anything about that game for awhile. Is it delayed?

I don't care for him. Most of the time, music I dislike can be tolerated in the context of the game, but in both "Crisis Core" and "The World Ends With You", the music has actively irritated me to the point where I actually wish for an option to turn it off. I can't even imagine listening to it on its own.

I really enjoy most of his work, but apparently this is not allowed

I have heard only Crisis Core from him, so maybe my opinion isn't the most accurate one. Yet I can't deny his mediocrity.

Takeharu Ishimoto isn't bad per se, but as others have said, he's only good at arrangements. Ishimoto's original stuff is painfully shallow and outside of the game, horribly boring. Although a few exceptions exist (like that apple tree song or smth).

Maybe there's hope for him, so I'll just wait and see.

I definitely disliked the samples I heard from "The World Ends With You"  but I really like his Crisis Core score. In fact, I think it's one of the better soundtracks I've purchased recently. Sound quality is excellent, as is most of the arranging, and his original tracks have a feel of their own that I really connect with. I don't care for most of the battle tracks, and there are plenty of them, which skew toward repetitive noise to my ears (I was getting tired of them in the game as well). But I like the main theme and its many reincarnations, and his use of piano, acoustic guitar, and violin makes for some truly standout tracks. A few of his pieces lay down a nice beat over strings and guitar that almost remind me of something in the vein of kt2.

Anyway, I like more than half of the soundtrack, which is more than I can say about many other "popular" OSTs in my collection. And that half that I do like, I wouldn't want to give up.

Rieko Shimura was the strings / piano arranger for Crisis Core, not Takeharu Ishimoto. Kazuhiko Toyama did the arrangements "First Mission", "The World's Enemy", and "Fulfilled Desire". That considered, I don't think Takeharu Ishimoto is any better an arranger than he is a composer.

I'm not sure how much of his stuff I've heard (did he do any of the recent Front Mission things?), but of the stuff mentioned in this thread, I liked Before Crisis and Crisis Core, but I really hated Subarishiki Kono Sekai.

That was Hidenori Iwasaki. I don't mind him although he's been asked to do way too much militaristic music over his time.

Aside Last Order, Before Crisis, Crisis Core, Dissidia, Agito XIII, and The World Ends With You, Ishimoto has done Monotone (mobile) and World Fantastista (obscure PS2 sports game).

Ok, well I like Iwasaki more then.

Here's a compilation of my favorite tracks of Crisis Core, for those who haven't heard it: http://www.sendspace.com/file/3tiefb

I like the Western motifs that Ishimoto employed; Cloud and Zack are such country boys going off to war, so it's pretty fitting, and it's probably the kind of music that characters like them would enjoy listening to.

You do know the cover graphic does in fact have "It's a Wonderful World" right on the obi, under the title in Japanese, instead of having to use the awkward Romanji title, right?

LINK: http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m286 … lWorld.jpg

HINT: Look for the red ring at the bottom, circling the title in English.

Honestly, why we can't just collaborate on what we call these things, so that the title doesn't differ from country to country, is beyond me.

It's a Wonderful World? The World Ends with You? WTF?

We haven't learned with FFII Vs. FFIV, or FFIII Vs. FFVI or Seiken Densetsu 2 Vs. Secret of Mana? OR Final Fantasy Adventure Vs. Seiken Densetsu? Or Final Fantasy Legend Vs. SaGa...whatever?

Other than Crisis Core, I haven't yet heard anything else of Ishimito's - but I'm ready to embrace the lynching, and state that I absolute love CC. 

I really don't get the hate.  It's a vastly versatile score, and thematically pleasing in a great number of places.  I concur with Tim JC, as the "Theme of Crisis Core" melody and all its variations are melodically well-developed, while the style shifts between techno grunge-rock, dreamy piano & strings ensemble, jazz, and alternative/contemporary all make for a sweeping soundscape that I enjoy listening from beginning to end.  The FFVII arrangements, too, are all superbly done, but honestly, Ishimoto's original material could've easily carried the score on its own.

On that token, I've gotta give props to Toyama's brilliant arrangement suites in Mission Start and Fulfilled Desire.  An orchestral arrangement of "Shinra Company" AND "Fighting"?  My heart exploded with joy when hearing these for the first time.

In this case copyright reasons. It's a Wonderful World is copyrighted in the West... maybe by Louis Armstrong. As for the cover, the actual front cover is Japanese and translates to Subarashiki Kono Sekai Original Soundtrack (It's a Wonderful World Original Soundtrack).

As for the part denying that "It's a Wonderful World" is, in fact, on the very obi for the album...

Uhh...dude? Did you not see the link I posted for the slip case and corresponding obi, with the red ring around "It's a Wonderful World" IN ENGLISH UNDER THE JAPANESE TITLE?!

LET'S TRY THIS AGAIN!!

LINK: http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m286 … lWorld.jpg

As for the title "It's a Wonderful World" already existing in the U.S., this what I mean when S-E U.S. and S-E Japan need to collaborate on what to call these things, so it's not titled something that already exists elsewhere, and so it can be called the same thing no matter what country it's released in! What is so HARD about that, much less so hard to understand about it?!

I saw that but I was not referring to the slip case / obi. I clearly stated front cover. Look here and tell me if you see "It's a Wonderful World" on the cover. I don't. That's why most sites refer to the album as Subarashiki Kono Sekai Original Soundtrack.

So you're saying only the first print of the album came with the slip case and obi?

No, he's saying that the front cover of the OST doesn't mention "It's a Wonderful World" on it at all. It's only on the slipcase/obi, regardless of first print or not.

I didn't say that. I don't know -- I wouldn't buy something this hideous (but fun)! I'm just explaining why Subarashiki Kono Sekai Original Soundtrack is the preferred translation. While your image contains the words 'It's a Wonderful World', すばらしきこのせかい (Subarashiki Kono Sekai) precedes Original Soundtrack on both your image and the front cover. Most album titles are based on what is printed on the front cover.

*goes round in circles*

"It's a Wonderful World" is nothing more than the subtitle of the Japanese game. Much ado about nothing...