Decided once again enjoy this piece of marvelous tunes of magnificient earful bliss and started wondering, what tracks exactly has been arragend on this (second) best arrange album ever. Can't remember if there's been a discussion about this and nice track breakdown.

And I want Kikuta to do sequel to this. This time, make it two cds.

This is one of those soundtracks from "back in the day" that I never picked up and have regretted ever since.  Not keen on it being a single, super-long track but aside from that it sounds dreamy

A quick web shopping search isn't turning up much... did it never get reprinted?

Yes twice, last being in '04. Otaku.com still has it.

Yeah, I keep raising this topic, myself...

I know

"Into the Thick of It" (Seiken Densetsu 2)

and

"Ancient Dolphin" (Seiken Densetsu 3)

are unquestionably and recognizably part of it, but for most of it, I couldn't tell you, even though I've listened to ALL Seiken Densetsu soundtracks that had been produced up until then.

If SoM+ is the second, what's the first?

You should know my love for CREID. If not, now you know. And btw, I feel so horrible weird answering this way. But you weren't on #santora now, you lazy bugger.

(To other people, we tend to hang around in same IRC channel)

I used to love this album and listen to it day and night in the late 90s. But for some reason, its grown completely off me. Don't know why, but when I listen to it nowadays (which almost never happens), it feels very disjointed and I never can make it all the way to the end.

Still love the SD 2 & 3 OSTs, though.

you should see the bunnies' eyes practically pop out of their heads during the quieter middle of the cd when the hawk is screeching...

I agree with you on this. Fantastic CD start to finish with beautiful soundscapes, great melodies, and enough variety to sustain a long playtime. It's up there with Soukaigi as Kikuta's best work in my opinion. I'm not the biggest fan of the Seiken Densetsu 2 or 3 soundtracks so I'd be interested in people correlated sections to originals. I spotted the obvious ones though.

It doesn't look like he'll be returning to that method anytime soon.
Although that might only mean nobody's hired him for arranges, rather than compositions.

Here's his new cd just out now (NSLCD-0007)
3 samples here http://www.sp-janis.com/dlsf/ciel4.shtml
Available here http://www.amazon.co.jp/SKY-WATER/dp/B001GVN7AW/

Is it bad that when I hear Kikuta's name now all I can think of is cartoon titties?

NICE. Reminds me of Alphabet Planet. Why didn't GMR Online have any notice of this?! VGM db has it: http://vgmdb.net/album/10636

*quiet gagging sound*

EDIT: Oh, it's just Sora no Iro Mizu no Iro. This was released a couple years back as a preorder bonus for the (h-)game, but I guess this is the retail version.

Wait, what...?

"Kikutas"

He's done a lot of Hentai since I've been interested in him. I started checking out his work post-Koudelka and I know he's done a decent number of H games since then.

Oh, yes! Forgot about that. Although I consider Kikuta one of my all-time favourite VGM composers on the strength of Seiken Densetsu 2 & 3 and Soukaigi alone, I basically like nothing he's done after Koudelka in 1999 (and on that score I only really like the battle themes). So I usually forget about his 2000s stuff when discussing him.

Since the audio budget for Soukaigi was $300,000 all someone would have to do is give him that same amount and bingo we'll all get another masterpiece.

I'm not sure about that. What I liked about Soukaigi was mainly the incredibly catchy melodies, and you don't need a huge budget for that. I consider Seiken 2 a greater masterpiece than Soukaigi, even though the synth is crap in comparison. None of Kikuta's work during this decade has managed to captivate me, and I doubt it would have even if it had had Soukaigi's budget.

Also, $300,000 for audio alone? Crazy. I wonder if the game itself even brought in enough money to justify that price tag (from what I've heard it flopped hard in Japan).

"It was currently the height of the bubble economy, and the music budget allotted for the project was an extravagant 30 million yen. The improved sound card of the Sony Playstation would also allow the composer to create a score with live, streaming music. Naturally, it was too good an opportunity to pass up."

Naturally, the game was a flop yes, but at least we got a damn fine album out of it.

According to the first print CD "Index" marks (dunno if reprints have the embedded info too)

TITLE "Secret of Mana+"
  TRACK 01 AUDIO
    TITLE "Secret of Mana"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
    INDEX 02 06:43:02
    INDEX 03 13:20:70
    INDEX 04 18:08:55
    INDEX 05 20:25:55
    INDEX 06 25:06:57
    INDEX 07 26:47:62
    INDEX 08 26:55:32
    INDEX 09 27:03:00
    INDEX 10 32:22:60
    INDEX 11 34:09:07
    INDEX 12 34:18:15
    INDEX 13 40:41:65
    INDEX 14 44:34:42
    INDEX 15 48:03:17

As to which track in the OST corresponds to which index, your guess is mine.
Later,

Alcahest

Yeah, seems that Kikuta is releasing soundtracks for Ni~duma wa Sailor Fuku ~My Darling is the Teacher in Charge~ and Sakura Relaxation also, if his site is to be believed. Atleast now I don't have to hunt for those preorder osts.

Ah, forgot all about those, I probably still have those index marks saved somewhere.

I love this CD.  I remember my girlfriend in high school got it for me for Christmas when I was a senior.  I was so shocked that she actually gave me a VGM cd and a good one at that.  I used to fall asleep listening to this one often.  Nothing else quite like it...

Holy crap Carl, you just made my day.