Mitsuto Suzuki

• 1. Introduction

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  Mitsuto Suzuki, a Japanese composer born in 1973, once filled 60 minute tapes with video game music that he recorded himself. He built those tapes with multitrack recording, long before anyone paid him to write a note. Today his synthesizer-heavy sound is part of the Final Fantasy franchise, one of the best known names in role-playing games. How does a young hobbyist with a pile of home recordings end up there? Why was his first job at Square Enix operating synthesizers rather than writing tunes? And what does he make once the day's work is finished? The answers begin with an instrument that an older brother brought home.

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• 2. Synthesizer Childhood

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  In the early 1980s, Suzuki's older brother bought a synthesizer, and the younger boy got to play it. That instrument sparked his interest in music. He also studied the Electone at Yamaha Music School.

  In his first year of junior high school, Suzuki bought a digital synthesizer for himself. He spent his spare time making music with it, along with rhythm machines.

  In high school, Suzuki played keyboards in a Beatles cover band. After graduating, he enrolled in a vocational school to study sound engineering. He left before finishing, and a game company hired him.

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• 3. Tose and Beyond

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  Mobile Suit V Gundam and Ultraman Powered were among the games Suzuki composed for at Tose, the company he joined after dropping out of vocational school. His professional music debut came in 1994, while he still worked there. He released a techno EP called Voices of Planet as half of the duo ARP-2600, on the label Torema Records.

  After leaving Tose, he moved through more music companies and kept pursuing projects of his own. Under the name Electric Satie, he made Gymnopedie '99, an album of electronic covers of compositions by Erik Satie. His long-time friend Yosuke Kakegawa suggested the concept.

  In 2000, Suzuki founded the synthpop group Overrocket with Takashi Watanabe and Michiyo Honda. Their albums drew on both 1980s synthpop and the contemporary kind. Suzuki eventually left, and Watanabe took over as director and main songwriter. Kakegawa, the friend behind the Satie idea, would turn up again in Suzuki's story years later.

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• 4. Rhythm Game Credits

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  The console version of Keyboardmania in 2000 carried Suzuki's arrangement titled Gymnopedie (Skip Over MIX), a name that echoes his Satie album. Rhythm games soon became a steady home for his work.

  Beatmania 6thMix + Core Remix followed in 2002 with his arrangement La Bossanova de Sana. A year later, the special edition of Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner carried another arrangement, Beyond the Bounds (Mitsuto Suzuki 020203 Mix feat. Sana). Both titles credit a featured artist named Sana.

  In 2004, Beatmania IIDX 10th Style included his own composition Let's Run. Beatmania IIDX 12: Happy Sky added another, Listen Up, in 2005. His credits through 2005 all read music or arrangement. The next one, in 2006, would list a different job.

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• 5. Operator to Arranger

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  Project Sylpheed: Arc of Deception was the first title Suzuki worked on after joining Square Enix in 2006, and his post was synthesizer operator. He helped lead composer Kenichiro Fukui by programming and building rhythms for Fukui's tracks.

  Sigma Harmonics in 2008 put him beside Masashi Hamauzu, with Suzuki handling mixing and co-arrangement. The game's limited ROM size forced the music to be compressed to 16 kHz. Suzuki shortened some tracks so they would fit. The job proved challenging for both men.

  The following year, Suzuki arranged a handful of tracks for Hamauzu's score to Final Fantasy XIII. Hamauzu gave him freedom to add and replace elements as he pleased. Suzuki has since said he feels embarrassed about the decisions he made on those tracks.

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• 6. Lead Composer

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  The 3rd Birthday in 2010 was Suzuki's first major score at Square Enix, and he served as lead composer alongside Yoko Shimomura and Tsuyoshi Sekito. Shimomura could not write the whole soundtrack. Shimomura contacted Suzuki after being impressed by his solo work. Suzuki then invited Sekito to join near the end of development on The Last Remnant, because he held Sekito's musical experience and knowledge in high respect. Suzuki was happy to be composing at last. Still, he feels his production style barely changed whether he was writing, arranging, or operating synthesizers.

  Final Fantasy XIII-2 came in 2011, scored by Suzuki with Hamauzu and Naoshi Mizuta. Director Motomu Toriyama asked the composers to depart sharply from earlier Final Fantasy music. The resulting soundtrack covers a wide variety of musical styles.

  Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII in 2013 reunited the same three composers. Suzuki worked with several arrangers and performers, including the band Language and the vocalist Kaori. Language is made up of his long-time friends Kakegawa and Naoyuki Honzawa. In 2014, he scored Schoolgirl Strikers together with Kengo Tokusashi. One year later, a mobile Final Fantasy game would make him its only composer.

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• 7. Mobius and Midgar

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  Mobius Final Fantasy in 2015 made Suzuki the composer of all music in the game's initial release. Being the sole composer gave him greater control over the soundtrack. He still enlisted arrangers and performers to widen the variety. Numerous tracks were added regularly after the game launched.

  Final Fantasy VII Remake arrived in 2020 with Suzuki as one of its composers. The score includes arrangements of music from the original Final Fantasy VII, plus new tracks by him and Hamauzu. He wanted the music to feel nostalgic and playful while still sounding fresh. He steered away from anything he considered "cheesy".

  As with the Final Fantasy XIII games, Suzuki leaned heavily on synthesizers, drawing on electronic music from the 1980s to the 2000s. Wall Market, Honeybee Inn, and Midgar Highway are the themes he names among his favorite contributions. In 2024, he returned to compose music for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.

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• 8. Solo Albums and Mojera

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  In My Own Backyard appeared in 2007, and Neurovision followed in 2009, both released exclusively on the iTunes Store. Square Enix gave Suzuki the freedom to put out electronic albums. He made them at home with software synths, then polished them using equipment at the company's offices.

  Listeners have called the albums "dreamy" and "catchy". Suzuki sang on them himself, because he felt that was quicker than having to "micro-manage" another singer. The albums were meant to form a trilogy, but a third has not materialized.

  In 2019, Suzuki formed the duo mojera with vocalist and guitarist non. Years earlier, he had started a third solo album but grew too busy to continue. When he considered returning to it, he discovered non's music and contacted her about collaborating.

  Suzuki aims for mojera's music to be shoegaze, combining heavy use of his synths with non's guitar parts. The duo has contributed tracks to albums from the game music label Scarlet Moon. In 2024, it performed live for the first time.

  At home, Suzuki lives with his wife, who is a dress designer. Their son, too, has an interest in music.

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