Masafumi Takada

Masafumi Takada (高田 雅史, Takada Masafumi, born August 2, 1970) is a Japanese composer and sound designer, best known for his work on the soundtracks for killer7, God Hand, No More Heroes, and the Earth Defense Force and Danganronpa series. Takada has worked on multiple projects for Goichi Suda's studio Grasshopper Manufacture and co-founded Too Kyo Games in 2017.

Masafumi Takada
高田 雅史
Born	(1970-08-02) August 2, 1970 (age 54) Inuyama, Aichi, Japan
Occupations	Composer sound designer
Years active	1996–present
Musical career
Genres	Ambient rock techno jazz video game music
Instrument	Keyboard
Website	soundprestige.jp

Career

Takada was born in Inuyama, Aichi, Japan,^[1] and took interest in music since childhood after playing the Electone at Yamaha Music School and experimenting with synthesizers.^[2] He learned to play the piano and tuba in high school and studied music in Tokyo for six years, earning a degree. He entered the game industry around the end of the Super Famicom, which he felt was a good time as game console sound chips were becoming more advanced.^[3] In 1997, Takada composed the soundtrack of Moonlight Syndrome, directed by Goichi Suda. Takada would compose music for multiple projects by Grasshopper Manufacture, which Suda founded after leaving Human Entertainment. For killer7, Takada placed a large emphasis on ambient music and sought to retell the game's story through the music.^[4] He considers the game's soundtrack to be among his favorite work. For No More Heroes, Takada took inspiration from The Chemical Brothers for the boss music.^[3]

On November 5, 2008, Takada founded Sound Prestige, a music and sound production company. The company also functions as a record label where Takada publishes his own music.^[5] Takada composed the soundtrack of Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc which released in 2010. For the soundtrack, Takada combined a variety of tones to convey tension and claustrophobia during exploration, and a sense of momentum during trials. Takada returned to compose the soundtrack of the sequel, Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair, in 2012, which sought to convey a tropical feel due to the change in setting. Takada composed for Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony in 2017, aiming for a more mature composition which ended up being more jazz-oriented. The soundtrack for V3 was much larger than the previous titles, and was split into two album releases.^[2]

In 2017, Takada co-founded the video game development studio Too Kyo Games, alongside former members of Spike Chunsoft.^[6] With the company, he composed for Death Come True (2020), Master Detective Archives: Rain Code (2023), and The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy (2025).^[7][8]

Works

All works listed below were composed by Takada unless otherwise noted.

Video games

Year	Title	Notes	Ref.
1996	Tsuribaka Nisshi		[9]
	Ranma ½: Battle Renaissance		[9]
	Parking Meijin		[9]
1997	2TaxGold		[9]
	Moonlight Syndrome		[9]
1998	Air Boarder 64		[9]
	Mikagura Shōjo Tanteidan		[9]
	Mizzurna Falls	piano arrangements	[9]
1999	Neko Zamurai		[9]
	Remote Control Dandy		[9]
	The Silver Case		[10]
2001	Flower, Sun, and Rain		[9]
2002	Robot Alchemic Drive		[9]
2003	Monster Attack		[9]
	Shining Soul II		[9]
	Shin Mikagura Shōjo Tanteidan		[9]
2004	Steel Battalion: Line of Contact		[9]
	Tetsujin 28-go		[9]
	Michigan: Report from Hell		[9]
2005	killer7	with Jun Fukuda; also sound director	[11]
	Global Defence Force		[9]
	The 25th Ward: The Silver Case		[12]
2006	Samurai Champloo: Sidetracked		[13]
	Contact		[9]
	Blood+: One Night Kiss		[9]
	Chōsōjū Mecha MG		[9]
	God Hand	also sound director	[14]
	Beatmania IIDX 12: Happy Sky	"IceCube Pf.(RX-Ver.S.P.L.)"	[9]
	Earth Defense Force 2017		[9]
2007	Beatmania IIDX 13: Distorted	"WaterCube Pf.(RX-Ver.S.P.L.)"	[9]
	Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles	with Jun Fukuda	[15]
	No More Heroes	also lead sound designer	[14]
2008	Super Smash Bros. Brawl	arrangements	[13]
	Flower, Sun, and Rain: Murder and Mystery in Paradise		[9]
	Beatmania IIDX 14: Gold	"PentaCube Gt.(RX-Ver.S.P.L.)"	[9]
	Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse		[9]
2009	Infinite Space		[16]
	Beatmania IIDX 16: Empress	"ToyCube Pf.(RX-Ver.S.P.L.)"	[9]
2010	Zangeki no Reginleiv		[14]
	Vanquish		[17]
	Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc		[9]
2012	Kid Icarus: Uprising	with various others	[14]
	Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair		[9]
2013	Earth Defense Force 2025		[9]
2014	Guardian Summoner		[9]
	Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U	arrangements	[18]
	Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls		[9]
	The Evil Within		[14]
2015	100 Sleeping Princes and the Kingdom of Dreams		[9]
	Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth		[19]
	Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair	with Jun Fukuda	[9]
	World Gimmick		[9]
2016	Crypt of the NecroDancer	Danganronpa arrangements	[9]
	Wagan Shiritori de Shōbuda!		[9]
	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan	with Naofumi Harada	[20]
	Beatmania IIDX 24: Sinobuz	"Yellow Sketch(RX-Ver.S.P.L.)"	[9]
2017	Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony		[21]
	Hana Oboro: Sengoku-den Ranki		[9]
	Earth Defense Force 5	with Jun Fukuda	[22]
	Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth – Hacker's Memory		[23]
2018	The 25th Ward: The Silver Case	"Silver2018 TKD Remix" and "BLACKOUT"	[24]
	Jekyll vs Hyde	stage play	[25]
	Super Smash Bros. Ultimate	arrangements	[14]
2019	Renshin Astral	with various others	[26]
2020	Death Come True		[27]
2022	Earth Defense Force 6	with Jun Fukuda	[28]
2023	Master Detective Archives: Rain Code		[7]
2025	The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy		[8]
TBA	Tribe Nine		[29]

Anime

Year	Title	Notes	Ref.
2013	Danganronpa: The Animation		[9]
2016	Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School		[30]
2018	100 Sleeping Princes and the Kingdom of Dreams		[31]
2019	Urashimasakatasen no Nichijō		[32]
2022	Tribe Nine		[29]

References

1. "サウンドプレステージ合同会社". soundprestige.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved December 8, 2021.
2. Kotowski, Don (November 15, 2017). "Masafumi Takada and Kazutaka Kodaka: Discussion (HEAT UP!)". Video Game Music Online. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
3. Sheffield, Brandon (June 27, 2008). "Masafumi Takada: Grasshopper's Musical Craftsman". Gamasutra. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
4. Casamassina, Matt (March 4, 2005). "The Music of Killer 7". IGN. Archived from the original on December 16, 2010. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
5. "サウンドプレステージ合同会社". soundprestige.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved December 3, 2021.
6. Sato (September 11, 2018). "Too Kyo Games Is Led By Danganronpa Staff And Zero Escape Series Creator". Siliconera. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
7. "『超探偵事件簿 レインコード』はコンシューマー向けに開発中。開発期間約5年におよぶ、小高和剛氏の推理ミステリーゲーム集大成に". Famitsu (in Japanese). Kadokawa Game Linkage. November 30, 2021. Archived from the original on November 30, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
8. Romano, Sal (June 18, 2024). "Aniplex, Too Kyo Games, and Media.Vision announce The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy for Switch, PC". Gematsu. Retrieved June 23, 2024.
9. サウンドプレステージ合同会社. soundprestige.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved September 30, 2021.
10. Fenner, Robert (November 13, 2016). "The Silver Case". RPGFan. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
11. Wales, Matt (November 17, 2018). "Capcom's wonderfully weird cult classic action-adventure Killer7 is now available on PC". Eurogamer. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
12. Clark, Justin (March 14, 2018). "The 25th Ward: The Silver Case Review: Obstruction Of Justice". GameSpot. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
13. Greene, Maggie (June 29, 2008). "Masafumi Takada on Music, Games, and Inspiration". Kotaku. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
14. Sounders, Mike (October 3, 2018). "3DS gem Tomodachi Life receives a new arrangement for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate". Destructoid. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
15. Ciulla, Tommy (August 1, 2012). "Resident Evil -The Umbrella Chronicles- Original Soundtrack". Video Game Music Online. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
16. Gann, Patrick (October 25, 2009). "Infinite Space Original Soundtrack". RPGFan. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
17. Leray, Joseph (March 18, 2010). "Vanquish director Shinji Mikami creates new dev house". Destructoid. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
18. Ishaan (August 22, 2014). "These Famous Composers Are Working On Super Smash Bros. For Nintendo 3DS". Siliconera. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
19. Fahey, Mike (February 23, 2016). "Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth: The Kotaku Review". Kotaku. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
20. PlatinumGames (May 24, 2016). Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan. Activision. Scene: Credits. Lead Music Composer: Masafumi Takada / Music Composer: Naofumi Harada
21. Hagues, Alana (September 19, 2017). "Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony". RPGFan. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
22. Takada, Masafumi [@KoudenMS] (December 21, 2017). 安定の「地球防衛軍」 ついに「５」！！！ 12/7　絶讃発売中！！！ 音楽担当しております。 EDF EDF EDF!!!!! (Tweet) (in Japanese). Retrieved December 3, 2018 – via Twitter.
23. Fahey, Mike (January 22, 2018). "The New Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth Is A Lot Like The Old One". Kotaku. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
24. 限定版サントラ試聴 (in Japanese). Retrieved June 9, 2021.
25. Takada, Masafumi [@KoudenMS] (March 22, 2018). 音楽朗読劇「ジキルVSハイド」オリジナルサウンドトラック配信開始！！ (Tweet) (in Japanese). Retrieved November 29, 2018 – via Twitter.
26. Kashiwagi, Mizuki (December 26, 2019). 落ち物デッキバトル『錬神のアストラル』配信記念インタビュー作曲家編。光田康典氏、下村陽子氏ら豪華メンバー6人が集う. automaton-media.com (in Japanese). Retrieved March 24, 2020.
27. Romano, Sal (December 14, 2019). "Death Come True teaser trailer, music composed by Masafumi Takada". Gematsu. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
28. Takada, Masafumi [@KoudenMS] (September 30, 2021). 地球防衛軍6も！EDF！EDF！EDF！#EDF6 (Tweet) (in Japanese). Retrieved September 30, 2021 – via Twitter.
29. 「 TRIBE NINE (トライブナイン) 」公式ポータルサイト. tribenine.tokyo (in Japanese). Retrieved September 30, 2021.
30. Pineda, Rafael (December 2, 2015). "New Danganronpa 3 -The End of Kibōgamine Gakuen- Anime Green-Lit". Anime News Network. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
31. Ressler, Karen (June 22, 2018). "100 Sleeping Princes and the Kingdom of Dreams Anime Reveals Staff, Story Premise". Anime News Network. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
32. Sherman, Jennifer (August 1, 2019). "Urashimasakatasen no Nichijō Anime Shorts' Video Reveals October 2 Premiere". Anime News Network. Retrieved March 28, 2020.

External links

• Official website (in Japanese)
• Masafumi Takada on Twitter (in Japanese)