Hiroki Kikuta

• Game Music, Reviews

  More Adult Music From Kikuta: In The Sky On the Water (Review)

  June 12, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 4 Comments Share this More Adult Music From Kikuta: In The Sky On the Water (Review)

  

  If you’re tired of our references to Kikuta’s foray into the realm of hentai games, too bad! I think it’s way too funny to let it go. In all honesty though, his work on these games has been amazing, from his Seiken Densetsu 2-esque LOVE RELAXATION album to the oddly-named NICE LIFE AS WIFE. This time we’re taking a look at IN THE SKY ON THE WATER, which is the soundtrack album for Sora no Iro Mizu no Iro.

  You’ll find the usual mix of upbeat Kikuta standards here, but there are a surprising number of more serious and even brooding tracks on the second half of the album. It’s a nice blend of the old, familiar, and easy-going Kikuta that we all love and the more mature version that we’re still trying to get to know.

  Find out why it might be a good idea to let Kikuta’s porn music defile your ears in our review of IN THE SKY ON THE WATER after the jump. (more…)

• Game Music, Reviews

  More Eroge Soundtracks From Kikuta: Nice Life As Wife (Review)

  May 20, 2009 | Patrick Gann | 3 Comments Share this More Eroge Soundtracks From Kikuta: Nice Life As Wife (Review)

  

  Earlier this month, we (or rather, Jayson) reviewed “Love Relaxation,” which is Kikuta’s score for the 2005 Puzzlebox erotic love adventure Sakura Relaxation. Today, we cover the other album from the Kikuta-Puzzlebox match-up: “Nice Life As Wife.”

  Like Love Relaxation, this album title is not one in the same with the game title, which is “Niitsuma wa Sailor Fuku” (and, actually, the Romanization on the album cover is incorrect, it’s actually Niizuma). And also like Love Relaxation, Nice Life As Wife is essentially a reprint of the game’s OST, released as a promotional item alongside the game in 2005. So if you were hardcore enough to follow Kikuta-san’s post-Square, post-Sacnoth work, you’ve probably already heard (or, at least, heard *of*) these albums.

  But if you haven’t heard this music, and you want to know what your old friend of Seiken Densetsu fame was able to accomplish during his “I write music for hentai games” phase, check out the rest of this review, after the jump! (more…)

• Game Music, Reviews

  It’s Not Perverted, It’s Love: Hiroki Kikuta’s Love Relaxation Album (Review)

  April 15, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 5 Comments Share this It’s Not Perverted, It’s Love: Hiroki Kikuta’s Love Relaxation Album (Review)

  

  After playing the hentai games that Kikuta sent us, here we are with the actual soundtrack albums. Love Relaxation is actually the Sakura Relaxation soundtrack, given this new name for reasons unknown. But no matter what Kikuta wants to call it, it doesn’t change the fact that this is good stuff!

  This album in particular is significant as Sakura Relaxation marked Kikuta’s return to game music after a five-or-so year hiatus marked by canceled games and the closing of his development studio. Most people were right at home with the Sakura Relaxation, as it most closely resembles his work Seiken Densetsu 2 with its playful melodies and whimsical atmosphere.

  Read our review of the Love Relaxation after the jump. (more…)

• Game Music

  Soundtrack of the Month 10/2008: Seiken Densetsu 2 OSV (Secret of Mana)

  October 3, 2008 | Patrick Gann | 5 Comments Share this Soundtrack of the Month 10/2008: Seiken Densetsu 2 OSV (Secret of Mana)

  

  Most people that read this site know, at the very least, the “big names” of Japanese VGM. Nobuo Uematsu, Koichi Sugiyama, Yasunori Mitsuda, Motoi Sakuraba, Hitoshi Sakimoto, Yoko Kanno, and others are well-recognized not only for the vast quantity of music they’ve produced in the last 2 decades, but also for their quality.

  But not everyone knows about the extremely talented Hiroki Kikuta. There are reasons for this: Kikuta’s body of work is relatively small, and scattered across a variety of sources (though most know him from Square/Square-Enix titles). Today, we take a look at the soundtrack that put the man right into the middle of VGM stardom: Secret of Mana.

  Hit the jump and enjoy! (more…)

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