Mr Sakuraba is composing the music for the Wii game Valhalla Knights: Eldar Saga. The game is being published by Marvelous Entertainment, in development at K2 and slated for release in Japan within 2009.

Square Enix announced the forth entry to the long running popular series, Star Ocean: The Last Hope for Xbox 360, in development at tri-Ace, for release in Japan on February 19th, in Northern America on March 3rd, and in Europe within spring. Mr Sakuraba is composing and arranging its music. The above site has a new sample. There is no date for the soundtrack yet.

Nintendo is releasing a port of Mario Tennis GC to Wii on January 15th as part of its Wii de Asobu ("play on the Wii") products line. Motion controls replace the original controls. Further changes or additions have not been announced. Mr Sakuraba composed and arranged the game's music of which no soundtrack album exists.

TEAM Entertainment announced the vocal collaboration album Message (KDSD-00252), planned for released on Christmas Eve, December 24th. For this album eleven well known video game music composers team up with one singer each to produce original vocal tracks. Mr Sakuraba is joined by Haruka Shimotsuki, known among others for many vocals to games by Gust. A regularly updated special site offers samples.

Mr Sakuraba is joining a wide range of popular video game composer for contributing arrangements of past Konami classics within the Xbox 360 port of the arcade shooter Otomedius G. The game will be released on the Japanese Xbox LIVE network on November 20th. No announcement if it will see a release on Xbox LIVE in other regions or a stand alone music album release.

Square Enix released Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume (also known by the Japanese subtitle The Accused One) for DS in Japan on November 1st. Mr Sakuraba adapted past music as well as contributed new compositions and arrangements. Square Enix released the soundtrack (SQEX-10125~6) on November 5th, while TEAM Entertainment released an arrange album (KDSD-00239) on the same day. Plenty samples of the soundtrack can be found on the publisher's page. In North America the game sees a release on March 17th, 2009, while it is planned for sometime in spring in Europe.

After several years with only games related works Mr Sakuraba is now confirmed to compose for the animated series Tales of the Abyss, produced by Bandai Visual, created by Sunrise and is airing on MBS' Japanese TV networks since October, after the premiere on Tokyo MX on September 26th. No soundtrack or airings outside Japan have been announced so far.

NBGI announced Tales of Hearts for Nintendo DS, to be released as separate Animation Edition and CG Edition on December 18th. BMG is planning a two disks soundtrack release of it on December 10th (BVCR-14044~5). Mr Sakuraba is composing and arranging a part of the game's soundtrack. Mr Sakuraba is also contributing 10 arranged pieces for the CG Edition pre-order bonus Visual & Original Soundtrack DVD.

Additionally NBGI announced Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2 for PSP, to be released next year. Mr Sakuraba is composing and arranging a part of the music for this game as well. The game is planned for release on January 29th, 2009.

NBGI released Trusty Bell: Chopin no Yume: Reprise for PS3 with three additional pieces by Mr Sakuraba on September 18th. The North America version was released on October 21st with an European release supposedly coming sometime in February, 2009. No words on whether there will be a soundtrack for the new music.

The play list for Enterbrain's video game music concert Press Start 2008 included the piece To the End of the Journey of Shining Stars from Baten Kaitos. The concert was already sold out day one and was held at Shibuya Bunkamura Orchard Hall in Tokyo on September 14th, featuring conductor Taizo Takemoto and the Kanagawa Philharmonic Orchestra. While announcing this inclusion to the program concert co-organiser and popular Final Fantasy series' music composer Mr Nobuo Uematsu introduced Mr Sakuraba by referring to him as one of his favourite composers. No recordings of the concert has been announced.

Square Enix took over the publishing of the Xbox 360 game Infinite Undiscovery, a game developed by tri-Ace and initially announced by Microsoft which is funding the project. Mr Sakuraba was confirmed as sole composer for this game. The above site offers three sample pieces along with the first one used in the first trailer. The North American and European sites opened as well, with the latter containing a lenghty theme.

The game was released on September 2nd in Northern America, 5th in Europe and 11th in Japan. In Japan Square Enix offered a pre-order bonus Square Enix X Xbox 360 Sound Collections which contains music samples of this game and the upcoming Star Ocean: The Last Hope among others. Square Enix also released the soundtrack to the game on October 8th (available at VGM World), plenty samples can be heard on the official soundtrack page.

TEAM Entertainment released the Tales of Series: Battle Arrange Tracks album (available at VGM World) on August 27th. Mr Sakuraba is confirmed to be both the sole composer and arranger for this.

Furthermore TEAM Entertainment released the Tales of Series: Piano Arrange Tracks album (available at VGM World) on September 24th. Mr Sakuraba is confirmed to be the sole composer and arranger as well as the solo piano performer for this.

The spin-off sequel Tales of Symphonia: Knight of Ratatosk for Wii was released on June 26th in Japan and is scheduled for November 11th in North America, the latter getting it under the name Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World. Avex Trax released a four disks soundtrack on July 9th (AVCD-23646~9). Mr Sakuraba composed, arranged and remixed parts of the soundtrack. He also contributed the Western version's opening theme not included on the soundtrack.

Furthermore NBGI released Tales of Vesperia for Xbox 360 in Japan on August 7th and in North America on August 26th, and plans to do the same in Europe within 2009. An international demo of the game is available on the Xbox LIVE Marketplace. Warner Music released a four disks soundtrack release of it on August 20th (WPCL-10491~4). Mr Sakuraba is responsible for composing and arranging a part of the soundtrack.

Japanese Amusement-Center.com continues the strike by adding more Wolfteam soundtracks to its catalogue, this time (May 9th) the diverse sides of the Arcus series:

• Arcus Odyssey X68000, originally released in June 1991, contains FM and MT-32 tracks
• Arcus II PC88, originally released in November 1989, contains two kinds of FM tracks
• Arcus II X68000, originally released in January 1990, contains FM tracks
• Arcusyu PC88, originally released in December 1989, contains two kinds of FM tracks
• Arcusyu X68000, originally released in March 1990, contains FM tracks

Mr Sakuraba composed plenty of these games' music, of which Arcus Odyssey and Arcusyu never received official soundtrack releases before.

Mr Sakuraba contributed an arrangement of Battlefield - Scatter About to the Super Arrange Version album (VGCD-0136) released by Five Records on May 9nth. The album contains arrangements of music from Atlus games Sekaiju no Meikyuu I and II (called Etrian Odyssey I and II in the West) originally composed by Yuzu Koshiro. A short sample of the track can be found at the publisher's album page (track number 15).

Japanese Amusement-Center.com strikes again and add even further Wolfteam soundtracks to its EGG MUSIC shop, this time (April 4th) from the Hiouden and again the Zan series:

• Hiouden PC98, originally released on July 26th, 1992, contains FM, MT-32 and CM-64 tracks
• Hiouden 2 PC98, originally released in November 27th, 1993, contains two kinds of FM as well as MT-32 and CM-64 tracks
• Zan Gear for Game Gear, originally released on October 23rd 1990, contains PSG chip tunes

Mr Sakuraba composed plenty of these games' music which never received official soundtrack releases before.

Columbia announced that Mr Sakuraba composed and arranged the ending theme song Contradiction, with lyrics by kanoko and sung by Asami Imai and Chiaki Takahashi. The track is included in the drama CD with the title The Idolm@Ster Radio Vocal Master (COCX-34829), released on April 2nd.

Mr Sakuraba arranged music for the Nintendo Wii game Super Smash Bros. Brawl as part of a huge list of participating composers and musicians. In the game the music is organised through a feature called My Music which allows for more music to be unlocked as the player proceeds through the game. Among the music available from the start Mr Sakuraba contributed Menu (from Super Smash Bros. Melee), Mario Tennis/Mario Golf, Jungle Level Ver.2 (from Donkey Kong Country) and Gourmet Race (from Kirby Super Star), three more tracks by him are possible to unlock. There is a sample track of Menu.

The game was released in Japan on January 31th, in North America on March 9th and in Europe on June 27th. A soundtrack may not be possible according to an interviews about the music between Nintendo president Iwata and game designer Sakurai.

NBGI released Tales of Destiny Director's Cut for PS2 in Japan on January 31th. Mr Sakuraba contributed additional music to this game. The Premium Box contains a Special Soundtrack CD which includes the 5 tracks newly added to the game (along 16 old arranged Tales music tracks) by Mr Sakuraba.

Furthermore a port of Tales of Rebirth to PSP was released in Japan on March 19th. Mr Sakuraba composed and arranged parts of the original game's music.

TEAM Entertainment released a soundtrack to the Korean online RPG Red Stone (available at VGM World) on January 30th. Mr Sakuraba contributed an arranged version of the game's main theme.

After a short break Japanese Amusement-Center.com add further Wolfteam soundtracks to its EGG MUSIC shop, this time (January 25th) from the Zan series featuring Mr Sakuraba's distinctive mix of progressive and Japanese ethnic music. Newly added games in particular are:

• Zan Yaksa Enbukyoku PC88/PC98, originally released in August 1990, contains two kinds of FM as well as MT-32 tracks
• Zan 2 PC98, originally released in October 1991, contains FM and MT-32 tracks
• Zan 3 PC98, originally released in December 1993, contains two kinds of FM as well as MT-32 tracks

Mr Sakuraba composed most of these games' music which never received official soundtrack releases before.

Read our related interview with Mr Sakuraba, exclusively in English.

On January 23rd TEAM Entertainment released Mr Sakuraba's first solo album in nearly 16 years, Forest of Glass (available at VGM World), his second solo work after Gikyoku Onsou. The long awaited album mentioned to be in the work on Mr Sakuraba's personal website MS Motion before is mentioned to consist of 14 original piano pieces with a duration of around 53 minutes. Publisher TEAM Entertainment's page for the album has samples of Fly!, Narratage and Resolution.

MS Motion has further information in English.

Capcom released We Love Golf!, developed by Camelot Software Planning, for Wii in Japan on December 13th. It was released in North America on July 15th, 2008, and in Europe on June 27th, 2008. While not publically confirmed yet for this game Mr Sakuraba is the sole composer for this developer since 1995, music in his style can be listened to on the official site linked above (Results Birdie, Main Theme and Clubhouse Outside). A soundtrack has not been announced.

Square-Enix announced that the first two games of the series are remade for PSP as Star Ocean: First Departure (released on December 27th) and Star Ocean: Second Evolution (released on April 2nd, 2008).

Mr Sakuraba did the music to the two games. Star Ocean: First Departure uses the upgraded music from the soundtrack remake released in 2004 (available at VGM World, re-released with a couple additional tracks and a bonus DVD on January 30th, 2008, also available at VGM World), Star Ocean: Second Evolution uses the music from the original game released in 1998 (a re-released of the soundtrack with a bonus DVD was done on May 2nd, 2008, catalogue number is SQEX-10114~6. Additionally TEAM Entertainment released a reprint of the arrange album on May 21st, catalogue number is KDSD-00213), the above sites have 3 samples respectively.

In North America Star Ocean: First Departure is coming out October 21st, 2008, and Star Ocean: Second Evolution on January 20th, 2009. In Europe Star Ocean: First Departure was released on October 24th, 2008, and Star Ocean: Second Evolution will be within spring 2009.

Japanese Amusement-Center.com continues to add soundtracks to its EGG MUSIC shop. This time (August 14th) one of Mr Sakuraba earliest game music related work was added. For the Valis 2 X68000 port (originally released in December 1989, contains FM music) he arranged and adapted the music to the system. It did not received an official soundtrack release before.

Japanese Amusement-Center.com continues to add soundtracks of Wolfteam games to its EGG MUSIC shop for downloadable music. This time the focus is on Japanese systems which, besides FM sound, also allowed for MIDI music through external Roland MT-32 and CM-64 units (something Mr Sakuraba composed a lot for in the early to mid 1990s). Newly added this time (July 5th) are:

• Sol-Feace X68000, originally released in November 1990, contains FM, MT-32 and CM64 tracks
• Sol-Feace Mega Drive, originally released in December 1991, contains CD Audio and FM tracks
• Niko² X68000, originally released in November 1991, contains FM and MT-32 tracks
• Niko² PC9801 & 8801, originally released in November 1991, contains three different kinds of FM tracks
• Granada X68000, originally released in April 1990, contains FM and MT-32 tracks
• FZ Senki Axis X68000, originally released in October 1990, contains FM, MT-32 and CM-64 tracks

Mr Sakuraba composed most of these games' music which, besides FM tracks for Granada X68000 and FZ Senki Axis X68000, never received official soundtrack releases before.

In spring NBGI revealed their previously announced but unnamed RPG game for Xbox 360, Trusty Bell: Chopin no Yume, developed by tri-Crescendo (which hosts a trailer with music on its site). The story was described as Chopin travelling in his own fantastic dream shortly before he died in 1849 due to illness. Story and music plays an important role in the game and Mr Sakuraba composed and arranged its music aside Chopin's piano pieces which were performed by Russian pianist Stanislav Bunin. To fit the Chopin theme of the game the soundtrack does not include typical rock instruments. Xbox Japan's page for Trusty Bell has a battle theme as sample.

The game was released in Japan on June 14th. As a pre-order bonus there was a Special Soundtrack DVD with samples of the game's soundtrack. In North America the game was released as Eternal Sonata on September 17th (the website includes plenty music samples from the game). Atari released the game in Europe on October 19th. An international demo of the game is available on the Xbox LIVE Marketplace. The game has also been announced for a later release on Playstation 3.

A four CD soundtrack was released on July 25th by King Records (available at VGM World).

And Japanese Amusement-Center.com still keeps adding soundtracks of Wolfteam games to its EGG MUSIC shop for downloadable music. Newly added this time (May 25th) are FZ Senki Axis (originally released for Mega Drive in October 1990) and Granada (for Mega CD and Mega Drive in November 1990). Mr Sakuraba composed most of these games' music which never received official soundtrack releases before.

After Hiouden SFC Japanese Amusement-Center.com keeps adding soundtracks of Wolfteam games to its EGG MUSIC shop for downloadable music. Newly added this time (May 18th) are El Viento (originally released for Mega Drive in September 1991), Earnest Evans (for Mega CD and Mega Drive in December 1991) and Annet Futatabi (for Mega CD in March 1993). Mr Sakuraba composed most of these games' music which never received official soundtrack releases before.

Japanese Amusement-Center.com, well known for its various retro gaming solutions, recently (on March 30th) added a downloadable soundtrack for Wolfteam's Super Famicom game Hiouden ~ Mamono-tachi to no Chikai to its EGG MUSIC shop. Originally released in February 1994, the game's music was mostly composed by Mr Sakuraba and never received an official soundtrack release before.

In early 2006 NBGI announced the release of plenty new Tales game:

• Mr Sakuraba composed and arranged a new ending theme for the PSP game Tales of Phantasia: Full Voice Edition, released in Japan on September 7th.

• Mr Sakuraba also composed and arranged all of the music for the Nintendo DS game Tales of the Tempest, released in Japan on October 26th. Avex Trax released a soundtrack of it on February 21st (available at VGM World).

• Furthermore NBGI published the pre-order bonus Orange Gumi Dramatic DVD for Tales of Destiny for PS2, released in Japan on November 30th, containing twelve new exclusive arrangements of classic Tales tunes by Mr Sakuraba with an overall playtime of over 40 minutes. The tracks chosen as well as three short samples can be found on the official website's campaign page. Mr Sakuraba also contributed new compositions and arrangements to the Tales of Destiny PS2 game remake itself. King Records released a soundtrack of it on May 23rd (available at VGM World).

• Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology for PSP, released in Japan on December 20th, reused a dozen older Tales tracks, most of which were composed by Mr Sakuraba. The game is announced for release in North America in summer 2007. King Records released a soundtrack of it on March 7th (available at VGM World).

• The pre-order bonus Peach Gumi Dramatic DVD for the PSP remake of Tales of Destiny 2, released in Japan on February 15th, again included exclusive arrangements by Mr Sakuraba with an overall playtime of over 30 minutes. The tracklist was as follows:
  1. Wing of hope (Tales of the Abyss)
  2. The arrow was shot (Tales of the Abyss)
  3. Icy edge (Tales of Rebirth)
  4. The end of a thought (Tales of Symphonia)
  5. Eternal oath (Tales of Symphonia)
  6. The edge of an oath (Tales of Rebirth)
  7. Guidance of the moon (Tales of Rebirth)
  8. Happiness in my hand (Tales of the Abyss)
  9. Last battle - decision (Tales of Symphonia)

Further Western game releases or further separate soundtrack releases are still to be announced.

Asmik Ace announced their latest tactical RPG game Tenshou Gakuen Gekkouroku for PS2, a spiritual sequel to their year 2004 release Tokyo Majin Gakuen. All of its music was composed and arranged by Mr Sakuraba. The game was released in Japan in November 22nd. TEAM Entertainment released its soundtrack on November 8th (available at VGM World). Western releases of the game are not announced so far.

tri-Ace's long-awaited PS2 sequel to their cult classic Valkyrie Profile was released in Japan on June 22nd and on September 26th in North America. Europe got the game on September 7th, 2007. All music for this game was composed and arranged by Mr Sakuraba.

TEAM Entertainment released the first of a set of original soundtracks to it on July 12th (available at VGM World), the second one on July 26th (available at VGM World), an arrange album on August 9th (available at VGM World) and a voice mix album on August 23rd (available at VGM World).

To coincide with the release of the new title Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria on June 22nd Mr Sakuraba, who was working on its soundtrack, gave a concert on June 4th. You can find more information at Mr Sakuraba's personal website Motion. The playlist was as follows:

1. Overture to the Destiny (VP2)
2. Unfinished Battle with God Syndrome (VP1)
3. Hand to Hand (SOBS)
4. Requiem to a Predicament ~ Falling under Negative Consciousness (VP1)
5. Mission to the Deep Space (VP1 & SO2,3)
6. Confidence in the Domination ~VP2 Version~ (VP1,2 & SO3)
7. Get Light into the Hand (VP2) ~ Piano Solo
8. Dance without Mercy and Malice (VP2) ~ Drum Solo ~ Bass Solo ~ Ensemble
9. A Motion of Finishing Blow (VP2)
10. Celestial Troupe (VP2)
11. Cutting Edge of Notion (SO3)
12. Doorway to Heaven (VP1)
13. Encore: The Incarnation of Devil (VP1 & SO2,3) ~ Confidence in the Domination ~VP1 Version~ (VP1,2 & SO3)

TEAM Entertainment released a CD recording of the concert on September 20th (available at VGM World).

Mr Sakuraba took part as keyboard player on one song on this CD Single for the PS2 game Atelier Iris: Grand Fantasm. The CD Single was released by TEAM Entertainment on June 14th and is available at VGM World.

Among other game music composers Mr Sakuraba contributed to the Japanese cell phone ring tones provider MelodyClip's latest project. The goal was to offer new frequency modulation compositions by popular former FM music composers. Results can be freely downloaded to cell phones and previewed on the web. A compilation CD of the results has been released and is available at VGM World.

Mr Sakuraba did one medley arrangement for the Aruze Pachinko Sound Collection 1 ~ Hanabi CD released by TEAM Entertainment on May 17th (KDSD-00091).

Square Enix released a PSP port of tri-Ace's classic PlayStation game Valkyrie Profile in Japan on March 2nd and in North America on July 18th. In Europe it was released on April 27th, 2007. All music for this game was composed and arranged by Mr Sakuraba. TEAM Entertainment accomandated this with a re-release of the original soundtracks on March 1st available at VGM World. A re-release of the Arrange Album, also available at VGM World, followed on May 31st. Further western releases dates for the game are still to be announced.

Nintendo distributed Namco's GameCube game Baten Kaitos II in Japan on February 23rd, 2006. This sequel was again a colaboration between tri-Crescendo and Monolith Software, and all its music was composed and arranged by Mr Sakuraba. A three discs soundtrack was released on March 24th by TEAM Entertainment and is available at VGM World. The game was released as Baten Kaitos Origins in North America on September 25th. Further western releases of the game are still to be announced.

TEAM Entertainment released a new CD for which Mr Sakuraba participated arranging music toghether with other game music composers. The CD was released on January 25th and is available at VGM World.

The Tales series by Namco is back again with yet another release for PlayStation 2. The game was released in Japan on December 15th. Some of the music in this game had been composed and arranged by Mr Sakuraba. A four discs soundtrack was released by King Records on March 22nd and is available at VGM World. The game was released in North America on October 10th, 2006. Further western releases of the game are still to be announced.

Nintendo published the latest GameBoy Advance game of Camelot's Mario Sports series as Mario Tennis Advance on September 13th in Japan, to be released on November 18th in Europe, and as Mario Tennis: Power Tour on December 5th in North America. All music in this game had been composed and arranged by Mr Sakuraba. An official soundtrack for this game is not planned so far.

After his work on the Weißkreuz Glühen anime soundtrack Mr Sakuraba is now working again for Kids Station, this time on the soundtrack of the PlayStation 2 online game Duel Masters ~Birth of Super Dragon~ for which he composed and arranged all music. The game was released on March 10th in Japan. No plans for release in North America and Europe were announced yet. A two discs soundtrack was released by TEAM Entertainment on March 24th and is available at VGM World.

TEAM Entertainment released a new compilation of arranged music from the Star Ocean series and the Valkyrie Profile game, including two new arrangements as bonus tracks. It was released on December 22nd and is available at VGM World.

The Tales series by Namco is back with a new release for PlayStation 2. The game was released in Japan on December 18th, release plans for North America and Europe were not announced so far. Some of the music in this game had been composed and arranged by Mr Sakuraba. An official soundtrack was released by King Records on January 26th (catalog number KICA-1353~6).

Nintendo published the latest GameCube game of Camelot's Mario Sports series as "Mario Power Tennis" on November 8th in North America, and as "Mario Tennis GC" on October 24th in Japan. The release date for Europe is set to February 25th in 2005. All music in this game had been composed and arranged by Mr Sakuraba. An official soundtrack for this game is not planned so far.
Official North American Website

Baten Kaitos, published by Namco, is a grande colaboration between tri-Crescendo and Monolith Software. This GameCube game was released in Japan a year ago and is available in North America since November 14th. In Europe it was released on May 1st, 2005. All music in this game had been composed and arranged by Mr Sakuraba. An official soundtrack for this game is available at VGM World.
Official North American Website

The latest entry to the long running Tales series by Namco was released for GameCube in North America on July 13th and in Europe on November 19th. Some of the music in this game had been composed and arranged by Mr Sakuraba. An official soundtrack is available from King Records (catalog number KICA-1337-40).
Official North American Website

The latest entry to the long running Star Ocean series by tri-Ace was released for PlayStation 2 in North America on August 31st and in Europe on October 1st. All music in this game had been composed and arranged by Mr Sakuraba. The three official soundtracks for this game are available at VGM World.
Official North American Website

"Mario Golf Toadstool Tour" for GameCube was finally released in Europe on June 18th, and "Mario Golf Adavance Tour" for GameBoy Advance was released in North America on June 22nd and in Europe on September 17th. All music in these games had been composed and arranged by Mr Sakuraba. An official soundtrack for these games is not planned so far.

The classic computer graphic movie "Blue Remains" from 2000 with movie music composed and arranged by Mr Sakuraba is being published by Artsmagic in Europe since last year (catalog number WA047D) and by WEA in North America since November 16th (ASIN: B000654ZCI).

Motoi Sakuraba's Official Personal Japanese Website was launched on October 24, 2004. Here you will find more information and photos about Mr Sakuraba, his music and his instruments.

Please visit Motion.com for more information. Courteously, Motoi Sakuraba and Toru Aono (Motion-Planning).

Motoi Sakuraba's Live concert review and photos have been updated. The concert was held on August 14th, 2004 at the Astro Hall, Harajuku, Tokyo Japan.

This information is also available at GoGameMusic.com. Please give them a visit! We would like to thank Mr Justin Pfeiffer for his review.

Mr Sakuraba is featured in the July issue of the French Progressive Rock Magazine, Harmonie. The writer reviewed the Motoi Sakuraba Live Concert DVD and the Baten Kaitos Album. If you are located in Europe, please try to get a hold of this magazine. Language is in French.

Date: August 14th, 2004 (Saturday)

Time: Gate Opens at 17:30/ Concert Starts at 18:00

Place: Harajuku Astro Hall (in Tokyo, Japan)

Performers: Motoi Sakuraba, Atsushi Hasegawa and Toshihiko Nakamura

Ticket: Pre-Sale for 4,500Yen, On-the-Day for 4.800Yen (both Including Tax)

Additional Drink charge of 500Yen will be needed. Limited to 350 people only. There will not be any tickets at the door if the pre-sold tickets exceed 350. Tickets will be on sale from May 30th, 2004 (Sunday), 10:00 a.m. Tickets will be available at Lawson Ticket

On December 17th, the original soundtrack for MonolithSoft's Baten Kaitos -Owaranai Tsubasa to Ushinawareta Umi- (Forever Wings and Lost Sea) was released. All music on the two-disc set was composed by Mr Sakuraba.

Near the end of November, the "Maneuver Cepter Granada" CD was re-released by Engine Inc. Japan. The CD was originally released on December 12th, 1990, and the re-release was limited to 500 copies worldwide.

For those interested in a copy, this may be the last chance it's available. Head on over to VGM World.

The live recording from the "Star Ocean" and "Valkyrie Profile Concert" was released on CD and DVD. The live concert was held on July 19th, 2003 at ZEPP Tokyo, Tokyo Japan. Mr Sakuraba who composed and arranged all tracks and re-arranged them for this live show astonished his fans with his music. This CD and DVD contains the atmosphere of this very special live show by the three band members playing, "The Keyboards, The Bass and The Drums".

CD Information
Title: Motoi Sakuraba Live Concert "Star Ocean & Valkyrie Profile"
Contents: 2 Disc Set. These albums contain the complete recording of the live concert. Also contains the Studio recording of Motoi Sakuraba Piano-Solo as bonus track!
Release Date: October 22nd, 2003
Price: 3,675yen
Catalog Number: KDSC-00019-20
Publisher: TEAM Entertainment

DVD Information
Title: Motoi Sakuraba Live Concert "Star Ocean & Valkyrie Profile"
Contents: This DVD contains the complete recording of the live concert. Also included are the rehearsal, backstage scenes, interview with the main staff members, more music videos by the band members in a studio, and scenes of Motoi Sakuraba's Piano Solo as a bonus.
Release Date: November 19th, 2003
Price 6,090yen
Format: DVD 1 Disc. Region-Free.
Catalog Number: KDDV-00001
Publisher: TEAM Entertainment

Special Thanks:
CocoeBiz would like to thank to Mr Kitahara of TEAM Entertainment for taking our request in making this DVD Region-Free for international fans.

Copyright
© 1996 tri-Ace Ltd./MEIMU/SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved.
© 1998 tri-Ace Inc./LINKS/Minato Koio/SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved.
© 2001 tri-Ace Inc./HigashiMayumi/SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved.
© 2003 tri-Ace Inc./SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved.
© 1999 tri-Ace INC./PRODUCTION I.G/Actas Inc./SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved.

(August 2, 2003) Update: We now have both a review and photo gallery available for the concert.

Message from Mr Sakuraba to his fans:

Original content written by TEAM Entertainment.

Motoi Sakuraba Live Concert "Star Ocean & Varkyrie Profile"

July 19th at Zepp Tokyo Live Report

On the 19th of July 2003, Mr Sakuraba's live concert was held at the concert hall "Zepp Tokyo" that is located in Tokyo Rinkai Fukutoshin (Tokyo Waterfront Subcenter). Many fans waited in front of the live concert hall early for the concert to begin , and with great anticipation of this event.

At 16:00pm, the doors were opened, and the first thing the fans got to see was a huge set stage. There was an enormous TV screen in the center, elevated above the stage and there were smaller TV monitors that lined the base of the stage, we assumed that the crowd there was astonished by the set up of the "Sound" and "Vision" equipment on stage.

Finally, the exciting opening moment arrived at 17:00pm! Mr Sakuraba with his keyboards set up high in fortress-style surrounded him, as if it he was reaching for the sky, and played beautifully with his hands. Mr Atsushi Hasegawa, the base player, produced deep sounds that echoed and was felt throughout the concert hall. Mr Toshihiko Nakamura, the drummer, astonished the audience with his drum techniques and style played with exploding energy.

The sounds of the concert and game music fused with completeness in its style. The 2-hour live concert gave us an insight of new possibilities in Video Game Music.

Posters advertising the event were only available at the concert were very popular with the audience. There were limited quantities of autographed cards that were to very few lucky fans.

Live Track List:

M1 The Dawn of Wisdom
M2 Mikakunin Jintoh Syndrome
M3 Fly Away in the Violet Sky
M4 Reflected Moon
M5 Hand to Hand
M6 Kyukyo e no Requiem
M7 March for Glory
M8 Theme of RENA ~Drum Solo~ ~Bass Solo~
M9 Highbrow
M10 So Alone, Be Sorrow
M11 Mission to the Deep Space
M12 Confidence in the domination
M13 Cutting Edge of Notion
M14 Tenku no Tobira

M15 "Encore"
STAR OCEAN FOREVER - The Incarnation of Devil - The Dawn of Wisdom

Courtesy of TEAM Entertainment Inc., Japan; Content translated by CocoeBiz, L.L.C. U.S.A.