Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Memories (#14889)

[datwerg]

I asked Mr. Tanabe some time ago (about a year ago at this point) about his contributions for this game. While he didn't name any specific tracks, he told me the following:


(He goes by Naoto (@Naotogrape) on social media)

He said that he was in charge of the Techno and Ambient type tracks, while Naoko Ishii did the classical (orchestral) compositions. This is consistent with the credits of various games that reuse Ishii's compositions (Duel Monsters 3/Dark Duel Stories namely). Strangely he didn't name Ozaki...

Now, to the address something quite big about this game: some of the music in this game is plagiarized. In particular, some compositions were lifted from two games in which Noriko Matsueda was involved with: Bahamut Lagoon and, to a much larger extent, Front Mission 2, both games that were evidently developed and released long before Forbidden Memories.

Some examples include Battle with Alexander (Bahamut Lagoon):
https://youtu.be/NgY7HCgqfxw
&
Madness (Front Mission 2):
https://youtu.be/j24pmpfLd_s

being merged to become 3D Duel (Egypt):
https://youtu.be/udmmha4guAc

There's also Enemy Battle (Heavy) from Front Mission 2:
https://youtu.be/BUE9dbSKgY0

...which was ripped wholesale to become 3D Duel (Darknite):
https://youtu.be/S0aaS9ybHY8

Furthermore there's Player Battle (Swift Attack):
https://youtu.be/uwG2GsNCJYQ

Which was very obviously turned into the Heishin Duel theme:
https://youtu.be/xYl65KWyhrY

So with the information given to us by Mr. Tanabe, it's feasible that Naoko Ishii was responsible for all this (in fact, Kami no Kijutsu also features a song ripped from Front Mission 2).

I propose two scenarios:
Naoko Ishii is a massive plagiarist OR, and this is quite the conspiracy theory, Naoko Ishii was a penname for Noriko Matsueda to use when working on music for various Konami games, and they wanted to reuse their own work for this game.

Ishii seemingly vanished into the ether after the early 00s... but who knows why.

[BlazingAbyss]

Wow, that's quite surprising. Are there other tracks besides those that were also lifted from Bahamut Lagoon and Front Mission 2?

Originally Posted by datwerg

He said that he was in charge of the Techno and Ambient type tracks, while Naoko Ishii did the classical (orchestral) compositions. This is consistent with the credits of various games that reuse Ishii's compositions (Duel Monsters 3/Dark Duel Stories namely). Strangely he didn't name Ozaki...

I'm not sure if this information helps in any way, but there's a handful reoccurring Yu-Gi-Oh tracks that originate from Yu-Gi-Oh! Monster Capsule Breed and Battle. There's probably more examples, but here are the ones that I'm aware of.

Yugi Appears: The Eternal Duelist Soul/Stairway to the Destined Duel

Anzu (Téa) Appears: Dark Duel Stories

Sugoroku (Solomon) Appears: Dark Duel Stories, The Eternal Duelist Soul/Stairway to the Destined Duel

Seto Kaiba Appears: The Eternal Duelist Soul/Stairway to the Destined Duel, Forbidden Memories

The Terror of Blue-Eyes ~Kaiba Battle~: Forbidden Memories (Preist Seto / Seto Kaiba,) The Duelists of the Roses/The Falsebound Kingdom, The Falsebound Kingdom

Dark (Yami) Yugi Appears: The Eternal Duelist Soul/Stairway to the Destined Duel

Shadow Game ~Dark (Yami) Yugi Battle~: Dark Duel Stories, The Duelists of the Roses/The Falsebound Kingdom, The Falsebound Kingdom