SBPS-0006: Hako no Niwa

[Xenofan 29A]

Given the link on Amazon, it seems the album now has an official English title.

[Muzza]

Aw no way. =( This soundtrack will always be 'Hako no Niwa' to me.

Just don't change the track names! "The Wondering Forest", what D:

[the_miker]

Yeah this CD will always be Hako no Niwa to me too.

Shouldn't a child album be created for the digital release rather than just adding the Amazon buy link?

[Xenofan 29A]

Originally Posted by the_miker

Shouldn't a child album be created for the digital release rather than just adding the Amazon buy link?

I was under the impression that that's not encouraged if nothing about the album is changed.


And yeah, I prefer Hako no Niwa to The Boxed Garden myself.

[Cedille]

Another solution is putting the title into the alternative line.

[seanne]

I agree with Cedille - besides, how can we know that the title isn't just something Amazon came up with?

edit: So I'll move it down for now, and I think we should remove it entirely if there's no proof that it came from an official source.

[strugglepoo]

Wow, this soundtrack is excellent. The catchy and unique compositions, production, instrumentation, arrangement: all top notch. I'm not huge on Mitsuda, but this blew me away. I can certainly understand why he doesn't consider Chrono Trigger his representative work with an album like this. Anything else in his discrograpy similar to this that I may have missed out on?

[dissident93]

Originally Posted by strugglepoo

Wow, this soundtrack is excellent. The catchy and unique compositions, production, instrumentation, arrangement: all top notch. I'm not huge on Mitsuda, but this blew me away. I can certainly understand why he doesn't consider Chrono Trigger his representative work with an album like this. Anything else in his discrograpy similar to this that I may have missed out on?

Mitsuda is a musical genius. And anything like this? hmmm... I'd say this album is kinda unique among his catalog. it's definitely his style but it has a kid like carefree vibe to it that his other stuff does not.

If you loved this then I don't see why you wouldn't like his other stuff, but if you mean this specific style then the closest you would get to that would be Mario Party, but that's more way more simplistic than this soundtrack.

[strugglepoo]

Mitsuda is good, but the stuff people generally rave on about such as Chrono Cross, Xenogears/Saga, Shadow Hearts, Kid Icarus is just... boring to me. This one lifted my spirits, but I guess I just like upbeat, happy-go-lucky stuff like this. Legaia 2 had a few tunes I liked iirc, Moonlit Shadow is great, Bomerberman 64: TSA is amazing (although not sure exactly how much input is his). I need to give Soma Bringer another spin but it had a few tracks I liked.

I haven't listened to Tsugunai: Atonement, Deep Labyrinth, Inazuma Eleven series, Lime Odyssey, Sands of Destruction & Black Wolves Saga yet. Or his drama albums. His solo albums and other works I didn't mention didn't do much for me either. It's been a while since I last checked out Mario Party. I'm gonna go give it a listen!

Edit: "Wagon Tracks" makes my ears tingle with delight.

[LiquidAcid]

BLACK WOLVES SAGA isn't really Mitsuda anyway. He only wrote the track "Dear Dispear", so it's kinda like Xenoblade where he only did the ending theme.

[dissident93]

Originally Posted by strugglepoo

I haven't listened to Tsugunai: Atonement, Deep Labyrinth, Inazuma Eleven series, Lime Odyssey, Sands of Destruction & Black Wolves Saga yet. Or his drama albums. His solo albums and other works I didn't mention didn't do much for me either. It's been a while since I last checked out Mario Party. I'm gonna go give it a listen!

If you didn't like Chrono Cross and Xenogears, then you most likely won't like these soundtracks either. "/

[strugglepoo]

Originally Posted by LiquidAcid

BLACK WOLVES SAGA isn't really Mitsuda anyway. He only wrote the track "Dear Dispear", so it's kinda like Xenoblade where he only did the ending theme.

Ah, ok. I just did a quick scan of his discography without checking.

Originally Posted by dissident93

If you didn't like Chrono Cross and Xenogears, then you most likely won't like these soundtracks either. "/

Thanks for the heads up! I'll probably still end up checking them out one of these days, but good to know.

[Muzza]

I think it'd be worth your while to check out Mitsuda's score to Lime Odyssey. It's mostly a orchestral score, and there are some really light-hearted tracks here and there (like this, for example) which remind me of his work from Hako no Niwa.

[Xenofan 29A]

Originally Posted by strugglepoo

Mitsuda is good, but the stuff people generally rave on about such as Chrono Cross, Xenogears/Saga, Shadow Hearts, Kid Icarus is just... boring to me. This one lifted my spirits, but I guess I just like upbeat, happy-go-lucky stuff like this. Legaia 2 had a few tunes I liked iirc, Moonlit Shadow is great, Bomerberman 64: TSA is amazing (although not sure exactly how much input is his). I need to give Soma Bringer another spin but it had a few tracks I liked.

I still think Mitsuda is one of the top 2 or 3 VGM composers in the business. Hako no Niwa and Moonlit Shadow are great, no doubt, but I think that Xenogears, Xenosaga, and Soma Bringer are his best works. (Chrono Trigger isn't even close in my book.)

If you love Hako no Niwa, I think you could appreciate the other ones you mentioned as well (Kid Icarus was not mainly Mitsuda. He only did 2 tracks and some orchestration). They have the same kind of inventive instrumentation, melody, and harmony.