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  #1  
Old Jul 6, 2010, 09:21 PM
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CHz CHz is offline
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I've started to have some doubts about whether Miki Higashino was actually part of the THELONIOUS MONKEES.

So let's clear the other three before we do anything else. Masanori Adachi and Hirofumi Taniguchi are definitely members:





Taro Kudo, who left Konami for Love-de-Lic with Adachi and Taniguchi, is in all probability a member too. "Taro" composed two pieces for Moon: Remix RPG Adventure under the TM group name and sang on the vocal arrangement "I kept my promise to you":



Kudo did game design for Moon, so he appears in the credits of the game:



So anyway I think he's surely a member too.

Higashino, unlike the other three, remained at Konami, working on Genso Suikogaiden I and II. As far as I know, she was never explicitly credited on any TM works. On TEN PLANTS, she's in the "Special thanks" section for the THELONIOUS MONKEES track. I don't know why she'd be thanked separately if she were actually part of the group.



Note also that that CGI "picture" of the group has three monkeys in it, not four. I'm sure the one in the middle is supposed to be Masanori Adachi. Both Hirofumi Taniguchi and Taro Kudo wear glasses, so they could theoretically be the other two, but obviously I'm wildly speculating that that picture is even a caricature in the first place.

How did Higashino come to be associated with TM in the first place? In the credits for "I kept my promise to you" that I posted above, "Miki" is credited for lyrics translation (to English). She was a Konami Kukeiha Club member with all of them, working with Adachi and Taniguchi on Contra III (Adachi: co-composer, Taniguchi: SFX) and again on Suikoden (Adachi: played bass; Taniguchi: co-composer).

Plus, TM's first known track was an original composition for the album Infinity, published in December 1995. That's also the month that Suikoden, Taniguchi's and Adachi's last known work at Konami, was released in Japan. The timing is close enough that they could very well have formed TM while all four of them were still at Konami, since we don't know exact dates.

However, does Higashino even know English? I honestly have no idea. There's another Miki who worked on Moon who possibly could've done the lyrics translations: Miki Yamauchi.



I really have no idea if it's her either, though.
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Old Dec 28, 2011, 04:47 PM
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We confirmed through an interview with Miki Higashino that she is not a member of the Thelonious Monkees. To be published in January.
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Old Jan 18, 2012, 03:31 AM
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Just read the interview, good stuff. I removed her a while back just to be on the safe side, but tons of thanks for thinking to ask her for confirmation!
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Old May 10, 2015, 06:13 PM
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Well apparently they have a website and podcast now (which haven't been updated in three months) http://theloniousmonkees.com
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Old Sep 15, 2020, 04:50 PM
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I was curious why Love-de-Lic's sound team is a bunch of former Konami guys when the company itself was founded by former Square employees, but it looks like Kudo was working for Square at the time (he was an event designer on SMRPG). So he likely came onboard early or was maybe even one of the founders of Love-de-Lic (he ended up directing their first game, UFO) before reaching out to his brothers from Konami.
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Old Dec 1, 2023, 04:21 PM
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I think this may have been confirmed for a while (they're listed in the game's web press kit), but the latest issue of Onion Games's newsletter says that Masanori Adachi and Hirofumi Taniguchi are composing for Stray Children. Here's the short Q&A:

Quote:
Question 1: What are your favorite films?
Adachi: The Matrix.
Taniguchi: Amadeus, The Graceful Brute, Welcome Back Mr. McDonald, and Battles Without Honor and Humanity.

Question 2: What are your favorite games?
Adachi: The old, original Diablo, and the board games of Reiner Knizia.
Taniguchi: Kuma Uta.

Question 3: What is your favorite music?
Adachi: I'm really into Alfa Mist these days.
Taniguchi: I know the Beatles so intimately, I could hum you any individual part.

Question 4: How is your songwriting for the game progressing?
Adachi: It's almost finished, so I'm just polishing it up.
Taniguchi: I'm probably at about 80% complete.

Question 5: What's your songwriting process?
Adachi: Everything is typed in steps, and, if necessary, I replace it with live instrumental performances.
Taniguchi: I input MIDI mainly by hand, and play live guitar and bass.

Question 6: Do you have any words for the game's director, Kimura-san?
Adachi: I see that you are taking good care of your health, so please continue to reaching the finish line.
Taniguchi: It's been a long time since I've played an adventure game like this, and Kimura's signature style is very much in evidence! I already have the feeling it'll be a masterpiece!

Question 7: Do you have any words for your fans who are excited for Stray Children?
Adachi: We're doing a good job of balancing what we want to do, with what the director, Kimura-san wants us to do. "Trust me."
Taniguchi: I recently saw just a snippet of it with our music, and I can't stop grinning with excitement. I'm dying to see more!
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