The opening piece, "Let's Play! Soccer," borrows from the theme "Riyo ~The Youthful Inazuma Eleven~" and has a nice tropical sound to it. Not all the playful pieces belong to battle themes. While the prominent use of xylophone is absent in this piece, the organ that serves as its replacement provides both a dramatic, yet beautiful, contrast to the diverse percussion used in the accompaniment. Another battle theme, "Formal Game," also employs an infectious melody. The use of xylophone and strings is an interesting combination, but somehow, it creates a sense of urgency at the same time. Perhaps the strengths of this piece lie in the instrumentation. The normal battle theme, "Soccer Battle," offers a nice lively rhythm and melody. Ironically, I find it interesting that the brass samples on this piece sound much better than most of the brass samples Motoi Sakuraba uses for his next-gen works.Ī lot of the battle themes on this soundtrack invoke a sense of playfulness. The militaristic accompaniment fits very nicely with the soft sounds found in the melody line. The ending theme, "The Legendary Inazuma Eleven," is another very beautiful piece that fuses a bit of militaristic influence with that of a more melodic and emotional Mitsuda. There are some beautiful, mysterious passages that involve piano as well and offer a nice respite from the otherwise dramatic emphasis. The theme is very melodically focused with heavy percussion and brass creating a powerful image of urgency. One of my favorite battle themes, "Mortal Battle With the Imperial Academy," is a piece that offers a nice memory of his Armodyne work. The brass sections are sharp and penetrating, while the harp and woodwinds offer a nice contrast to the sinister string work present. "Theme of the Imperial Academy ~The Imperial Academy Has Arrived!~" is a very powerful "villain" theme that invokes memories of Xenosaga Episode I. The soundtrack offers quite a nice variety of militaristic themes as well. ![]() It's definitely one of my favorites on the soundtrack. This is a beautiful piece that focuses on the acoustic guitar and woodwinds, offering hints of a Xenogears style. ![]() Another sad and emotional piece is "Evening Pylon". ![]() It's a very sad piece that may evoke a lot of emotion within the listener, so it's definitely worth a listen. It's been a while since we've heard one, but "Sorrowful Past" is a nice way to bring back a classic and has a hint of Chrono Trigger within it. I've always been a fan of Mitsuda's use of music box in his soundtracks. The melody here is quite strong and gives a nice sense of beauty as the strings and woodwinds flow peacefully throughout the composition. "Wind and Youth" is another fantastic woodwind and strings piece. "Friends" is a playful woodwind and strings piece that portrays a semi-Celtic nature and is reminiscent of some of the styles you'd hear in Soma Bringer. The traditional aspect of this soundtrack is found within a variety of themes. How does the music compare to his other DS works this year? Body You'll find more traditional Mitsuda, some militaristic Mitsuda, playful Mitsuda, as well as some things you wouldn't normally expect from him. The soundtrack to Inazuma Eleven provides a very interesting mixture of styles. Having composed the Soma Bringer Original Soundtrack and lent a hand in the soundtrack to World Destruction, which has yet to see a soundtrack release, he also provided the music to an unorthodox RPG entitled Inazuma Eleven, dedicated to soccer. ![]() Yasunori Mitsuda has had a busier than normal year in 2008.
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