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‘Tsuki no Akari’ a highlight of Final Fantasy IV DS

By Jeriaska . July 20, 2008 . 9:34am

When the musical score for Final Fantasy IV debuted in 1991, videogame audio was at a turning point in Japan. The game's inclusion of a theme of love attempted to approximate an emotional moment on the newly released 16-bit hardware. History suggests that composer Nobuo Uematsu pulled off the experiment.  For many players the song remains a puller of heartstrings, suggesting that videogames have since been on their way toward maturing into an artistic medium with emotional resonances.

 

Tsuki no Akari a highlight of Final Fantasy IV DSWith the remake of Final Fantasy IV approaching for the Nintendo DS, it might be a good time to mention that three of Uematsu's longtime collaborators have joined the composer in updating the theme on live instruments. The maxi single "Tsuki no Akari – Final Fantasy IV Theme of Love" that was released in Japan includes an arrangement by Final Fantasy X's Junya Nakano, aided by synthesizer operator Hirosato Noda.  The two have put their experience with electronic music to use in fashioning a theme of love manageable on the DS sound card.

 

Kenichiro Fukui, keyboardist for the Black Mages Final Fantasy rock band, also arranged an orchestral version of the tune, using violins, cellos, and an ocarina. The lyrics for the vocal track, now called "Moonlight," have been penned by the original scenario writer Takashi Tokita.  To find a vocalist for the new version of the Final Fantasy IV theme, Square Enix held a talent search drawing 800 applicants. A professed fan of the series, 25 year-old Megumi Ida was selected, and offered a remarkable performance imbued with feeling. The Hokkaido-born vocalist is featured in a music video on a DVD insert packed with the CD single, which can be viewed below.  The video cuts between Ms. Ida's performance and computer-generated scenes of Cecil, Rosa, and Kain on a balcony of Baron Castle.   

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5UMohX62kw[/youtube] 

 

Images courtesy of Square Enix 


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  • Aoshi00

    Never had the chance to listen to the old vocal song of the same theme w/ diff lyrics, wonder which one sounds better.

    Must say that Ida Megumi looks much better in this music video than on the interview disc that comes w/ the soundtrack, needs braces :(..

  • kyle hyde

    Theme of love never had an old vocal version nor lyrics before.

  • Aoshi00

    Before “Tsuki no Akari” by Ida Megumi on the DS, the Theme of Love had been sung by Ohki Risa as a vocal song (Hikari no Naka e) in the 90′s, look up “Final Fantasy Vocal Collection 1 Pray”. From what I heard, it’s much better than this newer version sung by more or less a newbie. It’s hard to find that CD though…

  • Jeriaska

    Here is the song from Pray on YouTube. I’m partial to the Megumi Ida version myself.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JB4J4j-vAH0

  • Aoshi00

    @Jeriaska

    Thanks for the link, I searched on Youtube too right after posting the comment and thought to myself why didn’t I do it earlier :)..

    I like both version, the old one’s piano arrangement is beautiful and Ohki Risa has more of a classical voice, while the new rendition is more pop-ish. Funny lots of videos had her name wrong as Ida “Emi” instead of Megumi, the multiple ways to pronounce Jpn names…

  • kyle hyde

    I get owned, my apologies for being a big jerk

  • Jeriaska

    Honestly, I didn’t remember it either.

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