Shoji Meguro 目黒 将司 | |
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| Born | June 4, 1971 Tokyo, Japan |
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| Years active | 1995–present |
Shoji Meguro (目黒 将司, Meguro Shōji, born June 4, 1971) is a Japanese composer and guitarist who works for the video game company Atlus. Meguro joined them in 1995 and has since worked on many of their games, mainly those in the Persona series. His musical style spans several genres, including rock, electronic, jazz, classical, and J-pop. He has also served as a creative director on the PSP remakes of Shin Megami Tensei: Persona and Persona 2.
Career[]
Early life[]
Born in Tokyo, Japan, Meguro became familiar with technology from a young age, due to his parents running a factory.[1] As a child, Meguro did not take an interest in popular music, and instead listened to and enjoyed classical. In junior high, he became interested in the likes of jazz artists such as T-Square, Herb Alpert, and Casiopea. It was in junior high that he became particularly fond of writing and profiteering music.[1] He then majored in hydrodynamics at the College of Industrial Technology at Nihon University.[1]
Atlus[]
After sending a demo tape and attending two interviews, Meguro was hired by Atlus in 1995. He got his start in the company by working on Revelations: Persona for the PlayStation, for which he composed 16 tracks, including one that became a staple in the series: "Aria of the Soul".[2] Meguro continued to work on several projects in the mid to late 1990s, including Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers on the Sega Saturn, composing around 50 pieces for the game, as well as Maken X on the Dreamcast.[1]
The first time he became a leading composer was on Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne in 2003, where he somewhat diverged from the music in the prior games for the Megami Tensei series, giving the game a more orchestral and fusion sound. A crucial point of his career was Digital Devil Saga; he had creative freedom that let him establish his own sound.[1] In 2005, Meguro took a break from the Shin Megami Tensei series to work on titles such as Trauma Center: Under the Knife, Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army, and Trauma Center: Second Opinion.
Meguro's career was propelled to international stardom in his craft with his work on Persona 3, where he used a pop-based vocal style, and the soundtrack to the game sold over 100,000 copies. In 2008, Meguro continued upon his success with Persona 4, where he blended genres to craft a unique sound. A concert at Akasaka Blitz was held to celebrate Meguro's work on the Persona series, where Persona favorites were played. During this time, he also worked on the music on Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon.[1]
Meguro was promoted to game director for the PlayStation Portable remake of Persona. During this time he received some criticism from some fans for changing the soundtrack for the remake, but overall received a warm response. He later directed the PSP ports of both Persona 2: Innocent Sin and Eternal Punishment. In the mid-2010s, Meguro served as the sound director for three spin-off Persona titles, as well as composing and producing the majority of the soundtrack for Persona 5.[3][4] Meguro also contributed to the upcoming Project Re Fantasy game, the film Mint, and Persona 5 Royal.[5][6][7] He also served as the lead composer for Persona 5: The Animation, arranging various tracks from the original game in addition to writing new material.[8]
Musical style and influences[]
Although many of his works feature a signature rock style, Meguro experiments with different musical genres, such as orchestral, electronica, jazz, and hip hop on various projects.[4][9] Meguro cites video game composers Koichi Sugiyama, Hiroshi Kawaguchi, and Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, as well as T-Square, Casiopea, Beethoven, and Tchaikovsky as some of his musical influences.[4][1] Regarding the use of English lyrics in many of the Persona games, Meguro stated that due to Japanese people not fully understanding the language, it helped create music that was not as distracting to them as Japanese would be.[4]
Works[]
All works listed below were composed by Meguro unless otherwise noted.
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Revelations: Persona | with Hidehito Aoki, Kenichi Tsuchiya, and Misaki Okibe |
| 1997 | Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers | with Toshiko Tasaki and Tsukasa Masuko |
| 1999 | Maken X | with Takahiro Ogata |
| 2001 | Maken Shao: Demon Sword | |
| 2003 | Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne | with Kenichi Tsuchiya and Toshiko Tasaki |
| 2004 | Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne Maniax | |
| Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga | with Kenichi Tsuchiya | |
| 2005 | Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 2 | |
| Trauma Center: Under the Knife | with Kenichi Tsuchiya and Kenichi Kikkawa | |
| 2006 | Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army | |
| Persona 3 | ||
| Trauma Center: Second Opinion | sound director[10] | |
| Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine | opening theme | |
| 2007 | Persona 3 FES | with Kenichi Tsuchiya |
| 2008 | Persona 4 | with Atsushi Kitajoh |
| Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon | ||
| 2009 | Shin Megami Tensei: Persona | Game director. Arrangements with Ryota Kozuka and Kenichi Tsuchiya |
| Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey | ||
| Persona 3 Portable | ||
| 2010 | Trauma Team | with Atsushi Kitajoh and Ryota Kozuka |
| 2011 | Catherine | with Atsushi Kitajoh and Kenichi Tsuchiya |
| Persona 2: Innocent Sin | game director | |
| 2012 | Persona 4 Arena | with Atsushi Kitajoh |
| Persona 2: Eternal Punishment | game director | |
| Persona 4 Golden | with Atsushi Kitajoh | |
| 2013 | Persona 4 Arena Ultimax | sound director |
| 2014 | Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth | |
| 2015 | Devil Survivor 2: Record Breaker | |
| Persona 4: Dancing All Night | sound director | |
| 2016 | Persona 5 | with Toshiki Konishi and Atsushi Kitajoh |
| 2017 | Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux | with Toshiki Konishi |
| 2018 | Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight | sound director |
| Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight | ||
| Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth | ||
| 2019 | Persona 5 Royal | with Toshiki Konishi |
| 2020 | Persona 5 Strikers | sound director |
| TBA | Project Re Fantasy |
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Persona 4: The Animation | |
| 2014 | Persona 4: The Golden Animation | with Tetsuya Kobayashi |
| 2016 | Persona 5: The Animation – The Day Breakers | |
| 2018 | Persona 5: The Animation |
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Persona 3 The Movie: #1 Spring of Birth | |
| 2014 | Persona 3 The Movie: #2 Midsummer Knight's Dream | composed "Fate is In Our Hands" |
| 2015 | Persona 3 The Movie: #3 Falling Down | with Tetsuya Kobayashi |
| 2016 | Persona 3 The Movie: #4 Winter of Rebirth | composed "Boku no Akashi" |
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Greening, Chris. "Shoji Meguro Profile". Video Game Music Online. Archived from the original on April 1, 2015.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ "Shoji Meguro interview". RocketBaby. Archived from the original on August 26, 2002. Retrieved December 21, 2012.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ Greening, Chris. "Atlus releases three-disc Persona 5 album". Video Game Music Online. Archived from the original on January 18, 2017. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Mielke, James. "'Persona 5' Creators Talk Series' Legacy, Character Design and J-Pop". Glixel. Archived from the original on July 7, 2017. Retrieved May 12, 2017.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ Romano, Sal. "First details on Atlus' new fantasy RPG, "Project Re Fantasy" [Update]". Gematsu. Archived from the original on December 22, 2016. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ First, Marlene. "NEGA, Persona Creators Make Anime-Live Action Film Mint". Anime News Network. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ Romano, Sal. "Persona 5 Royal launches October 31 in Japan, 2020 in the west; first details, trailer, and screenshots". Gematsu. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ Farrell, Reilly. "Shoji Meguro returning for Persona 5 anime". Video Game Music Online. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ Wan, Zhiqing. "Twinfinite's Endless Playlist: Persona 5's Soundtrack and the Definition of Smoothness". Twinfinite. Archived from the original on August 1, 2017. Retrieved July 31, 2017.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ Atlus. Trauma Center: Second Opinion. (Atlus USA). Wii. Scene: Credits. (November 19, 2008)
| Video games developed by Atlus | ||
|---|---|---|
| Series | Etrian Odyssey • Megami Tensei (Devil Children • Last Bible • Majin Tensei • Persona) • Power Instinct (Purikura Daisakusen) • Puzzle Boy • Trauma Center | |
| Other games | Bonk's Adventure • Catherine • Dungeon Explorer • Hellnight • The Karate Kid • Kartia: The Word of Fate • Maken X (Shao) • My Disney Kitchen • Nora to Toki no Kōbō: Kiri no Mori no Majo • Oh My God! • Princess Crown • Radiant Historia • Rockin' Kats • Somer Assault • Tokyo Mono Hara Shi: Karasu no Mori Gakuen Kitan • Widget | |
| Megami Tensei series | ||
|---|---|---|
| Main | List of media (video games) | |
| Original series | Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei • II | |
| Shin Megami Tensei | Shin Megami Tensei • II • If... • Nine • Nocturne • Imagine • Strange Journey • IV (Apocalypse) • V | |
| Devil Summoner | Devil Summoner • Soul Hackers • Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army • 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon | |
| Devil Survivor | Devil Survivor • 2 (anime) | |
| Other games | Last Bible • Majin Tensei • Jack Bros. • Persona • Devil Children • Digital Devil Saga • Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE • Liberation Dx2 | |
| Staff | Katsura Hashino • Kazuma Kaneko • Shoji Meguro • Kouji Okada | |
| Persona series | ||
|---|---|---|
| Main series | Revelations: Persona • Persona 2 (Innocent Sin • Eternal Punishment) • Persona 3 • Persona 4 • Persona 5 | |
| Spin-offs | Persona 4 (Arena • Arena Ultimax • Dancing All Night) • Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth | |
| Characters | Recurring characters | Philemon • Nyarlathotep • Joker |
| Revelations: Persona | Boy with Earring • Maki Sonomura • Masao Inaba • Kei Nanjo • Hidehiko Uesugi • Eriko Kirishima • Yuka Ayase • Reiji Kido • Yukino Mayuzumi | |
| Persona 2 | Tatsuya Suou • Maya Amano • Lisa Silverman • Eikichi Mishina • Yukino Mayuzumi • Jun Kurosu • Tatsuya Suou • Katsuya Suou • Ulala Serizawa • Baofu • Kei Nanjo • Eriko Kirishima | |
| Persona 3 | Makoto Yuki • Aigis • Yukari Takeba • Junpei Iori • Akihiko Sanada • Mitsuru Kirijo • Fuuka Yamagishi • Koromaru - Ken Amada • Shinjiro Aragaki • Metis | |
| Persona 4 | Yu Narukami • Chie Satonaka • Kanji Tatsumi • Yosuke Hanamura • Yukiko Amagi • Rise Kujikawa • Teddie • Naoto Shirogane • Tohru Adachi | |
| Other | Zen • Rei • Margaret • Marie • Elizabeth • Theodore • Sho Minazuki • Labrys | |
| Groups and concepts | Investigation Team • SEES • Shadow Operatives • Personas • Shadows • Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon | |
| Locations | Midnight Channel • Yasogami High School • Inaba | |
| Related media | Persona: Trinity Soul (Episodes) • Persona 4: The Animation (Episodes • The Golden Animation) • Persona 4 manga • Persona × Detective Naoto • Persona 3 The Movie (#1 Spring of Birth • #2 Midsummer Knight's Dream • #3 Falling Down • #4 Winter of Rebirth | |