Kazumi Totaka

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Kazumi Totaka
Born (1967-08-23) August 23, 1967
Tokyo, Japan
Genres Jazz
Occupations Composer, voice actor
Instruments Piano, Guitar, Bass, Vibraphone
Years active 1990–present
Labels Nintendo

Kazumi Totaka (戸高 一生 Totaka Kazumi, born August 23, 1967)[1] is a Japanese video game composer and voice actor who composed many major Nintendo games, including Mario Paint and Animal Crossing. He occasionally also does voice acting for Nintendo games, including Yoshi from the Mario and Yoshi series. He is also one of the various composers who worked on the title Super Smash Bros. Brawl[2] and directed the development of Wii Music.

Gameography

Totaka has been credited on the following games:[3]

Sound Director
Composer
Voice Actor

K.K. Slider

The character K.K. Slider in Animal Crossing is named Totakeke (とたけけ) in the Japanese version. This name could be derived from how Totaka's name is said in Japanese (the last name coming first), Totaka K. Totakeke is said to be an animal version caricature of Totaka.

At the Mario & Zelda Big Band Live concert, some fans shouted "Totakeke" while the host grabbed a guitar and gave it to Totaka. Totaka then sat down on a chair like K.K. Slider while Shigeru Miyamoto held a picture of K.K. Slider next to Totaka.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl features K.K. Slider singing at the Smashville stage on Saturdays after 8:00 PM, just as he does in the Animal Crossing games.

Totaka's Song

"Kazumi Totaka's Song" is a short, 19-note tune hidden in almost every game he has worked on as a composer. It was first discovered on the title screen Mario Paint, which led many people to refer to it as the "Mario Paint song", and was thought to be the earliest instance of the song. It was later discovered in the Game Boy game X[4] (released only in Japan), which predates Mario Paint by months. It has also since been discovered in many other games including Animal Crossing, Link's Awakening, and Luigi's Mansion. People are still actively seeking the song in the few games Totaka has worked on where it has yet to be discovered.[5]

Confirmed appearances

The song has been found in the following games:[4]

Other games

Kazumi Totaka has worked on several other games and applications in which the song has not yet been found, including Wave Race 64, Wii Music, Wii Sports, and a Japanese-only cooking game called Kenkou Ouen Recipe 1000: DS Kondate Zenshuu.[4]

A case was made by GameTrailers in their Pop Fiction series that the song was found in Wii Sports hidden within the sound effects for tennis racket swings.[5] However, this case has been called questionable at best, as the general consensus is that there are actually only two pitches being made, and that the presumed resemblance to the song is merely a psychoacoustic side effect caused by the manufactured synchronization.[4] GameTrailers has since updated their verdict from "Fact" to "Inconclusive", saying that the notion of the song's presence in the rackets' sounds is almost impossible to determine by conventional means.[5] The rumor of the Wii Sports "Tennis Racket Easter Egg" might be true, should the two pitches be played in a certain order, though some notes may be forced to be absent in the order to fit the proper tune.

Characters that he portrayed

Notes

a. ^ K.K. Song
b. ^ In most versions of The Legend of Zelda Links Awakening, the song can only be found in Richard's house, but in the Japanese version of the game, the song can be found at the title screen by typing the name とたけけ (Totakeke) in when starting a new game. For the German version, enter MOYSE instead. (This works only in the DX version of the game; in the original version a different song plays.) A third version has also been found in the game's code, but it is currently unknown if it can actually be accessed.

References

  1. ↑ "「ゼルダの伝説 夢をみる島」開発スタッフ名鑑". Nintendo Official Guide Book – The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (in Japanese). Shogakukan Inc. July 1993. p. 120. ISBN 4-09-102448-3. 
  2. ↑ Composers list on Super Smash Bros. DOJO!
  3. ↑ Kazumi Totaka at MobyGames
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "Kazumi Totaka's Song". NinDB. 2010-02-18. Retrieved 2012-02-19. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Episode 21: Totaka's Song". Pop Fiction. GameTrailers. Retrieved 2012-02-19. 
  6. ↑ "Video of Kazumi Totaka's Song in Animal Crossing: New Leaf". 2012-11-15. Retrieved 2012-11-15. 
  7. ↑ "1-2 開発スタッフインタビュー" (in Japanese). Nintendo. Retrieved July 31, 2013. 

External links

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