Kumi Tanioka

Tanioka worked across composer and pianist. The registers place that work in video game music. This article rests on 77 catalogued compositions, 23 issued recordings and 1 scholarly references drawn from named institutional registers. Every statement below returns to a source shown in the evidence panel; where the record is silent or divided, the article says so instead of resolving it.

• Name — Kumi Tanioka • Born — 29 August 1974 • Birthplace — Hiroshima, Japan • Education — Kobe University • Occupation — Composer, pianist • Years Active — 1997–present

Tanioka was born in Hiroshima, Japan, where she studied music and composition while in school and enjoyed listening to video game music as her younger brother was a gamer. Among the composers she grew familiar with were Square employees Hitoshi Sakimoto, Nobuo Uematsu and Kenji Ito. Her favorite pianists at the time were Piotr Paleczny and Hiromi Uehara. Tanioka attended Kobe University, where she studied music and joined a choir. She graduated with a degree in musical performance. Although she had planned on performing music as a career, during college she became more interested in composing than performance, and in video game composition because of her childhood experiences. After graduating, she joined Square (now Square Enix) as a composer in 1998.

Tanioka's first game works were sound effects for the Psikyo games Taisen Hot Gimmick and The Fallen Angels, released in 1997 and 1998 respectively. Later in 1998, she joined Square and composed her first soundtrack to a game in the Chocobo series, Chocobo's Dungeon 2, with Yasuhiro Kawakami, Tsuyoshi Sekito and Kenji Ito. Her second work in the series was also her first solo soundtrack, that of Dice de Chocobo, a video game adaption of a board game. She composed for two other projects over the next two years, All Star Pro-Wrestling with Tsuyoshi Sekito and Kenichiro Fukui and Blue Wing Blitz by herself. Her first major composing role was in 2002, when she was one of three composers chosen to write the soundtrack to Final Fantasy XI. Although she did not contribute more than one song to the multiple expansions to the game, during this period she joined The Star Onions, a band made of Square Enix composers that arranges and performs Final Fantasy XI music. The group has released two albums to date. After Final Fantasy XI, she composed the soundtrack to Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, which led to her composing the soundtracks to the other five games in the series. Between the games, she worked on the soundtracks to Code Age Commanders, Code Age Brawls, Project Sylpheed, and Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon. On February 28, 2010, Tanioka announced her departure from Square Enix, following several other Square Enix composers such as Kenichiro Fukui, Junya Nakano, and Masashi Hamauzu; she joined the composer's group GE-ON-DAN with many other composers like Nakano. In 2011, she became one of the founding members of Ringmasters, a non-exclusive worldwide group of artists and composers, though she later left the group. She composed in 2011 music for iOS interactive storybooks, Snow White, The Ugly Duckling, and Hansel and Gretel, before founding her own independent company, Riquismo, in August 2012. Riquismo is not a full studio, and Tanioka continues to work independently. Tanioka has said that she decided to become a freelance composer because she wanted to write for a wider variety of subjects. Since its founding she has composed music for Ragnarok Odyssey, for which she wrote independently of any prior music from the Ragnarok series, and MA.YU.MO.RI. Unlike the soundtracks to the numbered Final Fantasy games, no songs from the Crystal Chronicles or Chocobo soundtracks have appeared in any compilation albums produced by Square Enix. Songs from the two series have also not appeared in any of the official Final Fantasy music concerts, although "Morning Sky" from the Crystal Chronicles soundtrack was played in the first Games in Concert performance in Utrecht, Netherlands on November 26, 2006. It was performed by Floor Jansen of the band After Forever and the Metropole Orchestra.

Works • Year — Title — Notes • 1997 — Taisen Hot Gimmick — Sound effects • 1998 — The Fallen Angels — Sound effects • Chocobo's Dungeon 2 — Music with Yasuhiro Kawakami, Tsuyoshi Sekito, and Kenji Ito • 1999 — Dice de Chocobo — Music • 2000 — All Star Pro-Wrestling — Music with Tsuyoshi Sekito and Kenichiro Fukui • 2001 — Blue Wing Blitz — Music • 2002 — Final Fantasy XI — Music with Naoshi Mizuta and Nobuo Uematsu • 2003 — Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles — Music with Hidenori Iwasaki • 2005 — Code Age Commanders — Music with Yasuhiro Yamanaka • Code Age Brawls — Music • 2006 — Project Sylpheed — Music with various others • 2007 — Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates — Music • 2008 — Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon — Music ("Labyrinth of Forgotten Time", "Opening") • Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King — Music • 2009 — Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time — Music • Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a Darklord — Music • Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers — Music with Hidenori Iwasaki and Ryo Yamazaki • 2010 — Mario Sports Mix — Music with Masayoshi Soken • 2011 — Half-Minute Hero: The Second Coming — Music ("End of Overture", "End of Judgement") • 2012 — Harvest Moon: A New Beginning — Music • Ragnarok Odyssey — Music • 2013 — MA.YU.MO.RI — Music • Saga of Fantasm:A — Music with Nobuo Uematsu, Yoshitaka Hirota, and Tsutomu Narita • 2014 — Kakuriyo no Mon — Music ("Jindai Yori Tsutawarishi Denshō") • Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U — Arrangements • 2015 — Airship Q — Music • 2018 — Final Fantasy Record Keeper — DLC; arrangements with various others • Super Smash Bros. Ultimate — Arrangements • 2020 — Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Remastered Edition — Music • Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity — Music with several others • 2021 — Minecraft: Caves & Cliffs — Music with Lena Raine • 2023 — Atelier Marie Remake: The Alchemist of Salburg — Arrangements with Ryotaro Yagi • 2024 — Minecraft: Tricky Trials — Music with Lena Raine and Aaron Cherof • 2025 — Sonic Wings Reunion — Arrangement ("Hidden Boss 2"; with Yuka Fujino) • 2026 — Yoshi and the Mysterious Book — Music

Kumi Tanioka was born on 29 August 1974 in Hiroshima. Tanioka held the nationality of Japan. Tanioka was educated at Kobe University. Tanioka worked as composer and pianist. Tanioka was active from 1998. The fields Tanioka worked in include video game music. Tanioka played the piano. Tanioka worked in Japanese.