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Voici une interview de Masato Kato, le scénariste de Chrono Cross, qui parle de son petit bijou... elle est malheureusement en anglais, mais si vous avez pu jouer à Chrono Cross et que vous avez comprs, vous n'aurez pas de mal avec cette interview. (Source : www.procyon-studio.com) Q: OK. First of all, before we get down to the nitty-gritty, let's get the basics down. You seem to look rather young for your age, but how old are you really? And also, if you don't mind, could you tell us your date of birth, your sign of the Zodiac, and your blood-type? Masato Kato (hereafter, MK): March 28, 1963, Aries, type O blood... I really don't think there's any point to getting to know me better though...(laughs) Q: What are some of your hobbies? MK: Reading, scuba diving (although I haven't been able to go lately because I've been so busy with "Chrono Cross"), and collecting figures and toys. Q: Presently, you're working as the chief of the development department at SQUARE, but could you please tell us a little bit more about your background (from about the age of 20) and how you got to where you are right now (including the titles of games worked on, if possible). MK: Well, I'm just a plain
ole' planner. PC games: Princess Maker
2 (planner, script writer, graphics) Super Nintendo: Chrono
Trigger (planner, script writer, and wrote the majority of the story) Q: Why did you decide to work for SQUARE, and what are your present feelings about SQUARE? MK: Well, after getting a bitter taste of working for minor projects at Gainax, I just felt like I wanted to take on something really big (laughs). All of this was before they hit it big with "Neon Genesis Evangelion", of course. My feelings about SQUARE right now are ... Let's not go there right now... Well, there's no real deep meaning behind that, but... Q: What do you think you would have become, if you had decided NOT to become a scenario writer? MK: Hmm... The reason I got this far is because I always did whatever I felt like doing, so it's kinda' hard to imagine myself doing anything else... On the other hand, there's always the possibility that I might just quit the game industry at any moment and start something totally different. Like maybe an owner of some suspicious little used toy store (laughs)? Q: What do you usually do on your days off? MK: Funny, I don't remember having any Saturdays or Sundays for the past year or so...(laughs). Long long time ago..., back when I used to have these things called "days off", I would go shopping for some books, CD's, or toys. That's only if I didn't go scuba diving. Q: What's the one thing that you want to do the MOST, right now? MK: I wanna go diving... Somewhere in the southern islands. Ahh, I have to go get my pool reviews too... Q: OK... And now I'd like to ask you a few things about your loo--ng relationship with Mitsuda. Could you tell us when you first met him, and also about the situation back then? MK: I first met him through
my work in "Chrono Trigger". Q: What were your first impressions of Mitsuda? MK: Well, my first thoughts were like, "Man, who is this young, optimistic fella' who's getting all hyped up by himself?... Please don't tell me he's the only one working on our sound team... Is he REALLY going to be OK?" Those were the kinds of feelings that popped into my head. No, I'm not kidding. Q: After having spent these few years with him, how does Mitsuda appear to you now? MK: Hmm... I don't know. He seems to have softened up a little... Used to be, he had this dictatorial attitude and this powerful ambition that you could just see straight off in his character. In a bad sense, that is (laughs). Are you sure it's OK to write this sorta' stuff? I'm not taking any responsibilities, OK (laughs)? Q: And how do you think he feels about yourself? MK: Hmm... Come to think of it, lately I haven't really worried about what other people think about me (Huh? What kind of a human being are you!? laughs). I guess he sees me as some Progressive Rock-loving old man who's really picky about his songs and also likes to find the slightest little faults in them. But on the other hand, he really seems to be weak against those emotional, "tear jerker" songs. Q: From your perspective, what do you think is Yasunori Mitsuda's greatest features? (if there are any) MK: Flexibility. Q: Do you have any complaints about his works? Some parts where you just have to say, "PLEASE spare me just this ONE THING!"? (as many as you would like to list!) MK: Nothing in particular... Q: How do you feel about Mitsuda leaving SQUARE and becoming a freelance composer? MK: I think that this was his best choice... but then again, I shouldn't be saying these kinds of things, so ... let's just say, "I know things are going to be pretty rough out there, but I wish you the best of luck!"... something along that line. Q: And how did you feel about having the chance to work with him again in "Chrono Cross" (and also, if you could, please give us the details on how and why Mitsuda was chosen as the composer.)? MK: Well, I thought that
since he worked with us on "Trigger" and "Radical",
he might as well work with us again in "Cross". For the
company, there was probably a strong opposition against hiring a
person who had just quit his job to become a freelance, but from
our point of view, it didn't matter if he was a freelance or if
he was an employee; we chose him because we needed that one and
only "Chrono Sound". Q: The following few questions are going to be about your latest work, "Chrono Cross". When did you start laying out the plans for this game? MK: It was right about the time we finished making "Xenogears". Right when I was starting to think, "Finally... I can sit back and relax without having to think about anything!" ... I get this call saying, "So... What do you wanna do next?" (laughs). Thanks to this, even during my break period, I had to constantly keep that in the corner of my mind. And as soon as the break was over, the next project was started. That reminds me... I heard that on the day that "Xenogears" went on sale, while all of us were supposed to be still on vacation, the entire Xeno-team decided to get together at the company to talk about the next project. At that point, none of us knew which team we would be assigned to yet. Oh, and the reason why I say "I heard" is because I didn't go to the company on that day. I was off somewhere in the southern islands... enjoying my scuba-time (laughs). I also heard that because of this reason, some of the members decided not to work with the Cross-Team and decided to join a different team... Well, that's life I guess. Different people go their own different ways. Q: It seems that the start-up of this project was much due to the game, "Radical Dreamers". Could you please explain the details of that part? MK: Well, it's a really
long story... Q: So "Radical" and "Chrono Cross" are actually interlinked as one game. Could you say that this series was something like a little egg, that was being warmed up inside of you which just kept growing and growing until one day it finally hatched from its shell and got to this point? These two games must have really been filled with drama for you, but what are your feelings on that, now that you've finished the project? MK: Well, if you put it
that way, it makes it sound really nice, but... (laughs). In reality,
I wasn't warming any egg or anything... I was just doing whatever
I felt like doing at that certain point in time. But it sure was
a long journey going from Trigger to Radical to Cross though. Right
now, I'm just glad that I'm done with it all. Looking back on the
works, I still get this feeling that there were a lot of things
that were still left undone though. I just hope that Kid doesn't
stab me for this... (laughs). But I think this really concludes
everything, once and for all. Or... I guess maybe you could say
that with this, Kid and Serge can finally begin their true "journey".
Heh heh.. (the meaning behind this statement, including my suspicious
little chuckle, lies within the ending of Cross... so please look
forward to it.) Q: Are there any specific things (lines, specs, etc.) from "Chrono Cross" that you would like for people to pay especially close attention to? Anything where you'd like to say, "Check this out!! Please!" MK: First, the hardware
specs... well, that doesn't really matter. Q: How do you feel about Mitsuda's works this time in "Chrono Cross"? (compared to the other games in which you worked with him?) MK: The setting was made to be somewhere around the southern islands, so my first thoughts were, I wanted "something with a Southeast Asian feel, mixed with the foreign tastes and the tones of countries such as Greece..." I think that the resulting sound matched the atmosphere created by the pictures quite well. Moreover, I think this time I left much of the music to Mitsuda and didn't really give too many complaints or any orders. I mean, in Xeno, we used to discuss every single minor detail, but I guess this really shows how we're starting to understand what we expect from each other. Q: In making the music for this game, what were some of the difficulties that you faced while working with Mitsuda; also please tell us if there were any funny episodes or things that you enjoyed from working with him. MK: Regarding the songs
within the games, there weren't any major problems this time. Well,
I bet there were a lot of things that went on inside Mitsuda's mind;
as always. Oh yeah, there was this one time at the beginning of
the project - I explained to him that I wanted two different songs
for each of the corresponding towns and villages in the two parallel
worlds A and B, and he told me something like, "huh?? You've
gotta be kidding me. I think one song is plenty!" That sorta'
got on my nerves (laughs). But after a while, we just got tired
of having to ask him over and over, so we just told him to make
one song each for town A and B. And THEN, he comes back to us, telling
us "you know, I've thought this over, and I think it's better
to have two seperate songs for each town!" Q: So are you thinking about buying the soundtracks once they go on sale? And which songs do you like the most out of the entire album, and which songs would you recommend? MK: Oh, of course. About
10 copies (laughs)In fact, if it's only 10 people, I wouldn't mind
giving them away for free either (laughs). Q: If you were to work again with Mitsuda on another game, what kind of game (and music) would you like to make this time? MK: I'm not sure. Q: (I don't know if I'm allowed to ask this, but...) Have you already decided upon your next project? Or is it still undecided right now? MK: This game turned out to be rather serious because of the influence from "Radical", but next I'm thinking about maybe making a more fun game where you don't have to think too much. Something where it's fun to play, but also, fun to make. Maybe something like... The Great Adventures of the Star Child (laughs)! How's that sound? Q: A word please, to Mitsuda, upon finishing "Chrono Cross"! MK: A job truly well done,
and thank you again for all those fabulous songs! Q: Anything that you would like to say to Mitsuda about his future activities? MK: Work hard, and even when you become a big name artist, I hope that you will continue to write good songs. I too, as a fan of his works, would like to continue to support him in his future activities. Q: And finally, if you would please, a word for all of the readers and fans out there! MK: OK. Since I may never
have the chance to say this kind of thing anywhere else... I'll
go ahead and say it. After the announcement of "Cross"
this time, I heard a lot of voices out there that were saying things
like, "Man, this isn't CHRONO". To tell you the truth,
I was gravely disappointed. Yes, the platform changed; and yes,
there were many parts that changed dramatically from the previous
work. But in my view, the whole point in making Chrono Cross was
to make a new Chrono with the best available skills and technologies
of today. I never had any intentions of just taking the system from
Trigger and moving it onto the PlayStation console. That's why I
believe that Cross is Cross, and NOT Trigger 2. The thing that I
can't understand is how could people possibly declare that this
isn't Chrono? And for these people, I can't help but wonder what
it was that Chrono meant to them...? Is it possible that none of
the messages that I tried to send out to these people never really
got through to them? Mr. Kato, thank you very
much for sparing us your valuable time to valiantly(?) answer our
questions (laughs)... And so, our staff member (hey, that's me!)
would like to send you a message of love to show you our feelings
of appreciation... (laughs). Whenever I think of Mr. Kato, I always
get this impression that though you may seem cool and well composed
on the outside; on the inside, there is a fiery and passionate part
that is not too often seen. Also, you are always clean cut(?) and
not to mention well dressed. But it really surprised me when this
Mr. Kato that I had known so well, appeared in an creator's interveiw
of a certain game magazine (July 1999). Seeing you again for the
first time in a long while, I was rather awestruck by the changes
in your appearance. Your hair was grown out long, and just from
your appearance, I could almost image the brutal battles that must
have been going on at work... But even behind that, I remember that
could still sense the strong fire within your eyes and still see
how lively your expressions were! I was really attracted by this
wonderful look on your face, and thought to myself, how wonderful
it must be - to be a creator; and to create things... Well, that
was my message of love to you ... What do you think (laughs)? Boy, I really have to thank
you for giving us all these lo--ng answers to our staff's lo--ng
questions (laughs). It's already been 6-7 years since we first met,
but today I think I really reassured myself of how passionate this
guy really is. Musically and scenario-wise, Mr. Kato and I have
a lot in common, and I really enjoy talking to such a remarkable
guy. I hope that he will continue to create wonderful games that
will touch upon the hearts of many people around the world. And
looking at him from just his words above, many of you may have thought,
"Man, this guy is TOO MUCH for me..." but please be assured,
he is nothing like that. (he's just simply an "overly-passionate
person" so-to-speak) We really wanted to put up some pictures
of him, but due to certain circumstances, we were unable to do so.
Therefore, taking Mr. Kato's suggestion, I would like to put up
this picture of "RADICAL DREAMERS NEXT 1996", which was
personally drawn by Mr. Kato himself and given to me as a gift.
This work of art was given to me by Mr. Kato back in the summer
of 96; the day after when he and I went to an Irish musician's live
together. He said that he was inspired by last night's live and
drew the picture out of sheer inspiration... Yes, by this time,
he was already beginning to develop within his mind, a new world
for KID! ... Wait a sec... we're still not even done with Xenogears
(laughs)! But maybe this was the true beginning of "Chrono
Cross" (of course it didn't even have this name at the time)
for us. By the way, this picture is for display only - so no copies,
please. Oh yeah, and if you have any fan mails for Mr. Kato, (some
messages of love!) please feel free to post them up on the BBS.
I'm sure that Mr. Kato himself will be taking a look at your messages...
in fact, I'll MAKE him read them! Thank you very much for your time,
Kato-chan! Dupuydups
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