It’s Monday again, and I’m busily working on finishing an essay. Today’s track is a nice relaxing one to help you get through whatever you’re working on this week!

Longing – Kenji Ito – Children of Mana
[audio:https://www.seikens.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/05-Longing.mp3|titles=Longing]

Also has anyone ever noticed that music tracks from GBA or DS have a certain distant sound to them when listening to them on headphones? I’m not sure if that’s the way to describe it, but they just sound very different to me if they’re not coming out of tiny speakers. I wonder how much work goes into making them sound good from tiny speakers. Stuff like that is so interesting, unlike the paper I’m writing! Woo!

Thanks to Zergrinch, nick912012 and Kassidy for figuring out the different tracks used!

00:00 Rising Sun (FFA)
00:59 Running Towards the Future (SwoM)
02:16 Bridge with Decision Bell (SD3)
02:30 Meridian Child (SD3)
04:00 Meridian Dance (SoM)
05:07 Bridge
05:24 The Thunder Emperor’s Aloofness (CoM)
06:05 Bridge with hints of Rising Sun moving into The Truth Behind the Mask (SD4)
06:36 Feelings Not Forgotten (SD4)
07:28 Bridge with Southern City Polpota (LoM)
07:38 And Thus Fate Becomes Cruel (HoM)
08:45 Bridge
09:02 Fiery Castle (LoM) (Complicated Destiny and The One Who Waits… do follow the same leitmotif, FC is the closest)
09:52 Bridge
09:57 Rising Sun (FFA)

I’ve had a real urge to play Legend of Mana lately, but I don’t have a Playstation or the game on me! Maybe I’ll have to get a PSP and get the game on PSN sometime. It’s my birthday tomorrow so maybe I’ll treat myself to something nice like that soon!

For today’s music I’ve picked a little bit of a short one, but this is a song I could listen to over and over again. For me, this is the music that instantly comes to mind when I think of Legend of Mana. It’s so nice and calm and full of happy memories.

Places of Soul – Yoko Shimomura – Legend of Mana
[audio:https://www.seikens.com/seikens/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/05-Places-of-Soul.mp3|titles=Places of Soul]

There are times when I can’t quite avoid scratching a hole in my head out of sheer amazement at how bizarre TV commercials can be. This, my good people, is one of those times, and it’s a commercial for Shinyaku Seiken Densetsu, aka Sword of Mana:

Now for the part where we link this back in to MMM: here’s the track from SwoM that plays during the action scene in that commercial.

[audio:https://www.seikens.com/seikens/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/04-Colosseum.mp3|titles=Kenji Ito – Sword of Mana – Colosseum]

First test of the year tomorrow, so why not start off the week with some battle music?

Battle with the God Beast – Yoko Shimomura – Heroes of Mana
[audio:https://www.seikens.com/seikens/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/bvgb128k.mp3|titles=Battle with the God Beast]

Now for something different we’ve got a Children of Mana track!
I really like this one, it’s nice and upbeat. Does it remind anyone else of Kirby’s Dreamland, or is that just me? I’d swear you could almost paste this song in that game and it would fit perfect!

Fate – Takayuki Aihara – Children of Mana
[audio:https://www.seikens.com/seikens/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/05-Fate.mp3|titles=Fate]

Well I missed last week, but here is the continued short stuff thing I was doing! This time they come from Seiken Densetsu 3.

Not Awaken – Hiroki Kikuta – Seiken Densetsu 3
[audio:https://www.seikens.com/seikens/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/01-Not-Awaken.mp3|titles=Not Awaken]
Positive – Hiroki Kikuta – Seiken Densetsu 3
[audio:https://www.seikens.com/seikens/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/11-Positive.mp3|titles=Positive]
Closed Garden – Hiroki Kikuta – Seiken Densetsu 3
[audio:https://www.seikens.com/seikens/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/13-Closed-Garden.mp3|titles=Closed Garden]
And Other – Hiroki Kikuta – Seiken Densetsu 3
[audio:https://www.seikens.com/seikens/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/09-And-Other.mp3|titles=And Other]

Today I’ve got kind of a weird assortment of stuff here for you, tracks by Hiroki Kikuta that are all under 60 seconds long. Why? None of these are really long enough to stand up on their own as an MMM update, so I thought I would give them the light of day together. We’ll cover SoM this week, and SD3 the next. Enjoy!

The Little Sprite
[audio:https://www.seikens.com/seikens/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/10-The-Little-Sprite.mp3|titles=The Sprite Child]
Happenings of a Moonlit Night
[audio:https://www.seikens.com/seikens/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/11-Happenings-of-a-Moonlit-Night.mp3|titles=Happenings of a Moonlit Night]
Mystic Invasion
[audio:https://www.seikens.com/seikens/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/13-Mystic-Invasion.mp3|titles=Mystic Invasion]
I Closed My Eyes
[audio:https://www.seikens.com/seikens/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/44-I-Closed-My-Eyes.mp3|titles=I Closed My Eyes]

Special thanks go out to Duran from the forums for taking the time to find and write up a little intro to today’s track!

This is Duran here, giving you something special for MMM. This one is an arrangement of Hiroki Kikuta’s “Into the Thick of It” from Secret of Mana, performed by renowned music group, The OneUps.

For those who don’t know, The OneUps are a jazz/funk fusion band who are best known for their stylized arrangements of such games as Contra, Metroid, Chrono Trigger, and Toejam & Earl. These guys have performed at major conventions like Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) and Magfest and have been featured on numerous publications, including Destructoid and MSNBC.

As for the song itself, it’s a smooth take on the original, with a slight blend of it’s sister-track “Can You See the Ocean.” Overall, a great song and worth a listen.

If you enjoy this track and want to check these guys out, visit their website…and maybe even drop them a line to arrange more Mana tracks.

Into the Thick of It – The One Ups
[audio:https://www.seikens.com/seikens/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/1-05_-_Into_the_Thick_of_It.mp3|titles=Into the Thick of It]

Thanks again Duran!

Today’s track is the intro to Secret of Mana, isn’t it just classic? I’d take this track over Rising Sun anyday, not to say Rising Sun is bad it’s just overdone. Sometimes when I was little I’d just start the game up and listen to this for a while, it’s really great.

The noises at the beginning still creep me out a bit though.

Fear of the Heavens – Hiroki Kikuta – Secret of Mana
[audio:https://www.seikens.com/seikens/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/01-Fear-of-the-Heavens.mp3|titles=Fear of the Heavens]