Naoto Kubo

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Naoto Kubo ^{(JPJapanese: 久保直人

Romaji: Kubo Naoto)} is a video game composer for Nintendo. He is mostly notorious for being the music lead for Super Mario Odyssey, where he composed the feature "Jump Up, Super Star!" song.

After studying at the Berklee College of Music, he worked on Aruze Gaming starting in 2011. He left them to join Nintendo EAD Tokyo in December 2013, where he has mostly worked on various Mario games.

History

During his recruitment interview, Naoto Kubo stated that he has owned and played the original Super Mario Bros. video game in his childhood, which was his first game. Kubo stated that it "is the origin of my game life". Kubo studied at Berklee College of Music in Boston from 2004 to 2008 and earned a Bachelor's of Arts degree.^[1]^[2] He composed music for a 2008 animated short film, titled Duke Baa. He later partook in the Video Game Orchestra at Boston's Symphony Hall in 2011 where he co-arranged the Final Fantasy VII suite.^[3]^[2]

Kubo worked for U.S.-based Aruze Gaming until 2013 where he joined Nintendo's sound group later that year.^[4] Working for mostly Mario series titles, Kubo's first work was Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, released for the Wii U in 2014. Then, he worked on The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D for the Nintendo 3DS and Super Mario Maker for Wii U.

In his first breakthrough and orchestrated credit, Kubo worked as the lead composer and arranger for Super Mario Odyssey for the Nintendo Switch in 2017. Not only that, but he also composed the series' first vocal song, "Jump Up, Super Star!".

Kubo arranged a Mega Man 5 music track in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Production History

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (2014) - Music
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D (2015) - Music Composer
Super Mario Maker (2015) - Music
Super Mario Odyssey (2017) - Music Lead
Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (Switch/3DS) (2018)
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018) - Music Arrangement

Song Credits

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D

Credits 2 -- Arrangement^{^[5]}

Super Mario Odyssey

Title -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Opening: Above Peach's Castle -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Broodals Battle -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Fossil Falls -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
You Got a Moon! 1 -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Capture: T-Rex -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Madame Broode Battle -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Mario, Travel the World: The Odyssey's First Takeoff -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Story Mission Introduction 1 -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Tune of Tostarena -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Tostarena: Ruins -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Inside the Inverted Pyramid -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Tostarena: Night -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Riding a Jaxi -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Knucklotec Battle -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Tostarena: Town -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
You Got a Moon! 2 -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Found Bowser's Airship! -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Bowser Appears -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Bowser's Bombardment: The Odyssey Crashes -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Story Mission Introduction 2 -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
New Donk City: Night 1 -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
New Donk City: Night 2 -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Mechawiggler Battle -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
You Got a Multi Moon! -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
New Donk City -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Band Performance (Super Mario Bros.: Ground Theme) -- Arrangement^{^[6]}
Taking a Breath by the Poolside -- Arrangement^{^[6]}
Underground Power Plant -- Arrangement^{^[6]}
Jump Up, Super Star! NDC Festival Edition -- Composition (arr. Yoichi Murata)^{^[6]}
The Traditional Festival Ends! -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Ice Cave -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Melancholy Bubblaine -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Bubblaine -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Bubblaine: Underwater -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Mollusque-Lanceur Battle -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Story Mission Introduction 3 -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Ruined Dragon Appears -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Bowser Takes Off to the Moon -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
To the Next Kingdom -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
The Odyssey: To the Moon -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Underground Moon Caverns -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Bowser Battle 2: Final Battle -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Princess Peach Rescued...? -- Arrangement^{^[6]}
Honeylune Ridge: Collapse -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Break Free (Lead the Way) -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Staff Credits -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Spinning Slots -- Arrangement^{^[6]}
Caves -- Arrangement^{^[6]}
Jump Up, Super Star! -- Composition (arr. Yoichi Murata)^{^[6]}
Fossil Falls (8-bit) -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Tostarena Ruins (8-bit) -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Inside the Inverted Pyramid (8-bit) -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Tostarena: Night (8-bit) -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Underground Power Plant (8-bit) -- Arrangement^{^[6]}
Bubblaine (8-bit) -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Mollusque-Lanceur Battle (8-bit) -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Honeylune Ridge: Collapse (8-bit) -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Break Free (Lead the Way) (8-bit) -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Jump Up, Super Star! NDC Festival Edition (8-bit) -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
You Got a Moon! 2 (8-bit) -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Dancing with New Friends -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
A Relaxing Dance -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Rolling Canyon -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Capture: Frog! -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
The Odyssey Powers Up -- Arrangement^{^[6]}
Sparkle Water Released -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
New Clothing! -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
It's the Broodals! -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Madame Broode Appears -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Mollusque-Lanceur: Rage -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}
Congratulations! -- Composition & Arrangement^{^[6]}

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Napalm Man Stage (Mega Man 5) -- Arrangement

Interviews

Nintendo Recruit Interview 2020

References

↑ Naoto Kubo - Kyoto Report
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 Video Game Orchestra Takes the Stage at Symphony Hall (Berklee Today) Date: April 1, 2011. Author: Mark Small.
↑ Live at Symphony Hall / Video Game Orchestra (VGMdb)
↑ Naoto Kubo Facebook
↑ https://vgmdb.net/album/53815
↑ ^6.00 ^6.01 ^6.02 ^6.03 ^6.04 ^6.05 ^6.06 ^6.07 ^6.08 ^6.09 ^6.10 ^6.11 ^6.12 ^6.13 ^6.14 ^6.15 ^6.16 ^6.17 ^6.18 ^6.19 ^6.20 ^6.21 ^6.22 ^6.23 ^6.24 ^6.25 ^6.26 ^6.27 ^6.28 ^6.29 ^6.30 ^6.31 ^6.32 ^6.33 ^6.34 ^6.35 ^6.36 ^6.37 ^6.38 ^6.39 ^6.40 ^6.41 ^6.42 ^6.43 ^6.44 ^6.45 ^6.46 ^6.47 ^6.48 ^6.49 ^6.50 ^6.51 ^6.52 ^6.53 ^6.54 ^6.55 ^6.56 ^6.57 ^6.58 ^6.59 ^6.60 ^6.61 ^6.62 ^6.63 ^6.64 ^6.65 ^6.66 ^6.67 ^6.68 ^6.69 ^6.70 ^6.71 https://vgmdb.net/album/73671

[1] Naoto Kubo - Kyoto Report

[berklee-2] 2.0 ^2.1 Video Game Orchestra Takes the Stage at Symphony Hall (Berklee Today) Date: April 1, 2011. Author: Mark Small.

[3] Live at Symphony Hall / Video Game Orchestra (VGMdb)

[4] Naoto Kubo Facebook

[5] ttps://vgmdb.net/album/53815

[:0-6] 6.00 ^6.01 ^6.02 ^6.03 ^6.04 ^6.05 ^6.06 ^6.07 ^6.08 ^6.09 ^6.10 ^6.11 ^6.12 ^6.13 ^6.14 ^6.15 ^6.16 ^6.17 ^6.18 ^6.19 ^6.20 ^6.21 ^6.22 ^6.23 ^6.24 ^6.25 ^6.26 ^6.27 ^6.28 ^6.29 ^6.30 ^6.31 ^6.32 ^6.33 ^6.34 ^6.35 ^6.36 ^6.37 ^6.38 ^6.39 ^6.40 ^6.41 ^6.42 ^6.43 ^6.44 ^6.45 ^6.46 ^6.47 ^6.48 ^6.49 ^6.50 ^6.51 ^6.52 ^6.53 ^6.54 ^6.55 ^6.56 ^6.57 ^6.58 ^6.59 ^6.60 ^6.61 ^6.62 ^6.63 ^6.64 ^6.65 ^6.66 ^6.67 ^6.68 ^6.69 ^6.70 ^6.71 https://vgmdb.net/album/73671

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