I feel like every time I write about video game music, I should preface my review with a disclaimer: I’m not a gamer by any stretch of the imagination. What I do know—or at least hope I know—is music. And what I feel about Konami Kukeiha Club’s 魍魎戦記 (Madara 2 Sound Fantasia), the original soundtrack for the Super Famicom video game Mōryō Senki MADARA 2, is that it gathers an astounding group of Japanese musicians to reimagine its fantastical world through music that effortlessly spans and blends New Age, fourth world, and art pop.
To give you some brief context, 魍魎戦記 (Madara 2 Sound Fantasia) hovers in the same realm as like-minded albums I’ve already written about—like hyym’s 魂の門～ダンテ「神曲」より (Tamashii no Mon ~ Dante “Shinkyoku” Yori) and Yoko Kanno’s 大航海時代 II (Uncharted Waters: New Horizons). It’s that world where original “chiptune” video game music is handed over to a team of composers and reinterpreted using “live” instruments. These arranged versions were then recorded and packaged into albums that could be sold—naturally—to fans of the game.
The original 1987 manga that the game is based on, 魍魎戦記MADARAシリーズ written by Eiji Ōtsuka, presents a wild premise centered around battles between heroes, heroines, and demons reincarnating across different eras and continents—duking it out until one side loses.
At the core of the story is an evil emperor, Emperor Miroku, and Madara, a divine son (one of two twins) born of the emperor’s union with Princess Sakuya. Madara’s soul is reincarnated across epochs and dimensions, destined to one day defeat the emperor—and even darker, more powerful beings like Kageo and Agarta. At the story’s beginning, in a dastardly act of cowardice and avarice, the emperor cuts Madara into pieces to avoid a prophesied death and absorb his power. This brutal act sets in motion Madara’s rebirth—now endowed with the ability to obtain powers and weaponry via artificial or phantom limbs.
It’s a wild story, no doubt. One that somehow sprawled across novels, manga, games, and OVA (original video animation). Konami’s role was to develop a video game adaptation, which they released in 1989 for the Famicom system. They placed its titular character in a mythical ancient epoch—one inspired by pan-Asian folklore. In that game, new mechanics apparently allowed players to walk and fight seamlessly without switching into turn-based combat, unlike other J-RPGs of the time. Though it was never localized for Western markets, the original MADARA was enough of a hit to pave the way for a sequel.
It appears that 魍魎戦記MADARA摩陀羅弐 (MADARA II) reincarnates the characters into Heisei-era Japan, via two protagonists: Kamishiro, a punk rocker, and Subaru, his journalist girlfriend. The two are (somehow) teleported into a post-apocalyptic, alternate-dimension, feudal Japan—centuries after the original story—where they must once again find a way to defeat a new iteration of the evil emperor and his eight demon generals.
I’ll leave it to others to best describe how well the game itself captured this ambitious blend of ancient mysticism and futuristic biotech. But one thing that stood out to me about Konami Kukeiha Club’s soundtrack is how it wasn’t afraid to thread traditional-sounding melodies and chip-based tonalities through contemporary musical ideas rich in space and atmosphere. What made 魍魎戦記 (Madara 2 Sound Fantasia) shine even brighter was how it injected a certain fire and verticality into the music.
The person responsible for transforming the MADARA world into live music was none other than Neko Saito. A Tokyo native, Neko was a gifted violinist who began playing at age three. By the time he graduated from the prestigious Tokyo University of the Arts in 1984, he had already founded the group Killing Time with fellow multi-instrumentalist Bun Itakura. Killing Time brewed an impressive stew of jazz, prog, and more, while Neko’s self-styled quartet added lush neoclassical orchestrations to the works of artists like Yuriko Nakamura and Zabadak.
At the time of Madara 2 Sound Fantasia, Neko was better known for his behind-the-scenes work as a producer and arranger for musicians like Ichiko Hashimoto and Yapoos. Yet, within his oeuvre—as seen in his collaborations with POiSON GiRL FRiEND, Hiroko Taniyama, and as a member of Sunset Kids—you could hear the spark of an artist ready to spread his more internalized ideas across the birth of an entire record.
Together with his friend and frequent collaborator AQ Ishii, Neko created atmospheric versions of the game’s music and invited in an impressive roster of guest musicians like Kazuto Shimizu and Jun Aoyama. A full orchestra was assembled to bring their vision to life. On the tracks they didn’t arrange, contributions came from keyboardist Naoko Eto and guitarist Makoto Otsu (aka Na02), fresh off their work on P.G.F.’s Melting Moment sessions.
Without giving too much away, Madara 2 Sound Fantasia oscillates between two spheres: the ancient and the forward-looking. On tracks like “THEME OF MADARA 2 (メインマップBGM)” we hear a sweeping, regal neoclassical tone—a musical light befitting the “Prince of Light.” Then, one track later, on “父から子へ (イベントBGM)” or From Father to Child, Naoko Eto’s piano leads us on a bittersweet, impressionistic, minimalist journey.
The tonal shifts continue with tracks like “天空の舞い (メインマップBGM2)” or Dance of the Skies, which taps into a more danceable, techno-pop sound reminiscent of the original game music. This exploration culminates on “PEACE OF MIND (現代BGM)” where Naoko and Makoto, as the Na02 unit, launch the soundtrack into a funky acid-jazz sidequest.
The tracks that linger longest with me are those that follow this blast into the future. Songs like “Lily of the Valley (谷間の隠れ里BGM)” place Neko’s orchestration in lush neofolk territory—perfectly mirroring the game’s themes. Others, like the Southeast Asian-inspired “THEME OF KOHSARA (コーサラ王国町BGM),” use Neko’s lyrical violin to strike a balance between romantic mysticism and slippery, genre-defying ideas. The album highlight, “戦士の休息 (ムクリ族キャンプBGM)” or Warrior’s Rest, finds AQ Ishii and Neko crafting an intoxicating fourth world soundscape of bells, percussion, and ambient synth beds. Flautist Takashi Asahi lifts the track into an otherworldly realm of cosmic interior music—where the soundtrack becomes truest to its namesake: a sound fantasia.
As the album winds down with tracks like “エンディング－転生の終章－ (エンディングBGM)” or Ending – Epilogue of Rebirth, and the only vocal track, “Lights ～遥かなる旅立ち～” performed by Mariko Koda, I believe this soundtrack accomplishes as much as the game itself, if not more. You don’t need to play MADARA II to imagine the world it conjures. One look at the cover and its accompanying artwork invites us—for just 44 minutes—into a realm suspended between light and shadow, between the ancient past and an impossibly imagined future, possibly inspired by the original Madara.