Taku Inoue

Taku Inoue (井上 拓, Inoue Taku; born August 18, 1983), stylized as TAKU INOUE, is a Japanese composer, lyricist and singer. He was employed at Bandai Namco Entertainment from 2009 to 2018, composing music for series such as The Idolmaster, Tekken and Ridge Racer. He has been signed to the label Toy's Factory since 2019, and has written songs for artists such as Daoko and Akari Nanawo. He also formed the duo Midnight Grand Orchestra with virtual YouTuber Hoshimachi Suisei in 2022.

Inoue's interest in music began when his mother taught him to play piano as a child, but shifted his interest towards learning the guitar, and also joined a band.^[1] His parents bought a PC with music software bundled, which he used to analyse and cover music by his favorite bands. He listened to rock bands X Japan and Luna Sea.^[2] After listening to Björk's remix album Telegram, as well as visiting Belgium and discovering club music, he became inspired to create his own electronic music.^[3][4]

During his time studying at University of Tsukuba, he founded the unit applebonker with three friends at the same university. They released original music, remixed tracks by other artists, and participated in live events. They did not aim to conform to a particular genre of music. Following graduation from university, he initially intended to find a job related to his academic background, but ultimately decided to pursue music composition professionally. He sent a demo tape to Bandai Namco, who made his favorite game Katamari Damacy, and joined as a composer and sound designer in 2009.^[3]

The first game he worked on at Bandai Namco was contributing tracks to the iOS version of Noby Noby Boy, followed by Pac-Man Championship Edition DX, which he found challenging although he felt glad to "breathe new life into a classic title". In 2011, he composed for Ridge Racer 3D, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, and Ridge Racer on the PlayStation Vita. He felt pressure due to the large fanbase of each series. For Ridge Racer games he emphasized rhythm, while for Tekken games he emphasized groove and aggression. He also composed for and served as the sound director for Touch My Katamari during the same year, and was told by the previous series sound director, Yuu Miyake, to make the music "newer and fresher".^[3]

He has also worked on The Idolmaster since 2011, which started with him writing lyrics and later composing songs of his own.^[4] He studies the characters carefully to ensure they fit them,^[2] while not aiming to compose in particular genres.^[1] In 2016, he served as the music director for Summer Lesson, primarily composing music with Mitsuhiro Kitadani. He aimed for its music to sound stylish yet simple, to avoid not disrupting the player's experience. He also created songs for its characters.^[2] One of his final projects at Bandai Namco was serving as the music director for Tekken Mobile, also contributing a handful of his own tracks. Aiming to keep up with musical trends, he outsourced several tracks to guest artists outside of the game industry that he was friends with.^[2][5]

While working at Bandai Namco, he was given freedom to pursue work activities outside the company.^[2] He worked as a DJ on weekends and often performed at Mogra, which expanded his musical connections.^[4] He find it difficult to handle both jobs at once, and often took days off from his day job.^[6] He also composed the ending song for the anime Rage of Bahamut: Virgin Soul, along with Koichi Tabo and the performer Daoko, but arranged the track on his own. Although initially nervous to compose a track with two other people, he ultimately enjoyed the experience.^[1]

Inoue left Bandai Namco in July 2018, reflecting positively on his time at the company,^[7] but felt leaving would open him up to a wider range of opportunities.^[6] He signed a contract with Toy's Factory as a songwriter two days later,^[8] after having previously been offered to do so earlier in the year.^[4] Although his work with Toy's has primarily been focused on writing songs for artists, he has continued to compose music for video games, including Cygames' and Nintendo's Dragalia Lost released the same year. On July 23, 2019, it was announced that he officially joined Toy's Factory.^[9]

Although he was not initially interested in being a solo artist on Toy's Factory, he eventually reflected on that his work only involves orders from clients, and wanted to do something new.^[4] He debuted as an artist in 2021, releasing his debut single "3:12", featuring virtual YouTuber Suisei Hoshimachi. It was included on his first EP Aliens EP released later in the same year, featuring Onjuicy, Mori Calliope, and Hoshimachi.^[8][10] He had wanted to work with Hoshimachi for a long time after hearing her covers of songs he had composed. Also in 2021, he served as the lead composer of the anime The Dungeon of Black Company, with additional contributions from several other composers.^[11]

Following his previous collaboration with Hoshimachi, he formed the unit Midnight Grand Orchestra with her in 2022.^[12] They released their first album Overture in July of that year. This was followed by the release of Starpeggio in December 2023.^[13] Inoue included references to spy and sci-fi films throughout the album, such as "Nikita" being a reference to the film La Femme Nikita.^[14]

In 2025, he composed the track "Unstoppable Generation" for New Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, collaborating with Taku Takahashi. The two musicians created the song together in-person within a day, taking turns on adding parts.^[15]

• Official website (in Japanese)