Tomoko Sasaki (佐々木 朋子) was born in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. She had a love for music at a young age, being a gifted pianist and being inspired to become a composer after listening to Ryuichi Sakamoto and was later inspired to compose for video games after playing MOTHER. She later moved to Tokyo to attend university where she played in a punk band, and managed to gain a job at Sega in 1992. The first game she worked on was World of Illusion starring Micky Mouse and Donald Duck. While at Sega she composed for games such as Ristar and probably her most famous, NiGHTS into Dreams... and later its 2008 sequel NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams. She also composes for Tokyo Heidi, a multimedia and product freelance group with her sister Wakaba Sasaki. She is a frequent collaborator with Naofumi Hataya.
Sasaki created the story, concept and composed the music for Roommania #203 and its sequel, when Sega's sound engineers spun-off to form Wave Master. As well as composing the music, she also collaborated with other musicians to create Serani Poji, a fictional pop idol in the game. The band found unexpected success outside of the game, releasing a number of albums, the latest being Merry Go Round Jailhouse in 2010. The game also featured a fictional radio station, which also saw a CD release in 2000 as Radio DC, in which Sasaki remixed an earlier composition of hers, the main theme from Panic!. It was later adapted into an internet radio show, broadcast on SegaLINK from 2003 to 2007, which Sasaki also hosted.
As well as composing, she has also performed vocal work and voice acting on a number of titles. She sings 'I Just Smile' on the Burning Rangers soundtrack and the Japanese version of 'Ashley's Theme' in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. She also voiced the Chao in the Sonic Adventure games.
Serani Poji
- Manamoon (1999)
- One-Room Survival (2002)
- Bomber Minmi EP (2003)
- Ochamekan (2004)
- Merry Go Round Jailhouse (2010)
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