Minako Hamano

Minako Hamano (born June 28, 1969 in Kyoto City) is a Japanese composer of video game music working for Nintendo. Her claim to fame was being a composer for The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening.
Hamano was only 24 years old during the development of Super Metroid. She originally recorded a voice for Samus Aran during the Game Over sequence, but it had sounded too sexual and was removed. A female moaning sound was unearthed by Super Metroid dataminers in 2021, and may represent Hamano's recording. The sound can be listened to below, with an edit for pitch and speed.https://tcrf.net/Super_Metroid#Unused_Audio This sample was used in-game during Samus Aran's Final Cry.Samus' cry(?) was in the Super Metroid game over sequence all along!, posted by u/notjustakorgsupporte on r/Metroid
Clark Wen, the audio lead of Metroid Prime and Echoes, met Hamano after he left Retro Studios and describes her as "sweet and down to earth".
==Metroid music composed by Hamano==
Minako Hamano has been credited with composing music for Super Metroid, Metroid Fusion, Metroid: Zero Mission, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
For Super Metroid, she collaborated with Kenji Yamamoto, with each composer writing different tracks for the game. Super Metroid: Sound in Action credited Hamano with composing the following tracks:
*Opening (Destroyed Science Academy Research Station) (arranged from a theme composed by Hirokazu Tanaka)
*Wrecked Ship
*Maridia Rocky Underwater Area
*Maridia Drifting Sand Underwater Area
*Mini Boss Confrontation BGM (Spore Spawn, Botwoon)
*Big Boss Confrontation BGM (Ridley, Draygon)
*Big Boss Confrontation BGM (Kraid, Crocomire, Phantoon)
*Tourian (arranged from a theme composed by Hirokazu Tanaka)
*Mother Brain
*Ending (arranged from a theme composed by Kenji Yamamoto)
Fusion is the only time Minako Hamano has scored a Metroid game without Kenji Yamamoto. Instead, she received assistance from Akira Fujiwara. Hamano has specifically discussed composing the SA-X Appears track, as well as the various tracks that play in the Navigation Rooms while Adam is speaking.Nintendo Online Magazine, as translated by Metroid Database She later supervised the Sector 1 arrangement heard in Brawl.
It is not confirmed which specific tracks from Fusion (aside from the aforementioned tracks), Zero Mission, and Corruption were composed by Hamano.
For Metroid: Samus Returns and Metroid Dread, Hamano was a sound coordinator rather than a composer. Because some of her previous Metroid tracks have been remixed in Samus Returns, she is additionally credited as an original composer.
==Interview data==
HAMANO Minako - Sound
*Birthday: June 28, 1969
*Hometown: Kyoto City
*Masterpieces: Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
*Duties and Content: BGM composition
*Favorite Films and Music: Le Grand Bleu (The Big Blue) was beautiful. I also wanted to see Bonobono.
*Secret of Samus that only I know: Nothing different. (Also, Samus's voice...)
*Clear Time: About 3:30 (Also about 98%)
==Credits==
===Metroid===
*Super Metroid (with Kenji Yamamoto)
*Metroid Fusion (with Akira Fujiwara)
*Metroid: Zero Mission (with Kenji Yamamoto)
*Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (special thanks)
*Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (with Kenji Yamamoto and Masaru Tajima)
*Metroid: Samus Returns (sound coordination, original Metroid music)
*Metroid Dread (sound coordination)
===Other games===
*Famicom Tentei Club Part II: Ushiro ni Tatsu Shoujo
*The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
*Teleroboxer
*Galactic Pinball
*The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX
*Pokémon Puzzle Challenge
*Mario Kart: Super Circuit
*Wario World
*Daigasso! Band Brothers
*Tetris DS
*Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day!
*Brain Age2: More Training in Minutes a Day!
*Super Smash Bros. Brawl
*Jam with the Band
*Wario Land: Shake It!
*Donkey Kong Country Returns
==Gallery==
Rafael Machó Alcaraz Dread collection displayed.jpg|An art print signed by Hamano, in Rafael Machó Alcaraz's collection.Rafael Machó Alcaraz (_NewRafa). "Se cumple un año del lanzamiento de #MetroidDread, un sueño hecho realidad y una de las mejores cosas que me han pasado en la vida. 💙🤍 ¶ La velocidad a la que pasa el tiempo debería de ser ilegal. No, en serio, una ley o algo. ¿Vamos a seguir permitiéndolo? Samus haz algo." ("One year has passed since the release of #MetroidDread , a dream come true and one of the best things that has ever happened to me. 💙🤍 ¶ The speed at which time passes should be illegal. No, seriously, a law or something. Are we going to continue to allow it? Samus do something.") 8 October 2022 4:07 a.m. Tweet. https://twitter.com/_NewRafa/status/1578658315323641856
==References==
ru:Минако Хамано
Category:Samus Aran actresses
Category:Composers
Category:Special Thanks