Remembering composer Ryu Umemoto

"In August 2011, he left the world in such a hurry. He would say, 'Death is not something you lament about.' I think so, too. He left us a gift that we cannot see."

Those are the words of Takeaki Kunimoto, former audio director for Hudson Soft and composer of the score for NES cult hit Milon's Secret Castle. He's just one of the industry professionals remembering composer Ryu Umemoto, who passed away a year ago at the age of just 37. While Umemoto wasn't well known in the West -- he was the composer for Japanese cult 1990s hits like EVE burst error and, more recently, Cave shooters such as Akai Katana -- he was looked at as a hardworking mentor to many of his colleagues in Japan, such as famed Streets of Rage and Etrian Odyssey composer Yuzo Koshiro. "Umemoto-san, I am deeply shocked. When I was not well, he gave me an advice: 'Zen would be good for it.' I occasionally do it still. Please rest in peace," Koshiro says, in the memorial -- which is a full remembrance of the composer, based on interviews with him and his family, friends, and colleagues, and which covers his professional life from the 1990s through last year.