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"Of course there's legacy from Castlevania" in Bloodstained: The Scarlet Engagement

Composer Tomoyuki Tanaka talked with us about working with Koji Igarashi on the upcoming 2.5D third entry.
David Caballero Editor-in-Chief Spain 24 June 2026

The Comicon Bergamo is currently ongoing, and in that context, as we enjoyed the 26th Comicon Napoli last month, we now bring back one of the most interesting conversations we had in Italy.

It was with renown composer Tomoyuki Tanaka, who is working with Koji "Iga-san" Igarashi on the third evolution of the Bloodstained series, now in 2.5D, which 505 Games will put on the market later this year.

"Of course there is a legacy from Castlevania", Tanaka-san admits in the video when asked about his past with Konami's series and its trademark Gothic style. "But I think that there are so many things off the record and there are so many things that I cannot say officially to you", he then laughs and teases.

"But I will limit my answer to what I can tell you actually", he continues. "I think that there is some legacy from Castlevania, but at the same time I would like to use all the factual, my essence, today's essence. And not only that, but I would like to have some inputs from the great maestros of my segment, but not just copying their work of art, but it's like a personal interpretation of what they left us."

This is what Tanaka-san had to say about his current work and influence when writing the music and creating the sound for Bloodstained: The Scarlet Engagement, which still doesn't have a fixed release date. For more on his creative vision writing the music for the Yakuza series, or to learn the differences between a composer and a sound director, play the fully-subtitled interview.

Editor-in-Chief Spain David Caballero was editor-in-chief of Gamereactor Spain, writing for the site from 2011. He covered video games alongside film, tech and wider culture, and interviewed developers at events across Europe.
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