The Square Enix People Database

Birthdate:: March 28, 1963

Masato Kato (加藤正人)

Scenario Writer, Director

Masato Kato is a talented scenario writer whose handprints can be seen on many of Square's most popular titles, including his substantial contributions to every game in the Chrono series.

After graduating from college, Kato worked part-time for about a year as an animator and then joined Nintendo to work on a title called "Captain Tsubasa" (a job which included punching in dots for Tsubasa's animation sprites). He continued on to work on the game series known as "Ninja-Ryu-Ken-Den", whose second title saw him writing scenarios for the first time. He soon left to work for the animation studio Gainax, but left just before its creation of Neon Genesis Evangelion to join Square in the development of Chrono Trigger and continued on to pen the final Xenogears script three years later. He later left Square to work on Baten Kaitos with gaming studio Monolith Soft, which had been joined by former Square employees after the creation of Chrono Cross.

Throughout his career, Kato has maintained a close friendship with prolific game composer Yasunori Mitsuda, which began during the time of their work together on Chrono Trigger. Since then, they have collaborated on other titles (including sequel Chrono Cross) and together released the album Kirite--a novel written by Kato and accompanied by Mitsuda's score.

Masato Kato continues to work as a freelance scenario writer to this day, most recently re-joining Square Enix to grant his contributions to the World of Mana project.

Companies: Nintendo; Square; Monolith Soft; Square Enix

Other Associations: Gainax

Creditscredited in 12 publications

Games ⇑⇓	platform	release ⇑⇓	role
Children of Mana (credits)	nds	30 Oct 2006	Scenario Writer
Chrono Cross (credits)	ps	15 Aug 2000	Director
Chrono Cross (credits)	ps	15 Aug 2000	Scenario Writer
Chrono Cross (credits)	ps	15 Aug 2000	CG Storyboard
Chrono Trigger (credits)	snes	27 Sep 1995	Story Plan
Wrote in-depth material to complement the main story, and also personally scripted all events in the era of 12,000 B.C.
Dawn of Mana (credits)	ps2	22 May 2007	Scenario Writer
Final Fantasy Chronicles (credits)	ps	29 June 2001	Supervisor
Chrono Trigger remake Supervisor
Final Fantasy VII (credits)	ps	07 Sep 1997	Event Planner
Heroes of Mana (credits)	nds	14 Aug 2007	Scenario Writer
Radical Dreamers (credits)	snes	31 Dec 1996	Director
Radical Dreamers (credits)	snes	31 Dec 1996	Scenario Writer
In collaboration with Miwa Shoba
Xenogears (credits)	ps	20 Oct 1998	Event Director

News

Masato Kato KO'd in random encounter
Masato Kato was KO'd in a random encounter Tuesday. The famed Square Enix scenario writer and director who was responsible for such intricate plotlines and imaginative scenarios as were featured in Xenogears, Chrono Cross, and Dawn of Mana was KO'd while shopping for clothing in the Ginza Plains. He is survived by his wife and seven children. Story
06 May 2007 by Jeriaska ↑ -6 ↓ discuss permalink
Masato Kato - The M Night Shyamalan of gaming
Duckroll takes a look at the author of the scripts for the Chrono series and how his style contributed to large parts of the Xenogears story arc. Link
11 June 2006 by duckroll ↑ -29 ↓ 20 commentss permalink
World of Mana production team details emerge
Masato Kato (Chrono Cross) returns to Square Enix for a try at the helm of World of Mana Full Article
03 Oct 2005 by Rahul ↑ -7 ↓ 3 commentss permalink
Yasunori Mitsuda's on track for 2005
According to a special feature released on the Dengeki Online website, everyone's favorite Chrono composer is set to release a Chrono Cross Arranged album sometime in July. Along with the new Chrono Cross album will come a colaberation piece between Mitsuda and Masato Katou (the writer behind the Chrono series) entitled Kirite. The new album will not only contain music, however, as the disc will also be filled with pictures and stories. While this is not it for Yasunori, the games he is involved with have yet to be announced. RPG Fan
31 Dec 2004 by Andrew ↑ 56 ↓ 2 commentss permalink
Chrono Break broken as Square Enix steps on the brakes
As of November 13, 2003, Squenix abandoned their registry of the title 'Chrono Break' with the US Patent Office. However, still registered in Japan is the title 'Chrono Brake'. Also notable is the fact that Chrono series creator Masato Kato left Square Enix to pursue a freelance career, and recently worked on MonolithSoft's Baten Kaitos. Whether this means a cancellation of the game itself, it's US release, or merely a delay, it's all uncertain for the time being. US Patent Office
10 Jan 2004 by Rachel ↑ 24 ↓ 18 commentss permalink
Hopes for Chrono Break broken as Masato Kato surfaces outside of Squenix
If you've been paying attention to the industry this last week, you'll have noticed the announcements regarding Xenosaga II and Baten Kaitos from Namco. Now it would seem that Masato Kato, the scenario designer and story planner for Chono Cross and Chrono Trigger respectively, and therefore the actual mastermind behind the story, is doing the scenario for Baten Kaitos, indicating that he presumably wouldn't be involved too closely with any major projects at Square Enix. So much for that one, then? Gamefront
21 July 2003 by Rahul ↑ 48 ↓ 5 commentss permalink

Interviews
November 24, 2000	GamePro Chrono Cross Development Team Interview
November 24, 2000	Kato Answers Rabid Fans (Chrono Cross Spoilers)
November 01, 1999	Masato Kato interview from Procyon Studio

The Square Enix People Database

Masato Kato (加藤正人)

Creditscredited in 12 publications

Games

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