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Information related to video game creators, directors, producers, composers, talents, and much more!

New Bakuken Stage Play Announced for September 2023

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Today was the final performance of the Bakuken 2 Rematch stage play, in which they announced there will be a brand new Bakuken play later this September. Here’s what we know thus far:

Bakuken ?Genpei Final Battle?
Date: Thursday, September 14 – Tuesday, September 19
Location: CBGK Shibugeki!!

Intorduction:
The age of the Genpei War (1180-1185).
The Genji clan is on the brink of ruin before the Taira clan, who boast overwhelming power.

In desperation, Genji welcomes Abe no Seimei, the forbidden Onmyoji.
Fearing the power of the Onmyoji, Kiyomori recruits the monk Kiichi Hogen (Yatsume), who was said to possess spiritual powers.
However, all Hogen does is drink all day and seems less than motivated.

As the scent of war intensifies, a Portuguese merchant named Michael appears and proposes a deal to both sides…

Taking place during the Heian period, this is a great action-adventure in which legendary swordsmen send sparks flying.

? Director Matsuda Ichidai mentions that he’s got no clue what the story will be about yet.

? Then Yoko says that he hasn’t written a single letter for it yet, so he doesn’t know anything either. In fact, he doesn’t even know if they’ll do whatever is written in the description on the YouTube video and says that the show might not even happen. It’s difficult to believe anything.

Yoko Taro’s New Years Greetings

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Yoko Taro has been posting New Years greetings for over 10 years on his personal blog on Ameba and Twitter. Here’s a brief look at his illustrations.

The square with four katakana letters is his old signature that reads “Yokota” (ヨコオタ). He also uses this as part of his blog URL. He hasn’t used this signature ever since he switched over to merely writing his whole name in katakana (ie. ヨコオタロウ). Please also note that the official romanization of his name is “Yoko” rather than the phonetic “Yokoo”.

  • All illustrations are by Yoko Taro except for the 2016 illustration of Pre/Zen, which was likely illustrated by his wife, Yukiko Yokoo, Taiko no Tatsujin character designer and illustrator of all the cute SD characters from Yoko Taro’s works.

Yoko Taro’s Comments for 2023 by Famitsu

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NieR series director and scenario writer. Released “Voice of Cards: The Beasts of Burden” in 2022.
The broadcast of the “NieR:Automata Ver.1.1a” anime will begin January 2023.

Famitsu published their annual New Years comments by various members in and around the gaming industry the other day, so this is my translation of Yoko’s comments:

  • Keyword: Old fart
  • Hopes for 2023: I was sick and practically on my death bed during the first half of 2022. It became routine to miss deadlines at work, and it was only a matter of time before I’d get kicked out of the industry. It’s probably time I hand the baton down to the next generation, and yet I vow to use my remaining time causing trouble for young folks like a real old fart.
  • Recent News: The stage play “Bakuken” I was in charge of the original work and script will be back on the stage at the end of February. If you check it out now, once it becomes a huge hit, you’ll be able to brag, “I knew about it from the very beginning!” (It’s hardly a hit yet, so please come to see it).
  • What things or works of entertainment are you looking forward to in 2023?
    → The death of war and COVID.

Santa Saito’s Christmas Final Special

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Saito and the gang will be hanging up their annual Santa Saito’s Christmas specials with this year’s final installment. This year’s show will be “A laid-back Christmas night, talking about the previous Santa Saito’s Christmas specials as well as the NieR Fan event last month.” There were many things they weren’t able to discuss at the NieR:Automata Fan Festival 12022, so they’ll be touching more on those topics. And since it’s Christmas, the special will also feature giveaway and variety segments!

The special will feature the following individuals:

  • MC: Yasumoto Hiroki
  • Saito Yosuke
  • Yoko Taro
  • Taura Takahisa
  • Okabe Keiichi

Title: Santa Saito’s Christmas Final Special
Date: December 25, 2022
Time: 7:00pm (JST)

The special is free to watch on NicoNico, but will likely contain a paid-only segment at the end as usual. It’s usually during that segment that some hot news is revealed.

I assume they will be advertising the Bakuken 2 play like they did last year. Unfortunately, the play had to conclude with less than half of the performances completed due to an overabundance of caution regarding COVID. The play was also scheduled to be broadcast live on NicoNico, but the first cancelled performance was for the live broadcast. That is likely one of the reasons they’re bringing the play back one more time so a DVD/Blu-ray can also be released eventually.

This has been an annual show for the past 10 years, first beginning in 2013! You can read my old recaps below. Some of the specials are still available to watch on NicoNico Douga as well.

The first five years of the special mainly focused on Dragon Quest X, but you can spot several Yoko related guests throughout:

2013: Dragon Quest X TV – Special Guests by SaitoV, Yasumoto Hiroki, Hatsumi Meari (Operator 21O), KENN, etc.
2014: Dragon Quest X TV – Special Guests by SaitoV, Hatsumi Meari (Operator 21O), Isobe Keiko (Operator 6O), etc.
2015: Dragon Quest X TV – Special Guests by SaitoV, Hatsumi Meari (Operator 21O), Isobe Keiko (Operator 6O), etc.
2016: Dragon Quest X TV – Special Guests by SaitoV, Hatsumi Meari (Operator 21O), Isobe Keiko (Operator 6O), Inko-san (Cactus in YoRHa Boys Ver.1.0),etc.
2017: SUPER Dragon Quest X TV – Assistant MC by SaitoV with guests by Hatsumi Meari (Operator 21O), Isobe Keiko (Operator 6O), Inko-san (Cactus in YoRHa Boys Ver.1.0), Takano Kohei (Kurenai in Kimi Shi ni Tamou Koto Nakare -ZERO-), etc.