Today was the 2nd NieR:Automata x TSUKUMO x GEMS COMPANY mini event in Akihabara, Tokyo. Saito Yosuke, Yoko Taro, Koda Kazuma (@Lownine), and Akaba Yukino from GEMS COMPANY were present and lead the talk event through two main segments.
TSUKUMO is a company specializing in computers and various computer parts. Their online shop can be found here.
GEMS COMPANY is an off-shoot of the DearStage idol company produced by Iwasaki Takuya, former member of Cavia and college friend of Yoko Taro. GEMS COMPANY, however, is produced by Saito Yosuke from Square Enix utilizing music composted by Okabe Keiichi and others at MONACA. There are several smaller groups within GEMS COMPANY.
The event was sold out within 5 minutes upon release, but I still managed to be the 24th person to order a ticket to the event…!!! YAYYY!!!
But, as it turns out, that didn’t matter in the slightest! xD
Arriving at the venue, you had to draw a lottery number, which would then be your admittance number. Before entering the actual hall, we were given special Guest stickers to slap on ourselves somewhere noticeable for people to know that we’re actual guests to the event!
The first segment comprised mostly of a question and answer session with questions already prepared by attendees ahead of time (I don’t recall them asking for questions, but it’s possible that I missed it entirely). The first couple questions were for Koda Kazuma, since he was mostly busy sketching the live drawing for the duration of the event. He was asked what sort of input he received to make the YoRHa:Dark Apocalypse key visual as seen below:
He said that Yoshida Naoki actually posed for him… and to this I can attest because he actually did this in photos he took with people at TGS this year!
Once Koda’s questions were finished, he continued working on a preliminary sketch that he started the day previous (to get ready for this event!) but he wasn’t able to finish it… So, while he continued sketching, Yoko was asked some very tasty things to feast your Yokoverse-loving hearts on!
Yoko was asked whether the “Dragon” weapons mentioned in the year 6230 have anything to do with Drakengard, and he said, “They are related.”
This would confirm my suspicions that something occurred during the war with the aliens in the Kingdom of Night to cause a temporal anomaly, thus creating a link to the year 856 and effectively causing the very Cataclysm that screwed everything over in the first place. But in usual Time-Space insane shenanigans, it’s nearly impossible to know which came first: the chicken or the egg.
I wrote about some of this in the past as to how SINoALICE fits into the overall Yokoverse, and there is some interesting “blending” of Drakengard and NieR going on with in it… You can read all about that here.
A “Singularity” also exists in NieR:Automata.
Singularity: A special person, place, or thing that triggers a shift within the [Multiverse]. This phenomenon is triggered when a certain amount of Maso is gathered in an area and all other conditions are met.
As you can recall, Zero in DOD3 was first dubbed a “Singularity” due to her connection with the Flower entity which spelled nothing but doom and gloom for the rest of the world. It’s because of this that caused the timeline to fracture, creating multiple other possible futures.
As far as Automata goes, there could be several candidates for “Singularity”:
- A2 – Related to the different endings in C and D.
- 9S – Choosing to stay or go on the Ark.
- The Pods, specifically Pod042/Zinnia – It was Zinnia’s job to develop the YoRHa prototypes, and although he had more of a Teacher/Student sort of relationship with the other YoRHa, since Pod042 shares his personality data, I think it’s much more of a Father/Child sort of thing… and because of this, he went against his programming (as Pod) to help them, even if that choice would be detrimental to himself. Its his intervention that sort of gives us a happy ending.
Saito seemed interested in creating a NieR:Automata anime…!?
It’s been suggested before with Yoko’s “Thou Shalt Not Die” and considering his connection with Moriyama Daisuke, who has already had anime released for several of his manga series… We all know about the fake anime genga and layouts that were created for the DOD 10th Anniversary Inside World book by Yakou Hiroshi (矢向宏志)… It would be absolutely amazing if they could get him on board for a Yokoverse related anime project at some point!! But agreed, I would much rather see a TSND anime than a NieR:Automata one at this point.
The idea of a NieR Gestalt/Replicant remake was brought up again, and Saito seemed very positive about such a prospect. I’m not sure anything like that would be possible for the 10th Anniversary… but it may still be possible at some point…?
The “Last Secret” in NieR:Automata has still not been discovered.
Yoko was very coy about discussing this, but he still seemed very shocked and relieved that this hasn’t been discovered by anyone yet.
How does the all-boys version of the YoRHa Ver.1.3a stage play fit into the timeline?
Yoko didn’t necessarily say that it’s NOT “canon” but that it’s more like a parallel world.
What does the “P” in 2P’s name mean?
Yoko mentioned that it has another meaning besides merely “2nd player”, which was first used for the SoulCalibur VI collaboration, but he’s not able to discuss it at this time because YoRHa:Dark Apocalypse hasn’t concluded yet. Apparently divulging this information would be pretty spoilerish…? That in itself is pretty interesting.
Why do the main trio in Automata all have white hair?
Yoko said it was purely a design choice. The white hair seemed balance the best with the black YoRHa outfits. Koda Kazuma also mentioned that he remembered 9S originally being blonde…
Since there’s been a musical version of the YoRHa stage play, could it be possible for the all-male cast to do something similar?
I don’t think anyone gave a straight answer for this, but I’m extremely intrigued. The all-boys casts have gotten a HUGE response from fans…
How are the Healer and Scanner types different?
Yoko said it’s much like changing the OS of your computer. It still basically does the same things, but it’s equipped better to handle specific tasks. The same is true for when Operators switch over to Battler type units.
During the 20 minute intermission, we were able to go up to the front panel where Yoko left his mask, and as you can see, this is actually the older version that unfortunately had a rough time at Tokyo Game Show 2016 when it dove head first into the ground…
It was after this incident at TGS 2016 that yoshi, the artist who created the mask, tried to fix it, giving it a nice scar sort of aesthetic with three bolts holding it together… but unfortunately, the middle bar is missing… 🙁
The second half of the event was mostly dedicated to a presentation by AMD, Ryzen, and Radeon followed by a lottery giveaway drawing. Since I’m not a PC gamer, I sort of zoned out during the presentation…
But the next bit was dedicated to a free giveaway, lottery drawing for the attendees of the event! Naturally, the first portion was determined by several rounds of ROCK SCISSORS PAPER! I was trying out a theory that most people leading these games *do not* continue with Rock. For example, the Japanese style first begins with Rock, then the next is different… but they almost NEVER continue with a second Rock thereafter… which is weird. haha Every time, I started with Rock, so every time, I sat down after the first bout. RIP
The prizes for the Rock Scissors Paper portion included a couple Pod/Machine keychains, a Hacking Space T-Shirt, and several other Gems Company related goods.
The next portion was entirely a lottery drawing using our seat numbers that we drew to enter the venue. There were about 20 free giveaways for signed autograph boards and other goods, and those who already won something were illegible to win again. Unfortunately, I both sucked at Rock Scissors Paper as well as random drawings.
But still, those who weren’t able to win anything were given a random mini-shikishi on the way out, so that was a lot of fun! I’m sorry to say that I originally got one signed by Saito Yosuke, but since I already have many things signed by him, I traded it for Koda Kazuma’s! I didn’t have anything signed by him thus far, so I was really excited to add that to the collection!! Thanks so much!!
Lastly, the official Gems Company Twitter account uploaded Koda’s illustration, so you can view that below!
Saito Yosuke also posted a couple photos from the event! From the left to right are:
- Koda Kazuma (he doesn’t show his face in photos like Yoko, either!!)
- Yoko Taro (he’s just holding the mask in front of his face!)
- Saito Yosuke
There will be two more collaboration events like this held in Fukuoka and Osaka later in the year, and apparently Piroshi from CyberConnect2 will be joining the cast for the one in Fukuoka! Oh, boy!! I hope everyone has fun!!
By this time it’s really late, many hours after the event, so I may have forgotten some other interesting points. Should I remember anything more, I will further edit this post to reflect those additions!
Thanks to everybody who set up this event! I always have a ton of fun and I’ll be looking forward to the next one, although I can’t go to the next two TSUKUMO events! Here’s to hoping there will be something at the end of the year or… maybe later next year for the 10th Anniversary of NieR!!