EDITORIAL
For fans of Yoko Taro who’ve been around for awhile, you might recall how Yoko used to be relatively free and open to reply to fans questions about his works, but… sometime around 2018, he began declining to answer questions, and this is basically his reasoning:
“I’d like to share my thoughts on the characters from the “YoRHa Boys” stage play and explore deeper into their feelings, but since I’m the creator, whatever I’d say would be considered official canon and therefore limit fan’s imagination, so I can’t say anything. RIP!”
The context of this tweet was specifically about the YoRHa Boys stage play, which was going on at the time, but it may be safe to assume this is his overall stance on the subject.
Many people have been introduced the vast Yokoverse over the years, some who’ve been a round for a long time and others who are brand new, but it seems like more and more people are trying to answer questions with such absolute conviction that I’ve begun to lose interest. It’s not fun thinking or discussing things when people are only looking to argue or point fingers. It’s easy to get stuck in a rut, thinking you know everything, but it’s absolutely true that this can stifle the creativity of others who might interpret things differently.
So, in order to avoid this from happening, Yoko has generally decided not to answer questions for more clarity or confirmation on various aspects of his stories. He wants you to think for yourself and draw your own conclusions. Maybe you’re right, maybe you’re wrong. It makes little difference.
Clearly, we do have answers to many questions throughout the Yokoverse but certainly not everything. For me personally, I’ve been around this fandom long enough to experience extreme fatigue on multiple levels, and I certainly have my own thoughts about various things that maybe other people disagree with. But that’s okay. Nobody needs to agree and I’m perfectly fine not having all the answers or actual confirmation from Yoko himself. If it makes sense to me and I’m having fun thinking about it, that’s fine. I’m just super tired of pointless arguments that I’m like Yoko and simply not interested in engaging anymore. The fact remains that I am not Yoko Taro and therefore do not have all the answers, so it’d be nice for people to come to the realization that they are no different.
So, I suppose it’s my simple request to keep it cool and simply enjoy talking about things. Realize that you don’t have all the answers, and that’s okay. We can still enjoy things as they are.