Production manager, coordinator, writer/translator, motion/voice actor. Anime Expo 2022 Exhibitor.
Since 2005, she has covered all things related to Japanese subculture with an added focus on Yoko Taro and his works, including the Drakengard and NieR series among many others. As the head of Fire Sanctuary, she has published a multitude of official reports on various topics such as Tokyo Game Show, gaming news, and multiple stage plays by Yoko Taro. She has also participated in many volunteer orchestras in Japan as a soprano vocalist.
“Jackass is an android with a distorted personality, always laughing from his lofty perch. Additionally, he seems to have a weak neck, or maybe it’s because he’s always craning it awkwardly in curiosity… His strength is unmatched among the Resistance.”
From this blurb, it seems like he will be a sort of crazy mad scientist sort of character… or maybe it’s just my imagination! I can’t help but wonder what interests he might show in Accord… Oh, no!!! (heeheehee)
This production is slated to be livestreamed, but the details are still being worked out. Once anything official has been released, I will report about it here!
April 22, 2020 marks the 10th Anniversary of the NieR series.
The year 2020 was supposed to be an amazing 10th Anniversary year for the NieR series, but it’s turning out to be much more of the “curse” Yoko originally said it was.
First the Tokyo performances of the NieR:Theatrical Orchestra 12020 (March 28-29) were cancelled. Then the YoRHa Ver.1.3aᵃ performances (March 12-15) were cancelled. Now we’re left with very little to celebrate about…
Because of this, Saito has stated an interest in doing something on March 29 to sort of smooth things over and still manage to celebrate something for the 10th anniversary, which actually later on April 22.
“We’re going to do something on March 29. Worse comes to worst, just me and Yoko will do something. It’s the 10th Anniversary after all, so let’s go 10 hours.”
Of course, he is likely joking about the 10 hour thing, but it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for long livestreams that they’ve done in the past.
“I’m coming!!! (haha)” Akiyama Kaoru performs the voice of Pod153 in NieR:Automata and the voice of SS in the YoRHa Boys Ver.1.0 stage play.
アコギとビール持って行っても良いですか…🎸
— 後藤 貴徳 Takanori Goto (@pippi_pinopino) March 2, 2020
“Shall I bring my acoustic guitar and a beer…?” Takanori Goto has performed the guitar for multiple NieR related series, including the most recent YoRHa Ver.1.3a with violist Shirasu Kon and drummer Takashi Fukuoka.
“If you do Mahjong, I can play!” Inko (Rita Jay) played the role of Cactus in the YoRHa Boys Ver.1.0 stage play.
Regarding the cancellation of the YoRHa Ver.1.3aᵃ stage play, the cast and crew are still going to practice. Plans are currently being considered to livestream the show. The whole point of having this “rerun” version of the play was because the Blu-ray recording fell through at the previous show, so this was their “comeback” second chance at getting a physical release of the play. It’s likely that since the play has been cancelled, they are still practicing if just to complete a recording to later release on Blu-ray.
The cast has already had their character photo shoots, so plans are also under way to still release new Ver.1.3aᵃ merch.
“Anyway, according to Sekiya-P, his reason for making the announcement at the weird time of 3:30am was “I scheduled it to post at 10am but it blew up.”
So, it’s super sad that so many of these events have been cancelled, but there’s really nothing anyone can do about it. We just need to be sure to return our tickets & get our money back!
With the massive closures and cancellations of events due to Coronavirus fears, the YoRHa Ver.1.3aᵃ stage play is just one more addition to the growing list. All public performances of the stage play from March 12-15 in Tokyo have been cancelled. This news comes after the announcement of the NieR:Theatrical Orchestra 12020 in Tokyo has been cancelled.
Many of the actors in the play have been posting rehearsal updates on Twitter ever since practice began about a week ago, their latest rehearsal was just yesterday. This makes it seem like the play hasn’t completely been scrapped and that they will continue with practice to perform at least one time for the Livestream and later Blu-ray release.
This has not been confirmed yet at this time, but if what Yoko said about it means anything, they will likely perform to an empty auditorium merely to salvage something from this production. It’s still unknown whether or not the initial dress rehearsal will go on as planned (this is likely cancelled as well).
So, for the time being, the YoRHa stage play production team is considering what to do with the livestream as well as the new merch that they planned to sell. Once there is more information regarding this, I will post about it as it becomes known.
Square Enix has just announced that all performances in Tokyo for the NieR:Theatrical Orchestra 12020 on March 28 and 29 have been cancelled. Those who have purchased tickets are asked to request a refund through the agency that issued the tickets. More detailed information is available on the official concert page.
I’m thinking about how we might be able to do something differently.
I’m not sure what he might have in mind, but I would hope they could at least have a similar concert or something for Tokyo once the Coronavirus threat settles down. Since it’s 2020, this year is probably entirely out of the question due to the olympics, but 2021?
That would be a cool name 12021. It’s a palindrome that can be read the same way both forwards and backwards, so it feels kinda special for a NieR event. Plus, by that time, we’ll likely already have an idea about what Yoko’s New Project is going to be.
It would be interesting if they could somehow merge the NieR 10th Anniversary Theatrical Orchestra in with whatever Yoko’s New Project will be… that is, if they are at all connected (we sort of know it will be, to some degree).
So, in the meantime, everyone please stay safe and healthy! Hopefully this will get under control soon!!
This week’s issue of Famitsu magazine points to yet another new IP from Platinum Games and their Platinum 4 project. Here’s a short excerpt via Ryokutya:
A young boy, body wrapped in pale light, poses before a giant monster…!
Platinum Game’s first self-published and completely new IP!
Kamiya: I’m working as director on a completely new title. Inaba: We’re going to betray everyone’s expectations on this– in a good way! Kamiya: This will be a challenge that Platinum has never attempted before.
Kamiya: Similarly with the single-body transformations in Viewtiful Joe reminiscent of Kamen Rider, or the squads in The Wonderful 101, G.G. will have gigantic heroes. Inaba: If we really had to put it in any given genre, it wold be ____ Action ____ (two words redacted!). Kamiya: The action feeling is a really important aspect of the game, but I wouldn’t say it’s forced.
Inaba: At this point in time, we want to release it on all platforms.
Inaba: When we started making the plans, the development team kicked into gear. We want to open a studio in Tokyo with about 100 people, so we’ll be looking for new talent. We have about 15 people thus far.
Kamiya: I’m kinda nervous because Taura beat me in the poll I started on Twitter asking “people you want to work with the most”. Inaba: We can only take it as fact. (haha)
Inaba: There have been other proposals similar to our partnership with Tencent and I’ve heard many stories about Platinum losing its independence, but I turned these down because we don’t want to sell our freedom in exchange for stability.
There are still 2 new titles that have yet to be announced. Platinum 4 includes four new projects from Platinum Games.
Inaba: The last one is a secret. We’re going to make something interesting that lives up to the Platinum name. Please look forward to it!
