About Rekka Alexiel

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.

CyberConnect2 Merch at C95

Today was the first day of Comic Market 95 and CyberConnect2 released some new merch for us to enjoy throwing our money at them to get!

Check here for a look at the new items that are available if you missed it before.

I was a little bit late getting to the location, so by the time I found the booth, they had already sold out the daily allotment of the Premium Boxes…  I plan on going again on Sunday, but maybe I should try tomorrow as well…?? We’ll see.

Anyway, here’s a quick look at some of the items that I picked up. I got the new acrylic stand of Haseo’s 5th form and the Archives_06 featuring material from .hack//G.U. Last Recode Vol.4. If you purchase 5,000 yen or more, you will receive a nice mini shikishi of Haseo, illustrated and signed by Hosokawa Seiichiro!

         
ー  The main cover featuring a new illustration by Hosokawa Seiichiro. 

          
ー  This is the inner cover of the actual book. It features a sort of negative version of the cover illustration with Haseo’s 5th form symbol printed across the whole thing.


ー  This is a gorgeous, full-body shot of Haseo’s 5th form. This is the new illustration that was used for the special pin set in the Archives_06 Premium Box.

The following images are a bunch of variations of Haseo’s 5th form design. You can see several different styles for the markings on his face, specific pieces of his armor, and more! Which one do you like the most?

                    

                              

Here’s some “Never Before Seen Material” Lost Files that include some pretty unique and rare designs for Haseo! The tombstone-looking version of all the Epitaphs look really spooky!

          

These are a couple rough designs for Haseo’s 5th form weapon(s)… Some of these look really bad-ass, don’t they?

          


ー  These are the special “Wedding” designs if you choose Ovan for this particular quest!

The following images below are rough designs for the main cover of the Archives_06. I really liked some of these sketches, especially #3 because you can see more of Haseo’s hot bod! *heehee* Maybe they figured that was showing too much skin for the cover illustration…??

                                        

Lastly, here’s an interesting look at the evolution of GULR’s logo. You can see they were actually thinking about calling it “Reboot” at some point. I’m very glad that they chose to move away from that subtitle…

I really enjoy designing things like this–what category of development is this considered? User Interface (UI) design? Not sure.


ー  This is the bonus mini shikishi illustrated by Hosokawa Seiichiro that you can receive for purchasing 5,000 yen or more! Haseo is such a gorgeous looking dude!! *love*

Yoko Taro Livestreams a Bunch of Shooters

Yoko Taro appeared on a special livestream by Famitsu featuring several classic vertical shooting games. Here’s a list of those who hosted the show:

The beginning of the program started out with information about the live concert information scheduled for February 2019.

Shooting LIVE 2019 – Vertical Shooters NIGHT

There will be a live music concert and DJ event on Thursday, February 21 at Takanobaba AREA. The venue opens at 6:30pm, starts at 7:00pm, and finishes at 9:00pm. All tickets will be standing!

  • Standing Ticket: 4,500 yen
  • Standing Ticket + Original Merch: 5,000 yen

* An additional 500 yen 1 drink fee is required upon entry.

The concert will feature music from Espgaluda, Battle Garegga, the Touhou seires, Terra Cresta, and many more!
Additional music includes IKARUGA, Radiant Silvergun, and many others!
The event will also include a talk event with ZUN (Team Shanghai Alice), Namiki Manabu (Grid), Hosoe Shinji (Super Sweep), Matsumoto Daisuke (Cave), Yoko Taro (Bukkoro).
Tickets are now available on Peatix!
At the end Sugihara-san from Famitsu joined the stream to mention the NieR:Automata “Game of the YoRHa Edition” on February 21 as well as the NieR: Orchestra Concert blu-ray release on February 27. Lastly, he mentioned that Yoko’s latest stage play “Kimi Shi ni Tamou Koto Nakare / Thou Shalt Not Die Zero_KAI” will be released on blu-ray sometime in 2019!

Santa Saito’s Christmas 2018

Saito Yosuke hosted a lengthy livestream talk show for Christmas, showcasing a bunch of idol projects he’s working on as well as various gaming projects.

About three hours into the program, Yoko Taro, Okabe Keiichi, and Taura Takahisa joined the show to discuss a little bit about Yoko’s series “Kimi Shi ni Tamou Koto Nakare / Thou Shalt Not Die” before switching gears to NieR:Automata.

Below are a couple images and the various information that we were given about each topic!

“Kimi Shi ni Tamou Koto Nakare / Thou Shalt Not Die” Vol. 7 to be released on Friday, January 25!
“Kimi Shi ni Tamou Koto Nakare / Thou Shalt Not Die” – Yoko Taro & Moriyama Daisuke Digital Live Drawing & Signing Event – February 11 at Gamers in Akihabara. To participate, you must go into the store and pre-order this issue of the manga to receive a lottery ticket. Those selected to participate will be announced online and at the store on February 1st. More information here.
“Kimi Shi ni Tamou Koto Nakare / Thou Shalt Not Die Zero_KAI” Blu-ray Release Spring 2019
Orders will be directly through Dear Stage (including bonus item) and Amazon
“Kimi Shi ni Tamou Koto Nakare / Thou Shalt Not Die Zero_KAI” Theme Song “Senkou no Hana” to be released [digitally] in 2019!
“NieR:Automata” Game of the YoRHa Edition to be released in Japan on Thursday, February 21 for 4,800 yen!
The GOTY Edition features a reversible cover of the characters with and without the visors.
NieR: Orchestra Concert blu-ray cover.
NieR: Orchestra Concert 12018 to be released on February 27, 2019 for 6,300 yen (plus tax). A bonus script book will be included if you pre-order the blu-ray.

Source: NicoNico Douga

Thou Shalt Not Die Zero -KAI- Stage Play Report

I posted the final version of my report on the dress rehearsal performance of the Thou Shalt Not Die Zero -KAI- stage play early this morning. You can expect to find a ton of amazing photos that a friend of mine agreed to do for me (he became my first-ever employee!) plus a deeper insight into the play itself and exactly what’s different from the original.

There are still a lot more I want to discuss in my editorial, including a nice interview with Matsukawa Takanori.

In the meantime, please check out the full report here!:

Thou Shalt Not Die Zero -KAI- Stage Play Report

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