J’Nique Nicole’s EP Release Party!

The singer/songwriter J’Nique Nicole performed a special show tonight to celebrate the up-coming release of her first EP which will consist of 5 original songs. The EP doesn’t currently have a release date, but the music video that she recently shot for the song “Black Girl Magic” was screened for the first time tonight–and it’s awesome!

◼︎EP Song Line-up:

  1. Black Lives Matter Too
  2. T.I.O.T.B (This Is Only The Beginning)
  3. Bae
  4. Black Girl Magic
  5. Bold

Below, you can check out a bunch of photos during the show, but unfortunately, my phone doesn’t take the best photos, so the zoomed-in one’s turned out to be way more pixelated than I thought. Really sorry about that!!

I also recorded one brief bit at the end of the live performances where Nikki introduces the members of her band. Be sure to check it out!

Lastly, Nikki’s next gig will be held in Shibuya on Friday, July 6! More details on that to come later!

Kawano Marina’s Solo Debut on Saturday, May 28!

NieR:Automata vocalist Kawano Marina is giving a live show to commemorate her break as a solo artist in Akihabara on Saturday, May 19! She was originally from the DearStage and has since signed with Sony Music Entertainment (SME).

  • [Related Link]: Kawano Marina on Wikipedia (JP), (EN)

Although this live performance is considered her solo break, she will be joined by nearly the entire YoRHa music team. Those reported to make an appearance include:

  • Goto Takanori, Guitar
  • Kawaji Emi, Piano
  • Shimoda Hikari, Violin

Marina has stated that she’ll be singing, I assume, the Japanese version of Weight of the World from NieR:Automata. She even said to expect a new arrangement for it!

The live show will take place at Shibuya 7th Floor, literally the 7th floor of the O-WEST building. Doors open at 5:00pm and the show starts at 5:30pm.

Tickets are available through Lawson Tickets for 5,400yen (L Code: 72120).
Upon arriving, you will be asked to purchase 1 drink.

Source: Kawano Marina’s Official Website

YoRHa Musical / YoRHa Boys Stage Play Blu-ray

Tonight was the special live broadcast to celebrate the up-coming release of the YoRHa Musical Ver.1.2 & YoRHa Boys Ver.1.0 blu-ray. It was hosted by Sekiya Makoto from ILCA, the same man who helped me immensely with my report on the YoRHa Musical dress rehearsal.

Left: Sekiya Makoto (ILCA), Yoko Taro (Bukkoro)

Nearly the entire cast of the YoRHa Boys Stage Play appeared on the show in complete costume:

Unfortunately, only a handful of the girls from the YoRHa Musical were able to appear.

They weren’t in any specific outfit, but a few of them brought the YoRHa blankets and draped them over their legs to resemble the classic YoRHa dresses. Did it work?

We learned a couple new things regarding the release of the blu-ray, including some interesting… hints, perhaps?

  • The blu-rays will be released on Friday, July 27. Pre-orders will be available from the DearStage website, and at a later date on Amazon as well.

The following tweets make some clarifications regarding the Blu-ray releases:

There is no difference between the Standard Edition and Premium Edition in regard to the actual video of the plays. They are exactly the same. Simply, the Premium Edition comes with a special box packaging as well as the 2 photo books of the cast.

The Premium Edition will include 2 photo books for each play, each with over 100 pages. The majority of the photos will be “other” bromides (pin-up shots of the cast that weren’t selected for release at the shows) but there will also be additional photos included as well.

  • Upgraded Video – The video recorded for the NicoNico livestream will be edited and will include additional cuts and color correction. There will be different shots and the like on the blu-ray that was not included in the NicoNIco livestream.
  • 5.1 Channel Sound – The scenes with the Resistance on the stage, the voice of SS, etc. will sound great as though you’re sitting in a front row seat.
  • Audio Commentary – The entire cast recorded audio commentary.

  • Standard Release – YoRHa Musical Ver.1.2 & YoRHa Boys Stage Play (2 discs)
    Price: 10,000 yen
  • Premium Release – YoRHa Musical Ver.1.2 & YoRHa Boys Stage Play (2 discs)
    Includes a 100+ page photo book from each show. This will include additional shots of bromides (pin-up photos) of the cast members that were not sold at the show.
    Price: 20,000 yen*

This price seems extremely expensive for just 2 photo books, but considering that a single set of 2 photos that were sold at the plays cost 500 each… I can sort of understand where this price comes from.

  • Due to the contract with SQEX, online orders for the merchandise from both plays will conclude at the end of May. If you haven’t ordered what you wanted yet, do it now from the DearStage site here!!

  • There will be a fan event held at UDX Theater in Akihabara to screen both the YoRHa Musical and YoRHa Boys Stage Play on a Saturday and Sunday this summer (exact date has not yet been decided). Yoko Taro will be present at the event, although he seemed a little concerned that he might be in America… Could this be a hint that he will be attending E3 this year?

  • Author Eishima Jun returns to pen yet another novel in the NieR/DOD franchise. This time she’ll be novelizing the YoRHa Boys Stage Play with supervision by Yoko Taro. The book will be released on Friday, July 27 for 928yen. You can pre-order* this book from the following:
    • SQEX e-STORE
    • Amazon*
      • Please note that the pre-order from Amazon is currently not available. You can sign up for an e-mail alert when it becomes available.

SQEX e-STORE

More information regarding any future announcements will be added to this post, so please stay tuned for more!