Just in time for the NieR 10th Anniversary, I’ve been able to post my report on the YoRHa Ver.1.3aᵃ stage play, detailing the final rehearsal, which was held on March 13.
Unfortunately, due to Coronavirus closures, all public viewings of the stage play were cancelled, but the show was streamed live on NicoNico during the pre-10th Anniversary Livestream on March 29th.
Updated: 2020/12/15
As part of the NieR 10th Anniversary Livestream special events, the very final bit was broadcast to NicoNico Premium Members only, and it was in this portion in which Yoko revealed some very interesting tid-bits about Accord.
This section of the Livestream included the following members:
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Accord exists only as a female-type android.
At one point, Yoko stated that the Accord that appears in YoRHa Ver.1.3a/aᵃ was never said to be male. The cast is male, so it’s easy to make that assumption; however, this was not a male version of Accord. That was a female Accord. He decided from the very beginning that there were only female-type Accord androids. No male-types exist.
He also apparently didn’t say anything about this to Suga or Matsuda, the director of the play. Matsuda mentioned that it would have been better if he had known more about the character, especially to give Suga more direction, but…
Yoko: No one asked me about it, so I didn’t say anything.
I can see from the director’s stand-point that it would have been nice to know everything about the character ahead of time in order to give the necessary direction and advice to the actor, but this is a sort of “if” story to begin with, so it doesn’t really matter either way.
Now that he mentioned this, I’m really curious if there were other characters who were likewise female but appeared male merely because the actors were all male. This is especially important in the earlier versions of the stage play, such as Ver.1.1, in which several apparently female androids confessed their love for each other, which seemed like a really great nod to the LGBTQ community. I would be kinda sad if all of a sudden one of them turned out to be a male android.
This is shocking to us male-Accord fans and fans of the actor Suga Kyosuke, but really this realization doesn’t change much. Accord has always been an interesting character, and Suga brought new life the character in a new and interesting way. Although I am personally a little disappointed to hear this, since the “male Accord” was my favorite part to Ver.1.3a/aᵃ, it doesn’t mean much in the long-run. We’ll always have Suga’s awesome performance to look back on and enjoy whenever we feel the need to see a male Accord android. xD
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Accord was first created by “Humans” in the Kingdom of Night.
Yoko revealed that Accord was originally created along with Dragons by “something like humans” in the Kingdom of Night, but he wouldn’t explain this in any detail. According to the official timeline, the “Army of Humanity” created the so-called “Dragon” weapons to fight in the war against the aliens in 6230. He also mentioned that Accord’s creation may have something to do with the Dragons, but he didn’t elaborate on this point either since it would get overly complicated (and he probably couldn’t discuss it even if he wanted to).
The definition of what is considered “human” during this time is unclear. In other words, the “Army of Humanity” androids are often labeled as the current figureheads of Humanity, so it could be possible that the faction of androids currently fighting the war against the aliens in the Kingdom of Night were the ones to initially create Accord.
Additionally, Yoko said that the details about the Kingdom of the Night were not vital to the story of Automata, so nothing was ever discussed about it, saying that “Discussing it has no purpose.”
Saito: As long as it has nothing to do with the narrative of the game, he doesn’t like discussing it.
Yoko: It has no purpose.
Saito: So, whenever this next NieR game comes out, I think we’ll probably end up over there.
Matsuda: Will you ever reveal any of this?
Yoko: Who knows…?
Matsuda: Whaat? You’ve gotta reveal this at some point!
Yoko: I’m not making games to reveal a clear setting, but rather drama and experience. I’m always thinking of the setting and how things fit together, but as far as each individual game goes, there’s a lot of information that isn’t necessary to tell the story.
Yoko: I always think that each story is its own thing and there’s no need to know anything more than what’s told within that singular story, even if other details do in fact exist. For example, Automata is just Automata, Replicant is just Replicant, and the same is true with YoRHa Ver.1.3aᵃ. I think they are complete as they are.
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The Original Accord
Saito: That’s not the end! C’mon, we were just talking about how Accord seems to be somewhat similar to Emil, how even though there are so many of them, they always have an Original. What about the Original Accord? Does she exist?
Yoko: She does.
Saito: Okay, so in Emil’s case, he replicated himself in order to fight the aliens, so what was the case with Accord?
Yoko: If I were to discuss that, I’d be in big trouble with the law, so…
Saito: Check out this awesome question I’m asking!! haha
Matsuda: So, Suga Kyosuke is amazing to play a character like this!
Yoko: Yeah, this is a huge secret, so I can’t talk about it.
Matsuda: But, he must know about it, otherwise he couldn’t play the role accurately.
Sekiya: Yup.
Matsuda: I’ve asked so many times about why Accord seems to come back to life all the time, but he’ll never tell me.
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What exactly is Accord’s job?
Yoko: Her job is to observe Singularities. The end.
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What is Accord’s connection to the Kingdom of Night?
Apparently, sometime before Replicant, there was a huge accident that caused the planet to become tidally locked, so that one face of the planet is enshrouded in eternal darkness. But as far as Replicant and Automata is concerned, those stories take place in the Kingdom of Day, where night never comes.
Matsuda: So, Accord’s in the Kingdom of Night?
Yoko: She’s actually in both, but she was created in the Kingdom of Night.
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How many Accords are there?
Yoko: The number of Accord androids is always expanding, so there is no definite number of android units.
Saito: But, since there were so many Emil copies, there was always an Original, so does this mean there’s an Original Accord out there somewhere?
Yoko: Ahhh, if I were to answer that, it would over complicate things, so…
Saito: Aw, c’mon, just answer it already! (haha)
Sekiya: Oooh, it must feel horrible not to knowー I’m glad I’m in the know! heehee
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Why are there so many Accord androids?
Also a super important aspect to the character of Accord is her ability to seemingly replicate herself endlessly. The only other characters that we know can do this in some shape or form is Emil during the initial invasion of the aliens in 5012 and N2. Yoko mentioned that there was a reason for this, but wouldn’t say why there are so many versions of Accord.
Saito: So, Accord was out there somewhere, watching what was going on in Replicant.
Yoko: Yes, she was always there, watching. She’s always there.
Yoko: For the longest time, we’ve said that Accord isn’t supposed to get involved, but with YoRHa Ver.1.3aa, she sort of over did it. That was Suga-kun’s curse.
Saito: Why are you blaming that on the actor?
Yoko: Yeah, watching Suga-san performing, it made you want to see more.
Matsuda: I suppose it’s okay, though, since this is a separate possibility.
Yoko: That’s right. It makes you wonder what could be possible in a separate timeline. So, further down this path, there are no more Red Girls/Boys. The story of NieR has always been about the thought of history repeating itself, so even without the Red Girls/Boys, the war with machines still manages to happen somehow.
Saito: So, throughout the whole Yokoverse, whether it be with Drakengard or NieR, do you have a particular goal in mind, like no matter how far apart the timeline might split into different directions that it still somehow reaches the same goal.
For example, in Doraemon, there’s a part of the story where they’re going to Osaka, so they think about all the different ways to get there, whether it be by car, or shinkansen, or whatever, but eventually they reach their goal in the end: Osaka.
So, regarding the whole Yokoverse, with Drakengard, NieR, and whatever else, you must have a specific goal in mind, right?
Yoko: If I were to answer accurately, no.
Saito: No?!
Yoko: It’s more about the search for that goal.
Akiyama: Like searching for Osaka.
Yoko: It’s similar to that. Or maybe more like “What happened to Osaka?”
Saito: So, no matter how hard you try to change things, sometimes you still end up in the same place.
Yoko: That’s right. That’s actually what Accord’s trying to figure out.
Taura (on LINE chat): Osaka is right here.
Yoko: I don’t know how many people are watching right now, but I never thought we would be having this conversation about Accord.
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The Casting for Accord: Suga Kyosuke
Matsuda: During the auditions, I had absolutely no idea for the image of Accord, so I left all of that up to Yoko-sama.
Yoko: Yeah, Matsuta originally wasn’t interested in selecting Suga-san for the role.
Matsuda: (haha) Well, of course. I mean, he brought a guitar to the audition, and you’d think that if he brought a guitar, he’d sing but… all he did was a bunch of technical fingering.
Yoko: The thing with Suga-san was that he did fit a sort of image I had for the role, and even though he didn’t have much experience as a performer…
Saito: Yeah, Ver.1.3a was actually his first performance, right?
Matsuda: Yes, that was his first performance. So there was a lot of stuff he was unfamiliar with.
Yoko: The role of Accord is pretty important within the story, so there was a little worry about thatーbut it wasn’t like I thought everything would work out; I just thought that it was Ichida’s job to deal with whatever might happen.
Apparently, some of the only things in Suga’s portfolio were a bunch of photos of him playing golfー Yes, he absolutely loves golf! That and just playing golf. No singing. Just playing the guitar. It also seems as though Suga has become the producer of an idol group as well, so it’s really unclear exactly WHO HE IS! lol He’s doing so many unrelated things, it’s hard to know!
Yoko: But there was definitely an aspect of mystery about him that I felt that just maybe he could pull it off.
Matsuda: Then I think we were right in choosing him.
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What exactly is the “Fall Down”?
Yoko: Ah, so… “Fall Down” (大崩落・フォールダウン) refers to the event in which every single timeline disappearsーis annihilatedー so, she’s actually working to prevent that from happening. The end.
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So, Accord continues to be a huge mystery in the Yokoverse, but I am exponentially beginning to think that the new NieR Reincarnation is going to focus more on Accord and her uncanny ability to replicate over and over again. We’ve seen in the YoRHa Ver.1.3a/aᵃ stage play that Accord absolutely can “die”, and that each and every iteration of her is unique, but the mere fact that they share the same memory bank of sorts links them all togetherー much like a Borg collective. I’m beginning to think we’ll get more story on Accord, the Original Accord, and the events happening in the Kingdom of the Night during the initial conflict with the aliens.
Related Links
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There are lots of announcements from the beginning hour or so of the NieR 10th Anniversary, so let’s take a quick look at everything!
NieR Replicant Ver.1.22474487139… will be released on PS4, Steam, and Xbox. This is neither a remaster or a remake, but rather a “Version Up”, according to Yoko-san. But if you were to choose one or the other, it may be appropriate to call this a remaster. It will include complete FULL VOICE that has been newly recorded and with additional new scenes. This time, the role of Weiss, originally portrayed by PETER, will be performed by Yasumoto Hiroki, aka Pod042.
And we have new concept art by Koda Kazuma! Look at this gorgeous stuff!! He is amazing!
Below is an example of some of the new NieR merch that is currently available from the SQEX e-STORE!
Next up is Yoko’s New Project, “NieR Reincarnation,” which will be a smartphone game developed by Applibot with character designs by the great CyDesignation, who collaborated with Automata, such as the lead character designer, Yoshida Akihiko, and sub character designer Nagai Yuya.
And here are some more juicy bits that we learned in the very final Premium section of the livestream:
This is all breaking news, so more information will likely become known later. Please expect this page to be further updated once more information is released.
I have discussed the status of the Global release of Yoko Taro’s SINoALICE smartphone game in the past, but we’ve got some big news that should make a lot of international fans excited!
NEXON has finally relinquished its rights to the global release back to Pokelabo, the developer. According to their announcement, the game should be out sometime this summer, around the beginning of July, if everything goes well this second time around!
I’ve updated the Global SINoALICE Status page to reflect these updates, so please check out that page for additional information!
Additional information has just been released regarding the up-coming livestreams for the NieR 10th Anniversary scheduled for March 29.
Please note that all times are listed in Japan Standard Time (JST).
NieR:Theatrical Orchestra 12020 Concert – Talk Corner
NieR:Theatrical Orchestra 12020 Concert
YoRHa Ver.1.3aᵃ Stage Play – Talk Corner
YoRHa Ver.1.3aᵃ Stage Play – After Talk
NieR 10th Anniversary – Talk Corner
NieR 10th Anniversary Late Night Talk
The final free-to-watch segment of the Anniversary livestream will likely be around 5 hours and function as a typical talk show like we’ve seen the crew do in the past. It’s currently unknown exactly what will be discussed during this segment, but there’s always a possibility they will drop something important on us (perhaps something about Yoko’s New Project?) We shall see…!