Category Archives: Yoko Taro

SINoALICE x DOD3 Collaboration

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The other day, Square Enix released a preview for the new SINoALICE x DOD3 collaboration. Here are a couple things that we know about the details:

  • Zero, One, Accord will be playable. Upon logging in, all players will receive Zero (Breaker) as a gift.
  • DOD3 character designer Fujisaka Kimihiko has illustrated a new character for the collaboration, but the name is blurred out in the video. That being said, if you pause the video just right, you can clearly see that it says:
    「少年ミハイル」= Boy Mikhail
  • Yoko Taro has penned the story for these collaboration stages, so prepare some tissues…

Lastly, here are some photos from the PV:

 

Zero, One, and Accord will be playable characters!

New original character design by Fujisaka Kimihiko!
This is the young human form for Mikhail!
He is somewhat of a 4th “secret” character in terms of marketing.

If you look closely at the center of the “ribcage” looking part of the dragon design, you can see there’s actually a heart inside of it…!
It looks like the “red lightning” is also originating from the heart.

New original story penned by Yoko Taro!

Voice actors Uchida Maaya and Toyama Mao reprise their respective
roles as Zero and Mikhail.

Um… That’s Five’s glyph…

 

Zero: This world is surely my curse.

Chapter Title: Harmonic Interference
Available on March 26

Lastly on a couple of the screens we can see some of the story text. It’s really difficult to make the second half of it out, but so far this is what I can read. If anyone can help flesh it out some more, please let me know!

Japanese:
最初に感じられたのは痛み。
呼ぼうとする喉からは抜かれた空気だけが、
というか、何がどうなってるんだ？
右手には剣が握りしめられて、
左手を見ると……
金属の甲冑が く　光っていて。
私に私の感情と記憶
していくのを ていた。
そうだ。
僕が、私ーーは　　と戦っていたんだ。
ーー友。
なくてはならない、ゼロ
English:
The first thing I could feel was pain.
As I tried to call out, only air escaped my lips.
Besides that, what’s going on?
A sword lies firmly in my right hand,
Whereas when I look at my left hand……
Some metallic armor glistens brilliantly.
My thoughts and feelings,
???
That’s right.I, I was– fighting.
??? friend.
I must… ???
Zero

Thou Shalt Not Die / Kimi Shini Tamou Koto Nakare, Chapter 33 Preview

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Chapter 33, which was released on February 25, 2018, gave us some interesting new details that seem…awfully reminiscent to some aspects in the new YoRHa Boys Ver.1.0 stage play. I’ll discuss this further behind spoiler tags below.

This is only going to be a very brief look at the chapter right now, as I need to be out of the house in ten minutes, but this chapter brings back a familiar face…

Welcome back, Yanagi. It’s been a while.

As the students were preparing all night for the up-coming School Festival, Yanagi had other ideas. He round up a group of “defecting students” to stage a coup against the teachers and government that set up the whole “Special Abilities High School” in the first place. Using the gym as their base of operations, Yanagi and his gang sent out an email to an outside news agency that said there would be an important announcement made at 6am.

Leading up to that time, Yanagi and his goons were using their powers to kill the teachers and other staff near the school entrance gate. Police were alerted to the incident and went to take control of the situation, but they, too, fell victim to Yanagi’s group.

As more and more bodies littered the school entrance, Kuroi and his group finally get word from the “outside world” about what’s going on (they didn’t know because they were in a different area of the school, preparing for the festival). Also, it appears that communication going in and out of the school had been cut off… The chapter ends with Rokusho meeting up with Kuroi’s group.

What’s interesting about this is that… Yanagi began his coup because he learned that special ability students like himself were just pawns to the state of Japan. They were rounded up from all over the country, given drugs to give them special abilities, and subsequently slaughtered in further experiments. He apparently had had enough of it.

This feels very much like what No21, No3, and No6 had done in the YoRHa Boys Ver.1.0 stage play. They learned that they were just pawns to Command and were slaughtered left and right for their precious data. Maybe their coup was partially influenced by the virus, but… the similarities between YoRHa and KimiShini continue.

I’ve made a bunch of comparisons between YoRHa and the KimiShini manga as well as possible connections to NieR, so be sure to check that out here. It’s an old post that needs updating, but it brings up some curious similarities…

Yoko Taro says there may be an international NieR:Automata fan event in the works!

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Could there be an international fan event in the works? Make sure you contact your local Square Enix and let them know that you want them to do it!!

14-Page Special in Famitsu This Week!

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Famitsu will be running a 14-page story on NieR:Automata this week (release on Thursday).

One of the headlines reads that there is a “secret” that no one has realized about NieR:Automata yet but apparently they don’t go into any great detail about this “secret” in the article…?

The article welcomes 10 members from the development team as they discuss the various points in the game’s production. As you can see in some of the preview pages, there is a timeline that begins in 2014– I assume this is the first run of the YoRHa stage play since that was in October 2014… but YoRHa activities actually began in 2013, so it will be interesting to read if they mention anything about that in the text.

Lastly, some spoilers will be discussed, so it’s recommended to be aware of that.

  • Matsudaira Hito – Character Modeler (Platinum Games)
  • Negishi Isao – Game Designer (Platinum Games)
  • Koda Kazuma – Illustrator (Freelance)
  • Taura Takahisa – Game Designer (Platinum Games)
  • Yoko Taro – Director/Creator (Bukkoro)
  • Saito Yosuke – Producer (Square Enix)
  • Yoshida Akihiko – Character Designer (CyDesignation)
  • Nagai Yuya – Character Designer (CyDesignation)
  • Okabe Keiichi – Composer (MONACA)
  • Hoashi Keigo – Composer (MONACA)

YoRHa Musical Ver.1.2 – Scene 15 Monologue with No2 and No4

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This is just a quick message. Comparing the script from the new YoRHa Musical Ver.1.2 with the script for the YoRHa Ver.1.1 Stage Play, this scene has *not* been changed in the slightest. Merely, my English translation has changed a little bit since then.

This is my translation directly from the musical script that was sold at the show:

No2: Our memories… are pseudo memories.

No4: They’re false memories programmed in order to promote diversity and evolution on the battlefield.

No2: In my memories, I lived in the country with my grandma.

No4: In my memories, I hung out a lot with my friends at school.

No2: Everyday, grandma and I would tend to the farm and knit… …The cold of the rain, the ferocity of  storms. The silence of the snow. The gentle warmth of spring…

No4: After school, we’d go eat the most delicious things, have fun dressing up, playing games…

No2: Since we lived in the country, I couldn’t have everything I wanted. But because the other villagers looked out for me, including my grandma… stranely, it wasn’t so hard.

No4: As long as I had my friends, I could endure my studies. We’d laugh day after day; no matter what hardships came our way, we were able to overcome them.

No2: ……My grandma taught me “kindness,” a gentle heart to cares for others.

No4: ……My friends taught me “hope”, a strong heart to laugh even in the face of difficulty.

No4: Holding tightly onto these false memories, we fight.

No2: But they are also our precious memories.

No2 & No4: The time… draws near…

No2 & No4: Our final moments… are about to begin…