I’ve realized that I never uploaded the photos that I took at the NieR Music Concert “Memory of Puppets” or even wrote up a recap about it. It’s unfortunate now since my memory of the event is pretty hazy. orz Therefore, the majority of this post will mostly be comprised of photos only.
I went early to get in line for merch!These were all of the goodies I got! The script book was a free bonus for purchasing the ticket through the SQEX e-STORE.This was the table where the script books were given out.
The script books began to be distributed to customers at the first show in Osaka on Sunday, April 23rd, 2017, about a week and a half before the next two shows in Tokyo (May 4th & 5th). Only those who purchased the concert tickets at the SQEX e-STORE received a voucher ticket in order to redeem it for a script book.
In Famitsu Issue No.1494 with publishing date August 3, 2017 and released on July 20, 2017, there were interviews with Yui Ishikawa, Natsuki Hanae, and others. Ishikawa mentions that she was told a portion of the script for the final recitation drama would be different than what she was originally given. Hanae also mentions that he didn’t know how the script was going to change until the last minute, plus he didn’t even know if he would be able to attend until 3 days prior. Additionally, later on page 151, Yoko states in a group interview that he planned the change of the scripts as a method to control spoilers from getting out. Hanae was booked elsewhere on May 5th, so his lines were going to be recorded in advance, but just 3 days prior to the final concert, he was suddenly able to go and perform live. Because of this, Yoko made some additional changes to his original version of the “changed” script to account for this.
This was the first time we got to see the prototype of the 9S figure plus the design for the A2 one as well!This was the view from my seat at the evening show on May 4th. I also had a ticket on May 5th but decided to give it to a friend so I could attend the GameTakt dress rehearsal.This is a look at the stage from where my friend’s seats were on Sunday May 5th. I guess he had a great time! xD
This is something that I started working on earlier last year but never had the opportunity to finish it until now. There’s some pretty interesting information here, so I hope you enjoy!
A couple interesting things to note:
The Commander was against the M Squad project but was overruled by the Council of Humanity.
No2’s battle data was used in the development of future No2 models, which were rebranded as Type E units.
The “false memories” installed into prototype YoRHa models was later abolished since they often caused hesitation in battle.
There is mention of “black boxes” in the stage play but they are often referred to as “fusion core reactors”.
See also the Secret File from the YoRHa Boys Ver.1.0 stage play pamphlet here.
This post contains spoilers and speculation. Please read with caution.
This is a thought that I had last night that’s delving a little deeper into the realm of speculation. Things may or may not fit well with the new idea connecting everything, but let’s just have a little fun and suspend disbelief for a little while and let me indulge in this thought.
Firstly, let’s review the theory about Emil & the machine lifeforms that I’ve been contemplating for a long time:
Emil was originally known as No7 as a subject in the National Weapons Laboratory that was performing experiments on Maso during the early days of the post-6.12 world of NieR. After losing his “human” form and merging with his sister Halua aka No6, he gains not only her body but also her Maso based magical ability.
When the aliens invade in 5012, Emil fights them off with many copies of himself. Within the 100 years after the invasion, Emil has created over 84 million copies of himself, effectively also spreading more Maso into an otherwise Maso-free world, assuming that the Replicants succeeded in cleansing the world as they were originally intended to do. At least during the time of Automata, we know Maso still exists in the form of the YoRHa and Pod attacks.
12 years after the beginning of the alien invasion, the aliens began constructing machine lifeforms, the majority of which all have a round head that resembles Emil. The question remains why the aliens designed their machines in the image of Emil.
Perhaps the aliens commandeered many of Emil’s copies, reprogrammed and stripped them of their individual thought to accentuate his original programming (as acquired when he merged with his sister, Halua): Destroy the enemy.
So, in this theory, it’s plausible that:
Emil’s Secret…
Now, moving on to what Yoko said in the Game Informer interview:
“Emil actually holds a great secret of the part of the Nier world and it’s not all revealed with the games I’ve created so far. I’m not sure if I’ll have an opportunity to disclose that secret, but if I do, I might one day create a game that delves more into why it’s Emil and why I continue to wear Emil’s mask.”
According to this statement, Emil seems to hold a secret that we haven’t heard about yet, but what if this secret is exactly this theory? That essentially all of the machine lifeforms are Emil copies? And this is also why Yoko continues to wear an Emil mask; basically because everyone is Emil, or rather “a child of Emil”.
Okay, hold on to that for a moment. Following the Maso “crumbs”, Yoko had stated that Maso does, in fact, still exist in the time of Automata. This is what he says in the 50 Q&A segment from the NieR:Automata Strategy Guide:
Q38. It appears as though “Maso” also exists in the world of NieR:Automata, but how is it used in battle?
Yoko: There isn’t a lot of Maso, but it still exists (in Emil’s attacks and such). Additionally, Maso is converted into the skills of the YoRHa androids among other things.
50 Questions asked to yoko taro, nier:automata strategy guide, as translated by rekka alexiel
EDIT: It was suggested that perhaps the secret about Emil has something to do with his original self, aka, something that occurred during the National Weapons Laboratory time when he was made into a weapon to combat the Legion. But I’m a little skeptical about that because Yoko also mentioned that whatever secret Emil is hiding is directly related to why Yoko continues to wear the Emil head mask. My thought behind that is that there are still multiple Emils around, that… almost everyone is “Emil” at this point.
So, if you followed my train of thought in the post above, I think it might still be closer than speculating what could have happened to the original human Emil when he was made into a weapon.
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.
Yesterday was a full day, jam packed with all sorts of amazing NieR goodness. I will try to take a glance back and show what personally my day at the event was like!
First of all, the venue was held at Yokohama Pacifico, which is about a 15-20 minute walk from my house. Sales for concert merchandise opened at 9AM, so I planned on leaving my house around 8, but given my very vampire-like wake-sleep cycle, I was running a little later than planned.
It was a beautiful, sunny, clear morning, but already by 8am it was quite hot. I took a couple photos along the way to the venue, through a sort of “secret path” that most people don’t know about that winds through the Cosmo World amusement park. (As a side note, this is actually the location for a pivotal scene in a new story I’ve been planning.)
Finally reaching the venue, I got in the line for merchandise. The line was crazy, winding from one end of the building to the next, over and over again. From the point where I entered the line, it only looked like there were three or four rows ahead of me, but there were even more lined up inside. The opening of the merch booth was even delayed 10 minutes or so due to preparations running late. Here’s a look at the line!
I was probably out in the sun for about 30 minutes before the line started to move and we discovered exactly how long the line actually was. It seemed like nearly the entire first floor of the hall was full of people winding back and forth in lines. It took an additional hour before I finally managed to purchase anything; and as a side note here… There were just one row of about 20 clerks. You’d think that’d be enough, but I really think this was the reason for the extremely long line. There just weren’t enough workers to accommodate the sheer number of customers. But that’s okay since I was still able to get everything that I wanted! Yay!
Once I got my goodies, I was planning on going back home and leisurely have lunch. I had about an hour and a half or so before I needed to head back to the hall for the afternoon show.
But… I was really slow (once again) and was almost late to the start of the show. I grabbed a taxi near my house, and even though I leave really close to the venue, the roads are horrible around this area. I had about 15 minutes to get to the hall before the show started and it took about that time getting there. It actually might have been faster if I had just walked, but again, I was wearing my high-heel sandals; it would not have been a pleasant journey.
Just as I got to the concert hall, they were giving the final announcement to find your seat. I first had to stop at the VIP desk to inquire about the backstage pass that was left for me. It turned out that they even set aside a concert ticket for me, even though I already had one. I was confused and conflicted which ticket I should enter with… Ahh, dilemma!
Anyway, I quickly found my seat, which was toward the front but a short distance down the row. Carrying two bouquets of flowers, I tried to not smack the people in the face with them as I carefully squeezed my way down the row.
I’m not going to discuss too much on the content of the concert itself, simply because as I’m writing this now, it’s already been over a month, so my memory is really, really bad. Plus, I sort of feel bad about my impression of the concert as a whole, musically. My one, main gripe was with the choir. The concert began with an a cappella arrangement of “Snow in Summer”, very much like our Tsuki Oke fan concert last year. But the “tone” of the song is supposed to sound as though children are singing… not professional opera singers. I actually had an issue with this in our own fan concert, that people were trying to sing too “professionally” and not as young children. But this feeling persisted throughout the majority of the concert and it just felt very jarring to me. They were a highly experienced and talented choir, but I just felt like they didn’t understand the context of the songs; it just felt like something down to the core of the series, its very heart, was missing. Once I felt that way, it was actually very difficult to open my own heart to accept the new arrangements. I pre-ordered the orchestral soundtrack and it arrived a couple days before the concert, but I didn’t want to listen to it before the concert– I wanted to be surprised and feel more connected to the music through its live performance, the first time for me to hear the new arrangements.
At the end of the afternoon show, Emi Evans came out on stage as a surprise guest to sing a song from the first NieR. As I’m writing this now, I am entirely blanking on which song it was, but I vividly remember sobbing my eyes out yet again. It’s so difficult to hear hear her gorgeous voice, this beautiful music, and not be overcome with emotion. Add all the emotional baggage from the story of the game into the mix, and yeah… I was a mess.
Since I was given a backstage pass, I wanted to personally give Emi and J’Nique their flowers.
I inquired where I should go to one of the attendees near the “cloak” desk and waited and waited and waited. I always feel very dumb and foreign in these moments. Eventually I was led past the partitions lining the area and up a couple floors in the elevator. Almost just as I was getting out of the elevator, I came across a huge group of the YoRHa Boys and YoRHa Musical cast along with the director of the original YoRHa plays, Matsuda Ichidai, and the very awesome Sekiya-san from ILCA. They were in the middle of taking a group photo, probably this one, I didn’t want to interrupt, so I stayed out of the way until they had finished. But then… I couldn’t help myself and had to say hello briefly; I remember specifically mentioning to Doi Yuuto, who had already dyed his hair blonde, that I was looking forward to their performances in the new KimiShini stage play. He looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language, even though it was Japanese, but I’m sure coming face-to-face with an unknown foreigner in the VIP area all of a sudden was a bit shocking. haha
Shortly after that, Emi and J’Nique Nicole came walking by, so I was able to give them their flowers and briefly say hello before they were whisked away by the staff. heehee On the way back to the lobby, I was going to take the stairs, but it looked like Matsuda-san had just gotten into the elevator. I bumped into him again on the first floor, where he was trying to find a way out of the VIP area and back into the lobby. Since the area was blocked off with movable partition walls, it looked like there was no way through– but given how I was shown through the area (the staff simply moved one of the partitions for me to pass), I tried to point where I had come through, but he was already walking along the length of the partitions and eventually found an opening. I followed behind him before going our separate ways. haha What a time!
After the concert, I had a little extra time before I needed to meet my friend for the evening show. I quickly walked over to a convenience store, got some snacks (it was already after “lunchtime” and I hadn’t eaten anything much in the morning) and a quick drink before heading back to the concert hall. I actually met my friend at the adjacent hotel, and we had a little time to sit and chat (while I quickly ate my snack!!) in the hotel lobby.
I want to stop here briefly to thank my awesome gaming buddy, A****, for being my side-kick to these events, to which I would have most certainly had to go alone each and every time. He found me through this site and reached out to me about two years ago, and I can’t–I don’t want to–imagine not getting the chance to meet the most humble, generous, and plain FUN guy. Thank you so much for being my friend. (#128150#)
Anyway, once I finished my snack, we headed back to the concert hall. I wanted to get a close up photo of the new merchandise including the figure by Flare and the new Dollfie Dream dolls…but the line to get close to them was too long–we wouldn’t have made it before the start of the concert, so we decided to quickly get into line at the end of the show.
Our seats at the evening show were in the absolute last row on the first floor, just below one of the cameras that broadcast the concert on NicoNico.
Since I was very rushed when I arrived at the afternoon concert and was never given the usual concert pamphlets that are given to each customer, I was finally able to look through the advertisements and read a little bit about the concert. Within the pamphlet, I was shocked to find this:
Apparently the YoRHa stage play will be performed again next year in both Tokyo and Osaka!! No further details are known thus far, whether it will be an entirely new version (Ver.1.3!?), one of the previous stage plays (Ver.1.1? Ver.1.2?) or something entirely different, perhaps a new story that merges both the original YoRHa stage play with the YoRHa Boys story?? Again, nothing is known about it yet, so it could be literally ANYTHING…! Still, I’m extremely excited about it!!
★ Important Dates & Times Revealed at the Concert
January 7, 11,942, 5:13am 2B is deployed.
January 30, 11,942, 4:25am 9S is deployed.
March 10, 11945 4:02pm: The 243rd descent operation gets underway. 4:35pm: 2B rendezvous with 9S. This marks their 48th meeting.
June 26, 11945, 2:30am 2:30am: The Bunker is destroyed and falls from orbit. 5:46am: Signal from 2B is lost.
August 6, 11945, 8:15am The collapse of the Tower and machine lifeform network confirmed. Signal from 9S is lost.
Eventually, at the end of the show, we ran quickly out of the auditorium and into line to get a close-up view of the new merch!
While we were just checking out other things in the lobby, a fellow foreigner came up to me and asked if I might be from “Fire Sanctuary”… I was like, yeeesssss. lol It turns out that she sort of knew me from that and had the guts to say hello. I told her that I rarely have the guts to do that. In person, I tend to be pretty shy and nervous even though I really do love meeting and talking with people. haha So, it really touched me to know that anything I might do here, on these pages, is appreciated by other fans. Plus, it makes me feel a little less alone. Thank you so much for saying hello!! I hope to work on this annoying character flaw of mine… *sigh*
In the end, it was a long, eventful day, but it was well-worth it! A day full of music, talent, and awesome friends– these moments are priceless!
Be sure to check out the complete image gallery album for this event! I haven’t included all of the images that I took in this post, so don’t miss out on the other awesome photos!!
