Category Archives: NieR:Automata

NieR:Orchestra Concert Goes International!

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I get it, I’m a bit late discussing this topic, but it can’t be helped!

It was recently announced that the NieR:Orchestra re:12018 Concert will be going to three separate locations for four separate concerts!

Here’s the line-up:

Chicago, USA

  • Rosemont Theatre
  • January 24, 2020 – 8:00pm
  • January 25, 2020 – 8:00pm

Los Angeles, USA

London, UK

  • Royal Festival Hall
  • February 2, 2020 – 3:00pm, 8:00pm

Bangkok, Thailand

  • Prince Mahidol Hall
  • February 15, 2020 – 4:00pm
  • February 16, 2020 – 4:00pm
  • Conductor: Arnie Roth
  • Vocalist: Emi Evans
  • Special Guest: Composer Keiichi Okabe
  • Special Guest: Director Yoko Taro

Long-time NieR veteran vocalist and lyricist Emi Evans will finally be able to express her love and musical prowess in her home country of England (and her family!!) on this tour! What an absolute dream come true!

Also worth nothing is that both J’Nique Nicole and Nakagawa Nami will not be in attendance for these concerts. Nakagawa-san hasn’t been involved in any official NieR concert since her initial performance during the NieR:Automata Memory of Dolls concert in 2017, but at least to J’Nique, this news seemed to be a bit of a shock.

As anyone involved in the music business, we all know how difficult it is to schedule big events like this, not to mention multiple international performances, but as a NieR fan, it would have been nice for SQEX to have worked a little harder to get the main performers (Emi -and- J’Nique) involved on this tour. I’m both upset for J’Nique as well as all the international NieR fans that won’t be able to experience her amazing musical talent on stage for themselves, but I realize that there are a lot of moving parts involved in this decision. At the end of the day, it’s very unfortunate.

Regarding tickets, I’m not all that knowledgeable about how to get tickets to these venues– It seems as though some people have been able to reserve tickets already although the “GET TICKETS” link from the official site doesn’t seem to like to anything specific yet. I will continue to update this page with additional information to help people get tickets!

For anyone interested in the original run of the concert in Japan, I went to half of the performances in Yokohama and wrote about it here.

This event is especially important to me because it was the last time to hang out with my buddy Allyn before he was relocated. It’s been about a year and I still miss his company. It was beyond liberating to be able to express my geekiness with a fellow fan. I will always be thankful for getting the chance to meet such a great friend.

This series is special. It has a way of connecting people beyond national and cultural borders. I have met so many amazing people through it and the other related works by Yoko Taro. It’s this authentic, creative passion that keeps me engaged and excited for any and everything new to come.

Here’s to all the amazing people involved with this series, as there are many integral folk that tend to shy away from the spotlight! Without all of these people and circumstances lining up just right, we wouldn’t have such opportunities as this!

Thanks to Square Enix, MOMACA, ILCA, and anyone else involved that I’ve failed to mention here for their continued support for Yoko Taro and NieR in general. Especially, thank you to Saito Yosuke!! Without you, I honestly doubt NieR would have made such a comeback as it did through NieR:Automata in 2017.

To all the international fans who will be able to attend the concert: ENJOY!! It will definitely be a night to remember!!

Saito Yosuke Hints There Will Be No New NieR Release in 2020

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In a recent tweet by NieR:Automata Producer Saito Yosuke, he references a joint interview with Tsukumo and ASCII in which he discusses details for an up-coming release of a NieR:Automata collaboration PC. It’s within this article that he also mentions some interesting things regarding NieR in general.

YoRHa PC, pictured item not for sale – KADOKAWA ASCII Research Laboratories, Inc.

Here are a couple interesting sections of the interview:

Editor: Can you tell us briefly the flow of how a NieR:Automata PC collaboration came to be?

Saito: It all came about when I wanted to make a new PC for myself and I asked Tsukumo to make me a “YoRHa model”. When I posted images of it to Twitter, people went crazy over it, expressing how much they wanted one like it, too. That’s generally how this project came about.

Editor: What sort of machine will this collaboration PC be?

Saito: It’s a shame I can’t show it to you yet, but I’m very particular that the design should resemble NieR. Tsukumo suggested to add something as a bonus, so I’m thinking about a mouse pad. Definitely stay tuned for the details when we can make the announcement.

Editor:  I think maybe you’ve received a ton of requests for a remastered version of NieR Gestalt / Replicant, but are you planning to release a remastered version in the future?

Saito: On a personal level, I want to work hard to release a remastered version and do something new, but… 

NieR Gestalt / Replicant was for the PS3, so it’s not easy for people to play it these days, even though it would be nice if people could play it. Actually, the demand for a remake/remastered version from the world-wide fanbase is rather significant. Won’t somebody please say “I’ve made the remaster!” and hand me the disc? lol

Editor: You’ve released DLC in the past. Might it be possible to release additional DLC in the future?

Saito: New DLC isn’t feasible at this point. I know a lot of people would like additional content, but if it costs money, I want to do something new. Regarding NieR:Automata, we’ve been able to have various concerts and stage plays, offer a ton of new merchandise, so it would be really nice if all players could experience the world of NieR:Automata through these things. I can’t really say anything specific right now, but as far as development goes, I’d like to try something new.

Editor: Does that mean we can expect something big for the 10th Anniversary in 2020?

Saito: We’re not releasing anything physical or whatever else, but I’d like to start working on at least discussing something.

So it seems like we won’t get anything physical like a NieR Gestalt / Replicant remaster or remake in 2020, but we’ve known that Yoko and the gang have been working on a new game; I would still like to think that we’ll get some new information about that by the end of the year or early next year. I doubt they’re looking for a 2020 release for that, though, especially since they haven’t even dropped an official announcement for it yet.

Response to NieR:Automata 2 Rumors

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Photo by China Daily.

For the past several days, there have been a couple different rumors flying around, but the majority revolve around unconfirmed information that not only is a NieR:Automata 2 is in development but it will also have a large budget. The only authority that can speak about this is SQEX, so until that time comes, let’s avoid spreading uncorroborated rumors from unknown sources.

With this in mind, I have updated my original page dedicated to this subject, Yoko’s New Project, and I suggest everyone to have a read through it as I go into depth regarding the recruiting process for the project, who was hired and when, as well as what they are likely working on:

Yoko’s New Project

AFTERWORD: I realize the attached image that I selected for this post is a little strong for the point that I’m trying to make here. The image suggests that rumors stem from lies, but this isn’t necessarily accurate for this case. There very well could be some truth behind leaks like this, if that’s what this is, but the fact remains that it’s very easy for unsubstantiated comments to be taken at face value and therefore shared over and over again until no one remembers where the information originally came from or, more importantly, whether it’s valid or not.

J’Nique Nicole’s “All Things NieR:Automata” Parts 1 and 2

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Earlier in March, J’Nique Nicole suggested for fans to ask a bunch of questions about her involvement on the NieR:Automata soundtrack, and she’s just posted two videos answering them!

Also, if you haven’t seen it yet, have a look at the interview she did for me back in 2016. There were a bunch of questions in the Part 1 video that she had already answered there.

▶︎ Interview with J’Nique Nicole, 2016

Related links for J’Nique Nicole

YoRHa Boys Ver.1.0 – Secret File #2

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I had some time today, so I picked this up again. I wanted to try learning how to use Illustrator more, so the majority of the menu windows were made from scratch in Illustrator, then I exported it over to Photoshop to do the rest.

※ Please beware of spoilers related to the YoRHa Boys Ver.1.0 stage play. ※

This is the secret file that’s in the very back of the YoRHa Boys Ver.1.0 stage play pamphlet. What’s interesting is that this is the only place where we’re actually given a specific location for this play: Madagascar.

Here’s a quick summary of what we learn from this:

  • Voice Data Recording – There’s really nothing new here. This is taken directly from No2’s final words (a recording via SS, the prototype of Pod153) at the very end of the play.
  • Mail – Again, nothing much here is all that surprising or new. We knew that No21 had been discussing sensitive topics with No22 about their future. It’s interesting that he brings up the “Kingdom of Night” here as well. What’s really sad is that No21 was well intended. The M Squad was unique in the fact that they were killed and brought back over and over again. As long as their Black Boxes remained in tact, they could be “restored” with the help of their Healer, who would make regular backup copies of their personal data.
  • Personality Data Analysis Report – This is all new information about the Attacker No6. It appears that his superior intelligence and exceptional fighting ability helped to unlock the negative side of his personality, drawing out tendencies for sadism, cruelty, and hedonism. It’s because of this that he poses a greater risk to the team than he is otherwise useful; therefore, the No6 personality was deemed unsuitable for direct combat. This has great implications for our dear 6O.

See also the Secret File from the YoRHa Musical Ver.1.2 here.