[He can’t reply]
高等法院第一庭的證人席旁,有個矮身木架,擺放了審訊相關的Bundle。 文件夾每個逾吋厚,約五六個排列在書架上,審訊談到那一份文件或證物,便需要從架上的文件夾中取閱出來。法庭很多時間就是消耗在翻查相關文件的程序上。文件夾背脊貼上了白紙告示,註明了這宗案件的編號及控辯雙方名字。
這宗案件為「HKSAR v. TONG Ying-kit」(香港政府v.唐英傑)。香港法庭文書處理,細緻非常。姓氏TONG全為大階英文字母,名字Ying-kit 中大小字母分野,讓人明瞭這組英文字需要連起來理解,但中間的「-」號又剛好分開了兩個中文字的粵語拼音。
唐英傑是誰?去年夏天之前,他不過是一個廿多歲,讀書成續欠佳,曾於台式茶飲店工作,後來到日本餐廳做侍應的香港年輕人。一夜間,他從藉藉無名的青年,變成了一個全港甚至全世界都知道的人。
只因他於港區國安法實施首日,即2020年7月1日,駕駛了一部電單車,被指衝向警方防線,車上插着「光復香港。時代革命」的旗幟,成為了港區國安法第一案的被告人。從此命運被改寫。
國安法首案開審後,連日來,歷史學者、政治學家、傳播專家,到庭上解說「光時」口號,是否有分裂國家的意思。然而學歷不高的唐英傑自己想甚麼?他想甚麼和案情有沒有關係?
24歲的唐英傑,身型壯碩,已還押逾一年。在三位穿墨綠色制服的懲教署職員押解下,進入犯人欄。連日審訊,他都穿同一套衣服。深藍色的西裝外套,黑色恤衫,配襯黑色領呔。同色系的領呔和恤衫融為一體,無聊時,他會用手指把玩領呔。
這天是審訊最後階段,控辯雙方律師「結案陳詞」的日子。唐英傑進入犯人欄後,三位法官未出來之前,律師團隊走到犯人欄旁,跟唐英傑商討甚麼。
律師們透過金屬欄柵送了文件給唐,而唐又俯身聆聽意見,多達九人的律師團隊有老有嫰有男有女,圍着犯人欄談笑。有些時候,律師們和唐談得輕鬆,抑壓着的「嘻嘻」聲在寧靜的法庭後方傳出來。
此案關於唐英傑的資料,有時是控方披露,有時是辯方提供,但唐自己沒有選擇出庭作供,只有他一名前僱主出庭作證。這位旺角台式飲品店老闆娘,指唐在社會運動期間擔任急救員,在案發當天約了唐到銅鑼灣吃午飯。
警方則從唐手機裡截取了社交媒體紀錄,對話裡,唐與友人於案發當天,收發過海隧道有設置了路障的資訊,而唐亦提時間「沒有遲,銅鑼灣未聚夠人」的說話。但辯方律師解釋,唐是社運的急救員,當天預備替傷者急救,而也約了友人在銅鑼灣區吃飯。
辯方今天翻出了唐英傑的中學成績表。辯方大狀Clive Grossman(郭兆銘)已達八旬,他手震震,口震震地拿着唐的成績表說:「中三那年,他的中史分數,一百分滿分,他只拿了五十分;全班130人,他考第124。」顯然,郭資深大狀想說明,唐英傑沒可能理解深奧的學術知識。
唐的爛成績,在辯方口中是說明他不知道口號的歷史意義;但對於控方來說,唐英傑在香港接受教育,有讀過中史課,而當日是七一香港回歸日,國安法生效第一天,加上關於國安法的報導已沸沸揚揚,控方周天行專員指,唐不可能不知道這支旗的意思。
周天行請法官翻看一個港島彩色地圖,周天行指出,唐英傑當天開着電單車,從東區海底隧道到港島,卻沒有直接去銅鑼灣,而是先到中環、金鐘、再繞回灣仔,先後經過(周指是衝過)四個警方防線。而從社交媒體截圖可見,唐知道自己在幹甚麼。
周續形容,唐四次被警方防線要求截停,但繼續駕駛,其中一次被射胡椒球也沒停下。控方指,唐非但沒停車,甚至加速,最後令三個警員身體「受嚴重傷害」。而現場圍觀人士拍掌歡呼,可見唐的行為嚴重危害警方及道路使用者安全。
相反,代表唐的辯護大狀郭兆銘則指,唐經過首三條警察防線,沒有直接衝向警察,而是繞開了,而第四次發生意外時,煞車燈一度閃亮。
郭資深大狀認為,「這不是恐怖分子的行為。恐怖分子不會按煞車掣,他也不會在社交媒體約人去吃飯,或帶急救用品出去。恐怖分子自毁之前不會說,我要約人去吃飯。」然而法官們卻指出,證據指當時煞車燈有亮起,但有交通意外專家卻指,其後車速是減慢還是加速沒法知道。
郭資深大狀又指,控方形容三個警員嚴重受傷是誇大了。「電單車不是致命武器,它不是機關槍。他在車上掛着那支旗,可以說是在showoff (炫耀)。但控罪說『嚴重危害社會安全』實在說不上。現場的圍觀人士,在拍掌喝采,那不是感到危險的人會做的事。怎能說公眾安全受威脅呢?」
郭更說,其他道路使用者的安全,也不見得受影響。法官杜麗冰此時指出,有證據指當時附近有一對年紀老邁的男女長者,正想過馬路。但郭堅持,沒有人感到危險。
郭資深大狀續指:「那是示威的時候,很多人在街上,街上很多人不滿政府,不滿警察。但說他這個行為嚴重危害社會,達至恐怖活動?說不上。控方引述的警方調查只證明,有人舉『光時』旗,有其他人喊港獨口號,但不能說所有人都同意其港獨訴求。」
控方周天行專員,今天帶出了要理解口號除了參考專家,也要考慮口號的 “ordinary meaning”, “ordinary understanding” 。周專員並引述案例指,常人理解口號意思如何,已可達至煽動入罪理據。
至於爭拗多天的專家意見,控方的周專員認為,包括辯方專家也同意劉智鵬教授對光時的理解(帶有分裂國家意思)是其中一個可行的理解。
周專員指控,辯方雙李專家指「光時」意義抽象又多樣的報告,不可靠又不可信。周專員指,辯方雙李專家(Eliza及 Francis)並非歷史學者,辯方報告裡的研究,也不是特意為此案進行,又指焦點小組的調查員在調查時發問了「引導性問題」。
但辯方的郭大狀則多次強調,法庭要小心不要隨便否定兩位辯方專家意見。「Eliza及 Francis是其領域上具權威的學者,兩人做的研究、著書、教學,均通過嚴謹的學術標準。控方劉智鵬或許是稱職的歷史學家,但劉智鵬教授不是政治學者,也不是政治傳播學者。Eliza及 Francis是真正的專家 (They are experts in real sense) 。」
今天代表辯方發言的郭兆銘資深大律師,年屆八十,眉毛稀疏,胖得有雙下巴,鼻子尖尖,耳朵卻特大。他在英國出生,曾於南非讀書,他嗓子陰柔,以英語提醒法庭:「正正是因為Eliza及 Francis的研究,不是特別為此案而做,而是他們老早以學者身份進行,更顯得他們是獨立而且不偏不倚 (independence and impartiality)。學界一直是這樣做研究,他們的方法受國際學術圈子認可。」
郭資深大狀,不時調整頭頂的假髮,或扯一扯身上的大狀袍,或在說英語的時候伸伸舌頭,舐舐自己乾涸的唇:「希望法庭不會說,這些專家的意見,我不用去理會,指控這些專家們是錯的,甚至說專家們一直不知道自己在做甚麼。兩位學者告訴我們,社會運動的口號是抽象的,供人各自解釋,因為口號不只要帶出實質政治訴求,還要表達情感,團結群眾。」法官杜麗冰深思着,嘴唇緊合,神情嚴肅。
郭大狀也提及,控方證人劉智鵬教授,自己曾陪伴嶺大校長現身2019年7月「光復元朗」活動:「劉教授自己出現在『光復』活動,卻說自己不知道活動主題,也堅持自己不是參與者,只是去關心學生,這種說法很令人懷疑(suspicious)。」
控方還指辯方專家一個「關鍵性缺失」在「時間脈絡」不足,即「雙李」的相關研究主要集中在2019年,非案發的2020年。郭資深大狀在自己的總結中幽了對方一默:「吓,時間脈絡的欠缺,好像控方專家犯這個錯誤更嚴重,劉教授指口號意思幾千年不變,他好意思去挑戰辯方專家幾年或幾個月的差距?」
郭資深大狀,肚腩大大,說話帶有老派英式紳士的幽默感。對於控方的指控,例如舉起「光時」旗有煽動成分,是恐怖活動,郭資深大狀攤開他的老人手掌,不住反問: “What? How? Why?”
控方指梁天琦本人支持港獨,故「光時」八字有港獨意思;控方指此八字在中聯辦外被叫喊,故「光時」有分裂國家意思。郭資深大狀連續用英語輕輕而高音地反問,說話時縮起他那佝僂的肩膀,攤開滿佈手筋的手掌: 「“So What?” 梁天琦怎樣想,被告人怎知道?“So What?”中聯辦外的活動,被告人連去都沒有去,他怎知道?」
郭大狀重申了Eliza及 Francis的意思:「口號意思是多元的,抽象的。」他舉起了右手拳頭,舉向天:「正如我喊:『Let’s go out and fight for our rights!』(我們出去爭取權利。英語fight有『打鬥』和『爭取』雙義),你可以理解為我要去寫信給報紙投稿,或參選議會,或者出去打人。一字歧義,是常見之事。」
「Eliza及 Francis提過,發訊者若想表達清晰的意思,會挑選一個意思更清楚的詞,不會選一個抽象的字去表達。『光時』這口號意思不明白,並不像『我們要去打林鄭月娥 (let’s go and beat up Carrie Lam)』那麼明確。」郭大狀語氣在說笑,但法庭裡卻沒有甚麼笑聲。
國安法首審,條文意思如何詮釋,萬眾觸目。這天,法官也曾和控辯雙方討論條文的法律觀點。
代表政府的周天行專員,提到「恐怖活動」罪行時,指出「光時」旗幟是一支帶有「政治議題(political agenda)」的旗幟,會向附近的人宣揚其包含的分裂國家意思,嚴重危害社會。
此時,唯一男性法官陳嘉信提出,根據國安法「恐怖活動罪」相關條文(24條),「造成嚴重社會危害的恐怖活動…..即屬犯罪。」陳官指,這條文是談活動(activity)而不是政治議題(political agenda)。陳官強調「的」這個字。而24條的細項指出,活動包括暴力、爆炸、縱火、破壞交通、干擾水電通訊等。
陳官解釋時,杜麗冰點頭。
周專員呢喃回應:「對,字面是這樣。」
彭寶琴插話:「不只是字面,是條例這樣寫,恐怖_的_活動,不是關於政治議題。(Activities intended to cause grave harm to society, not about political agenda)」杜官再點頭。
周堅持自己在提供事件的背景。彭官再重申。「我恐怕這一條法例不是談口號或談追求政治議題,而是關於破壞社會的活動。周先生,你是否接納這樣的解釋?」
周再說,因為唐的行為是針對警察。
彭官及杜官再重申條文是談「活動」。
周最後同意,恐怖活動罪的焦點是在「活動」一字上。
至於關於「光時」口號的控罪,則是國安法20條「煽動他人分裂國家罪」。
彭寶琴問辯方,光時口號多義,為何郭大狀說「應當無罪」,兩者關係如何?彭官指出,「煽動」於口號有兩部分,第一部分,是指口號在這個考慮了歷史及處境,合理地造成一個事實,是口號有可能去煽動 (capable to incite)。第二部分,是指被告人當時的理解,有沒有犯罪意圖 (Mens Rea刑事意圖)。
而根據控方劉教授的報告,劉也承認,被告人車上插旗時腦海想甚麼他也不知道。於是大家在爭拗第一部分,即「光時」八個字,可不可能在不考慮唐英傑想甚麼的情況下,造成煽動。
郭資深大狀澄清,辯方認為,尤其考慮要對被告人公允,若有其他可能性,根本不應入罪。郭的話是指,這口號太抽象,根本不可能煽動 (the slogan is too vague to incite)。
最後,代表辯方的郭大狀,呈上了唐英傑之前的刑事紀錄,唐曾收過超速和受限制時間駕駛的告票罰款罪行。彭官指,現時唐被告三項罪,兩項和國安法有關,這些駕駛案底不相關,可以理解唐沒有「犯罪傾向」;然而第三項交替控罪,是和駕駛安全相關,則這些案底則要考慮了。
控辯雙方結案陳詞延續了一整天。下午四時許,大家也不知道,結案陳詞是否可以這天完成。
郭資深大律師未完成發言,他望了望時鐘,顯得有點擔心。結案陳詞的流程是,控方先說,到辯方再說,由於控方先說,辯方可以回應控方的話。
郭大狀不好意思的說,「我擔心之後要讓控方回應我,不夠時間。」此時杜麗冰法官微笑回答:「他 (控方周天行專員) 不可以回應,被告人擁有最後的回應權利。(He can’t reply. The accused has the last word.)」
戴了長方型眼鏡,年紀比郭大狀年輕,黑色短髮以Gel鞏固得竪起來的周天行,望了一眼他身旁的郭大狀,沒說甚麼,低頭做筆記。
這天所有程序完畢,三名法官宣佈,一星期後的7月27日下午三時,將會宣佈判決。
周專員向法官表示,當天他有事缺席,由另一位同事頂上。
而國安法案件,亦會排着隊開庭。
專家證人會不會再次在法庭就示威口號的意思交鋒,還看一周後,第一審結果如何。
(圖為今天替辯方結案陳詞的資深大律師郭兆銘 Clive Grossman)
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Alumine Five of Stenheim
Stenheim is a relatively late entrant to the high-end speaker field. It was founded in 2010 by a collective of mainly ex-Goldmund engineers, and its products have inherited an unmistakable aesthetic and, to a lesser extent, sonic DNA, although it was a significantly evolved character that was to emerge in the shape of the debut model, the compact, two-way Alumine Two. It’s a developmental divergence that has continued and, if anything, accelerated with the emergence of each subsequent product. The latest Stenheim speakers, developed under the auspices of new owner Jean-Pascal Panchard, definitely have their own, unambiguous identity, both visually and musically.
I’ve been seriously looking forward to the arrival of the Alumine Five. Previous experience with the brand has included impressive exposure to the various versions of the enormous and enormously impressive Ultime Reference models, as well as a brief but highly rewarding flirtation with the stand-mounted Alumine Two in my own system. The possibility of combining the sense of musical articulation, enthusiasm and communication I experienced from the Alumine Two, with more than a hint of the clarity, scale and authority so effortlessly delivered by the Reference models, all in a package that, if not exactly affordable, at least isn’t completely out of the question, makes the Alumine Five a distinctly interesting proposition.
Yet, confronted with the Alumine Five in the flesh, there’s little to hint at the extraordinary promise lurking within. Resolutely rectangular in true Stenheim style, the Five’s aluminum cabinet, with its plate-to-plate construction, stands just 48" tall, 15" deep and presents a broad 11" face to the world, dimensions based on golden-ratio numbers. The front baffle is split by a physical break between the upper midrange-treble enclosure and the lower bass cabinet, independently ported by the laminated full-width slots above and below, a physical separation that is mirrored by the contrasting inlaid strips that help visually break up the one-piece side panels. The regular lines, smooth surfaces, flawless matte finish and lack of visible fixings could easily result in a bland, almost featureless appearance. But those trim strips and the offset midrange and treble drivers do just enough to give the Five a subtle hint of individual style without resorting to the sort of gauche and ostentatious flourishes that so often pass as design.
The result is a refreshingly clean, classical appearance that will blend seamlessly with a range of different decors. Despite the lack of grilles (although they are available as an option, does anybody really spend this kind of money on a speaker and then compromise the performance by fitting covers?), the beautifully profiled baffle and absence of visible fixings makes for a genuinely neat, finished appearance that matches the superb surface finish on the cabinet. The end result just looks right, in a way that makes you wonder why you’d want grilles anyway.
The first hint of its potent sonic capabilities comes when you try to pick it up. Each comparatively compact cabinet tips the scales at 220 pounds. That’s a grunt-inducing, two-man lift. Now, take a look at the figures for bandwidth and sensitivity, and an in-room response that digs down as far as 28Hz combined with 94dB efficiency should raise your eyebrows, especially given the compact cabinet dimensions. Which brings us to the first experiential disconnect: boxes this size shouldn’t produce this much bass or do it so easily. Nor should they weigh so much -- although therein lies the clue to this particular conundrum. When it comes to bass extension, it’s not the external dimensions of the box that matter, but its internal volume. Just like the Crystal Cable Minissimo, a thin-wall cabinet makes for a much larger internal volume than the external dimensions might suggest -- especially if we apply the expectations of more conventional wood-based construction. Throw in the sheer weight of the aluminum panels and the combination of mass and physical dimensions would subconsciously suggest massively thick walls -- and a correspondingly limited internal volume. Instead, what we have here is a deceptively large volume, which, combined with the inertia of the heavy cabinet and the mechanical stability provided by the material, makes for an effective mechanical reference for driver movement, meaning that more of the energy your amplifier sticks into the speaker comes out as sound and (at least in theory) it will be more precisely rendered.
So far, not very much that’s new. It’s not like Stenheim (or Magico, or YG Acoustics) has exclusivity when it comes to aluminum cabinets. But what does make Stenheim different is the unique material they use in damping their cabinet panels. Of course, the separate enclosures and the internal baffles they demand make for an inherently heavily braced structure, but look inside a dismantled Alumine Five and you’ll find strategically placed pads stuck to the cabinet walls. These three-layer, self-adhesive pads combine a heavy damping layer (adjacent to the cabinet wall itself) with added foam and impervious layers, allowing the low-volume pads to influence both the mechanical behavior of the cabinet itself and the enclosed volume. It’s an interesting solution because it manages to overcome the weakness so often audible in simple, braced aluminum cabinets (the all-too-recognizable resonant signature of the material itself) while maximizing the benefits (large volume and rigidity) by obviating the need to stuff the internal space full of wadding or long-haired wool. In fact, if the Stenheims were stood behind a sonically transparent curtain, you’d be hard-pressed to recognize the music as emanating from an aluminum cabinet at all. The absence of the bleached, grainy or lean colorations, the lack of sterile, mechanistic reproduction, is one big half of the Stenheim story, living, breathing proof that it’s not what you use but how you use it that counts.
The other half is down to the drive units, and after the cabinets, those come as quite a surprise, both the lineup and the chosen materials. In stark contrast to the use of the latest, precision CNC techniques, complex damping pads and finishing options, the Alumine Five's drivers are as traditional as they come, with a coated silk-dome tweeter and pulp or laminated paper midrange and bass drivers. The cone drivers use textile double-roll surrounds and massive magnets more normally found in pro-audio applications, and while Stenheim doesn’t build its own drivers, the company works closely with its chosen supplier (PHL, definitely not one of the usual suspects) to specify the electrical parameters, mechanical characteristics and precise details of the surface coating.
The use of such lightweight cone materials and large motors aids the system efficiency, while a hybrid second-order/Linkwitz-Riley crossover, the result of extended listening and evolution, ensures phase coherence and excellent out-of-band attenuation and makes for easy non-reactive load characteristics, despite the three-way topology. The other aspect of the driver lineup that might be considered slightly unusual is the use of a large-diameter (6 1/2") midrange unit -- although less so since Vandersteen’s patent on the approach lapsed some years ago, resulting in a rash of companies suddenly exploring the possibilities of the topology.
Perhaps more important, in the case of the Alumine Five, it means that you are getting the tweeter and midrange drivers from the Ultime Reference series speakers, teamed here with a pair of 10" woofers but without the benefit of a super tweeter. Even so, Stenheim quotes bandwidth out to 35kHz, which should suffice for most purposes. The review speakers arrived with the optional second set of terminals installed, allowing for biwiring or, more significantly, biamping, an upgrade opportunity that makes this an option you should take. If, in the meantime, you are single-wiring the speakers, make sure you factor in a set of jumpers that match your speaker cables: the Alumine Five's overall sense of musical coherence makes the benefits especially obvious. Likewise, good wiring practice is essential, both in terms of cable dressing and diagonal connection (red to midrange/treble, black to bass, with jumpers arranged accordingly).
Aside from the speaker's substantial weight, the parallel sides and flat surfaces of the four-square cabinet make setting up the Fives an absolute joy. Precise, repeatable, angular adjustments are easily achieved, while changes in attitude are just as straightforward, helped by the beautifully profiled stainless-steel spiked feet and deeply cupped footers. Both the cones and their locking rings have nice, large ports to take the supplied pry bars, but it’s worth greasing the threads before installation. One other thing to watch out for: the spikes are seriously (refreshingly) sharp -- sharp enough to penetrate a thick rug and score the floor below, so be careful where you stand the speakers once the feet are installed. Final positioning disposed the speakers on a broad front with minimal toe-in. When it came to dialing in their considerable musical energy, the most critical factor proved to be height off the ground, with tiny adjustments of the spikes making profound differences to the weight and pace of the presentation. Likewise, equal weighting of the four spikes was crucial to a proper sense of grounded weight and dynamic authority.
........................................................
Price: $60,000 per pair.
Warranty: Five years parts and labor.
(Source: The Audio Beat)
beat up meaning 在 半瓶醋 Facebook 的精選貼文
"橫尾先生你傾向於在你的遊戲中有個悲傷的結局(除了《尼爾 自動人形》),這是為什麼呢?
橫尾:我想啊,玩家在遊戲中的旅程中殺了那麼多的敵人,但自己卻迎來了一個Happy Ending,這很奇怪,所以我之前遊戲的主角都有著不幸的結局,我覺得對他們來說有個Happy Ending是不對的。
不過對《尼爾 自動人形》來說,對2B和9S來說,從被給予生命,他們殺了很多人,但也被自己殺了很多,很多次,有著無數次的輪迴。我認為這已經把他們殺死敵人的罪給贖了,幸福結局對他們兩個來說更合適一些。"
【尼爾:自動人形】是好遊戲,2B很可愛~
Talking To Yoko Taro, PlatinumGames' Takahisa Taura, And Composer Keiichi Okabe About Life, Death, And Opportunity
This interview with《Nier: Automata》director Yoko Taro and PlatinumGames' designer Takahisa Taura was first conducted in March of this year. Square Enix then offered gameinformer another chance to talk with Taro again, this time with Keiichi Okabe to speak more about the game's creation, music, and design philosophies and we are taking this opportunity to combine both until-now unpublished interviews together.
At the start of the first interview, Taro Yoko, whose pen name is appropriately Yoko Taro, was surprisingly quiet. He took a gulp from a bottle of Diet Pepsi and looked me straight in the eye to say something. I myself looked to the translator, who laughed at whatever Yoko said. She began "Yoko-san wants you to write about how expensive the food and drinks are here, if you can. He says it's way too much."
[The following interview contains some spoilers for Nier: Automata, including the game's final ending.]
With Nier: Automata, you guys won a Game Developer Conference award. How do you feel about that?
Yoko: We heard it was a user's choice award where the players themselves select the winners, so I'm just really happy that the players have selected our game for winning the award.
How did PlatinumGames and Yoko-san first meet on Nier? Why did you decide on that project versus something like another Drakengard or a new IP as a whole?
Taura: I loved the previous Nier title, I was actually went to Square Enix saying "Please let us create a Nier sequel, because you haven't done anything with it for a long time." At the same time, there was coincidentally Saito-san, the producer for Nier: Automata, talking with Yoko-san that they wanted to do something together. It just so happened that it was the right time, right place and we met for the first time when we started this project.
When you started working on the Automata, did you know what it was going to be? Did you have an idea in your head of what a Nier sequel would look like after the first game?
Yoko: Not at all, I had no ideas for a sequel in mind. When I first heard that we might do a collaboration with PlatinumGames, the image I had of them is that they only create Sci-Fi action games. When I thought of that, I thought of what part of the Nier storyline might fit in with that Sci-Fi action gaming sequence, I selected the themes for Automata because I felt it just fits in with the PlatinumGames style.
PlatinumGames has a reputation for fast, often-challenging action games, but Nier: Automata is a lot easier. Was that intentional to keep it closer to the first Nier or perhaps a consequence of trying to make PlatinumGames action more mainstream?
Taura: That's actually exactly the reason why. Saito-san from Square Enix told us when the project started that, since the original Nier has a lot of female fans and a lot of non-action gamer fans, to make the game as fun and accessible as possible to people who aren't accustomed to playing difficult action games. We always thought of making the game into something that's fun to play for newcomers to the action game field, but also to the more experienced players as well.
One of the usual tropes of PlatinumGames is that, as the game goes on, it tends to escalate more and more to an explosive finale. Nier: Automata kind of messes with that formula a little bit by Ending A being a little bit more subdued and low-key and then goes up again and again until it finishes with endings D and E. Is that something you had to work with Yoko-san about, where the escalation and pacing would best fit the gameplay?
Taura: In terms of like a climax or increasing the difficulty level toward the end, it's not that different from our other titles, or at least we didn't feel like it was that different. The one major difference was that this was the first game that I've at least worked that had the leveling up element in it. So as long as you level up your character, the boss would be easier to defeat, but if you don't, then some of the enemies toward the end of the game would be very difficult. For me, the balancing between the difficulty level of stages and bosses versus the levels the player might be was the difficult part in creating this game.
One thing that we really had it easy with in this game is that Yoko-san's scenario and Okabe-san's music, once it's mixed into the battle, makes a really menial and indifferent battle sequence suddenly becomes this dramatic and grandiose battle with everything at stake, so I felt like that really helped elevate our battle sequences as well. We did have an easy time thanks to that!
With Automata, you started appearing at press conferences and as part of the marketing of the game, whereas previously you never did that. When you appear in public, you have been wearing a mask of Emil from the first Nier title. Why Emil specifically?
Yoko: Hmm. One of the answers I can give is that, and I do have a little more that I want to elaborate on, is that for one Emil in the previous title is just a strong character on its own, so it's more like an iconic image or character for Nier as a series. Another part of the answer is that 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.
I don't know if either of you can speak to this, but the trailers for Nier: Automata were a little misleading. They showed A2, who you play as late in the game, but with short hair, so she looked like 2B. Was that something you decided, to show those scenes but not make it clear who it was?
Yoko: There were trailers like that?
There was one specifically showing A2 fighting Hegel like that.
Yoko: Ahh, yeah. There's no reason! We weren't trying to hide A2 or mislead anyone, it just happened to work out that way.
Taura: We made so many trailers at some point we kind of didn't care what we showed.
Oh, wow, that's going to shock a lot of fans in the Nier community. People really believed in the theory that you were hiding A2 in plain sight the marketing.
Yoko: Haha, but it might not be the correct answer. Like Taura-san said, we made so many trailers that we can't remember them all, so I'm definitely happy to take the credit without remembering why.
Taura: Yeah, let's say we intentionally did that. For the fans. It might be true.
Yoko: But I can say, in one of the trailers is A2 fighting one of the Engels, one of the big robots. She actually has long hair in the trailer, but in the actual game, it's after she cut her, so she would have had shorter hair. That one was actually intentional, because we did not reveal before the game that A2 would cut her hair, so we actually made a scene specifically with long-haired A2 to take that trailer. So that's that shot was kind of a lie.
In the Automata DLC, the CEO of Square Enix Yosuke Matsuda, as well as PlatinumGames boss Kenichi Sato, are boss fights. Where did that idea come from and how did you get them to approve it? How did they react when you asked them?
Yoko: Haha, oh yeah.
Taura: The development team went to Square Enix and said "Please let us use him in our game!" Their reaction was initially saying "Uhm, are you sure you want to?"
We were thinking for a while of what we could do with the DLC, because we didn't have a lot of time to develop it, so we wanted to do something fun with it. When we were thinking about it, we saw that Final Fantasy XV used a character model of president Matsuda in one of their marketing assets. When Yoko-san saw that, he reached out and asked if maybe we could use that in the game at Platinum. We said that, if we get the character models, we could definitely use them for something in the game. We reached out to Square Enix and they gave us the model and we were able to use that character model for a boss fight.
If it was just that you were able to fight the CEO of Square Enix, then it would have just been the same as what Final Fantasy XV did, so we had to think of ways to spice that up even more. So we had PlatinumGames' CEO Sato-san appear in the fight as well. We also included background music that arranged their voices, we included their voices in the music, just to add a little bit more and beat out Final Fantasy XV. That BGM track is Matsuda-san and Sato-san's debut single. We didn't even get permission from them, so it's an unofficial debut single, and those are much rarer.
Speaking of crossovers, did you know that Nier fans have been trying get Katsuhiro Harada of Bandai Namco to put 2B in Tekken? Is that something you guys would want to do? [Note: This interview was conducted before 2B was announced as a Soulcalibur guest character.]
Yoko: For us, if we were asked, we would gladly say yes to anything for money. We're open to any kind of opportunities for anything, ever. Even if it's Candy Crush, if they want to use 2B, we will say yes, please go ahead and use her.
Actually, speaking of doing anything for money, you've never created a direct story sequel before, they've all been loosely tied together and many years apart. Saito-san has already said there will be another Nier game, if the characters are popular enough, would you create a direct sequel to Automata or would you change the characters and location again?
Yoko: I haven't thought about it once! Taura-san, where would you want to create a new game?
Taura: Actually, when I brought my concept document to Square Enix about a Nier sequel, I wanted to write a story about that prologue portion in the first Nier game. You know the beginning of the game, where you're kind of in Tokyo, in an area that's more modern? I kind of want to delve into that storyline a little bit more. So if I'm allowed to create a new Nier title, that's what I want to create. But that's just me speaking as a fan of the series, so I don't think that will actually happen officially.
Yoko: When I actually heard about that idea from Taura-san when we first started this project, I felt that it would be very difficult to make a modern recreation of Tokyo because it's the city that we constantly see every day. You just notice differences in the lies that we put in there, so I felt it would be very difficult to do to recreate a city that we know and see so much. But now that I know that PlatinumGames is such a good studio that they most likely will have that power and talent to be able to create that kind of video game world, I think that might be an option. Whether or not we'll do that is a different question, but it is a viable option.
One of the things you said before the release of Drakengard 3 was that you wanted to call it Drakengard 4 and just let people figure out what the theoretical Drakengard 3 was supposed to be. That's similar to what you did with Automata where the game takes place 10,000 years after Nier and people who played the first game were more confused than new players. Was that an intentional idea or something you've wanted to do for a while?
Yoko: It's not that I brought over that idea to Nier: Automata, the greatest reasoning why I did this is because I wanted players who haven't played the original title to enjoy Nier: Automata so you can enjoy the game without knowing anything about the previous game. That's the biggest reason why we took a storyline that's so far in the future that it really didn't have anything to do with the previous title.
A common through-line for Yoko-san's games is flowers: the lunar tear in the Nier series, the flower in Zero's eye in Drakengard 3, is that symbolizing anything in your games or is it just visual imagery you like?
Yoko: Well, I do like flowers in general, but yes, there is a greater meaning to it that I have with these flowers. It's the same as Emil like I talked about earlier, I just haven't revealed it anywhere. There is a meaning, which is why they keep on coming back in my games, but I haven't revealed it anywhere yet.
With the last Nier game, you had said that you built the game on the concept of people being okay with murdering people who are different. With Nier: Automata, the games actually became more fun to play and control and touch, do you think there's a danger in giving people that sense of ease in killing enemies in the narrative?
Yoko: In the previous title, I actually feel like I overdid that a bit. I did want to portray that enemies have a reason to live and a reason to fight on their own as well, but I feel like I forced that idea that I had in my mind a little bit too much on the players. So for Nier: Automata, I did not want to focus on it, I didn't want to impose my feelings and thoughts. I actually feel that it's fine if some people feel it's fun to kill in our games. If that's all that they feel from the game, then it's fine, because its their freedom to feel what they want from the game. To answer your question, I think that it's fine to have that happen.
Taura: I actually have the same answer, too. I feel like if it's fun to fight, that's great as a game designer. But if you feel bad to kill these cute little robots, that's fine with me as well. I feel like different people will have different reactions to the game and they will feel differently when they play the game, so I'm actually happy to create a game that creates those kind of differences within the players as well.
Yoko: That's a really good question for us, because if players felt that it was way too fun to kill these enemies that it started making them feel guilty, that's something we didn't really aim to do. Just as we mentioned earlier, I'm really happy that players were able to take it on their own and experience it on their own, then we didn't just provide something for people to take it as-is on face value. I feel like it's great that the players are now taking the game and experiencing it on their own and trying to figure things out on their own.
There was a time after 2B was revealed that people were asking you about her design on Twitter and you answered that you just like sexy ladies. That quote has become pretty famous and attached to you and a lot of people are reading into it. Is that a thing you still believe, would you ever take the quote back, or would you have ever changed 2B's design?
Yoko: [laughs] Don't straight men like cute girls? Isn't that common knowledge? I didn't realize that was a quote.
A lot of people use you as an example as a developer that just says what is on their mind.
Yoko: Before we released the game, on Twitter, because so many people were sending me 2B fan art, I said that "Send me a zip file of all your erotic fan art!" When I tweeted that out, my number of Twitter followers jump from 20,000 to 60,000 just with that one Tweet. I actually think it's because I did something that's more of a taboo in the western world where I talked about sexuality or gender that openly on Twitter, but that's actually...so, I do know that what I said did not just creative positive buzz and there's some negative buzz around it as well, but I feel like it kind of has to do with the Japanese culture where we're not too strict about gender and sexuality and being more open about talking about those things.
I think it's the same thing as reading manga as an adult, it's a little bit different when you think about it because in Japan that's more common, it's not considered something weird or something outlandish. With that kind of feedback that I get from fans, I just feel like it's the difference in culture between Japan and the rest of the world.
That is something you tend to tackle fairly often. Drakengard 3 was partly about sex and sexuality treated casually within the game's universe, is that something you feel doesn't translate across all regions?
Yoko: I actually don't think [translating across regions] has a lot to do with sexuality. I don't think it would have sold more copies of Drakengard 3 if I took away aspects of sexuality or added more in there. I feel that Nier: Automata sold well because we worked with PlatinumGames, so I don't think that has anything to do with a sexual nature.
For the original Nier, there was a lot of information on the periphery of the game like books with background information and short stories that answer questions raised in the game. Automata even had a stage play predating the game. Do you think it's harder for western fans to grasp the whole stories of these games when there's Japanese-exclusive media about it expanding the lore?
Yoko: Of course we can't localize everything because we have limitations in budget, so it's really difficult to do all of that, but I actually think there really isn't a need to know everything, either. The meaning I have behind Emil's mask or the flowers you asked about, like I said it's not revealed in the game at all or anywhere else yet, but no one really needs to know that to enjoy the game or enjoy the world or enjoy the game. More than gaining knowledge, I want players to cherish the experience they have when playing the game. It's more about that instead of the knowledge they could have for every question. Of course the theatrical stage play was more of like a YoRHa spinoff, but you don't need to know that to enjoy the game. Every piece, like the books and the stage play, is made in a way so that you can enjoy it by yourself, so you don't need that extra knowledge to enjoy it.
It may add a little bit depth to the knowledge that you have, but you don't necessarily need to have it. I do understand the otaku mentality that you want to know everything, you want to have everything answered, you want to collect everything, but I don't see the value in knowing everything. For example, just in real life, you might not know everything about the politics that surrounds the world or even in your own country, and there's really no point in knowing everything that happens in the world. Maybe a lot things, but not everything, right? What's more important is how you interact with people around you, immediately around you, and I think that's the same with video games. You don't really need to know everything that happens in the world to enjoy it.
Of course I do respect the freedom that the players feel as well, so if you do get mad that we can't localize everything in America, or America never gets everything, that's also something to be respected and I do understand the frustrations surrounding that as well.
When Nier: Automata released, it did so in a three-month timeframe that several other big Japanese games came out in the U.S., like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Yakuza 0. A lot of people started heralding those games as a return of Japanese development in the west. What do you think about going from fairly niche games to what some people consider the tip of the spear of modern Japanese development?
Yoko: First and foremost, just to speak about having so many good titles in that timeframe, my thought was "Are you people trying to kill me with this?!" In Japan, Horizon came out first, then it was Nier, then Zelda, and I think in the west, it was Horizon, Zelda, then Nier in North America. So we're literally sandwiched between those two with a two-week window in between each and they were all very similar to us in the futuristic setting. Especially for Zelda, it was one of the titles we copied in the first place, so I really felt like they were trying to kill us at the time.
Personally, not even thinking about Nier: Automata during that time frame, I was running around excited about all the fun-looking games coming as a gamer myself.
Hideki Kamiya [PlatinumGames] has once said that Nier: Automata saved Platinum. Is that something you agree with and how has the relationship been between PlatinumGames and Square Enix?
Yoko: Speaking from my perspective, of course Taura-san will likely know more about it internally at PlatinumGames...Kamiya-san, he's very laid back on Twitter, but when you actually really talk to him, he's a very serious person and very sincere. I guess Nier: Automata did generate sales for them, because I received a direct letter of gratitude from him saying "Thank you very much for creating a great game." I don't even know if we saved them or not in that sense, but just receiving that kind of message from was just very heartwarming and I was just really happy that I was able to provide such a game for them.
Taura: You could make the headline of your article "Yoko Taro Saved PlatinumGames" and that's definitely true.
Yoko: It's a very true headline.
Why do both of you think that Nier: Automata was more successful than Yoko-san's previous games or most other PlatinumGames titles?
Taura: Mainly because PlatinumGames' sensibilities were much better than Yoko Taro's.
Yoko: I actually think it's the Square Enix brand, the name Square Enix gives a more reliable feeling to an otaku type of title. PlatinumGames' strong name being known for making really good action games and I think the combination of the two really helped. This time with Nier: Automata, we sold about 2.5 million copies and the previous title we sold around 500,000. For the last game, we weren't really in the red, but it wasn't exactly a success either. We have these passionate fans that really supported the time from announcement and the series as a whole. Of course for Automata, too, we had a very passionate fan base including the media and including yourself that gave impressions and articles that helped make the game into a success, so I'm just really grateful for the fans and media alike that really supported the title and were passionate about it.
[The remainder of this interview took place a few weeks later with Taro Yoko and Nier: Automata composer Keiichi Okabe. Okabe is also known for his work on both Nier titles, Drakengard 3, Tekken, and contributing some tracks to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Before we started recording, Yoko said it will be okay if I asked Okabe most of the questions and I remarked that I wouldn’t want to make him jealous. He paused for a moment and then said it doesn’t matter because he would get paid either way.]
You two have been working together for a long time, I was curious how much the music composition is tied in with the writing. One of the city themes in Nier: Automata uses similar composition to a track in Nier. Does that come from the writing or the musical identity of the series?
Okabe: Since Yoko-san is I feel the type of person that doesn't want to do the same thing over and over again, even if he did receive praise for what he did previously, I kept that in mind while I was composing music for Nier: Automata. I also wanted to have some kind of connection that you would feel as a player between the previous title and this one, so I used similar tones from previous titles or from the previous game. It might not be exactly the same, but I used some similar types of music lines from the previous title so that you might feel that kind of connection.
But we do have tracks that are arrangements of previous tracks from older titles, but that was mostly for fan service.
I kind of wanted to drill down a little bit this time and get to the core of your philosophy of why and how you make games. If you had to pick a reason to hold up and say "This is why I make video games," what would that be?
Yoko: I feel that video games, amongst all the different entertainment mediums, have the most freedom in what you can do as a creator. For example, in a film, if you are able to control movement, then that's no longer a film in my eyes. In video games, you could have film-like cutscenes and videos, you could have them going on forever as much as you would like as a creator. That kind of freedom to do that is what I really wanted to do and I feel like video games are what provide me that option, even if I never do it.
Is there any kind of message you use games for that you want to convey to your audience or anything you want them to hear from you? Or do you prefer to let them take whatever interpretation they get from your games?
Yoko: It's the latter. I would want our players to freely interpret what I've created just on their own, to grasp something for their own. I feel that's one of the interesting aspects of video games is that you are able to freely interpret what's being shown to you. I also feel like the players make the game whole by playing it. The action of playing the game I feel has meaning in itself and because of that I want the players to find something from the game, feel something from the game, for themselves.
Nier: Automata won a number of awards, Okabe-san you won best music at The Game Awards, Automata won the audience award at GDC. Is there any pressure to appeal a more mainstream audience with your next game?
Okabe: For a popular title that will be played by many, it doesn't really matter what kind of genre you put out musically. I will still be interested to compose music for those if possible. I would have to take a different approaches to those kind of mainline titles, whereas for Nier, I felt that the music can be more geared toward a core audience where only those who would understand the music would play it. But at the same time, once you understand, I want you to be deeply affected by it. That's what I aim for with Nier. If I am to work on a way more mainstream title next time, I will have to change that mindset I have as a composer, but that would be something I'd like to challenge myself more. To answer your question, yes, I'd like to try that, but I'd also do whatever kind of jobs I'm assigned to.
Yoko: For me, my games I actually think are really niche. How Nier: Automata was so successful was actually just a coincidence. To make a successful game is something that I can't really aim to do, so I think that I'll probably return to my small and dark corner, my niche corner, with my successive titles.
Who would you both consider your inspirations for writing and composing?
Okabe: For me, it's obviously more of a composer than a writer, but I don't really focus on one person. I tend to just try to get music here and there and have a wide net. I am greatly affected by people who I've listened to in my youth, like Japanese composer Ryuchi Sakamoto, Ennio Morricone who creates film music, and also pop music like Michael Jackson and Madonna. I am affected by those as well.
Yoko: I have received inspiration from a lot of things, but I think personally expressions in film or any like visual production is something I'm deeply affected by. For example, Neon Genesis Evangelion by Hideaki Anno, that was really a strong influence on me. Also, the drama series 24, the way that they incorporate speedy and complicated constructions of storylines was something that was very new at the time. Just throughout the timeline of visual production, I think there's a sudden burst of evolution, and I think that "that" moment in a title that does that just greatly affects me and becomes an inspiration for me. But I feel that can be said for the rest of the world.
Lately, anything that Christopher Nolan creates I think is very intriguing where he tries to include deep knowledge and thoughtfulness into what he creates. I'm very interested in this new wave of evolution.
Last year, with the release of Animal Crossing on mobile, you talked on social media about how it was your favorite game of the year because you created a narrative where the characters were all unwillingly imprisoned in the camp. Do you often create your own narratives for games?
Yoko: I do that for some games and I don't for others. Off and on, I guess. It's a lot easier to create my own storyline per se for a more primitive game. For example, in Zelda: Wind Waker, you start off with a grandma and your sister living on an island and it's really happy and joyful and there's really no reason for Link to get out of there and fight Ganondorf because you're already living happily. You don't need to get out of that happiness. As a gamer, I felt the kind of sadness to have to leave that happy island life.
In Dragon Quest [V], you have to choose who you want to wed, and I felt that I couldn't really get into liking either of the characters. I also couldn't find the point of having to decide who I want to marry, so I just at that instant I turned off the game and said "My journey ends here!" My mind narrated "The three of them went on the journey and lived happily ever after, the end." That was my ending for Dragon Quest V.
Around the release of Drakengard 3, you spoke about how it's not possible in this industry to make a six-minute game and sell it for $60, no matter how good those six minutes are. Is this something you still think?
Yoko: That analogy was given to explain that, no matter how much you try to make a game really good, there's a limit to what you can do. If you are to create a six-minute game, because you can't go through a lot of different stages, you would have to create one stage. Which means that you could really refine the quality of that one stage without having to put in a lot of money into it and a lot of manpower into it. Also, because it's only six minutes, you can't really have too many characters in it, so you could focus on one or two characters at max. By doing that, you could refine the quality of those two characters. But because you're time-limited, no matter how much you refine the quality of the world around you or the characters, if you're limited to six minutes there's just so much you could do that the game won't become good at all. That was an example for me to say that there's a limit to what you can do in video games.
Okabe-san, in the music for a lot of Yoko-san's game, you use constructed or uncommon languages, is there a specific reason for that?
Okabe: [laughs] Yeah, for one, because it is Nier: Automata, Replicant, and Gestalt, they all take place in a unique world, even though they're in the timeline of our current world, it's so much in the future that it should feel kind of foreign. That's one of the reasons why I went for language we can't understand, but another is that, in games in the past, game directors actually got mad at many occasions for including vocals into the soundtrack. They were saying that it would become too distracting from the gameplay and would distract the player. It was considered more of a taboo, so for Nier, I included vocals in there without a language you could understand more for the sound that you get from the words. It wasn't to convey any meaning of what was being said, but more for a sound impact.
Yoko-san, you tend to have very sad endings in your games, with the exception of Nier: Automata which is as happy an ending as you can get with most characters dying. Why do you tend to write toward more sad endings and do you feel like Automata's happy ending fit the game better?
Yoko: The reason why I created endings that end on a death is because, until now I was creating games where you would kill a lot of enemies, but I've always felt that it doesn't feel right when the protagonist has a happy after they've killed so many enemies during the course of their journey. That's why in Replicant and Gestalt, or my previous titles, the protagonist pretty much ended up dying because I didn't feel like it was right for them to have a happy ending. But for Nier: Automata, 2B and 9S, from the time that they were given life, they've been killing a lot of enemies, but they've also been killed by them many, many times, and regenerated many times. They've actually been killing each other, which you find out at the very end, many, many times as well. So I felt that kind of cleansed them of their sins for killing so many enemies, which made me feel that a happy ending was more fitting for those two.
Do you feel like that cycle of violence and death and the consequences of that are human nature?
Yoko: I think the reasons why we kill in video games do kind of shine light on what's kind of broken within humanity or humans in general. We want peace in the world, but we also enjoy killing others in video games, like shooting guns in video games. I think that's karma in a sense for humans, the way that video games grasp the true essence of humanity, whether or not that's what they were aiming to do.
Is there a series that you know, like Persona or Yakuza or anything like that, that either of you would want to work on?
Yoko: A series or anything?
It can be anything.
Yoko: Personally, it's not a Japanese title. I'd actually love to see how western titles are developed, because I have no insight into how they're made. There was a moment in time where I felt that it might be fun join a western development to see how things run. Of course there's the language barrier that would make it difficult for me to do that, but generally speaking I feel that western storytelling follows kind of a similar route for all the stories that western mediums create. I would feel it fascinating to find out why western games use certain flows and storyline arcs.
Okabe: I'm kind of a fanboy myself, so there is a part of me that wants to work on major titles like Dragon Quest. I feel that if I do work on those titles, the pressure of working such a known title would be just too big and because there is a part of me that really loves that series, I feel like I would try to skew my music in a way that would fit into that series instead of trying to create music that I think is good. I don't feel like I would be able to bring out the best quality in my music if I worked on those big titles, because of that pressure and because of the image I have of those titles in my mind. Currently, my want to work on those major titles and the part of me that's telling me I shouldn't do it are about equal.
Were either of you surprised by Nier: Automata's success?
Yoko: [in English] Oh yes.
Okabe: For me, I live in Tokyo and developer PlatinumGames live in Osaka, so we did have quite a distance in-between, like literal physical distance between us. From the moment that I created the music to when I was able to see it next, there was a big gap in time, so when I was able to my music in the game for the first time, the game was pretty close to finished, they were almost done with development. At that moment, I thought "Maybe this one might sell?" But at the same time, I didn't think it would become this big of a success, I always thought it might do better than the previous titles, but it was like a hunch that I didn't feel until this time in Yoko-san's titles. I did have some kind of a gut feeling that it might do well.
The last song of Automata, Weight of the World, had a chorus with the entire game's development staff at PlatinumGames and Square Enix singing along to encourage the player. Why did you decide on that for the final song of the game?
Okabe: I didn't remember this, I actually forgot about it for a while, but Yoko-san actually came to me telling me that he wanted a chorus at the end of the game pretty early on in the development process. I apparently made disgruntled face at him and did not remember why I even made that face or even that I made that face. After a while, I actually remember why I had such a reaction with the disgruntled face, because there's a couple of different types of choirs, but Yoko-san likes the more classical choir, so when he requested that he wanted a choir, I thought he wanted that classical type of choir at the last part of the game. At that moment, I thought "Well, that doesn't really fit in with the game plan, I don't really want to do that," which is why I had that expression on my face. After we talked about it, Yoko-san mentioned that wasn't really what he was going for, he said that because that last scene is all about all these different people helping you, he wanted everyone to sing, he wanted it to feel like everyone is singing there with you as you play.
When I thought about doing that, and I actually agreed that might be a good idea, because in Nier: Automata all the choir vocals that you hear in the game, it's actually recorded by a small group of singers, I just overlapped their voice so it sounds like a big choir. Because that last part of the game is more about you playing amongst a lot of people, I felt that taking that approach again of overlapping voices again would not really work. So I reached out to the dev teams because they were working on that part and I thought it would be a good idea to have them put themselves in the game as well. I also thought that they don't need to have a good voice, it's just to give that feeling that you're playing with all these developers.
Development teams from Square Enix, PlatinumGames, and also some composers from my company who didn't work on Nier: Automata are singing in it as well. There's also children of PlatinumGames developers and their family actually singing in it as well. That was the reasoning behind why we decided to do that at the end.
Has there ever been, in all your games you've made, an idea you had that you had to be talked out of?
Yoko: For the first Drakengard, I had an idea of [Japanese pop-star] Ayumi Hamasaki, like her character model, wearing all-silver spandex, like a giant version of her descending from the sky and you would fight against her by music. Everyone else on the staff shut it down. It does still leave that kind of music game essence kind of in there, but the part Ayumi Hamasaki comes out in silver spandex has been taken out.
Isn't that kind of similar to Drakengard 3's actual ending?
Yoko: Similar, but I actually wanted to go for something funny, or shockingly stupid. But no one would let me.
Source:
https://www.gameinformer.com/…/talking-to-yoko-taro-platinu…
beat up meaning 在 YAYOI DAIMON Official YouTube Channel Youtube 的最佳貼文
★「大門弥生 "まけんな" DANCE WS TOUR 2020」★
新曲発売記念して大阪、東京、神奈川での開催に加え、遠方の為にも来れない方の為に、初の"オンラインWS"も開催決定!!「歌って踊れる&シンガーのバックダンサー」としての基礎など大門弥生だからこそ教えれる内容が盛り沢山。あまりないこの機会に是非ご参加下さい。
Schedule:
11/7 (Sat) 大阪 OSAKA
11/8 (Sun) Online
11/13 (Fri) Online
11/14 (Sat) 神奈川 KANAGAWA
11/15 (Sun) 東京 TOKYO
(※他の地域もブッキングお待ちしてます。)
((詳細))
■11/7 (SAT) 大阪 at WREXX Ast
19:00 - 20:30
¥3,700- (Special Shooting有り)
WSでPick UpされたメンバーはプロのカメラマンさんとのShootingあり!
『予約』studiodeanca@gmail.comまで
題名に”YAYOI DAIMON WS”
・氏名・電話番号・メールアドレスを記入してメール送信でエントリー完了。
(エントリー後のキャンセルはキャンセル料として全額を負担いただきます。)
問合せ先:インスタグラム @studio_deanca
—————————————
■11/8 (SUN) Online WS
日本時間(JST) 11am - 12:30am
(1時間レッスン+質問タイム30分)
¥2,500-
LA 7pm - 8:30pm
NY 9pm - 11:30pm
SanPaulo 11pm - 12:30pm
『予約方法』officeschwaza@gmail.comまで
題名に”YAYOI DAIMON WS”
・氏名
・希望受講日
・電話番号
・メールアドレス
を記入してメール送信でエントリー完了。
★エントリー後、振込先など詳細をこちらより送らせていただきます。
★振り込み完了確認後、”Zoom Online レッスン”のパスワードが送信されます。
★(振込後のキャンセルはキャンセル料として全額を負担いただきます。)
問合せ先:インスタグラム @yayoidaimon.info
『How to reservation』
Send e-mail to
officeschwaza@gmail.com
Put subtitle ”YAYOI DAIMON WS”
・Name
・Date
・Phone Number
・email address
After entry, we will send you details such as transfer destination.
After confirming the transfer completion, the password for "Zoom Online Lesson" will be sent.
(Cancellation after transfer will be charged in full as a cancellation fee.)
Q&A:Instagram @yayoidaimon.info
————————————
■11/13 (FRI) Online WS
日本時間(JST) 21:00 - 22:30
(1時間レッスン+質問タイム30分)
¥2,500-
London 1pm - 2:30pm
Paris 2pm -3:30pm
Beijing 8pm - 9:30pm
Seoul 9pm -10:30pm
『予約方法』
officeschwaza@gmail.com
まで
題名に”YAYOI DAIMON WS”
・氏名
・希望受講日
・電話番号
・メールアドレス
を記入してメール送信でエントリー完了。
エントリー後、振込先など詳細をこちらより送らせていただき
振り込み完了確認後、”Zoom Online レッスン”のパスワードが送信されます。
(振込後のキャンセルはキャンセル料として全額を負担いただきます。)
問合せ先:インスタグラム @yayoidaimon.info
—————————————
■ 11/14 (SAT) 神奈川 at Studio Jel’aime
まけんなダンサーR!noのスタジオに参戦!
19:00 - 20:30
通常受講者 ¥3,000-
Studio jel’aime 会員 ¥2,500-
—————————————
■ 11/15 (SUN) 東京 at Studio Major 9F
Pick UpされたメンバーはオフィシャルShootingあり!
WS最終日なので、この日限りの何かがあるかも。
16:00 - 17:30
¥3,000-
『予約方法』
officeschwaza@gmail.com
まで
題名に”YAYOI DAIMON WS”
・氏名
・希望受講日
・電話番号
・メールアドレス
を記入してメール送信でエントリー完了。
(エントリー後のキャンセルはキャンセル料として全額を負担いただきます。)
問合せ先:インスタグラム @yayoidaimon.info
【DANCE MOVIE】大門弥生(YAYOI DAIMON) 「まけんな -MAKENNA-」
Available on https://linkco.re/bqQCXRmM
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/yayoidaimon/
Twitter https://twitter.com/DaimonYayoi
Apple Music
https://music.apple.com/jp/artist/852...
Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/album/1r7TaI...
10/2 2020 Release
Artist:大門弥生 (YAYOI DAIMON)
Lyric:大門弥生 (YAYOI DAIMON)
Music:XLII
Special Guest Dancer:YUU @yuu0715yuki
Dancer:AKANE @a_ka_ney
Dancer:MIHOREINE @mihoreinee_
Dancer:R!NO @rino_matsubara
Choreography:YUU @yuu0715yuki
Director : 武藤 眞志
Hair&Makeup:Yuko Fujiwara
Style:NIKE、TIMELESSTOKYO、OTO GIRLS、寺田歯科医院
Label : Schwaza Records (schwaza.jp)
A&R:Kosuke Kuraseko
jacket title:SEIRAN @seiran_jp
jacket:MARIN KADOWAKI
Special Thank You:HANA KIMURA「木村花を忘れない」
#MAKENNA #GoForIt #Dance
【まけんな (MAKENNA)】日本語(English)
Back in the game right now
口から出まかせ言ってんな(Stop with all the chatting)
やることタイト like my pu**y(The shit I do tight like my pu**y)
リング上で戦う女同士(Alpha females fight up on the ring)
マケンナ気合いはアスリート(Don’t lose the spirit is athlete)
大和撫子生まれはストリート(Yamatonadeshiko born from the hood)
ほっとけんほどドープなビート(A beat so dope I cant leave it)
乗り遅れないように踊っとかんと(Stay dancing so I dont miss the ride)
顎足無しからやってきた(I come from where nothing be)
関西からcome againやってきた(Came from Kansai come again finally here)
コロナでビザも落ちました(Because of Corona my Visa dropped)
人生の意味なんか知らんがな(Well I dont know the meaning of life)
Hey I don’t lose
I don’t I don’t I don’t lose
Dont Lose Dont Lose!
Look
やれんならやってみ(If you cant, then do it)
思い立ったらすぐやる方がいい(Don’t think! just do it)
どうせ当たらんロッタリー(Not gonna win the lotto anyways)
みんなが予想外のパンデミック(Nobody expected the pandemic)
Ring-ring
I don’t need pass the dutch
Ding-ding
勘違い fuck my life(Misunderstanding fuck my life)
Win-win
we gon win pon de mic
Rrrrrn Rrrrrn
変わらん情熱(My passion never changes)
お前のやる気スイッチはどこ?(Wheres your beast mode switch at?)
中途半端ならやめてええよもう(If you gon be bitch you can quit)
何回やっても(No matter how much you try)
ライバルは半歩先にいてまだ上を狙ってる(Your rival is one step ahead aiming for higher)
A mi seh
Hey I don’t lose
I don’t I don’t I don’t lose
Don’t Lose Don’t Lose!
Just do what you do, Imma do what I do
Just do what you do, Imma do what I do
Tengo hambre
腹が減っては戦が出来ねぇ(Cant fight on a empty stomach)
好きな時好きなもん食べれるこの環境にまずサランへ(Eat what I want when I want)
First "Saranghae" love to this sensation
ありきたりな物語(A common story)
花咲かせたいことばかり(I just wanna win and succeed)
大当たりした時に仲間たちと共に笑いたい(When I get my big bag I just wanna laugh with my dude)
Hey I don’t lose
I don’t I don’t I don’t lose
Don’t Lose Don’t Lose!
beat up meaning 在 YAYOI DAIMON Official YouTube Channel Youtube 的精選貼文
大門弥生 (YAYOI DAIMON) 「まけんな (MAKENNA) 」Official Video
Available on https://linkco.re/bqQCXRmM
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/yayoidaimon/
Twitter https://twitter.com/DaimonYayoi
Apple Music
https://music.apple.com/jp/artist/852...
Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/album/1r7TaI...
10/2 2020 Release
Artist:大門弥生 (YAYOI DAIMON)
Lyric:大門弥生 (YAYOI DAIMON)
Music:XLII
Special Guest Dancer:YUU @yuu0715yuki
Dancer:AKANE @a_ka_ney
Dancer:MIHOREINE @mihoreinee_
Dancer:R!NO @rino_matsubara
Choreography:YUU @yuu0715yuki
Director : 武藤 眞志
Hair&Makeup:Yuko Fujiwara
Style:NIKE、TIMELESSTOKYO、OTO GIRLS、寺田歯科医院
Label : Schwaza Records (schwaza.jp)
A&R:Kosuke Kuraseko
jacket title:SEIRAN @seiran_jp
jacket:MARIN KADOWAKI
Special Thank You:HANA KIMURA「木村花を忘れない」
#MAKENNA #GoForIt #Dance
【まけんな (MAKENNA)】日本語(English)
Back in the game right now
口から出まかせ言ってんな(Stop with all the chatting)
やることタイト like my pu**y(The shit I do tight like my pu**y)
リング上で戦う女同士(Alpha females fight up on the ring)
マケンナ気合いはアスリート(Don’t lose the spirit is athlete)
大和撫子生まれはストリート(Yamatonadeshiko born from the hood)
ほっとけんほどドープなビート(A beat so dope I cant leave it)
乗り遅れないように踊っとかんと(Stay dancing so I dont miss the ride)
顎足無しからやってきた(I come from where nothing be)
関西からcome againやってきた(Came from Kansai come again finally here)
コロナでビザも落ちました(Because of Corona my Visa dropped)
人生の意味なんか知らんがな(Well I dont know the meaning of life)
Hey I don’t lose
I don’t I don’t I don’t lose
Dont Lose Dont Lose!
Look
やれんならやってみ(If you cant, then do it)
思い立ったらすぐやる方がいい(Don’t think! just do it)
どうせ当たらんロッタリー(Not gonna win the lotto anyways)
みんなが予想外のパンデミック(Nobody expected the pandemic)
Ring-ring
I don’t need pass the dutch
Ding-ding
勘違い fuck my life(Misunderstanding fuck my life)
Win-win
we gon win pon de mic
Rrrrrn Rrrrrn
変わらん情熱(My passion never changes)
お前のやる気スイッチはどこ?(Wheres your beast mode switch at?)
中途半端ならやめてええよもう(If you gon be bitch you can quit)
何回やっても(No matter how much you try)
ライバルは半歩先にいてまだ上を狙ってる(Your rival is one step ahead aiming for higher)
A mi seh
Hey I don’t lose
I don’t I don’t I don’t lose
Don’t Lose Don’t Lose!
Just do what you do, Imma do what I do
Just do what you do, Imma do what I do
Tengo hambre
腹が減っては戦が出来ねぇ(Cant fight on a empty stomach)
好きな時好きなもん食べれるこの環境にまずサランへ(Eat what I want when I want)
First "Saranghae" love to this sensation
ありきたりな物語(A common story)
花咲かせたいことばかり(I just wanna win and succeed)
大当たりした時に仲間たちと共に笑いたい(When I get my big bag I just wanna laugh with my dude)
Hey I don’t lose
I don’t I don’t I don’t lose
Don’t Lose Don’t Lose!
beat up meaning 在 Fujii Kaze Youtube 的最讚貼文
Fujii Kaze - "Kaerou"
Director:Kodama Yuichi(vivision)
Assistant Director:Sato Ryuken(DIAMOND SNAP)
Cinemato Grapher:Okuguchi Makoto(Tsuji Office)
1st Camera Assistant:Shimizu Erika
DIT:Oyama Taito(progressive)
Lighiting Director:Kobayashi Kosei
1st Light Assistant:Omura Kiron
Prop Artist:Sakai Toshihide(TATEO inc)
Art Assistant:Sano Mariko(TATEO inc)
Grip:Taniguchi Takashi(OF)
Camera Car:Arai Keita(S3)
Casting:Yamauchi Tomokazu/Nishimura Kazuyuki(KOSEI)
Location Cordinator:Yamauchi Hiroshi
Stylist:Sugiyama Mayumi/Masuda Mika
Stylist Assistant:Oga Nozomi
Costume(fujii kaze):YOHJI YAMAMOTO
Hair & Maike up(fujii kaze):Takai
Hair & Maike up Assistant(fujii kaze):Morishita Haruka
Color Grading:Ishihara Yasutaka(SONY PCL)
Shooting Editor:Gorilla(vivision)
Offline Editor:Kodama Yuichi(vivision)
VFX:Mizuno Masaki/Kawasaki Kotomi(Khaki)
CGI:Takagane Koji(Khaki)
Mixer:Masutomi Kazune
Producer:Inagaki Mamoru(GEEK PICTURES)
Production Manager:Taniguchi Yuki(GEEKPICTURES)
PM Assistant:Kanazawa Satoru/Takahashi Hiroki/Takeguchi Akefumi/Oshida Keiji/Iwanaga Yasuhiro/Mimori Yosuke/Sakamoto Ryosuke(GEEK PICTURES)/Sato Yosuke(GEEK PICTURES)
CAST
Aoyama Asami
Isse
Ichizo
Kathleen
Saikatsu
Sandy K
Shibamoto Yasuyoshi
Taira Jin
Tateishi Kirara
Tanaka Jin
Daikohara Chieko
Tenkou Mayumi
Hotta Shinzo
Fujii Kaze
MASASHI
Yamaki Koharu
Yoshizawa Kazumi
Ruri
☆ 05.20(wed) release 1st ALBUM "HELP EVER HURT NEVER"(CD)
▶️ https://Fujii-Kaze.lnk.to/HEHN
1. Nan-Nan
2. Mo-Eh-Wa
3. YASASHISA
4. Cause It's Endless
5. Flavor Of Sin
6. Cho Si Noccha Te
7. Tokuni Nai
8. I'd Rather Die
9. Hey Mr.Wind
10. SAYONARA Baby
11. Kaerou
【First Edition】 ¥4,000(+tax) UMCK-7064/5
<Bonus>
・Special booklet
・HELP EVER HURT COVER <11 songs>
1. Close To You
2. Shape Of You
3. Back Stabbers
4. Alfie
5. Be Alright
6. Beat It
7. Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
8. My Eyes Adored You
9. Shake It Off
10. Stronger Than Me
11. Time After Time
【Normal Edition】 ¥3,000(+tax) UMCK-1659
【Digital】 ¥2,100(+tax)
iTunes Store: https://itunes.apple.com/jp/artist/%E8%97%A4%E4%BA%95-%E9%A2%A8/1486113150?app=itunes&at=10I3LI&ls=1
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6bDWAcdtVR3WHz2xtiIPUi
YouTube Music: https://music.youtube.com/channel/UCxjfYUXFwmjUCGHMeBri5_w
Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.co.jp/artists/B0819FY3KC?ref=dm_sh_e043-549a-9e40-b221-a1efe
LINE MUSIC: https://music.line.me/artist/mi0000000011ec3db5
Official APP: http://c-rayon.com/fujiikaze/
Official site: http://fujiikaze.com/
Instagram: http://Instagram.com/fujiikaze
twitter: https://twitter.com/FujiiKaze
Go Home
Written by Fujii Kaze
Prod by Yaffle
Mixing Engineer Masahito Komori
Recording Engineer Yoshimasa Wakui / Daishi Iiba(birdie house)
Recorded at AOBADAI STUDIO / ABS RECORDING STUDIO
Mixed at ABS RECORDING STUDIO
Mastering Engineer Tsubasa Yamazaki
Mastered at EELOW
Drums Leon Yuki
Electric Bass Naoki Kobayashi
Percussion Takashi Fukuoka
1st Violin Rina Odera
2nd Violin Natsue Kameda
1st Viola Mikiyo Kikuchi
2nd Viola Reiichi Tateizumi
Cello Yuki Mizuno
Acoustic Piano Fujii Kaze
You are melting into sunset
I am fading into sunrise
If our path never cross again
Then, that is the way it is
You're turning on the lamp
I'm searching for the light
We both have nothing to fear, nothing to lose
We both have nothing at all in the first place
See you, see you again
Those boys' eyes aren't innocent anymore
Those evening bells are ringing out but can't be heard anymore
That is, that is almost like
Everything seems to be over
Far from it, We've got a long way to go, and I'll never forget...
Ah Let's forget everything and go home
Ah Let everything flow away and go home
Though that scar hurts, tho this thirst never be quenched
That doesn't matter anymore, Let's blow them all away
Let's go home with a nice breeze
Let's go home with a gentle rain
What is the use of hating each other
I'm, I'm gonna be the first one to forget
You are worried about the future
I am still attached to the past
This is our last time, I'm supposed to be a God
But still we are too much human
I looked at the world without me
From above, and I found out
It keeps on turning exactly the same as always
That made me feel easy somewhat
See you, see you again
We say farewell at the right before the highway
Leaving all the hustle-bustle behind, I walk alone
Taking, All my life was about taking
And not a bit of giving
Not knowing the meaning of this life I've lived
Ah, Let's give everything and go home
Ah, With empty hands, Let's go home
What we can give is just what we are given
Let's say thank you and be honored
I'm waiting for you, Let's go home
Let's go home where happiness never ends
What can we take with us when we leave this world
Let go of the burdens we're carrying, one by one
What is the use of hating each other
I'm, I'm gonna be the first one to forget
Ah, How am I going to live from today
beat up meaning 在 beat up or beaten up - English Language Learners Stack ... 的推薦與評價
":beat up" also means "to suffer violence" and in US usage may be more common for this meaning than "beaten up". In this sense it is an idiom. – ... ... <看更多>
beat up meaning 在 Beat up Meaning - YouTube 的推薦與評價
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