關於 running title example ，我們在網路上蒐集到這些相關的討論、資訊與評價

近來項明生主持的節目《明治憑甚麼》大獲好評，我尚未看，但似乎非看不可了。

非常巧合，今個月我介紹的書也是借明治維新以喻今。書名坦白直接，就叫做《日本足球的明治維新》。

趕稿關係，坦白說我在事前沒對此書做太多research，拿起就讀，卻出乎意料地好看。後來好奇到豆瓣看看，果然，書得到相當高的8.1分。（傳送門：https://goo.gl/a8tMYG）

有一點，我沒寫在稿上，但卻不妨在這裡一提：我搜作者應虹霞的資料時，發現此君在大陸頗受爭議。不少網民對他口誅筆伐，說他「漢奸」、「媚日」。

看到這些評語，我更覺得這本書真的值得一讀了，請別因為它是簡體字就錯過。

【吾運動‧吾閱讀】－　#蝦叔 蝦叔跑步 Uncle Shrimp Running

《日本足球的明治維新》
作者：應虹霞

「戰後重建日本足球，其難度不亞於在廢墟上重建國家。」

「一如福澤諭吉的思想之於日本明治維新的意義，理念變革和意識先行引發了日本足球職業化這場足球領域的劃時代變革。」

「內田篤人制勝德甲的秘訣，是德國人的鬥志外加日本球員的敏捷性、協調性。」

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這一篇刊出之時，2019亞洲盃足球賽已到了白熱化階段，而今屆冠軍亦將於2月1日在阿布扎比揭盅。說起至今已舉辦16屆的亞洲盃，曾經四度奪冠的日本可謂這項賽事的最成功球隊。今次為大家介紹的書，亦正是與日本足球發展有關。

《日本足球的明治維新》（下稱《維新》）於2012年出版，作者應虹霞是一名中國體育記者，而她諳熟日語，不時訪問日本教練及球員，對日本足球發展所知甚詳，同時被譽為「日本足球通」，所以她寫的《維新》可說是一部日本足球簡史，由1936年柏林奧運，說到2010年南非世界盃，將日本足球發展呈現讀者眼前。

作者以「明治維新」為書名，明顯意在讚揚日本足球廿年改革成功。我們現在看到J聯賽之盛，看到日本國家隊成為世界盃常客，絕難想像在數十年前它曾經是那麼的業餘。再反觀幾乎與日本同步開始職業化的中國足球，相比之下，兩者發展大相逕庭，情況令人感慨。

原來1936年奧運足球賽中，日本爆大冷擊敗瑞典一役，會影響到十多年後首個奪得諾貝爾的日本科學家？原來J聯賽球隊命名各有深意？原來巴西名宿薛高當年赴日也只是踢乙組球隊？《維新》述說的無數故事，使讀者領略到日本足球有今天的成就絕非倖致，而且足以成為中國足球的殷鑑。它雖然是七年前的作品，但今天看來仍未過時。

筆者簡介：蝦叔，愛寫作，愛運動。期待未來以一雙腳和一枝筆，繼續從體育探索世界。

#新地公益垂直跑 #新鴻基地產 #足球

【Exercise and Read】Uncle Shrimp Running
Meiji Restoration of Japanese Football
Author: Ying Hong-xia

‘Restoring Japanese football after the war was as difficult as rebuilding the country on its ruins.’

‘Similar to the impact of Fukuzawa Yukichi's thoughts on Japan’s Meiji Restoration, conceptual reform and ideology first triggered the epoch-making revolution in the professionalization of Japanese football.’

‘The secret of Atsuto Uchida's success in the Bundesliga is the mix of the German's perseverance plus the agility of Japanese football players.’

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By the time of the release of this article, the 2019 AFC Asian Cup should have reached a critical stage and this year’s champion will be crowned in Abu Dhabi on 1 February. To date, the Asian Cup has been held 16 times, during which Japan has emerged the most successful team winning the championship four times. The book introduced in this issue also chronicles the overall development of Japanese football.

Meiji Restoration of Japanese Football (referred to as The Restoration) was published in 2012. Author Ying Hong-xia is a Chinese sports journalist, who is also regarded as a ‘Japanese football guru’ because of her mastery of the Japanese language, frequent interviews with Japanese coaches and players as well as her in-depth knowledge about football’s development in Japan. For this reason, her book The Restoration can indeed be considered a brief history of Japanese football, presenting to readers its development all the way from the 1936 Berlin Olympics to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

The use of ‘Meiji Restoration’ in the book title is an allegorical reference to Japan’s success in its 20-year football reform. With the flourishing J-League and Japanese national team being the Finalist in the World Cup regularly, it is hard to imagine how Japanese football grew from amateur level to professional a few decades ago. By contrast, the development of Chinese football – which started professionalization at a similar time as Japan – stands in stark opposition to the case of Japan and the situation is indeed disheartening.
Who would have ever thought that the 1936 Olympic football match where Japan pulled off an upset of Sweden would influence the Japanese scientist who won the country’s first Nobel Prize more than a decade later? Who knew that the names of J-League football teams have their own special meanings, and that the legendary Brazilian player Zico once joined Japanese commercial football team in second division only?

Through stories behind these facts as told in The Restoration, readers will realize that Japanese football’s achievements nowadays did not come about through sheer luck, and that the success Japan has achieved can serve as a good example for Chinese football. Although the book was written seven years ago, it still retains relevancy even today.

About the writer: Uncle Shrimp loves reading, writing and athletics, and hopes he can continue exploring the world through sports.

【專題訪問 Interview Feature】2019年度香港大學學生會周年大選中央幹事會候選常務祕書麥嘉晉訪問 | Interview with Mak Ka Chun Eugene, the Proposed General Secretary of Executive Committee, The Hong Kong University Students’ Union of Annual Election 2019

(Please scroll down for English version.)

麥嘉晉同學以一人莊姿態參選中央幹事會常務祕書一職，為除候選內閣「蒼傲」外，另一參選周年大選中央幹事會席位的單位。麥同學接受本台訪問，就其一人內閣的理念、參選原因、和自身網上流出片段解話，並就反對香港獨立及支持訂立國歌法作闡述。

訪問節錄如下：

1. 對常務祕書一職的了解？
我並不對常務祕書，即香港大學學生會中央幹事會的常務祕書的職責有太清楚的認識。

2. 為何參選常務祕書而非其他職位？
我參選常務祕書的原因是因為我認為自己並不能勝任主席（正確名稱應為會長）一職，我是一個小心、心思細密的人，能力主要在於常務祕書方面。

3. 你認為自己被釣狗公及流出不雅影片會否對選情有影響？
對於這件事，我明白大家對我有負面印象，我希望向對我有負面印象的人道歉，因為我令到香港大學的聲譽受損。但這件事也令到有些人認識了我，客觀而言，他們都會明白這是一個失誤，並知道這事並不影響我的政治理念或影響我向他們服務。我亦明白有人會因這件事對我有負面印象，我會努力透過選舉工程爭取選民對我的信心。

（參考資料：［有圖］求智囊團撚狗公 https://lihkg.com/t/640617/1?ref=android ）

4. 你心目中學生會的立場是？
我們必須多考慮多角度及不同持份者的意見才作出表態，所以我不能肯定有幸當選後會作出什麼取態。我個人不太熱衷於政治方面，在大部分議題方面我的路線比較中間偏左。

5. 你為何決定單獨參選？
因為即使我未能組成內閣，我都希望做到我參選的目的，就是希望令人看到香港大學學生會並非像外界看來激進。我希望能令人看到香港大學的學生並不是只得一種思路，大家都有獨立思想，所以即使只有一人亦會參選。

6. 假若四位候選幹事同事當選，如何處理意見分歧？
如果日後四位候選人有幸一同當選，但就不同議題有相反意見的話，我認為政治取態並非港大學生會惟一職務，其他職務例如學生會組織的行政事務、和為學生提供福利、服務學生等等。所以我認為並不會單因為取態不同而辭職，其他事項不可以置之不理。

7. 你的政治光譜/政治立場是什麼？
我個人本身並不太熱衷於參與政治方面，在大部分議題我的立場傾向於中間偏左。

8. 你可否用香港的政治組織/政治人物代表自己？
個人而言我並不激進，所以我認為以前的民主黨可能比較能反映我現在的立場。如果從人物方面我認為湯家驊先生可能比較能反映到我，因為湯家驊先生和我一樣是比較會從多角度處事的人，其次他比較冷靜，不會草率進行評論和反應，而他亦不會就所有事情有既定立場，對不合理或不認該支持的事情他不會基於他泛民主派的立場而違背自己的理念，所以湯家驊先生及以前的公民黨會比較能反映和接近我的政治立場。

9. 你對初一事件的看法？
暫時可見旺角暴動或年初一事件方面，很多人都不太願意承擔自己的責任，而我認為很多參加者都罔顧了香港大眾的聲音和理念，亦危害了其他人的安全，我個人並不支持或同意這件事，如有人對這方面有意見的話，我希望大家能以理性方法表達意見。

10. 你是否支持香港獨立？
首先我不同意和不支持香港獨立。對於香港獨立我有幾點要回應。我不支持香港獨立的原因是因為，我認為香港多年來和中國有關係，香港在多方面亦須要中國的幫助，不論是經濟、社會、還是政策配套，我們都必須和中國有緊密連繫。當然我有不同意中國的政策，如對言論自由的打壓和對人權的打壓等，但我認為不應因反對中國而原全斷絕關係，始終歷史上我們和中國有非常緊密的聯繫，不可以因一些事去全盤否定中國，同時我認為香港獨立在法律上並不合法，所以我不會支持這種不合法的東西出現。因為香港獨立並不合法再加上這事並不合適，所以我並不支持香港獨立。但我認為可在可容許的空間內討論，例如學術層面或政治方面，我認為只要不鼓吹港獨，單純理性討論是可容許的，因為這是一種思想，而思想應可被討論。

11. 你是否同意訂立國歌法？
我認為國歌法的立法原意合理，並且應該，大家只要願意去尊重國歌和願意為自己的行為負責，我認為國歌法的立法有應該要的，因為我認為應尊重國歌。除了利用國歌表達意見外，還有很多意見表達的方式，雖然國歌法有機會收窄了大家的言論自由，但大家仍有其他對中國表達意見的渠道，所以我認為國歌法的影響並非如此誇張。

12. 你是否同意就廿三條法？
暫時短期而言不該對廿三條立法，但如果日後香港社會出現了嚴重的安全問題，而現時的法律制度未能控制，我認為廿三條立法......未必是廿三條立法，但應保障社會安全，加強執法，修改現有法律去增強它的權力、增強它的阻嚇性，希望能保障社會的安全。

Mak Ka Chun Eugene is running as a one-man cabinet in the Annual Election 2019. He is another candidate unit running for a seat in the Union’s Executive Committee, besides Prism, the proposed Cabinet of Executive Committee, The Hong Kong University Students’ Union in Annual Election 2019. Campus TV has interviewed with Mak, with regards to his vision of a one-man cabinet, the reason to run as candidate, and the leakage of his personal videos; he has also elaborated on his disagreeing with Hong Kong independence and supporting the enactment of the National Anthem Bill.

The interview excerpts are as follows:

1. What is your understanding of the post of General Secretary?
I might not have too clear of an understanding about the post of General Secretary, i.e. the duties of the General Secretary of Executive Committee, The Hong Kong University Students’ Union.

2. Why did you choose to run for the post of the General Secretary out of other posts?
The reason for running for the General Secretary is because I do not believe I have what it takes to assume the post of the Chairperson (the correct title should be: “President”). I am a rather careful and meticulous person, and my abilities are more in line with the area of the General Secretary, such as word/ document processing, and handling emails.

3. Do you think your incident* about being exposed as a womanizer, and the leakage of your explicit videos have an impact on your election campaign?
I understand that I have left a negative impression on some people from this incident; I would like to apologize to these people, because I have scathed the reputation of the University as a student of the University. In addition, this incident has made me known to public. Objectively speaking, some might consider the incident as a mistake, and that it would not affect my political stance or my service to them (members of the Students’ Union). Meanwhile, I do recognize that this incident has created a negative impression of myself, I will try my best to gain the trust of people from my election campaign.

*Mak Ka Chun Eugene was allegedly exposed as a womanizer, some explicit photos and videos of Mak in a conversation have been leaked by an anonymous account onto Lihkg, a public forum in Hong Kong.

4. What is the position of the Students’ Union in your eyes?
We should take into considerations the various perspectives and stakeholders’ opinions before declaring a stance, therefore I am not sure what I will be standing for should I be elected. Personally, I am not too keen on politics, but I would say that for most issues, I take more of a centre-left position.

5. Why did you decide to run as an independent candidate?
Despite not having formed a cabinet, I wish to fulfill my election aim: I hope to show the society how The Hong Kong University Students’ Union is not as radical and one-sidedly biased as how the society perceives it to be. I hope people could see that the Union has not only one path of thinking, everybody has individual thinking. Therefore, I would run as candidate even if I am doing so alone.

6. Should four proposed candidates of the Executive Committee be elected, how would discrepancy of views be dealt with?
If all four candidates have the honour to be elected, and have disparate views on issues, I think (acting on one’s) political views is not the Union’s only duty, there are other duties including administrative work, representing students, providing students’ welfare etc. Therefore, I do not think I would resign solely over a discrepancy on political views, other duties should not be neglected.

7. Where do you stand on the political spectrum? / How would you define your political stance?
I am not too keen on politics, but I would say that for most issues, I take more of a centre-left position.

8. Could you use a political group or a political figure in Hong Kong to represent yourself?
I think it is quite difficult to say, because Hong Kong’s politics has been so polarizing. Personally, I do not consider myself radical (politically), so I think the earlier Democratic Party better represents my current stance. In terms of a political figure, I think Mr Ronny Tong Ka-wah can better represent me, because like Tong, I know how to handle matters from multiple perspectives. Besides, Tong is a rather collected politician, he knows not to carelessly react and comment; he does not hold a predetermined stance towards issues, and he does not let his pan-democratic background dictate his views on matters that he thinks are unreasonable or not deserving of his support. Therefore, Mr Ronny Tong Ka-wah and the earlier Democratic Party is better proximate and representative of my political stance.

9. What are your views on the Mong Kok Incident in 2016?
What I observe currently about the Mong Kok Riot, or my apologies, it should be the Mong Kok Incident, is that many people are unwilling to bear responsibility for their actions, and I think a lot of the participants (of the incident) were rather reckless and negligent in considering the majority of Hong Kong’s opinion, they have also harmed the safety of many. I personally do not support nor agree with this action. However, I believe all voices should be heard, if anyone has an opinion on an issue, I hope they can convey them in a rational manner.

10. Do you support Hong Kong independence?
Firstly, I do not agree with nor support Hong Kong independence, but I think that the idea itself can be discussed on an academic or political level, as long as we are not encouraging the actualisation of it, we can have purely theoretical discussion because it is like any other thought or ideology that can be discussed. In response to Hong Kong independence, I have a few points to raise.
I do not support Hong Kong independence because I think that Hong Kong has established long years of relationship with China, Hong Kong needs the support of China in multiple areas, no matter economic, social, or policy-wise. We should always have a close connection to China. Certainly, I do not agree with all of China’s policies, for example the oppression of freedom of speech and of human rights, but I do not think we should cut ties with China entirely based on these disagreements. Ultimately, China and we have had a very close affiliation historically. At the same time, I think that Hong Kong independence is not legally justified, so I would not support such an illegal action. Because Hong Kong independence is not legal and not suitable, I do not support it.

11. Do you agree with the enactment of the National Anthem Bill?
I think the motive of the enacting the National Anthem Bill is justified, and (the act) should be encouraged. As long as everyone is willing to respect the national anthem and to bear responsibility for their own actions, I think the enactment of the National Anthem Bill is necessary, because I respect the national anthem. Besides using the national anthem as a form of self-expression (of political opinions or views), there are many other ways to communicate an opinion. Although freedom of speech might be harmed under the enactment of the bill, there are still other methods to convey our opinions about China, so I do not foresee the effect of the National Anthem Bill to be as severe as it is portrayed to be.

12. Do you agree with the enactment of Article 23?
Currently and in the short run, Article 23 should not be enacted. However, if Hong Kong experiences a problem of safety in the future, one that the current legal system has no power to control, I think that it may call for Article 23… not necessarily Article 23, but an enhanced enforcement of the law, the law should be amended to strengthen its power and deterring functions to ensure the safety of our society.
___________________________________

二零一九年度香港大學學生會周年大選其他候選人包括中央幹事會候選內閣蒼傲、校園電視候選內閣、學苑候選編輯委員會及候選普選評議員。

2019年度周年大選中央諮詢大會將於一月二十一日至一月二十五日在中山廣場舉行，時間為下午十二時半至二時半。

Other candidates for the Annual Election 2019 include Prism, the Proposed Cabinet of Executive Committee, the Proposed Cabinet of Campus TV, the Proposed Editorial Board of Undergrad, and the Proposed Popularly Elected Union Councillor.

The Central Campaign for Annual Election 2019 will be held from the 21st to 25th of January at the Sun Yat-sen Place, from 12:30 to 14:30.

"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…

Hi. My name is themblan, and I am a boy-gamer.

Today, we are deviating away from Nintendo-games and featuring one of my favorite games from my teenage years, and that is Final Fantasy Tactics for Sony PlayStation.

It was developed by Squaresoft before they merged with Enix, released in Japan in 1997, and published in North America in 1998 by Sony Computer Entertainment America, which also published Final Fantasy VII in the same region.

I was looking for a handy-dandy video on YouTube that featured all the attract-mode videos of this game, but to no avail. Attract-mode, for anyone that might not know, is essentially the stuff that happens when you leave a game on the title-screen and don't do anything. These days, most games don't do anything even if you leave the game on the title-screen, but back in the day, games might play special videos or play through some of the game by itself, to "attract" you to come pick up the controller and play the game. This was very useful if, for example, a retail store had the game running on a TV in the store. Potential customers would be "attracted" to buy the game by what they saw during the "attract-mode."

This video of mine features the opening cinematic, as well as the backstory-cinematic, a trailer advertising the game and featuring some credits, and the Job/Monster cinematic which goes through a bevy of Jobs and Monsters you will encounter in the game.

Back in the day, I really enjoyed watching these videos. Full-motion video clips, in general, was something that I enjoyed watching during the era of the first PlayStation, especially if they were designed and edited well, as they were in this game.

I still feel this original PlayStation-version of the game is the best, because the PSP-port called War of the Lions has issues with sound and slowdown. I had hoped its translation would make the game easier to understand, but instead, they chose to use a weird, old-English-like dialect that is even more difficult to understand than the original script.

This original version of the game is certainly a game I would love to see on the Switch. There have been many games in the same genre that have come out after Final Fantasy Tactics, like Disgaea, but Final Fantasy Tactics is still my favorite, and if I try games like Disgaea, I just end up feeling disappointed, and end up just replaying Final Fantasy Tactics instead.

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Thank you for watching, and have a great day.

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The song in my intro and outro was done by Hyper Potions, and it is called Time Trials. You can check out the full song here: https://youtu.be/mnfNWe-HHsI.

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