Category Archives: Drakengard 3

New Revelations About Accord

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Updated: 2020/12/15

As part of the NieR 10th Anniversary Livestream special events, the very final bit was broadcast to NicoNico Premium Members only, and it was in this portion in which Yoko revealed some very interesting tid-bits about Accord.

This section of the Livestream included the following members:

  • Yoko Taro – Director/Creator
  • Saito Yosuke – SQEX Producer
  • Akiyama Kaoru – Voice of Pod153, SS (YoRHa Boys stage play)
  • Sekiya Makoto – ILCA Producer
  • Matsuda Ichidai – Director/Playwright

[ TABLE OF CONTENTS ]

  1. Accord exists only as a female-type android.
  2. Accord was first created by “Humans” in the Kingdom of Night.
  3. The Original Accord
  4. What exactly is Accord’s job?
  5. What is Accord’s connection to the Kingdom of Night?
  6. How many Accords are there?
  7. Why are there so many Accord androids?
  8. The Casting for Accord: Suga Kyosuke
  9. What exactly is the “Fall Down”?
  10. Related Links

Accord exists only as a female-type android.

At one point, Yoko stated that the Accord that appears in YoRHa Ver.1.3a/aᵃ was never said to be male. The cast is male, so it’s easy to make that assumption; however, this was not a male version of Accord. That was a female Accord. He decided from the very beginning that there were only female-type Accord androids. No male-types exist.

He also apparently didn’t say anything about this to Suga or Matsuda, the director of the play. Matsuda mentioned that it would have been better if he had known more about the character, especially to give Suga more direction, but…

Yoko: No one asked me about it, so I didn’t say anything.

I can see from the director’s stand-point that it would have been nice to know everything about the character ahead of time in order to give the necessary direction and advice to the actor, but this is a sort of “if” story to begin with, so it doesn’t really matter either way.

Now that he mentioned this, I’m really curious if there were other characters who were likewise female but appeared male merely because the actors were all male. This is especially important in the earlier versions of the stage play, such as Ver.1.1, in which several apparently female androids confessed their love for each other, which seemed like a really great nod to the LGBTQ community. I would be kinda sad if all of a sudden one of them turned out to be a male android.

This is shocking to us male-Accord fans and fans of the actor Suga Kyosuke, but really this realization doesn’t change much. Accord has always been an interesting character, and Suga brought new life the character in a new and interesting way. Although I am personally a little disappointed to hear this, since the “male Accord” was my favorite part to Ver.1.3a/aᵃ, it doesn’t mean much in the long-run. We’ll always have Suga’s awesome performance to look back on and enjoy whenever we feel the need to see a male Accord android. xD

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Accord was first created by “Humans” in the Kingdom of Night.

Yoko revealed that Accord was originally created along with Dragons by “something like humans” in the Kingdom of Night, but he wouldn’t explain this in any detail. According to the official timeline, the “Army of Humanity” created the so-called “Dragon” weapons to fight in the war against the aliens in 6230. He also mentioned that Accord’s creation may have something to do with the Dragons, but he didn’t elaborate on this point either since it would get overly complicated (and he probably couldn’t discuss it even if he wanted to).

The definition of what is considered “human” during this time is unclear. In other words, the “Army of Humanity” androids are often labeled as the current figureheads of Humanity, so it could be possible that the faction of androids currently fighting the war against the aliens in the Kingdom of Night were the ones to initially create Accord.

Additionally, Yoko said that the details about the Kingdom of the Night were not vital to the story of Automata, so nothing was ever discussed about it, saying that “Discussing it has no purpose.”

Saito: As long as it has nothing to do with the narrative of the game, he doesn’t like discussing it.

Yoko: It has no purpose.

Saito: So, whenever this next NieR game comes out, I think we’ll probably end up over there.

Matsuda: Will you ever reveal any of this?

Yoko: Who knows…?

Matsuda: Whaat? You’ve gotta reveal this at some point!

Yoko: I’m not making games to reveal a clear setting, but rather drama and experience. I’m always thinking of the setting and how things fit together, but as far as each individual game goes, there’s a lot of information that isn’t necessary to tell the story.

Yoko: I always think that each story is its own thing and there’s no need to know anything more than what’s told within that singular story, even if other details do in fact exist. For example, Automata is just Automata, Replicant is just Replicant, and the same is true with YoRHa Ver.1.3aᵃ. I think they are complete as they are.

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The Original Accord

Saito: That’s not the end! C’mon, we were just talking about how Accord seems to be somewhat similar to Emil, how even though there are so many of them, they always have an Original. What about the Original Accord? Does she exist?

Yoko: She does.

Saito: Okay, so in Emil’s case, he replicated himself in order to fight the aliens, so what was the case with Accord?

Yoko: If I were to discuss that, I’d be in big trouble with the law, so…

Saito: Check out this awesome question I’m asking!! haha

Matsuda: So, Suga Kyosuke is amazing to play a character like this!

Yoko: Yeah, this is a huge secret, so I can’t talk about it.

Matsuda: But, he must know about it, otherwise he couldn’t play the role accurately.

Sekiya: Yup.

Matsuda: I’ve asked so many times about why Accord seems to come back to life all the time, but he’ll never tell me.

[ TOP ]

What exactly is Accord’s job?

Yoko: Her job is to observe Singularities. The end.

[ TOP ]

What is Accord’s connection to the Kingdom of Night?

Apparently, sometime before Replicant, there was a huge accident that caused the planet to become tidally locked, so that one face of the planet is enshrouded in eternal darkness. But as far as Replicant and Automata is concerned, those stories take place in the Kingdom of Day, where night never comes.

Matsuda: So, Accord’s in the Kingdom of Night?

Yoko: She’s actually in both, but she was created in the Kingdom of Night.

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How many Accords are there?

Yoko: The number of Accord androids is always expanding, so there is no definite number of android units.

Saito: But, since there were so many Emil copies, there was always an Original, so does this mean there’s an Original Accord out there somewhere?

Yoko: Ahhh, if I were to answer that, it would over complicate things, so…

Saito: Aw, c’mon, just answer it already! (haha)

Sekiya: Oooh, it must feel horrible not to knowー I’m glad I’m in the know! heehee

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Why are there so many Accord androids?

Also a super important aspect to the character of Accord is her ability to seemingly replicate herself endlessly. The only other characters that we know can do this in some shape or form is Emil during the initial invasion of the aliens in 5012 and N2. Yoko mentioned that there was a reason for this, but wouldn’t say why there are so many versions of Accord.

Saito: So, Accord was out there somewhere, watching what was going on in Replicant.

Yoko: Yes, she was always there, watching. She’s always there.

Yoko: For the longest time, we’ve said that Accord isn’t supposed to get involved, but with YoRHa Ver.1.3aa, she sort of over did it. That was Suga-kun’s curse.

Saito: Why are you blaming that on the actor?

Yoko: Yeah, watching Suga-san performing, it made you want to see more.

Matsuda: I suppose it’s okay, though, since this is a separate possibility.

Yoko: That’s right. It makes you wonder what could be possible in a separate timeline. So, further down this path, there are no more Red Girls/Boys. The story of NieR has always been about the thought of history repeating itself, so even without the Red Girls/Boys, the war with machines still manages to happen somehow.

Saito: So, throughout the whole Yokoverse, whether it be with Drakengard or NieR, do you have a particular goal in mind, like no matter how far apart the timeline might split into different directions that it still somehow reaches the same goal.

For example, in Doraemon, there’s a part of the story where they’re going to Osaka, so they think about all the different ways to get there, whether it be by car, or shinkansen, or whatever, but eventually they reach their goal in the end: Osaka.

So, regarding the whole Yokoverse, with Drakengard, NieR, and whatever else, you must have a specific goal in mind, right?

Yoko: If I were to answer accurately, no.

Saito: No?!

Yoko: It’s more about the search for that goal.

Akiyama: Like searching for Osaka.

Yoko: It’s similar to that. Or maybe more like “What happened to Osaka?”

Saito: So, no matter how hard you try to change things, sometimes you still end up in the same place.

Yoko: That’s right. That’s actually what Accord’s trying to figure out.

Taura (on LINE chat): Osaka is right here.

Yoko: I don’t know how many people are watching right now, but I never thought we would be having this conversation about Accord.

[ TOP ]

The Casting for Accord: Suga Kyosuke

Matsuda: During the auditions, I had absolutely no idea for the image of Accord, so I left all of that up to Yoko-sama.

Yoko: Yeah, Matsuta originally wasn’t interested in selecting Suga-san for the role.

Matsuda: (haha) Well, of course. I mean, he brought a guitar to the audition, and you’d think that if he brought a guitar, he’d sing but… all he did was a bunch of technical fingering.

Yoko: The thing with Suga-san was that he did fit a sort of image I had for the role, and even though he didn’t have much experience as a performer…

Saito: Yeah, Ver.1.3a was actually his first performance, right?

Matsuda: Yes, that was his first performance. So there was a lot of stuff he was unfamiliar with.

Yoko: The role of Accord is pretty important within the story, so there was a little worry about thatーbut it wasn’t like I thought everything would work out; I just thought that it was Ichida’s job to deal with whatever might happen.

Apparently, some of the only things in Suga’s portfolio were a bunch of photos of him playing golfー Yes, he absolutely loves golf! That and just playing golf. No singing. Just playing the guitar. It also seems as though Suga has become the producer of an idol group as well, so it’s really unclear exactly WHO HE IS! lol He’s doing so many unrelated things, it’s hard to know!

Yoko: But there was definitely an aspect of mystery about him that I felt that just maybe he could pull it off.

Matsuda: Then I think we were right in choosing him.

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What exactly is the “Fall Down”?

Yoko: Ah, so… “Fall Down” (大崩落・フォールダウン) refers to the event in which every single timeline disappearsーis annihilatedー so, she’s actually working to prevent that from happening. The end.

[ TOP ]

So, Accord continues to be a huge mystery in the Yokoverse, but I am exponentially beginning to think that the new NieR Reincarnation is going to focus more on Accord and her uncanny ability to replicate over and over again. We’ve seen in the YoRHa Ver.1.3a/aᵃ stage play that Accord absolutely can “die”, and that each and every iteration of her is unique, but the mere fact that they share the same memory bank of sorts links them all togetherー much like a Borg collective. I’m beginning to think we’ll get more story on Accord, the Original Accord, and the events happening in the Kingdom of the Night during the initial conflict with the aliens.

  • There’s also considerable discussion about Accord in SINoALICE, so if you’re not worried about spoilers, you can check that out here.
  • Also, reviewing the DOD3 collaboration with SINoALICE also might prove to be important. You can read about that here.

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SINoALICE x DOD3 Rerun Collab Starts June 25!

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The second run of the DOD3 collaboration in SINoALICE will start on June 25!

Although this is a rerun of the same collab as before, there are some new additions! We can expect the other Utautai sisters to be recruitable this time around! Two, Three, Four, and Five!

Additionally, if anyone is curious about the song in the official SINoALICE x DOD3 collab trailer, it’s Ine’s battle theme, which I translated the lyrics way back in the day here.

Famitsu Special Feature on Yoko Taro – Questionnaire

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Today was the release of the 8/2 edition (Issue No.1546) of Famitsu magazine featuring a 22-page special on Yoko Taro. There is a massive amount of information in here that will take sometime to get to everything, but here’s a first look at the 2-page questionnaire segment.

What’s your favorite color?
Gray.

What’s your hobby?
Work is my hobby.

Which do you prefer, dubs or subs?
I like them both.

What alcoholic beverages do you like?
I like white wine, beer, and highball.

What food do you like/dislike?
Food I like→ Tenka Ippin, Yoshinoya
Food I dislike→ Bento boxes that have curry flavor pasta salad.

Have any fetishes?
I realized this somewhat recently, but I seem to like female characters that have their eyes closed slightly……

What sports do you like?
I like the 100 meter dash from the first “Track and Field”. I remember the skill that would vibrate a metal ruler when you used it being rather popular.

Had any part-time jobs?
I’ve been a cashier at a supermarket, worked for a moving company, dishwasher at a restaurant, and took photos at various events. It’s refreshing that I wasn’t very good at any of it.

Where did you go on your first date?
Where did I go…… Uh, this question isn’t necessary, is it?

Do you collect anything?
I collect the names of people who have crossed me, and I write them in a notebook. Once I’ve exacted my revenge on them, I cross out their names in black. I look forward to flipping through the pages everyday while having a nice drink.

What is the most fun thing you’ve done recently?
Playing with my nieces. But you know, your uncle~ is an avenger~.

What game are you currently interested in?
UBUSUNA (a shooter by the creator of Ikaruga, Iuchi Hiroshi). ……but not much information has been released about it recently, so I’m a little worried.

What country would you most like to visit?
Alefgard (the country in which Dragon Quest 1-3 take place).

Did you have any nicknames when you were a student?
I didn’t have any particular nickname……maybe because I didn’t have any friends. What a sorry kid I was.

Are you right or left-handed?
I’m right-handed.

What’s your favorite video game genre?
Side-scrolling shooters. I’d really like to make one someday……

What video game genre do you dislike or are bad at?
FPS. The older I get, the more 3D graphics give me motion sickness.

What’s your motto of mottos?
“Everything’s a lie.”

What movie, manga, or whatever else has left an impression on you recently?
The movie “The Greatest Showman“.

Out of all the titles you’ve worked on, which one has left the most impression on you?
I’m really forgetful, so the project I’m currently working on is on my mind the most, but since it’s still in development, I can’t really discuss it here. Sorry.

What would you want to do if you were an android?
I would want to do that pen trick from “Alien 2” but do it super fast.

If you didn’t become a game creator, what other profession would you have chosen?
I would like to do some sort of work that I could enjoy a lot of money through unearned income.

What game would you like to make? (ignoring budget)
Ignoring the budget, I wouldn’t make anything and would simply run away.

What’s your favorite video game character?
I’m getting really tired of answering all these questions…… Um, what were you asking? My favorite character? Hm, let’s see… Can I answer this by saying something like, “There are many characters that I like, so there’s really no way I can answer this~”?

Are you S or M?
If I say S, people would say, “He’s totally an M”, and I wouldn’t be able to wield the flag of either side at any sex appeal events thereafter.

What’s something from your dark history?
One must not speak of their true dark history.

Is there any game creator that you aim to be like or who’s maybe your rival? (this isn’t limited to only game creators)
I respect many creators, but since I don’t think I can ever reach their height, it’s a bit different than having a specific goal. If anything, in order to prevent young people from gaining skills and thus becoming a threat, I try to nip them in the bud as quickly as I can.

What do you think is the most important thing necessary to create video games?
Not deciding on anything.

If any of your products were made into a Hollywood film, who would you want to portray the characters?
Nier→Christopher Lambert in his heyday.
Kaine→Christopher Lambert in his heyday.
Zero→Christopher Lambert in his heyday.
2B→Christopher Lambert in his heyday.
9S→Christopher Lambert in his heyday.
A2→Christopher Lambert in his heyday.
Alice→Christopher Lambert in his heyday.

Do you have any special object that you MUST have in order to do your work?
I like English keyboards. Even the SGI (CG workstation) keyboard I used when I first started out had an English layout, so I’ve gotten used to it. But as I think about it now, maybe my life started taking a wrong turn at that point.

What are you good at cooking?
I heard you’d be popular among women if you say you’re good at cooking Acqua pazza, but is this true? Uh, no… It’s not like I’m good at cooking Acqua pazza or anything…

Looking back at your life, can you identify any points that caused a shift in your life?
I think I drank too much last night…… I’ll be sure to drink lots of water.

What was the biggest shock of your life?
I went to the bathroom….. There’s now a bleeding man who falls to the floor. I take a closer look around… Where am I……? A love hotel? Why am I in a place like this?

What is your idea of a professional?
Now’s not the time to think about that……

Do you have anything to say to Famitsu?
Oh, right. Famitsu…… Yeah, I remember everything now. Famitsu asked me for an interview. The last time I was drinking with Sugihara-san, the editor, and actually got really drunk as we were doing the interview. Then Sugihara asked me some rather sexually harassing questions and he started saying that he’d leak my true identity…that I’m actually……a girl. Then he took me to a hotel room. I picked up a glass object from inside the room and hit him on the head over and over again, eventually killing him. I couldn’t stay there for long; I had to get out of there. Just when I started to get somewhere with this career in the gaming industry; it would all be for nothing…… But, what career is this? What really deserves to be protected? Doesn’t this sound like it’s becoming the plot for a cheap suspense game? Yeah, I will make a game out of this someday. If you play it, you’ll surely understand. Everything written here is the plot of a game, fiction, I haven’t done anything wrong…… But if you don’t see it my way…… I’ll have to kill you. Now, as you’re reading this very sentence, you’ve just……

Credits:

  • Famitsu Magazine Issue No.1546
    • 7/19 (release date)
    • 8/2 (publication date)
  • Translation by Fire Sanctuary

SINoALICE x DOD3: Harmonic Interference Chapter Introduction

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There are quite a few interesting things that are included in the chapter introduction for the new SINoALICE x DOD3 chapter “Harmonic Interference*“.

* I have an alternate translation for this below…!

First off we have a couple lines by Zero:

  • “Mikhail, I will save you at all costs!”

There are a couple keywords that we can see in this shot:

  • The Wall of Jericho (エリコの壁) – This is the wall that was built around Shinjuku after the 6.12 incident to keep the White Chlorination Syndrome from spreading.
  • Will of God (神の意志) – If you take the largest kanji bit that covers the majority of the screen here and add these together, it looks like 神 aka “god”. The circle next to it is likely part of the hiragana の needed to complete this keyword phrase: 神の意志 or the “Will of God”.
  • Maso (魔素) – This is the so-called “demonic element” that comes from the Red Dragon’s remains after it is cursed by the Mother Angel aka the Queen Beast.
  • The Origin (始祖) – These jumbled kanji bits had me stumped for awhile, but thanks to a comment on Twitter, I was able to fix this part. This term can be translated as the “founder” or “origin”…It is likely referencing god as the creator of all or it could be talking about Maso and how it’s involved in the very existence of the Utautai.

There’s also a direct connection to NieR:Automata hidden here. See the text wrapped around in a circle?

You can see that it says ポッド042ポッド153デポルポボル (Pod042 Pod153 Devola Popola) listed there. The text wraps in a circle, so it’s unclear what order it’s meant to be. A couple frames after the above images, the text in this circle starts glitching out, replacing legible words with meaningless garbage.

  • Distortion in time… the great Apocalypse

  • The starting point, the Utautai

  • The Will of God

  • Special Weapons Organization (特殊兵器群) – Not sure what this is referring to, either. I don’t believe this term has been used in any of the previous titles of NieR or Drakengard… But, I get really weird vibes from this…such as something from KimiShini perhaps?? The experimental students at the Special Abilities School could be considered a sort of “special weapon” in development.
  • Mikhail
  • Dragon – This could be a stand-alone reference to the race of “noble dragons” that were forcefully transported into the Drakengard world in 856… Or it could be coupled with the aforementioned Special Weapons Organization since a new weapon was designed to support the conflict in the Kingdom of Night in 6230.
  • [A]ccord
  • Gishi[n]
  • [Ki] – The letters in brackets line up vertically to spell “Anki”.

  • Falldown – This is probably a figurative reference to nuclear meltdown in terms of the multiple timelines. Or maybe it’s meant to be reversed as in the word “downfall” aka the inevitable failure of something…something like time and all of its various branches.

Here we see a bunch of items from the overall timeline:

  • EID_M0010 – Branch A, Chapter Zero, Verse 1 (March 4, 999)
    Zero and Michael storm the Cathedral City.
  • EID_M231
  • EID_M321
  • EID_M332
  • EID_M431
  • EID_M1510 – Zero, Mikhail, and Octa…
  • EID_M2310 – Branch D, Verse 1 (March 19, 1000)
    Zero and the gang search the Kingdom of Mountains
  • EID_M3210 Branch B, Verse 1 (April 1, 1000) 
    Zero and the gang search the Kingdom of Forests
  • EID_M3320 Branch D, Verse 4 (April 4, 1000)
    Zero kills Five.
  • EID_M4310 Branch D, Verse 5 (April 14, 1000)
    Zero and the gang arrive in the Kingdom of Sands
  • EID_M5320 Branch D, Last Verse (April 22, 1000) 
    Mikhail and Zero battle against the “Flower” and destroy it

More specific dates:

  • 20
  • 99
  • 200
  • 997 – Usubeni (Zero) dies.
  • 998 – Suddenly, contact from each ruling lord is lost.
  • 998 – One creates Brother One
  • 1000 – The Utautai are destroyed.
  • 2003 – A strange being appears above Shinjuku.
  • 2004
  • 2008
  • 2010 – The “origin”…
    The word they use here is “始祖” which appears to be used for the Red Dragon after it had been affected by the curse of the Queen Beast… causing Maso to appear.
  • 2016 – The drug “Luciferase” was completed to delay the progression of the “White Chlorination Syndrome”.
  • 2026 – Experimental Weapon No7 (Emil) is developed.
  • 2033 – Relapsed Gestalts (Shades) are…
  • 2034 – “Project Gestalt”

The next shot of the timeline shows a lot of glitching as much of the lines are nothing but gibberish:

  • The Great Apocalypse
    About 15 years have passed since that battle.
    A mysterious disaster occurred on the Iberian Peninsula in the year 856.

  • It is our origin, the harmonizer of the world.

  • Harmonic Interference or… Accord’s Interference

It might be important to mention here that, according to the DOD3 Complete Guide, the name for Accord is taken from French which translates to “harmony”. More specifically, the Japanese that is given is 調和 or 和音. Notice, that 調和 (chouwa) appears in this chapter title. Therefore, it may be better to translate it as Accord… maybe Accord’s Interference.

Lastly, it’s interesting how blood is used in this trailer. First, we see a small drop falling in the darkness from which the first couple of keywords appear. The camera zooms out while spinning a couple times before we’re engulfed in a pool of blood as the keyword “Falldown” appears on the screen. Bright, yellowish petals begin to race to the top of the screen that makes it feel like we are falling. Then, from the top of the screen again, comes a splatter of blood that reaches throughout the timeline. The red blood stains slowly turn black the further we fall until the text of the timeline begin to glitch. Then finally the blood splatter hits the center of the screen where the chapter title “Harmonic Interference” appears.

We know the blood of the Utautai is far reaching and likely has ties to the “Flower” entity that wants to destroy the world. Perhaps this chapter will explore yet another unknown branch in this tangled mess of timelines.