The key visual for the next edition in the Bakuken stage play series has been officially released. It seems like we’re going back to the black/white color scheme from the first play.
And, I can’t help but imagine that the hairstyle for Michael / Akiyama Yoshifuru is reminiscent of Masayoshi Yura’s bandage/eye patch… I’m sure that’s not intended here; just, I can’t help but see things that aren’t necessarily there. haha
Since today is the first of October, this is often when various contracts come to an end, and this is unfortunately true for Keigo Hoashi, who had been working with MONACA for over 15 years. He will be going independent, so we may still hear his music somewhere in the future.
If you are a fan of the NIeR soundtracks, half of them is all thanks to Hoashi’s work. As far as the NieR:Automata original soundtrack goes, you can see how each of the tracks are attributed to each of the MONACA composers here.
Here are a couple of his memorable tracks on the NieR:Automata OST:
Description: Enjoy a delicious dinner with live entertainment, featuring light-hearted conversation and outstanding performances by Keiichi Okabe and his team! It’s sure to be a perfect way to wrap up 2024.
Appearances will include Yosuke Saito, Yoko Taro, Keiichi Okabe, and Takahisa Taura, with musical performances by Emi Evans and J’Nique Nicole and others!
There will be a matinee and evening performance, with the evening tickets slightly more expensive. Tickets include about an hour for a delicious meal, then an hour talk event, followed by an hour and a half musical performance.
The matinee begins at 1:00pm and ends at 4:30pm, while the evening performances is from 6:00pm to 9:30pm.
VIP tickets come with a special meet-and-greet photo op with the performers. They will also receive a special pass for the venue to wear around their necks as well as a signed mini-poster.
Everyone who attends will receive the following at their tables:
Some time ago, we learned that there would be a 4th installment of the Bakuken series of stage plays, but I honestly don’t remember where or how we learned about that. You might find something worthwhile in the Search…
But, suffice it to say, the livestream announcing a bunch of information on the next segment in the Bakuken series of stage plays aired last night. I will be disseminating the information as we’re given it, so please stay tuned!
About Suzuki Magoichi: He was the leader of the Saika Ikki, mercenary groups in feudal Japan. This historical reference is super interesting to me because I used to live in Nagakute, Aichi, which is where a huge battle was said to take place (Nagakute Kosenjo). I’ll be interested to see what Yoko comes up with this.
About Amakusa Shiro: (Amakusa Shirō, often romanized as Shirou), was a Japanese Christian of the Edo period and leader of the Shimabara Rebellion, an uprising of Japanese Roman Catholics against the Shogunate. His imina is Tokisada and he is also known as Masuda Shirō. [Wikipedia]
Since Michael traded his soul to save Yatsume, he has become a sort of wandering spirit known as Lucifer. We already know that Nobunaga tried to take Lucifer’s power and managed to subdue him in a way… so I imagine this sort of possession similar to Tyrann jumping from body to body in order to survive. Therefore, this announcement of Kyosuke Suga playing the role of Akiyama Yoshifuru seems quite plausible to me. We’ve already seen examples in which characters are introduced as their base personality (such as Tokugawa Ieyasu, who was actually possessed by both Nobunaga & Lucifer), so that may likely be the case with Akiyama as well.
Yoko has said that Bakuken 4 takes place during that Taisho Period (1912-1926), but since he hasn’t written a line of the script yet, this might change. He mentioned that it might be actually something in the future that resembles the Taisho Period. Hmm…
The introduction of Sakiho Motonishi is curious, as she’s the only new addition to the cast. She previously played the role of Mozu from another production from ILCA x Square Enix: Towatsugai.
Throughout the entire Bakuken series, many of the same actors reprise their previous roles, but they often take on a new flavor, so there’s really no need to worry about catching up with the previous installments. Everything is pretty fresh and new with each play.
Ono Zenki has the ability to switch between multiple personalities, except they’re not just mere personalities but likely REAL people… He might actually be possessed by multiple souls at once and he’s simply able to keep them all at his beck and call. We see this through his 3rd Personality, a female character that eventually sacrifices her “existence” (?) in order to help him. So, from this, we get more of a feeling that souls are able to float around here and there, and depending on the host, they’re able to either suppress or take command over those souls… or be drowned in their power. It feels a lot similar to Gestalt possession from NieR.
This honestly gives me the feeling that Yoko’s been after all along… that there’s a reason why important points in history went the way they did… and that there was some sort of outside influence that triggered them to go a certain way. This sort of thought is ABSOLUTELY within the realm of the overarching Yokoverse, but unless such a thing is revealed directly by him, we can only speculate!
NieR:Automata Ver.1.1a Anime Season 2 Ending Theme, “Hai to Inori”
Performed by: GEMS COMPANY
Lyrics by: Yoko Taro
Composed by Keiichi Okabe (MONACA)
YoRHa Stage Play Theme Song, “Normandy” and “Guadalcanal”
Lyrics by: YoRHa Headquarters
Composed by: Keiichi Okabe
The First Limited Edition includes a large shikishi-sized postercard of the GEMS COMPANY version key visual. Inside the CD insert, there is a really nice illustration of the partially destroyed moon with an interesting tower rising up to meet it.
