關於 flowers for death in family ，我們在網路上蒐集到這些相關的討論、資訊與評價

ใกล้บ้านมากๆ คือจลาจลก็แรง เผาคอนโดที่กำลังสร้าง ทุบกระจกร้านค้า ขโมยของ อยากรู้ว่าประท้วงแล้วทำไมต้องทำขนาดนี้...

คือตอนแรกก็เริ่มกันสงบๆ

แต่ต้นเรื่องก็น่าหดหู่มากจริงๆ ดูคลิปแล้วเศร้ามาก

สรุปข่าวร้อนสะเทือนอเมริกา
#ผมหายใจไม่ออก

—————
⚫️ ใครคือ "จอร์จ ฟลอยด์"
:
1- "จอร์จ ฟลอยด์" (George Floyd) เป็นหนุ่มแอฟริกัน-อเมริกัน อายุ 46 ปี เขาเป็นคุณพ่อลูกสอง เกิดและโตที่รัฐเท็กซัส เคยเรียนที่มหาวิทยาลัยเท็กซัส เอแอนด์ไอ โดยเขาเป็นนักกีฬาฟุตบอลและนักบาสเกตบอลมหาวิทยาลัยด้วย

2- ในปี 2007 ฟลอยด์ถูกจับในข้อหาปล้นทรัพย์ และในปี 2009 เขาถูกตัดสินจำคุก 5 ปี เมื่อพ้นโทษออกมาในปี 2014 ฟลอยด์ก็ย้ายจากเท็กซัสมาอยู่ที่เมืองมินนีแอโพลีส รัฐมินนิโซตา เพื่อหางานทำและเริ่มต้นชีวิตใหม่

3- ฟลอยด์ทำงานถึง 2 อย่างในเวลาเดียวกัน ทั้งขับรถบรรทุกและเป็นการ์ดของบาร์แห่งหนึ่ง ด้วยความสูง 200 ซม. ทำให้คนที่นี่เรียกเขาว่า "บิ๊กฟลอยด์" แต่เมื่อโควิด-19 ระบาด บาร์และธุรกิจหลายอย่างต้องหยุดชะงัก ฟลอยด์ก็พลอยตกงานไปด้วย

—————
⚫️ การตายของจอร์จ ฟลอยด์
:
4- คืนวันที่ 25 พ.ค. 2020 พนักงานร้านโชห่วยแห่งหนึ่งโทรแจ้งตำรวจ หลังสงสัยว่าฟลอยด์พยายามจะซื้อของในร้านด้วยแบงค์ 20 ดอลลาร์ปลอม

5- ตำรวจ 4 นายมาถึงที่เกิดเหตุและจับฟลอยด์ใส่กุญแจมือ แล้วผลักเขาให้นอนคว่ำหน้าลงกับพื้น ก่อนที่นายตำรวจร่างใหญ่คนหนึ่งจะใช้เข่ากดลงบนคอของเขาและทิ้งน้ำหนักตัวลงไป ใบหน้าซีกหนึ่งของฟลอยด์ถูกกดจนแนบลงไปบนพื้นถนน

6- ระหว่างนั้นฟลอยด์พยายามร้องบอกตำรวจด้วยความสุภาพว่า "คุณตำรวจครับ ผมหายใจไม่ออก ผมปวดท้อง ปวดคอ ปวดไปหมดทุกอย่าง ขอน้ำดื่มหน่อยครับ ได้โปรด ได้โปรด อย่าฆ่าผม"

7- ตำรวจคนนั้นสั่งให้ฟลอยด์ลุกขึ้นและเดินไปขึ้นรถตำรวจ ทั้งที่เขายังใช้เข่ากดลงบนคอของฟลอยด์อยู่

8- คนที่เดินผ่านไปมาเริ่มหยุดดูเหตุการณ์ และหลายคนถ่ายคลิปเอาไว้ พวกเขาพยายามบอกตำรวจว่าฟลอยด์กำลังจะตาย เลิกกดคอเขาไว้ได้แล้ว และเขาก็ไม่ได้มีท่าทีขัดขืนอะไรเลย

9- แต่ตำรวจก็ไม่ฟัง ยังคงใช้เข่ากดคอฟลอยด์อยู่อย่างนั้นนานถึง 8 นาที สุดท้ายฟลอยด์ตะโกนเรียกแม่ออกมา (แม่ของเขาเสียชีวิตเมื่อ 18 เดือนที่แล้ว) ว่า “แม่ครับ ผมหายใจไม่ออก” (Mama, I can’t breathe) ก่อนจะหมดสติไป ฟลอยด์ถูกนำตัวส่งโรงพยาบาล แต่พบว่าเขาเสียชีวิตตั้งแต่ก่อนถึงโรงพยาบาลแล้ว
.
** มีคลิปสั้น ๆ ในคอมเมนต์

—————
⚫️ สี่ตำรวจถูกไล่ออก
:
10- คลิปที่ตำรวจกดเข่าลงบนคอฟลอยด์จนเขาหมดสติกลายเป็นไวรัลอย่างรวดเร็ว ตำรวจพยายามอ้างว่าฟลอยด์ขัดขืนการจับกุม แต่ต่อมาก็มีอีกคลิปโผล่มาเป็นพยานให้ฟลอยด์ ว่าเขาไม่ได้มีท่าทีขัดขืนอะไรเลย ที่สำคัญตำรวจยังไม่รู้ด้วยซ้ำว่าฟลอยด์ทำผิดจริงหรือไม่

11- เหตุดังกล่าวทำให้คนจำนวนมาก ไม่ว่าจะเป็นคนดำหรือคนขาวไม่พอใจเป็นอย่างมาก โดยมองว่าตำรวจทำเกินกว่าเหตุ และปฏิบัติกับฟลอยด์ราวกับเขาไม่ใช่คน

12- ประเด็นการเหยียดสีผิวถูกหยิบยกขึ้นมาพูดถึงอย่างดุเดือด เพราะเป็นที่ตั้งข้อสังเกตกันมานานแล้วว่า ตำรวจปฏิบัติต่อผู้ต้องสงสัยที่เป็นคนดำรุนแรงกว่าคนขาวหรือไม่

13- วันที่ 27 พ.ค. ตำรวจทั้งสี่นายที่ทำการจับกุมฟลอยด์ถูกไล่ออกทั้งหมด ได้แก่

- เดเร็ค (Derek Chauvin) อายุ 44 ปี ซึ่งเป็นคนที่ใช้เข่ากดคอฟลอยด์

- เจ อเล็กซานเดอร์ (J. Alexander Kueng) อายุ 34 ปี

- เถา เต้า (Tou Thao) ตำรวจอเมริกันเชื้อสายเอเชีย (ม้ง)

- โธมัส เลน (Thomas Lane)

—————
⚫️ "ผมหายใจไม่ออก" ประโยคนี้มีประวัติ
:
14- ประโยค "ผมหายใจไม่ออก" (I can't breathe) ที่ฟลอยด์พร่ำพูดก่อนตาย ยังกลายเป็นคำที่ทำให้ชาวอเมริกันจำนวนมากรู้สึกเจ็บปวด เพราะย้อนไปในปี 2014 "เอริค การ์เนอร์" (Eric Garner) ซึ่งเป็นชายผิวดำถูกแจ้งจับข้อหาขายบุหรี่หนีภาษีที่นิวยอร์ก และตำรวจผิวขาวจับกุมเขาด้วยการล็อกคอไว้กับพื้น

15- การ์เนอร์พร่ำบอกตำรวจว่า "ผมหายใจไม่ออก" ถึง 11 ครั้ง แต่ตำรวจก็ไม่ยอมปล่อย จนการ์เนอร์ขาดอากาศหายใจและเสียชีวิต โดยตำรวจที่ก่อเหตุก็ไม่โดนลงโทษใด ๆ แถมยังได้เป็นตำรวจต่อด้วย

16- เมื่อเกิดเหตุฟลอยด์ซ้ำรอยขึ้นมาอีก คำนี้ก็จุดประกายความเจ็บปวดในวันนั้นขึ้นมาอีกครั้ง และผู้ประท้วงได้นำคำนี้มาใช้เพื่อเรียกร้องความเป็นธรรมให้กับฟลอยด์และคนดำทุกคน

—————
⚫️ การประท้วงบานปลาย
:
17- อย่างไรก็ตาม แค่การไล่ตำรวจทั้ง 4 นายออกยังไม่เพียงพอ คนต้องการเห็น 4 คนนี้ โดยเฉพาะนายเดเร็คถูกจับดำเนินคดีข้อหาฆาตกรรมด้วย ชาวเมืองมินนีแอโพลีสนับพัน ทั้งคนดำ-คนขาว พากันออกมาประท้วงจนคุมสถานการณ์ไม่อยู่

18- ผู้ประท้วงพากันไปที่บ้านของเดเร็ค จนตำรวจต้องรีบยกกำลังไปรักษาความปลอดภัย ในขณะที่ผู้ประท้วงอีกส่วนไปที่สถานีตำรวจ ขว้างปาก้อนหินใส่ พ่นสีเป็นข้อความประจาน และจุดไฟเผาอาคารร้างใกล้สถานี

19- นอกจากนี้ยังมีมิจฉาชีพฉวยโอกาสนี้ออกมาปล้นร้านค้า ร้านอาหาร ห้างสรรพสินค้า จนเกิดจลาจลไปทั้งเมือง ตำรวจต้องระงับเหตุด้วยการยิงแก๊สน้ำตาและกระสุนยาง ผู้ว่าการรัฐรีบประกาศไม่ให้ชาวเมืองออกจากบ้าน

20- ส่วนในโลกออนไลน์ก็เกิดแฮชแท็กต่าง ๆ เพื่อเรียกร้องความยุติธรรมให้ฟลอยด์ อาทิ #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd (ความยุติธรรมเพื่อจอร์จ ฟลอยด์), #icantbreathe (ผมหายใจไม่ออก) และ #BlackLivesMatter (ชีวิตคนดำก็มีค่า)

21- ล่าสุดประธานาธิบดีสหรัฐฯ "โดนัลด์ ทรัมป์" ได้ออกมาทวีตยืนยันว่า เขาได้สั่งการให้เอฟบีไอและกระทรวงยุติธรรมเข้าไปสืบสวนคดีนี้แล้ว และจอร์จ ฟลอยด์ จะต้องได้รับความยุติธรรม

22- ในขณะเดียวกันผู้คนจำนวนมากก็พากันไปยังที่เกิดเหตุ เพื่อวางดอกไม้ ภาพวาด และจุดเทียนไว้อาลัยให้กับฟลอยด์

23- เพื่อนสมัยเรียน เพื่อนร่วมทีมกีฬา และเพื่อนร่วมงานของฟลอยด์พูดตรงกันว่า ฟลอยด์เป็นคนสุภาพ เงียบขรึม แม้จะตัวสูงใหญ่แต่เป็นคนอ่อนโยนจนได้รับฉายาว่า “Gentle Giant” (ยักษ์ผู้อ่อนโยน)

—————
⚫️ ถูกตั้งข้อหา-เมียขอหย่า
:
24- ล่าสุดเมื่อวันที่ 29 พ.ค. เดเร็คถูกตั้งข้อหาฆาตกรรมโดยไม่เจตนา ส่วนอีก 3 คนที่ถูกไล่ออกพร้อมกันยังอยู่ระหว่างสอบสวน อย่างไรก็ตาม แม้จะมีการแจ้งข้อหาเดเร็คแล้ว แต่การประท้วงซึ่งบานปลายไปแล้วก็ยังไม่มีท่าว่าจะจบลงง่าย ๆ

25- วันเดียวกับที่เดเร็คถูกตั้งข้อหา ภรรยาของเขาซึ่งเป็นชาวอเมริกันเชื้อสายลาววัย 46 และเป็นอดีตนางงาม "มิสซิส มินนิโซตา 2018" ก็ขอหย่าจากเขา พร้อมแสดงความเสียใจแก่ครอบครัวของฟลอยด์ ซึ่งเดเร็คกับภรรยาคนปัจจุบันไม่มีลูกด้วยกัน
Summary of hot news rocks America
#ผมหายใจไม่ออก

—————
⚫️ who is ′′ George Floyd ′′
:
1-′′ George Floyd ′′ (George Floyd) is a 46 year old African-American man. He is a father of two born and grown up in Texas. He has studied at University of Texas A & A. He is a. Football players and university basketball players too

2-In 2007, Floyd was arrested for robbery and in 2009 he was sentenced to 5 years in prison. When the penalty came out in 2014, Floyd moved from Tate. Gas comes to Minneapolis, Minnesota to find a job and start a new life.

3-Floyd works 2 things at the same time, both truck and bar card at 200 cm height. Make people call him ′′ Big Floyd ′′ but when COVID-19 went viral bar and many businesses had to pause. Floyd also lost his job.

—————
⚫️ death of George Floyd
:
4-night of 25 ph. 2020 A sucker called the police after wondering if Floyd was trying to shop in the store with a fake $ 20 bank.

5-4 cops arrived at the scene and put Floyd in handcuffs and pushed him to lie down on the floor before one big cop took a knee to his neck and left his body weight. Floyd's face was pressed to attach to the road floor.

6-Meanwhile, Floyd tried to say to the police with gentleness, ′′ Police sir, I can't breathe. I have stomach ache, neck pain, and everything. Give me a drink. Please don't kill me

7-That cop ordered Floyd to get up and go to the police car while he was on Floyd's neck.

8-The person who walked by started to stop watching the incident and many people took the clip. They tried to tell the police that Floyd was dying. Stop pressing his neck and he didn't have any poses to resist.

9-But the police don't listen. Still on the knee press Floyd. For the last 8 minutes Floyd shouts to call mom out (his mom died 18 months ago) ′′ Mom, I'm mom. Can't breathe ′′ (Mama, I can't breathe) before unconscious Floyd was taken to hospital, but found that he had died before the hospital.
.
** Short clips in the comments

—————
⚫️ Four cops fired
:
10-Clip of how police pressed his knee on Floyd's collapse. Fast becoming viral. Police tried to claim Floyd resisted arrest, but then another clip showed up to witness. Give Floyd that he doesn't have any stance against anything. Most importantly, the police don't even know if Floyd is actually doing it wrong.

11-That incident offends a lot of people, black or white people, by considering the police overload and treating Floyd as if they weren't human.

12-Racist issues were picked up wildly. It was observed for a long time whether police treated the suspects who were black or white or not.

13-27th of November .. All four cops who made Floyd's arrest are all fired.

- Derek (Derek Chauvin), 44 years old, who is a knee-pressed Floyd.

- J Alexander (J. Alexander Kueng) 34 years old

- Tao (Tou Thao) American police, Asian (Hmong)

- Thomas Lane (Thomas Lane)

—————
⚫️ ′′ I can't breathe This sentence has history.
:
14-The sentence ′′ I can't breathe ′′ (I can't breathe) that Floyd spoke before death also becomes a word that makes many Americans feel pain because back in 2014 ′′ Eric Garner ′′ ( Eric Garner) black man charged with selling cigarettes in NYC and white police arrested him by lock on the ground.

15-GarnerRam told the police that ′′ I can't breathe ′′ 11 times. But the police didn't let it go until Garner suffers and died by the police who didn't get punished. And it's also the police.

16-When Floyd repeats, this word sparks that day's pain again. And protesters have brought this word to demand justice for Floyd and all blacks.

—————
⚫️ protest escalated
:
17-However, just the 4 police extinguishment is not enough. People want to see these 4, especially Mr. Derek, charged with murder of Minneapolis, thousands of blacks - White people come out to protest and control the situation.

18-Protesters take care of Derek's house. Police are in a hurry to go to security while another protester goes to the police station. Throwing stone to paint as a text message and setting fire to the abandoned buildings near the station.

19-There are also crooks taking this opportunity to rob stores, restaurants, malls until the whole city has rioted. Police have to suspend the incident by shooting tear gas and rubber bullets. Governor. Hurry up to announce the city's not leaving home.

20-In the online world, there are many hashtags to demand justice for Floyd Weekly #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd (Justice for George Floyd), #icantbreathe (I can't breathe) and #BlackLivesMatter (Blacks are precious. )

21-Recently, US President ′′ Donald Trump ′′ has tweeted that he has ordered FBI and Justice Department to investigate this case and George Floyd will get justice.

22-Meanwhile, a lot of people are visiting the scene to place flowers, paintings and light candles for Floyd.

23-Class friends, sports teammates and colleagues of Floyd. They say that Floyd is polite and quiet. Even though they are tall, they are gentle and nickname ′′ Gentle Giant ′′ (Giant Giant Giant ′′ (Gentle)

—————
⚫️ Charged - Wives ask for divorce.
:
24-Last on 29 Nov .. Derek was charged with unintentional murder. Another 3 people who were simultaneously fired are under investigation. However, despite Derek's charge, the protest escalated doesn't seem to end easily.

25-The same day Derek charged with his wife, a 46-year-old Laos American and a former Miss ′′ Mississin Minnesota 2018 also asked for divorce from him and sympathy. To Floyd's family, Derek and current wife, no kids together.Translated

"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…

【玳瑚師父客人見證】《「八」見玳瑚師父》
THE EIGHT TIMES I MET MASTER DAI HU
(English version below)

文 ／ 李秋蓮 Written by Miss Lee Chew Lian

我是在二零一七年二月十一日的茶會，第一次見到玳瑚師父。那天正好是元宵節，茶會叫《元宵節風生水起茶會》。記得第一次看到師父在臉書的照片，我對他的印象不是很好，因為他的樣貌，讓我想起曾經對我不好的一位老板。後來見到他之後，才知道是我先入為主。玳瑚師父跟那位老板比起來，簡直是一個天一個地！

第一次見到師父讓我感覺到他有一股正能量，心裡就有種高興見到他的感覺。那天，他也很耐心的回答我的很多疑問。因為是第一次見到他很多禮儀我都不懂，他也有耐心的教我們。我記得他當天對我們說的第一句話，就是禮貌的重要性。

見到師父一定要向他合掌，說聲「阿彌陀佛」，鞠躬說聲：「玳瑚師父好。」，請大家切記。因為他畢竟是個修行人，所以對他有基本禮貌很重要，這樣也對你好。

當天，師父分析了我們家庭成員今年的運程。他也傳授了我們應該吃的、喝的、穿的一些知識。一場茶會，真是令我收穫無窮，正如他說他不收費，我們只需要點飲料或著食物。剛好當時是新年期間，所以也包了紅包向師父拜年。他說使用一個地方，一定要消費，因為不消費，就如佔人家便宜。我覺得很有道理。佔人家便宜會折福啊！

當天師父也對我說，我遇見他過後的日子將像柑橘一樣甜。我寫這見證，是五月十日，也就是衛塞節。我認識他已經三個月了。果然我的生活比認識他之前快樂一些，還接到好幾份工作，月薪也比以前多。這要靠我自己的努力去找，也是因為他鼓勵我要有貢獻。

第二次見到師父是在二月二十八日。那場餐會叫《餐桌的奧秘》。我得到有關餐桌的知識後，就馬上回家處理我的餐桌。睡覺的時候，就突然覺得肚子松了一下，原本腫脹的肚子好了很多。我也聽師父的話，把毛巾移去別處，原本有很多粉刺的身體部位也有好轉。沒想到餐桌與毛巾有這麼大的奧秘。對了！師父不只是分享有關的題目，他也把很多善知識都授於我們。

第三次見到師父是在三月四日。那場餐會叫《電飯鍋和熱水壺的奧祕》。師父當天分享了我們應該怎麼用電飯鍋和熱水壺。我原本是想，這麼不起眼的東西也能幫助我們嗎？我一樣聽了師父的話，當天就下載指南針應用軟件，找對的方向用熱水壺。隔天就開始煮飯，電飯鍋放對的方向。兩天後就開始有好幾個家長找我教他們的孩子。整個三月，就開始收很多新學生，忙到連好幾場餐會想去都不能去！

我總共去了八場餐會，都是獲益無窮的。

第七次見到師父是在四月十一日。那場餐會叫《桃花舞春風餐會》。我收到了一束花。那天正好有一位女子送師父花，可是她因為某些原因不能把花帶回家，所以師父就把花轉讓給我。我隔天就去買水桶，把花放進水裡拿來沖涼。後來，在電話中，師父跟我提起，把加持的花拿來沖涼可以治皮膚病。我當天就發現，一直發癢的某個身體部位已經不癢了！是的，如果您送師父花，他會把功德迴向給您，然後加持您送的花之後，讓您帶回家沖涼。

第八次見到師父是在四月十九日。那場餐會叫《圓滿父母親節餐會》。當天我因為忘記帶手機，而找不到他們還跑回家。可是，師父後來還是很慈悲的讓我繼續參加餐會。當天也是我看到師父最有慈悲心的一面。他很細心的教導我們如何為父母慶祝父母親節，還讓我更了解我父母是怎樣的人。他也解說，最大的孝不是帶他們吃喝玩樂，而是準備他們死後要去的路。這雖然對很多人而言是很不吉利的，可是對我而言，因為曾經有想過應該如何面對死亡，所以很清楚我們每一個人都要面對死亡的。我也有在想怎樣為自己死亡的路做準備，怎樣面對父母離開的那一天，所以師父的話我很贊成。過後，我就一直鼓勵我母親閱讀師父的文章，因為我覺得他的文章可以幫助她與很多人。我父親沒有臉書，我就買了師父的書給他閱讀。

我自己也還會重讀師父的一些文章，因為每一次的領悟都不一樣。

師父雖然是嚴肅，可是都是為了教好我們。認識他三個月，我認為他慈悲多過嚴肅。

.....................

I first met Master Dai Hu during a tea session on 11 Feb 2017. It was on The Lantern Festival. The tea session was called Lantern Festival Prosperity Tea Session. When I first saw Master Dai Hu's photo from his Facebook, he gave me a bad impression. This was because his looks resembled my ex-boss, who used to treat me badly. After I met Master Dai Hu, I realise I had judged a person by his looks. Master Dai Hu is very different from the ex-boss!

I can sense great loving energy from Master, and a tinge of happiness when I first met him. That day he was very patient to answer a lot of my questions. Since that was the first time I met him, I did not know much etiquette, which he taught us patiently. I remembered the first thing he shared with us that day was the importance of good manners.

When you see Master, you must press your palms together, say "Amituofo" bow before him and greet him "Hello, Master Dai Hu". Please remember this. It is because he is a Buddhist practitioner, so we have to be well mannered to him. Doing so is good for you too.

That day, Master analysed the luck cycles for all the family members this year. He also taught us what to eat, drink and wear. It was a huge harvest from one tea session. True to his words, Master did not charge any fee. We just had to order food or drinks. As that day was still within the Chinese New Year period, I also gave a red packet to wish Master well. He said we have to spend, in order to use a space in the restaurant, because if we do not spend a single cent, it would be taking advantage of the restaurant. I felt what he said was right. Taking advantage of others will take away our merits!

On that day, Master also said that after meeting him, the rest of my days would be as sweet as the mandarin oranges. As I wrote this, on 10th May 2017 and also Vesak Day, I have known Master for 3 months. Indeed my life was happier than before I knew him, I even received a few jobs and my monthly pay had increased. All these were due to my hard work to go and find the jobs, and thanks to Master for encouraging me to contribute to the society.

The second time I met Master was on 28th February. The dinner was called The Feng Shui Power of Your Dining Table. After I received the knowledge of dining table, I immediately went home to clear my dining table. When I was sleeping, I felt my stomach loosen. My bloated stomach problem was improving. I also listened to Master to move my towel to another place, part of my body which once was full of blackheads improved. I never know that the dining table and the towel got such a great knowledge to them. And yes! Master will share a lot of knowledge, which is not limited to the topic on that day too.

The third time I met Master was on 4th March. That dinner session was called The Secret Powers of the Rice Cooker & Water Boiler. Master shared with us how to use the rice cooker and water boiler. At first, I thought what could these insignificant items help us with? I did the same thing, immediately when I reach home, I downloaded the compass app and found the correct direction to use my water boiler. The next day I started to cook and put the rice cooker in the right direction. After two days, a few parents sought for me to teach their kids. Within the whole March, I started to have a lot of new students. I was so busy that I could not attend some of the dinner sessions Master held!

I have gone to 8 dinner sessions in total and received a lot of useful knowledge, reaping immense benefits from those sessions.

The seventh time I met Master was on 11th April. That dinner session was called How to Strengthen Your Personal Magnetization. I received a bouquet of flowers. That day, a lady gave a flower bouquet to Master. However, due to some reasons she could not bring the flowers home, so Master asked me to bring it home. The very next day I bought a bucket and used it to take a bath with the flowers. Subsequently, during a phone conversation with Master, he said using the flowers to bath would help to treat skin problem. That day I realized that my body part which was always itchy was no longer itchy! Yes, if you give Master flowers, he will dedicate the merits to you, perform an incantation blessing it and ask you to bring it home for bathing.

The eighth time I met Master was on 19th April. That dinner session was called The Perfect Celebration Of Our Parents. That day I forgot to bring my hand phone and I could not find them, so I went home. However, Master was kind enough to allow me to continue to take part in the dinner session. That night I saw the most compassionate side of Master. He meticulously taught us how to celebrate Mother’s Day and Father’s Day and also help us to understand our parents characteristics. He shared that the biggest filial piety is not to take them out to eat, drink and play. It is actually to prepare the path for them to go on after death. Even though this is unacceptable by most people and considered inauspicious, yet deep in my heart, I have thought about how to face death and so I am very clear that we all have to face death one day. I even thought of what to do to prepare for my own death and how I can face the day when my parents pass on. Hence I totally agree with what Master had said.

After that, I have been encouraging my mum to read Master’s writings because I feel that his writings can help her and a lot people. My dad does not have Facebook so I bought Master’s book for him to read.

I also reread some of his articles, because every time I read it, I will have a different insight. Even though Master is very strict, all he does is for our own good. After knowing him for 3 months, I feel that he is compassionate more than strict.

www.masterdaihu.com/「八」見玳瑚師父/