Yoko Taro, the game creator best known for the NieR series and Drakengard, recently opened up about his current attitude toward work. “Whenever I look at my savings, I think, ‘That’s it. I don’t want to work anymore.’” Yet he is still on the job—and his reason is a fear of developing dementia.
During The Tenth Mosaic event held in September, Yoko Taro sat down for a conversation with Keisuke Okabe, who worked on titles including ENDER LILIES. Asked what he wanted to do next and what projects he was currently pursuing, Yoko immediately replied, “Absolutely nothing.”
He traced that feeling back to Drakengard, the first game he directed. While it may not have been 100% of what he envisioned, he poured everything he had into making it his way—and fulfilled his dream as a lifelong gaming fan: “bringing something I had always wanted to create into the world.”
From that point on, he began viewing the rest of his life as bonus time. He even described himself today as “a creature living on inertia, still working only because losing my income would be a problem.”
Recently, however, looking at his savings appears to have shifted his perspective again. He said he has increasingly found himself thinking, “If I combine this money with my pension, don’t I already have enough to stop working?” He admitted, “So mentally, I’m already done. I’m done with work. I really don’t want to do it anymore.”
Even so, he has not quit. His reason comes down to anxiety about retirement. Yoko said the two things he fears most about growing old are “cancer and dementia.” He had heard that not working could potentially increase the risk of dementia, so for now, “I’m reluctantly continuing to work because I’m afraid of developing dementia.”
Whenever something unpleasant happens at work, he tells himself, “This is good for preventing dementia.” That thought helps him push through. In other words, for the 56-year-old Yoko Taro, the biggest motivation to keep working no longer seems to be a burning desire to create something new. Instead, work itself has become a way to keep his mind active and potentially ward off dementia.
He is also currently handling series composition and scriptwriting for a brand-new Evangelion anime. Just what kind of project he will deliver remains to be seen, but plenty of fans will undoubtedly be watching closely.
via： automaton media