YoRHa Boys Ver.1.0 Stage Play Preview by Famitsu and More!

Although they haven’t said much in terms of the content of the story, we now have the first look at the YoRHa Boys stage play in action! (Beware of potential spoilers!!)

▲ No3 without his goggles on….!

▲ No21 helping No9 to stand in front of the Instructor.

▲ No9

▲ Looks like No3 is not feeling well with No6 looking concerned… The words on the backdrop includes words such as “loss”, “death”, and “where?”

▲ This looks like No9 walking toward the title screen.

▲ Back Row (Left to Right): Instructor, No6, No2, No9, No21, No22, No3, No4
▼ Front Row (Left to Right): Ensemble, Lotus, Cactus, Phlox, Ensemble

▲ No21 holding what appears to be No22 while No9 administers an antidote perhaps…?

▲ Left: No3, Right: No4
It also looks like there is a dead Resistance member and another YoRHa unit in the background… Maybe they’re sleeping…

▲ Looks like No4 is causing havoc…

▲ Left: No3, Right: No4

▲ Is No6 stabbing the Instructor’s hand to the ground…??

▲ No6 fighting the Instructor.

▲ The Instructor talking to No4 (left) and No3 (right).

▲ No3

▲ No9
Again, the screen is littered with words such as “loss”, “death”, and “the last”.

▲ No3 fighting No2…

▲ (Left to Right) No22, No9, and No21.

▲ No9 on the ground with No2 approaching…without his goggles…

▲ No9 (left) and No2 (right)

▲ No6

▲ No9

▲ No21 and No9

▲ No9 raising a gun with No21 behind him. No22 is out cold in the background.

▲ Secret guest appearance by Akiyama Kaoru, the voice of Pod153…however, she plays an entirely different character in this play… Hmmm…! She appears to be doing a “secret pose” as well…

Ishikawa Yui, the voice of 2B, and Isobe Keiko, the voice of Operator6O, will both make cameo “appearances” in the form of announcements at the shows. This will likely be similar to the announcements before and after as well as during intermission at the NieR:Automata music concert last year.

◼️ Reporting from IGN

IGN seems to have reported more, so I will translate a little bit from their article.

They report that the play opens with the voice of Operator6O saying, “This is Operator6O. 2B, can you hear me?” Then before the show kicks off, she says, “Please sit back and enjoy!”

Just like with the original YoRHa stage play, the opening sequence gives each character their own moment of introduction. It sounds as though No3 and No4 are well liked whereas the Resistance members are often used for comedy relief.

At the beginning of the play, there’s a scene between No21 and No22 that’s reminiscent of the moment when 2B glances up at the birds flying in the. They are tired from battle and they discuss happy moments… even if they’re merely continuing to struggle in a world full of the meaningless.

“I mean, c’mon, don’t you want to know? What sort of world this is that we’re fighting so hard to reclaim?” They don’t know why they were created or why they’re part of this fight.

◼️ The Theme of Twins

There are ethnic groups who live in the tributary of the Nile in southern Sudan called the Nueru Tribe. They have a practice of naming twins after birds whenever they are born. At one point, anthropologists studied the origin of this practice. Representing structuralism, Levi-Strauss said that twins are associated with the prolificacy of birds, an association that then extends to the sky which is associated with the realm of the gods. In other words, it’s said that twins are the “children of God” living among us. Twins are viewed as mediators between God and humanity. No21 and No22 were created as twin models. Perhaps we could say that the characters in “YoRHa” represent the so-called “children of God” that connect God (or rather humanity who was said to flee to the Moon in NieR:Automata) and the audience (the player).

◼️ Outstanding Battle Scenes

With No3’s strong handling of his greatsword, No4’s sharp gun-handling, and No6’s fascinating swordplay, IGN states that the battle scenes in the stage play are a must-see! It could be said that the girls in the previous rendition of the original YoRHa stage plays were possessed by their weapons, whereas the YoRHa Boys stage play is more “full of life”.

◼️ Seamless Transitions between Acts

IGN states that there is some master direction going on in this stage play that so effectively draws you into the narrative and seamlessly ties the first Act with the second. By the end of Act 1, both the YoRHa and Resistance androids find themselves defeated at the hand of the machines. At the beginning of Act 2, we see the words “Two months earlier” displayed on the backdrop on stage, and we realize that everything we’ve seen in the first act has yet to occur. Act 2 shows us more of the training that the androids had undergone to prepare themselves for the upcoming battle. …all the while, we still see the bodies of the androids still and lifeless in the background, just as we had seen in Act 1.

However in Act 2, the fallen no longer have the same meaning as they once had in Act 1. It could serve as a sing of how severe their battle training had originally been that caused them to lose or sacrifice themselves. This serves as a backdrop to suggest that the initial training process was also extremely intense.

◼️ The Savage Mind

The main character No9 tends to remain very passive throughout the play. The audience will be able to enjoy experiencing a “world of destruction” through the perspective of No9.

A great number of characters appear within a short amount of time, but each of them have their own aspirations and conflicts. They are generally able to suppress their emotions through the strict YoRHa discipline, but eventually they show no hesitation at achieving their individual desires. Some will find the reason to turn against their own, or to destroy those responsible for their suffering. Perhaps you could say this is a word of chaos, but it is the strength of discipline that keeps us from chaos. When discipline is lost, the sense of value will change drastically. In fact, our world is no different from theirs in this regard.

The Logic Virus is a program that chips away at their discipline and cognitive ability, essentially leaving them with a “Savage Mind”.

This is by no means barbarous or premature; it is based on extremely logical thinking as a way for them to uncover the truth of this world. Initially, they wanted to live for the sake of feeling alive. However, by discovering what they individually viewed as suitible for life, they chose the most logical path forward by their own volition. Perhaps in this way they were able to reclaim their own sense of ego? That is the reasoning behind their ultimate decisions.

In the main narrative of NieR:Automata, perhaps No9 is able to reach the truth, but before that, what sort of encounters and farewells had he experienced before passing the baton to the main part of the story? That is something that you should experience with your own eyes.

▲ No22, No2, No21

▲ No2