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.
Updated: Wednesday, September 4, 2024 – 4:30pm (JST)
Preparations for this year’s Tokyo Game Show is well underway! The three NieR dudes won’t stop their huge stock of NieR Orchestral Arrangement Special Edition boxs are signed!
This will be a light-hearted livestream as they are effectively locked inside the SQEX building and forced to sign their autographs over and over again! While they’re busy signing, they’ll be discussing some highlights of their work, some behind-the-scenes stories, and other fun talk. It will be interesting to see if they’re able to finish signing everything by the end of the livestream…
Just last night was another fun “Game Sakaba” segment with many folks from the NieR development team and more in which we were able to watch the guys play around with the new system from SEGA in which it lets you play actual UFO catcher games through a simple touch on your smartphone!
I will not be covering the main portion of this livestream regarding the UFO catchers, but you can watch the full broadcast from the link below:
Music: Song of the Ancients / Atonement (Ver.1.1a)
Size: 500ml
▶︎ New “Smart Toy” brand anitech by HIBINO
Much along the same lines as the PSYCHO-PASS smart toy that was released in 2016 which connects to your smartphone and transforms, several NieR:Automata themed items are currently under development. Here’s a look at the PSYCHO-PASS toy:
Firstly, here’s the mock-up of 2B’s sword, Virtuous Contract:
And secondly, here’s the mock-up of Pod042:
Please note that there seems to be three pods shown in the image on the left, but these are the individual stages in which the smart toy will effectively morph into. They’re currently debating what size to make the smart toy, as if they go with a 1:1 ratio, it might be too large for most people (as there’s little storage space for most in Japan). They demonstrated generally how large a 1:1 ratio would look like in the image on the right.
▶︎ Happy Birthday, Yosupi!
Yosuke “Yosupi” Saito’s birthday was on August 25, so the gang gave him a little birthday celebration including a song/rap by Yoko, Namio, and Ui. The only thing was… the girls couldn’t quite hear the BGM track to be able to sing their lines very well and it was kinda a mess in a hilarious way. They later tried it again and it was a bit better, but it was a little painfully obvious that they didn’t perform a technical rehearsal before the livestream… lol
Music written by Keiichi Okabe (DJ Okabe)
Lyrics written by Yoko Taro
Performed by Mio Hanana (Diva Namio) & Ui Hinagata (Diva Ui)
▲ The lyrics were color coded for the performers.
Red: Yoko
Blue: DJ Namio
Pink: DJ Ui
Green: DJ Namio / DJ Ui
What was really funny about this is that Saito even ratted them out, saying that they needed to practice and rehearse more, which to anyone involved in productions like this, is an ABSOLUTE given. There’s no excuse for them not to hear the BGM and therefore mess up, but even the second time through, they still kinda messed up, so… yeah, they needed a couple more takes in rehearsal. haha
Here’s a look at Yosupi’s cake that they gave him. The first photo is pretty funny with Yoko’s head on the side. For the actual cake, you can see that they printed a photo of Yosupi in his 9S cosplay that he wore for the World Cosplay Summit in Nagoya earlier this month.
They even made a large poster of the same image of Yosupi as 9S (which he dubbed 54D) and unveiled it during the program. For some reason, the camera focused on his knees, maybe at Yoko’s request.
They also made some small acrylic stands of Yosupi and Yoko in their cosplays from WCS2024.
▶︎ NieR:Automata Ver.1.1a – Season 2
▶︎ The Limited Edition DVD/BD Boxset Bonuses:
Digital jacket with original artwork by character designer and chief animation director Jun Nakai
New short story by Jun Eshima, 笑顔ノ君ヘ “Egao no Kimi e” (To you who smiles)
Drama CD “fa[T]al error“
Collection of production materials, “Elements of NieR:Automata Ver.1.1a 002”
”Pod’s Records 002” Illustration Book
Replica Disc
Special Illustration Card(s)
Virtuous Contract
▶Over 130cm of an overwhelming presence with realistic texture ▶Reproduces battle scenes with vibration, light, and sound effects based upon movement ▶Secondary product: Pod042 remote control ▶Includes voice recordings of the main character, 2B ▶Comes with unique serial number engraved ▶Scheduled for release in Autumn 2025
Pod042
▶Automatic transformation mechanism ▶Reproduces laser beams with sound effects and light ▶Can be remote controlled with the Virtuous Contract or smartphone ▶A special voice recording plays when stroked ▶Includes an alarm and alert function with Pod042’s voice ▶Comes with unique serial number engraved ▶Comes with dedicated stand ▶Scheduled for release in 2027
▶︎ The Next BAKUKEN Stage Play in 2025!
They let slip that there’s another Bakuken stage play set for 2025, and we’ll hear more about the details later in December, maybe around Christmas along the same lines as the previous Saito Santa livestreams, which officially ended in 2022. This will mark the 4th official play, 3rd in terms of story, which should continue the story from the last one in which we saw the appearance of Kyosuke Suga as Michael. Although I’m very excited to see him back, if that’s the case, it will be hard to see him as a BAD GUY in need of saving by Yatsume…!! The implications for the whole Bakuken stories in terms of the overall Yokoverse is CRAZY!
Absolutely insane take: Could Yatsume actually be the basis for Accord…? We know she’s immortal and will always come back to life due to “reasons”… It would be interesting if this is how Yoko envisioned fusing everything together. This next play might be the last for Bakuken… before Yoko gets another idea for something brand new.
More news will follow when it’s been announced! Please stay tuned!
The Single CD for the NieR:Automata Ver.1.1a anime Season 2 ending theme, “Ashes and Prayers” (灰ト祈リ / hai to inori), will be released on Wednesday, September 4.
Pre-orders can be made from various venders here. There are several different versions that will be released as well, some with a companion blu-ray disc of the music video or without, plus there is also a limited edition version that comes with a bonus large CD jacket.
It will also be coupled with the songs “Normandy” and “Guadalcanal”, which Keiichi Okabe explains have been updated to include all GEMS COMPANY members rather than only Yukino Akaba & Mikoto Hase as in the 2019 version.
— 岡部 啓一 / Keiichi Okabe (@MONACA_okabe) July 27, 2024
These songs were originally composed by Keiichi Okabe for the YoRHa stage play in 2014, and Yukino Akaba & Mikoto Hase from GEMS COMPANY covered them for the YoRHa Ver.1.3a stage play in 2019 and YoRHa Ver.1.3aa in 2020. Reina Tanaka also covered the song “Guadalcanal” at the YoRHa Ver.1.2 Musical in 2018.
Game Watch (C)2012 SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved. (C)2010 SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved. Developed by cavia Inc.
Back in 2012, a quint event of only 200 Square Enix Members was held for free on March 20, 2012 for the release in commemoration of the Piano Collections NieR Gestalt & Replicant, which was released the following day. Yoko Taro, Saito Yosuke, Okabe Keiichi, Hoashi Keigo, and Tanioka Kumi, who participated on the piano arrangements on the CD, appeared along with Kadowaki Mai (voice of Emil) as the MC. Live piano segments were performed by both Hoashi Keigo and Tanioka Kumi.
If memory serves, this was the first time Yoko used his Black Mannequin avatar in a live event. He has otherwise used his typical Yoko icon in other media prior to this.
Tickets to this event were based on a lottery system to anyone who was a Square Enix Member. Entries were just shy of 2,000, but it gave SQEX a massive wake-up call that there were many more NieR fans out there than they had originally estimated.
Kadowaki Mai appearing as the MC was actually a surprise!
Okabe Keiichi had asked Tanioka Kumi to participate on this album and event, so this was her first time to get involved in the NieR franchise. She was also involved on Final Fantasy XI, Chrystal Chronicles, and many more. She became a fan of the music in NieR when she purchased the soundtrack, so she was quite delighted to be able to participate on the piano arrngements.
Yoko appeared on stage as his Black Mannequin persona. Since the black doll was placed up-right on stage, creating a surreal atmosphere that made the audience laugh periodically during the talk segments.
Game Watch (C)2012 SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved. (C)2010 SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved. Developed by cavia Inc.This is a photo that I took during the NieR:Automata presentation at Tokyo Game Show 2016.
Question Corner
(From IRUJIA) Q: Were there any songs that were decided quickly? A: Nothing was really decided on very quickly, but many went smoothly. Blu-bird was actually one that took multiple retakes along with additional requests from Yoko to make it have more impact.
(From *samaru) Q: (To Tanioka) Did you feel any pressure to participate on the Piano Collections? A: She felt quite a lot of pressure. She also mentioned she’s a fan of NieR music.
(From z*r_cradle) Q: (To Hoashi) What do you keep in mind when you compose? A: Okabe rejected many of his songs, so he was pretty desperate most of the time. But because of this, he believes he was able to come up with themes that were received really well.
(From mocrain) Q: (To Tanioka) Were there any themes that were difficult to arrange for the piano? Or were there any that seemed more beautiful as a piano theme? A: None of the themes were originally intended for a piano arrangement, so it was difficult to incorporate the same freshness without destroying the world view.
(From Famitsu.com ?) Q: Were there any piano arrangements that changed your impression of the original theme? A: For Tanioka, since this was her first time to compose NieR music, everything felt very fresh and new. She was also quite impressed with Hoashi, who tends to improvise with his own unique musical score or something.
(From Saito Yosuke) Q: Who the heck is Yoko Taro? A: Closing out the Question Corner was a funny question by Saito Yosuke in which Yoko once again introduced himself. He also told a story about how much trouble they had with the production of the game, especially when development began.
At the end, Saito Yosuke appeared on stage to give a comment. He said that he wanted to keep this particular event relatively small, but personally he wanted to aim for a “new NieR” in the future. Little did we know, this was likely the first few burning embers that eventually lead way to Automata.
At the end of the event, they had a autograph session with Hoashi Keigo, Tanioka Kumi, and Okabe Keiichi.
There was also a raffle drawing for attendees at the event. They gave away signed voice recording scripts from the game, a card set of Kaine and Emil from Lord of Vermillion 2. There was also a keyword giveaway on the official website for those who watched the event on uStream.
There was also a sales and exhibition corner where they conducted pre-sales of the new Piano Collections soundtrack and other NieR related merch. They had NieR Gestalt & Replicant posters, specially signed merch and panels especially for Ultimate SQEX Members on display. The displayed the posters with the scenic view of West Shinjuku and a bunch of skyscrapers as the backdrop, so the layout was pretty slick.
Event: Piano Collections NieR Gestalt & Replicant Release Commemorative Event “Distant, Small, Ephemeral Piano” Date: Tuesday, March 20, 2012 Venue:Shinjuku I-land Hall
Set List
Opening: MC Kadowaki Mai
M-1 Song of the Ancients (Performed by Hoashi Keigo)
Talk: Kadowaki Mai, Okabe Keiichi, Hoashi Keigo
M-2 Emil (Performed by Hoashi Keigo)
Talk: Kadowaki Mai, Okabe Keiichi, Hoashi Keigo, Tanioka Kumi
M-3 Hills of Radiant Winds
Talk: Secret Discussion on Music Production
M-4 Gods Bound by Rules (Performed by Tanioka Kumi)
Talk: Behind the Scenes Story on the Recording and Question Corner
M-5 Grandma (Performed by Tanioka Kumi)
Gift Raffle Drawing
M-6 Kaine (Performed by Hoashi Keigo)
M-7 Yonah, Shadowlord (Performed by Hoashi Keigo)
Here are a couple other photos that I took from home as I watched the livestream on uStream:
