This post is a Work In Progress.
Updated: 18.02.15 20:50

I had the rare opportunity to participate as PRESS for the YoRHa Musical dress rehearsal yesterday. Although I was busy concentrating on taking photos, I was still able to follow along with the musical and have a couple bits of news regarding how the musical is different from the previous plays.

Below will be a bunch of spoilers on this topic and also the details on the story. If you haven’t followed my previous articles on the YoRHa stage play, I suggest you check out this page and the links at the bottom first.

First off, here’s a non-spoiler that was revealed by stage director Matsuda Ichidai on twitter:

劇中であるキャストが歌うシーンがあるのですが、それはなんとヨコオさんの書き下ろしのオリジナル歌詞。
通し稽古を観て、書いてくれたものもあります。
シーンの心情にあってとても好きです。

#音楽劇ヨルハ

— Ichidai Matsuda／松多壱岱 (@ichidai1970) February 13, 2018

▲ He says that Yoko Taro wrote the Japanese lyrics to the songs that were originally only in Emi’s “chaos language”. This includes No2’s solo to the song “Voice of No Return” and No21’s solo to “Grandma”.

[spoiler title=”GeneralSpoilers”]

• At the after talk segment after the evening show today, Yoko mentioned that Accord is somewhere in the Kingdom of Night, aka North or South America…!
• Saito said they’re also planning something for the 1st Anniversary of Automata, but couldn’t say anything about it.

• The big difference between this new version of the play compared to the others is that there’s a huge chunk taken out of the narrative in lieu of new characters and scenes.
• All scenes involving Seed, Shion (I previously changed her name to Daisy), Kalmia, and Clematis have been removed.
• The new character Daisy is mostly there for comedic affect because of her size… I didn’t find this amusing. I didn’t feel much of an emotional connection to her, but that may change. There is a scene in which she discovers the lifeless bodies of No16, Lily, and a couple others and she cries over their bodies pretty well. That was good. Later we find out that she gets infected by the Logic Virus and is used by Term Alpha and Term Beta to fight No2 and No4 later in the server room.
• Without Seed, not only do we *not* get to see her past training and how unsuited she seemed to be as a fighter, I don’t feel like we get the chance to see her “innocent” side nearly as much. She is a sweet girl who is not confident in her own abilities. It’s out of the dire situation that forces her to become strong and protect her friends.
• Ver.1.1 added new scenes between Kalmia and Clematis that were absolutely beautiful. I loved it so much; I’m very upset that even the characters as a whole were removed. It’s really a shame.
• It also seemed like some of the already existing characters were sort of “melded” into the characters that were deleted. I forget who it was now, but there was definitely a character that acted a lot like Kalmia… very confusing. lol
• Granted, I was multitasking to the n-th degree, so maybe my feelings will change, but I really thought Ishikawa Yui’s performance was somewhat flat, like she picked one emotion and stayed that way throughout. That’s not how the character is supposed to be. There are clear ups and downs, a wide range of emotions. I didn’t really feel that.
• The musical performances were *amazing* as to be expected. Emi & Marina’s vocals were gorgeous and I had difficulty keeping my composure at certain moments. Hearing Goto Takanori rock out those classic DOD3 boss battle themes live was so much fun!! No2 and No4 also sang a couple songs solo, too. I don’t recall which song it was now, but Ishikawa Yui sang Japanese lyrics to a song that was only originally in Emi’s chaos language…so that will be interesting to get those lyrics written down.
• A lot of stage effects helped to illustrate previously hard to imagine scenes, for example, the first scene when the YoRHa squad are descending in their aerial units. There’s a really nice backdrop screen that projected the ocean quickly moving past as though the characters were actually flying. Certainly, the technology available in the musical outmatches the others by far. That’s what having a decent budget will get you. xD
• No4’s sacrifice at the end was illustrated much clearer this time. Before we just see her on the same level as No2 when she self-destructs, but this time she overloads her black box *and* jumps from the platform where they stood to explode the server further down, I guess. I imagine this server room is similar to the Soul Box, Meat Box, etc., only it’s underground. That would make me imagine that this particular server is inverted as opposed to the tower type of the “Boxes” we see in NieR:Automata.
• There is a new scene at the end showing how emotional the Commander is regarding the “failure” of this mission. I always knew that she took upon herself a lot of guilt for what No2 went through and yet she had to keep on chugging along because that is her duty. She has no power to go against it. In this scene she’s actually talking with “The Council of Humanity”, the same male voice that we hear in the game (or at least, it sounded a lot like him; I’ll have to check if his name is in the credits). She argues with them but is essentially told to suck it up and just do her job. When the call finishes, she is nearly beside herself with anger, regret, and a whole lot of other negative emotions, I’m sure. She angrily throws her staff / stick thing to the ground. This was really great, but I still miss the delivery of her final line better from Aida Runa.

[/spoiler]

[spoiler title=”201802101800″]

201802101800 – EVENING SHOW – AFTER TALK

• Guests: Saito Yosuke, Ishikawa Rinka (Futaba) & Kaneda Ibuki (Yotsuba)
• Saito said that he got Yoko’s okay to reveal that Futaba and Yotsuba were dismissed from the Bunker and are somewhere on the surface of the planet.
  • Sometime after the Pearl Harbor Descent Mission, the Commander felt extreme guilt over the two of them having to undergo screening checks (which basically erase their memory in order for them to do their job without question), so she dismisses them to the planet.
  • Although we don’t know where they were sent, maybe this move will be putting them in danger, but… we’re led to believe that this choice is the most humane compared to their existence on the Bunker.
  • There was no specific mention of the “Kingdom of Night” here, so that’s speculation… but it *might* turn out to be accurate at some point, especially after Yoko dropped the info about Accord being in the Kingdom of Night…

[/spoiler]

[spoiler title=”201802111300″]

201802111300 – AFTERNOON SHOW

• 2B’s line “So, this is the ocean? It’s pretty.” line is flat, no sense of wonder but rather sorrowful.
• The number of deployed units (Y.U.) is displayed on the backdrop on stage. The number continually drops from 16 to 4 as the units get hit.
• Goto-san’s guitar “screams” at that part of the song in Normandy.
• No21 has an SS unit on her left arm.
• No16 takes off her goggles and stuffs it in the front part of her dress.
• The four units fight big ball spider machines
• The Resistance comes in from the audience
• No16 & No2 argue and fight briefly
• Rose says that they’ve all been abandoned by the Moon à Emi’s vocal
• Dance of the extra Resistance members depicting their past struggles
• The Commander says under her breath “Don’t curse me, No2.” It’s unclear whether she’s thinking of the original No2 from the incident in 11937 or the current No2 unit, but probably more likely the current unit.
• No16 talks with Gerbera who seems extremely interested in her high-tech gun and asks to look at it. No16 says it’s okay, “Just look.”
• No16 & Dahlia argue and fight… and the improve part No16 suddenly kisses Dahlia, who is then defeated by the shock.
• Daisy has 2 core reactors.
• Great view of Kawaji Emi on the piano
• There’s a moment of Anemone taking out her handgun, clearly contemplating or remembering something.
• Rose explains that there used to be 160 members in their Resistance.
• Lily calls Daisy “Daisy-baachan” and Daisy laughs hysterically… until she gags. (audience laughs). Daisy says that this is the 765^th time that she’s told her to call her “Daisy-oneechan”… Lily runs over and hugs No21 and says, “I don’t wanna!”
• Prior to intermission is the “Guadalcanal” song/dance segment. No4, Marina, and Emi take turns singing.
• The Red Girls summon machines who then lift them up. The scene ends with them all laughing really, really creepily.
• INTERMISSION
• Red Girls’ eyes are really creepy!!
• Gerbera seems like a combination of Kalmia & Clematis.
• Opening dance with Emi singing
• False memories
• What is life? –reason for life
• Daisy’s false memories were of a “Food Fighter”
• No16 casually puts her arm around Gerbera and later shoves her away when she realizes how close they are
• Rose says that she can give the YoRHa girls names like the other Resistance members but No2 says that they can’t until after the mission is complete. No4 is really excited.
• Monologue w/ No16 and No21, reminiscing about their training
• In the usual spot where No2 has a flashback of Seed, she sings new Japanese lyrics to “Voice of No Return”.
• No16: Let’s kick her ass when we get back to the Bunker.
• Rose doesn’t try to go back for No16 et al. Very short comment from No2.
• No21 shakingàvirus
• New Japanese lyrics to the song “Grandma” sung by No21. The Red Girls come in asking why? why? why?
• Emi scowls powerfully as she sings
• Machine centipede
• Goliath attack
• Emil’s song – quietly plays during the overload, from the new tribute album?
• Shion = Margarete
• Daisy’s heart shatters when she survives the attack by the Goliath but the others don’t. The Red Girls come in and give her a “new reason to live”
• Monologue by No2 & No4 – sound of a ticking clock, “The time has come.” This scene remains the same from Ver.1.1
• Dance w/ machines & Emi singing
• Back on the bunker Futaba relays that both No16 and No21 are gone
• The Red Girls tell No2 and No4 that their mission was to gather data to create the next generation of androids, not necessarily to destroy the machine server.
• No4 says Kaine’s classic curse
• The Commander contacts the Council of Humanity – Voiced by Yasumoto (Pod042)

201802111300 – AFTER TALK

MC: Daisy, Rose
Guests: No21, Yoko, Term Alpha, Term Beta

• Yoko: It’s a horrible story.
• Yoko: I tend to dislike my own work, but when I see the actors take it and bring it to life, I often find myself crying at their great performances.
• No21 talks about Operator 21O
• Term Alpha & Term Beta mention that their tone of voice is slightly different – Term Alpha is more “innocent” and young sounding; Term Beta is more robotic and creepy.
• Daisy ate a lot of sushi.
• Term Alpha is just 17 years old and is tends to laugh very easily at things
• Term Beta is more serious and calm
• Yoko talks about how the YoRHa group solute “Glory to Mankind” with their left hand rather than the right hand, which is what humanity used to do. This is to show respect to humanity since the androids…are not human.
• No21 used a lily scented perfume and smells good… contrasting that is Daisy, whose pink jacket was intentionally stained with coffee… so she ends up smelling like coffee.
• Rose: ふわっと、男らしい
• They mention how noisy the Resistance girls are.

[/spoiler]

[spoiler title=”201802111800″]

201802111800 – EVENING SHOW

• No16 and Dahlia adlib scene: janken. Dahlia wins while No16 looks like she’s baffled at what just happened.
• Monologue w/ No16 and No21 – No16 mentions how much she hated No21 during training; they both mention how they can’t see the future, the way forward
• No2’s solo song to “Voice of No Return” takes place where the flashback scene with Seed used to be.
• Gerbera is affected by reverse hacking from the tablet
• Lights representing Lily’s Gravity Wave move from the stage to the audience to depict Lily directing the wave
• No21 puts on her hood during hacking scenes
• No21 sings a solo song to “Grandma” with Japanese lyrics
• Lily calls Daisy “onee-chan” in the end and they hug. The four link to No16 and gather their energy to defeat the Goliath
• No4: We live to die. This is our fate.
• No4: Hope
• No2: Kindness
• Council of Humanity: Our hands have already been soiled.
• White’s dance to the song “Faltering Prayer (Dawn Breeze); several machines in black dance around her, Futaba, and Yotsuba. Eventually White joins in with their dance, possibly signifying her slowly regaining her composure and accepting her duty.
• No2’s solo battle – she mentions that she learned “strength” from No16, “kindness” from Daisy.

201802111800 – EVENING SHOW AFTER TALK

MC: Commander, Daisy
Guests: Rose, Anemone, Dahlia, Matsuda

• They are the “noisy team”
• Dahlia told a short story about always getting wedgies
• Matsuda: That’s no different from a pervert!
• Matsuda: They’re always noisy, no matter what.
• Matsuda: What do you guys usually talk about?
  Dahlia: We talk about everything, even sticking out our butts.
• Anemone uses a perfume called “tea tree”
• Rose was mentioning something about Daisy but paused before saying her name and said “What’s her name?” as though she forgot her name.
• They talk about Daisy’s jacket being intentionally stained with coffee and how it smells like coffee.
• Anemone moves her cape to the side so we can see her costume more clearly. Underneath she’s wearing a sort of vest…that resembles a fishing vest with pockets.
• Dahlia tells of a story when the bullets she wears all fell off and she had to go running after them all.
• Anemone tells of her gag that she did in the audition – a soccer cheer.
• Dahlia: Wow! It’s a wonder you were chosen at all!
  Anemone: Yeah, and as Anemone, no less.

[/spoiler]