The NieR Orchestral Arrangement Album – Addendum will be released on March 25. This album features all-new arrangements for a handful of carefully selected tracks from both NieR Gestalt/Replicant and NieR:Automata. The Addendum arrangements will likely be featured at the NieR:Theatrical Orchestra 12020 next month.
Track List
Ashes of Dreams (Emi Evans & J’Nique Nicole Vocals)
Emil (Addendum Version)
Deep Crimson Foe
Song of the Ancients (Emi Evans & J’Nique Nicole Vocals)
Kaine (Addendum Version)
City Ruins (Addendum Version)
A Beautiful Song (Emi Evans & J’Nique Nicole Vocals)
Copied City
Crumbling Lies
Weight of the World (Emi Evans & J’Nique Nicole Vocals)
NieR Orchestral Arrangement Album Addendum Special Disc(Pre-order Bonus)
Alien Manifestation (J’Nique Nicole Vocals)
Peaceful Sleep
Vague Hope (Emi Evans Vocals)
* The tracks that are listed as “Addendum Version” have already appeared on the NieR Orchestral Arrangement soundtrack, so these will be completely new arrangements specifically for the Addendum release.
** The NieR Orchestra Concert 12018 Blu-ray included two digital audio tracks: Kaine with vocals by Emi Evans and Weight of the World with vocals by J’Nique Nicole.
Square Enix has just released a short promotional video for the NieR:Theatrical Orchestra 12020, which will be held in Tokyo on March 28-29 and in Osaka on April 25, for a total of 5 separate performances.
NieR:Theatrical Orchestra 12020 Promotional Video Translation below:
In 2020, 10 years from the release of NieR Gestalt/Replicant, the “NieR:Theatrical Orchestra 12020” concert will be held in Tokyo and Osaka.
This performance will consist of fully orchestrated performances of songs carefully selected from NieR Gestalt/Replicant and NieR:Automata, including recitations by the voice cast as well songs performed by vocalists.
Please look forward to this amazing music festival worth of the 10th Anniversary!
Very few details are currently known about the concert besides this, but it will likely be similar to the NieR:Orchestra Concert 12018 with additional recitations from the voice actors from the game. It’s unclear whether this is referencing new recitation dramas like what was performed at the NieR:Automata Memory of Puppets Concert, although this is likely referencing the monologue inserts before various pieces by Emil and 2B. In this sense, the Theatrical Orchestra may not be all that different from the original concert from 2018, save for the new arrangements that will be released as part of the Addendum album.
Tonight’s live stream with the creators of NieR Gestalt/Replicant and NieR:Automata for the first bit of fanfare for the 10th Anniversary, we’ve received a bunch of new, juicy news:
NieR:Theatrical Orchestra 12020
TOKYO: Tokyo International Forum Hall A
Saturday, March 28 Evening – Open: 5:00pm / Start: 6:00pm
＊ Please be aware that the above scheduled performers are subject to change.
S Seats: 10,780 yen
A Seats: 8,580 yen
>> GET TICKETS HERE <<
YoRHa Ver.1.3aᵃ/A2
This is a fan-made photo-manipulation pic that I made myself, aka it’s not official.
The all-boys cast from YoRHa Ver.1.3a will be making a comeback in this second rendition of the stage play that so effortlessly won our hearts this year!
TOKYO: Shibuya Cultural Center Owada, Sakura Hall – 4th Floor March 12-15, 7 performances
The YoRHa Ver.1.3a stage play will be coming back for a new version, bringing back the all-boy’s cast in the so-called YoRHa Ver.1.3aᵃ aka A2 stage play next March!
Tickets go on sale tomorrow!!!
The afternoon and evening performances on March 14 will be broadcast live on NicoNico, so stay tuned for the link to those pages in the future. You can purchase single tickets for 2500 points or 4000 points for both!
The entire cast from YoRHa Ver.1.3a will be returning, all except for Matsubara Rin, who played Anemone. Because of this, the entire character will be replaced with Jackass, as played by Kurotaka. Although the website hasn’t updated an image of him yet, you can view a couple shots of him on his agency’s page.
There will be recorded voices performed by:
Akiyama Kaoru: Voice of Pod153
Yasumoto Hiroki: Voice of Pod042/Zinnia
Like the previous Ver.1.3a stage play, the following talented musicians will be returning:
Guitar: Goto Takanori
Violin: Shirasu Kon
Percussion: Fukuoka Takashi
Along the same lines music, both Akaba Yukino and Nagaya Mikoto from GEMS COMPANY are listed in the credits for the “image songs”, so this is likely referring to their updated version of “Normandy” and “Gualdalcanal”.
This page will be updated in the event any additional informationon these events is released.
The above image is the cover of the Japanese novel. The English cover has yet to be released.
A couple days ago, it was announced that the 3rd NieR:Automata novel “YoRHa Boys” will be localized for a fall release in 2020. Since this news has come out, there have been several misinterpretations regarding this “new” novel, so allow me to explain a little further in depth on the topic.
This is not a “new” novel. As it stands now, there have been three separate, full-length novels released in the NieR:Automata series. The “YoRHa Boys” novel, originally released in July 2018, is actually a novelized version of the stage play by the same name, which ran from January 31 to February 4th, 2018.
Long Story Short (長イ話, lit. A Long Story) ーNovelization of the NieR:Automata game
The following is my own personal editorial regarding the announcement of this release.
Some mainstream media have inappropriately attributed inaccurate information about this novel, making it seem like this is the first NieR:Automata novel to ever be released in English, which certainly is not the case.
For those of you worried about the game’s vision not being captured properly, Square Enix did confirm that the auteur behind the NieR series, Yoko Taro, is supervising YoRHa Boys’ creation.
Since the novel is nearing a year old, and the stage play its based on is nearly 2 years old, those who follow the works of Yoko Taro already know to what degree Yoko participated on these projects. If it’s a game, he is likely the Director. Anything else, he is likely the Supervisor, which means it’s still generally his brain child and he gives various directions when necessary, but he is not completely in the driver’s seat for these items. This includes the various novels, stage plays, as well as the assortment of novellas as well. All of it is still the product of his unique mind… and that has never been an issue. I don’t understand why DualShockers went so far as to suggest that it was with this statement. There is no issue on the Japanese side of things. There is, however, when material leaves the shores of Japan and fall into the hands of folk who are unfamiliar with Yoko and his works.
Considering that NieR: Automata’s narrative structure may have been a bit too complicated to capture properly in a novel, going the prequel route is probably a good idea.
Considering the NieR:Automata story has already been produced in novel form, I think this is a massively inaccurate statement.
The story is not that complicated to comprehend, and it can only work better in novel form since you’re able to utilize many literary techniques such as internal dialogue, asides by an assortment of characters, as well as delving deeper into certain topics that could not be extrapolated within the game itself.
This statement also suggest that no other prequel exists, which is again inaccurate. The initial YoRHa ideas were formalized as early as 2012, during the end stages of Drakengard 3’s development, while the YoRHa stage play was the basis for NieR:Automata. For more information on the beginnings of YoRHa, please read this.
When one considers that NieR: Automata has found massive success and that Square Enix Manga & Books is releasing an official tie-in novel, it becomes clear that NieR is a very important series to Square Enix right now. Hopefully, this means we haven’t seen the end of it in the gaming medium.
Again, this is not the first NieR:Automata novel to be released. It is not even the first prequel story to be released either. There have been plenty of supplemental stories released up until this point, although, granted, not everything has been given an official English release. Still, the information is out there if you only take the time to look.
I have a couple issues with the official SQEX announcement of this news as well, so please allow me to vent a little.
Based on the stage drama “Project YoRHa,” YoRHA Boys recounts events that occurred before the time frame of Nier:Automata.
The “YoRHa Boys” novel is not based on “Project YoRHa”.
“Project YoRHa” was one of five recitation dramas performed live at the NieR:Automata Memory of Puppets Concert in 2017. It’s likely someone was confused with the term roudokugeki (朗読劇) which basically translates to a stage recitation drama, where actors stand stationary on stage and read their likes from a script. This should not be confused with any other stage performance such as a stage play or musical.
…the previously untold tale of the formation of YoRHa Experimental Unit M…
There are a couple points I have an issue with by this statement, first of which lies with the “YoRHa Experimental Unit M” statement. This is clearly referencing the M部隊 aka the M Squadron/Squad.
What I am arguing is the implementation and consistency with ease of understanding. Although a large battalion or squadron can be referred to as “unit”, it gets confusing when you’re dealing with the particular terms in the story (ie. individual androids). It may be my own personal preference since I’ve been translating this stuff since 2014, but I think it’s easier and more constructive to use terms that make sense within the narrative, terms that are not so ambiguous.
The term “unit” can be both plural and singular.
The term “squadron” is a plural singular noun.
The term “Unit” generally refers to an individual android. There are multiple different Types of YoRHa androids, but each individual android UNIT is unique. This is why I feel it’s vital to reserve this terminology for when you’re referring to an individual android rather than an entire squadron or battalion.
…the beginning of both “curse” and “punishment,” of androids dreaming of the glory of mankind.
This portion is an awkward translation of the subtext that is included on the obi around the actual book when purchased in Japan. An obi is basically a small strip of paper that wraps around the outside of a book which is mostly used to spotlight a main theme or topic from the book. You’ll often find quotes from other famous authors giving their personal comments here as well.
For reference, this is what the obi looks like for the initial Japanese release of Long Story Short:
“When androids dream of the glory of mankind, do machine lifeforms dream of humanity?”
The subtext on the obi is likely an allusion to the novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?“ by Philip K. Dick, but exactly what context it could have on the overall narrative is up for debate. It’s nice if they tried to incorporate this with the official English announcement of the novel, but still… I feel like it could use a little more polishing.
All that being said, it’s extremely relieving to hear that SQEX is taking the next novel in-house. I have no grounds to judge the work that VIZ Media does as a whole, but merely from the work that was done on the previous two novels, as a writer, I was utterly applauded. There is a very big difference between translation and localization, and I’ve discussed this matter many times before, so if you’re interested in the matter, please look for those earlier posts. They shouldn’t be all that hard to find.
In the meantime, we of the English-speaking world, can only hope that THIS TIME we will get a decent localization of Yoko’s work, and I seriously hope that SOMEONE at least bothers to do their due diligence and do the necessary homework in order to translate things accurately, given what has already come before; hence contacting 8-4 for their input on how they originally translated things. Translation is not always about being as accurate as possible, but consistency is also extremely important. Here’s to hoping SQEX is able to get competent folks to work on this novel to make it really shine above all the rest!
TSUKUMO is a company specializing in computers and various computer parts. Their online shop can be found here.
GEMS COMPANY is an off-shoot of the DearStage idol company produced by Iwasaki Takuya, former member of Cavia and college friend of Yoko Taro. GEMS COMPANY, however, is produced by Saito Yosuke from Square Enix utilizing music composted by Okabe Keiichi and others at MONACA. There are several smaller groups within GEMS COMPANY.
The event was sold out within 5 minutes upon release, but I still managed to be the 24th person to order a ticket to the event…!!! YAYYY!!!
But, as it turns out, that didn’t matter in the slightest! xD
Arriving at the venue, you had to draw a lottery number, which would then be your admittance number. Before entering the actual hall, we were given special Guest stickers to slap on ourselves somewhere noticeable for people to know that we’re actual guests to the event!
The first segment comprised mostly of a question and answer session with questions already prepared by attendees ahead of time (I don’t recall them asking for questions, but it’s possible that I missed it entirely). The first couple questions were for Koda Kazuma, since he was mostly busy sketching the live drawing for the duration of the event. He was asked what sort of input he received to make the YoRHa:Dark Apocalypse key visual as seen below:
He said that Yoshida Naoki actually posed for him… and to this I can attest because he actually did this in photos he took with people at TGS this year!
Once Koda’s questions were finished, he continued working on a preliminary sketch that he started the day previous (to get ready for this event!) but he wasn’t able to finish it… So, while he continued sketching, Yoko was asked some very tasty things to feast your Yokoverse-loving hearts on!
Yoko was asked whether the “Dragon” weapons mentioned in the year 6230 have anything to do with Drakengard, and he said, “They are related.” This would confirm my suspicions that something occurred during the war with the aliens in the Kingdom of Night to cause a temporal anomaly, thus creating a link to the year 856 and effectively causing the very Cataclysm that screwed everything over in the first place. But in usual Time-Space insane shenanigans, it’s nearly impossible to know which came first: the chicken or the egg.
I wrote about some of this in the past as to how SINoALICE fits into the overall Yokoverse, and there is some interesting “blending” of Drakengard and NieR going on with in it… You can read all about that here.
A “Singularity” also exists in NieR:Automata. Singularity: A special person, place, or thing that triggers a shift within the [Multiverse]. This phenomenon is triggered when a certain amount of Maso is gathered in an area and all other conditions are met.
As you can recall, Zero in DOD3 was first dubbed a “Singularity” due to her connection with the Flower entity which spelled nothing but doom and gloom for the rest of the world. It’s because of this that caused the timeline to fracture, creating multiple other possible futures.
As far as Automata goes, there could be several candidates for “Singularity”:
A2 – Related to the different endings in C and D.
9S – Choosing to stay or go on the Ark.
The Pods, specifically Pod042/Zinnia – It was Zinnia’s job to develop the YoRHa prototypes, and although he had more of a Teacher/Student sort of relationship with the other YoRHa, since Pod042 shares his personality data, I think it’s much more of a Father/Child sort of thing… and because of this, he went against his programming (as Pod) to help them, even if that choice would be detrimental to himself. Its his intervention that sort of gives us a happy ending.
Saito seemed interested in creating a NieR:Automata anime…!? It’s been suggested before with Yoko’s “Thou Shalt Not Die” and considering his connection with Moriyama Daisuke, who has already had anime released for several of his manga series… We all know about the fake anime genga and layouts that were created for the DOD 10th Anniversary Inside World book by Yakou Hiroshi (矢向宏志)… It would be absolutely amazing if they could get him on board for a Yokoverse related anime project at some point!! But agreed, I would much rather see a TSND anime than a NieR:Automata one at this point.
The idea of a NieR Gestalt/Replicant remake was brought up again, and Saito seemed very positive about such a prospect. I’m not sure anything like that would be possible for the 10th Anniversary… but it may still be possible at some point…?
The “Last Secret” in NieR:Automata has still not been discovered. Yoko was very coy about discussing this, but he still seemed very shocked and relieved that this hasn’t been discovered by anyone yet.
How does the all-boys version of the YoRHa Ver.1.3a stage play fit into the timeline? Yoko didn’t necessarily say that it’s NOT “canon” but that it’s more like a parallel world.
What does the “P” in 2P’s name mean? Yoko mentioned that it has another meaning besides merely “2nd player”, which was first used for the SoulCalibur VI collaboration, but he’s not able to discuss it at this time because YoRHa:Dark Apocalypse hasn’t concluded yet. Apparently divulging this information would be pretty spoilerish…? That in itself is pretty interesting.
Why do the main trio in Automata all have white hair? Yoko said it was purely a design choice. The white hair seemed balance the best with the black YoRHa outfits. Koda Kazuma also mentioned that he remembered 9S originally being blonde…
Since there’s been a musical version of the YoRHa stage play, could it be possible for the all-male cast to do something similar? I don’t think anyone gave a straight answer for this, but I’m extremely intrigued. The all-boys casts have gotten a HUGE response from fans…
How are the Healer and Scanner types different? Yoko said it’s much like changing the OS of your computer. It still basically does the same things, but it’s equipped better to handle specific tasks. The same is true for when Operators switch over to Battler type units.
During the 20 minute intermission, we were able to go up to the front panel where Yoko left his mask, and as you can see, this is actually the older version that unfortunately had a rough time at Tokyo Game Show 2016 when it dove head first into the ground…
It was after this incident at TGS 2016 that yoshi, the artist who created the mask, tried to fix it, giving it a nice scar sort of aesthetic with three bolts holding it together… but unfortunately, the middle bar is missing… 🙁
The second half of the event was mostly dedicated to a presentation by AMD, Ryzen, and Radeon followed by a lottery giveaway drawing. Since I’m not a PC gamer, I sort of zoned out during the presentation…
But the next bit was dedicated to a free giveaway, lottery drawing for the attendees of the event! Naturally, the first portion was determined by several rounds of ROCK SCISSORS PAPER! I was trying out a theory that most people leading these games *do not* continue with Rock. For example, the Japanese style first begins with Rock, then the next is different… but they almost NEVER continue with a second Rock thereafter… which is weird. haha Every time, I started with Rock, so every time, I sat down after the first bout. RIP
The prizes for the Rock Scissors Paper portion included a couple Pod/Machine keychains, a Hacking Space T-Shirt, and several other Gems Company related goods.
The next portion was entirely a lottery drawing using our seat numbers that we drew to enter the venue. There were about 20 free giveaways for signed autograph boards and other goods, and those who already won something were illegible to win again. Unfortunately, I both sucked at Rock Scissors Paper as well as random drawings.
But still, those who weren’t able to win anything were given a random mini-shikishi on the way out, so that was a lot of fun! I’m sorry to say that I originally got one signed by Saito Yosuke, but since I already have many things signed by him, I traded it for Koda Kazuma’s! I didn’t have anything signed by him thus far, so I was really excited to add that to the collection!! Thanks so much!!
Lastly, the official Gems Company Twitter account uploaded Koda’s illustration, so you can view that below!
There will be two more collaboration events like this held in Fukuoka and Osaka later in the year, and apparently Piroshi from CyberConnect2 will be joining the cast for the one in Fukuoka! Oh, boy!! I hope everyone has fun!!
By this time it’s really late, many hours after the event, so I may have forgotten some other interesting points. Should I remember anything more, I will further edit this post to reflect those additions!
Thanks to everybody who set up this event! I always have a ton of fun and I’ll be looking forward to the next one, although I can’t go to the next two TSUKUMO events! Here’s to hoping there will be something at the end of the year or… maybe later next year for the 10th Anniversary of NieR!!
