Ever since I heard that Yoko Taro was going to write a stage play that would be a prequel to his manga series, I knew that I had to go! I had only gone a couple times to the YoRHa play (only twice for each of the two runs; 4 times total). I know many people would and have questioned me–one was even my own mother–why I would want to see the same play more than once, and to that I have no answer. I can’t answer that for you. I can’t make you understand what it feels like to like something so much that you’d want to over-indulge in it. Given the shitty year that 2016 was, especially losing my father, I thought that he would have wanted me to go as often as I liked. And that’s what I did.
I pre-ordered tickets for 6/9 of the shows pretty early on and I was okay with that. But when I heard that they would have bonus items for repeaters… I was compelled to add the last three shows.
Then shortly after I picked up the tickets from the conbini, I realized I had made a huge mistake. The first two days of the show were scheduled for December 21 and 22. I apparently was still scheduled for work those two days. I probably could have made the evening show on the 21st anyway, but it would have been impossible for me to make the early afternoon show on the 22nd… so I asked my school to reschedule those two days for earlier in the month. *phew*
The first day, I took a couple pictures around the area.
▲ The play was held at the same location as the YoRHa Ver.1.1 play: Shinjuku Mura LIVE.
▲ Shinjuku Mura LIVE
▲ The nice Christmas lights across the street from Shinjuku LIVE.
▲ Nice flowers for Yoko Taro & Moriyama Daisuke. <3
■ The Story
The setting for the play takes place three years before the start of the manga series, when the Japanese government was recruiting young people to use as guinea pigs to develop super human abilities. In the play we meet a group of ten 9th graders who were chosen to participate in a training session to see who would be selected for the Special Abilities Private High School.
There are so many great scenes of the kids playing and having fun, playing tricks on each other, but all the while there are several adults trying to manipulate events that cause complete and utter chaos… and only a few survive…
Here’s a recap of the Square Enix Presents 2nd Live Broadcast featuring NieR:Automata. I’m mostly going to translate some of the funny banter that they had throughout the broadcast, but I’ll also try to cover some of the new material that we learned about the game in this broadcast. You can view the broadcast in its entirety below!
Now, there’s not too much meat to this post as much as there is translations for the fun and interesting bits that the guys said during the broadcast, so this will be pretty bare bones. First of all, let’s introduce the MCs for this broadcast!
▲ Saito Yosuke ▲ Taura Takahisa
▲ Yoko Taro ー “People kept telling me that you can’t hear me when I’ve got the mask on, so I’ve decided to stop wearing it for all eternity.”
▲ Isobe Keiko ▲ Negishi Isao
Yoko: I haven’t cleared the Very Hard mode yet, either. It’s impossible.
▲ Yoko: If I remember right, Operator 6O is the one on the bottom right of this image.
Saito: It’s a rule for these androids to not express emotion, but Operator 6O is a relatively emotional character.
Isobe: I thought I had many lines that sounded pretty human in terms of emotion.
Taura: The section of the game that I worked on included a lot of her lines (Operator 6O), so from the beginning of the day as I worked and listened to those lines, I thought, “Alright! I can do this!”
Saito: What lines were they, for example?
Yoko: “I will destroy you!”
Isobe: I never said that!
Taura: Whoever would get off listening to that is a freak.
Saito: So, what was the actual line?
Taura: It was a line where she says, “Hang in there!” Just the nuance or intonation of that line felt really good to me.
Yoko: Okay, I’ll be sure to delete those lines, then. I’ll change it to something like, “I’ll fucking kill you!”
Saito: But who really cares if they were pants? It’s alright.
Taura: No, it’s a leotard…
Isobe: Wow, it’s like… You [Taura] really know how to play!
Saito: Of course.
Yoko: I’d be really surprised if he didn’t…
Taura: Okay, I’m going to take out some of these enemies.
Isobe (in Operator 6O’s voice): “Taura, hang in there!”
Taura: Stop that! Stop it! I’m going to die…!
Yoko (in a deep voice): “Taura, I will make you wish you had never been born!”
Taura: Okay, now I’m back to normal…
Yoko: I’ve seen it here and there on YouTube, but some people have made it to some weird location that I’ve never seen by dashing and jumping and stuff.
Saito: It’s really something.
Yoko: Who at PG was responsible for that?
Taura: That was me.
Saito: That’s different from the script that I’ve got here… It was you? You made that blunder?
Taura: Well, not me exactly. There was another guy who did it. And we’ve called him in today: Platinum Games, game designer, Negishi.
Negishi: Hello, everyone, I’m Negishi. I just stopped by after working out a couple bugs.
■ Sub Quests
Saito: We’re progressing a little fast here, so you can totally go through this part slowly.
▲The above conversation with Anemone, who is a returning character from the YoRHa stage play, is HUGE in giving us more information to prove who A2 really is. You can view my speculation on that here. But beware of potential spoilers!!
???: You people…… No2……
9S: Huh? Do you know 2B?
???: ……No, I got word from the Bunker. My name is Anemone. This area is a safe haven for those in the Android Resistance. I’ve heard everything from the Bunker. It seems as though you are in charge of investigating this area. I’m sure there are others around with more knowledge than me. You don’t need my permission to come through here, so ask whomever you like.
Weapon Shop: Ah…… You’re the YoRHa Squad, huh? I’ve heard about you. I collect weapons. What would you like to sell? I also like to tinker with old weapons and make them shiny and new. Just right now, some of my tools are broken. If this one tool in my tool box could be fixed, I’d be able to open my shop to you guys, but……
Look in the tool box…
9S: Yeah…… This is pretty well broken.
Weapon Shop: I know, right? As you can probably tell, I’m not great at fixing complex devices like this.
Help.
→Ignore.
Weapon Shop: Hmm… If I can’t fix this device, there’s no way I can stay in business.
→Help.
Ignore.
Weapon Shop: Wha-what…… Are you serious? Man, that’d really help me out!
9S: It looks like a mechanism inside the devise has shorted out. We’ll just need to scavenge four “Complex Robotics” to fix it. Is there a place around here where we can find the necessary parts?
Weapon Shop: Yeah…… I think I’ve often seen them around the inner area of the Factory Ruins, but there are all sorts of crazy machines running around in there…… It’s dangerous in there, so you can’t get very close.
■ Sub Quest Status
Sub Quests have been updated.
For more information, access the Quest tab from the System Menu.
＊ “Weapon Shop’s Request” has been updated.
▲ Weapon Shop’s Request
The Weapon Shop in the Resistance Camp is having a rough time since their maintenance device is broken. If they could gather the necessary parts to fix it from the inner area of the Factory Ruins, it could be fixed, but… Due to an infestation of dangerous Bio-machines in that area, no one can go near it.
Gather the following items in the inner area of the Factory Ruins for the Weapon Shop: ― Complex Robotics:0/4
▲ These screens show you where to go to complete your quest.
▲ 9S: This area is overrun by vegetation now, but at one time this used to be a sprawling city, huh? This is the area the Weapon Shop told us to check out, but… I’m only registering Bio-machines here. In fact, it looks like they’re preparing to attack.
▲ 9S: That’s all of them. Let’s get these back to the Weapon Shop.
― Deliver the gathered items to the Weapon Shop.
9S: ……Great, you can fix your tools with this, right?
Weapon Shop: Oh! Thank you! I can finally open shop with this!
9S: That’s great to hear. We look forward to it.
Weapon Shop: Leave it up to me! I will make the best weapons to protect my friends! But, you know…… I get to thinking sometimes.
■ The Cypress Stick from Dragon Quest!
▲ With the Cypress Stick equipped, it will change the design of all the treasure chests to resemble those in Dragon Quest. This color scheme may be handy to help you spot hidden treasure chests in hard-to-see areas, too!
Negishi: Why is it that when you equip the Cypress Stick that the treasure boxes change?
All: ……
Saito: It has a mysterious power.
Yoko: Did you make 2B kick the treasure chests open them because that’s what you like?
Taura: …not exactly.
Saito: It’s just the particular movement.
Taura: It’s nothing that strange, so…
Yoko: It seems like she’s a little on the violent side.
■ The Engine Blade from Final Fantasy XV!
■ The NieR Novel Included in the Japanese Black Box Edition
The Boy’s Chapter ー Page 36
The first time he was called to work at the Seafront was about half a year ago. He helped deliver urgent letters, tulip bulbs to the flower shop, and buy natural rubber for the material shop.
With the thought of leaving Yonah alone at home weighing heavily on his mind, he quickly slipped passed a large Shade visible in the distance. The first time he set eyes upon the ocean he thought it was such a beautiful sight, but he was utterly dumbfounded how the entire town reeked of fish so putrid. Just by walking around for a short while, his hair and skin grew sticky from the fishy air that it often made him feel ill. It was the girl at the flower shop that told him this was because of the salty sea breeze.
After purchasing the bulbs and materials he was asked to fetch, he set upon a large house that spanned an entire city block. The path leading there was always packed with pedestrians, making it difficult to reach the house itself. Finally succeeding in the task he set out to do―to deliver the letter―he hardly had the energy left to find his way back.
Maybe it was due to the time of day, or maybe it was the people who lived in that area who didn’t particularly care to have discussions with strangers walking through town, but he felt like he couldn’t even ask for directions. He was so completely lost, with no inclination on how to get anywhere, that he didn’t even know what to do. With fatigue setting in, he decided to rest near the front gate of a nearby house.
“Hey, what are you doing over there?”
Entirely startled by the voice, Nier jumped to his feet and moved slightly away from the front gate.
“You’re not from around here, are you? Are you lost?”
▲ As it turns out, a portion after the segment that I translated above had to be cut from the novel due to…reasons. If you have read the novella “The Red and the Black” you will know that brother Nier was selling his body to someone in Seafront in order to get money to care for Yonah. It is highly probable that this is what the publisher wanted to remove from the novel.
■New NieR Merchandise!
▲ Presenting the new Emil head pillow! It’s apparently really soft and squishy! The actual design may change a little for the final product.
Yoko: This is a great item for your to throw when you’re pissed off girls in order to feel better.
Taura (to Negishi who’s apparently doing something on his phone): What do you think you’re doing on your cell phone at a time like this? We’re live, you know?
Negishi: Yeah, you’re right… But have a look at this!
How to obtain Plug-in Chips ● Buy them at shops
● Find them in treasure chests
● Defeat enemies that drop them
● Complete certain Quests
Create Plug-in Chip ● You can create chips that will be given a random cost value. You can have fun trying to create your own chips for the perfect total cost value.
Miscellaneous Info ● There are lots of hidden items and areas all around. You may discover some stronger enemies in these areas. ● There’s a Plug-in Chip to automatically pick up items on the field when you walk near them.
● When you leave and come back to an area, enemies will respawn.
During the 2nd Live Broadcast tonight, we were shown some new merch available through Lawson’s online shop:
12 piece Limited Cookie Set, 2,250 yen [Loppi #214267]
Mini Emil Table, 4,320 yen [Loppi #214266]
Smart Phone Case, 4,536 [Loppi #214263]
Emil Pillow Cushion, 4,104 yen [Loppi #214262] Diameter: 300mm, Width: 100mm Polyester cover with stuffed beads
Yoshida Akihiko Reproduction Genga Illustration, 16,200 yen [Loppi #214258] Acrylic, with unique serial number, Size: 328 x 415 x 22mm
＊ I’ve already ordered these items and it looks like they’re planning on shipping things out on May 9th for free! Cool! No shipping fees!! 😀
This is what the display looks like for ordering the cookies on the Loppi system at a Lawson convenience store:
So, it looks like the delivery box that the cookies will be packaged in is the same design as the smartphone case!
In other news, Yoko Taro was asked to make a comment regarding the new Fantasy RPG in development from Atlus*.
* I was a little quick to write about this, so I apologize for getting your hopes up that he would be directly involved. It does not appear that is the case at the moment.
Today’s issue of Famitsu magazine features 6 pages worth on NieR:Automata. We get some more information regarding the Plug-in Chips that you equip to give you unique abilities in and out of battle. You are able to equip up to three different chips at once to give you added customization of your character and gameplay preferences.
We’re also introduced to a “new” character, Anemone; however she is not exactly new. She is a returning character from the YoRHa stage play, which you can read here.
Briefly, Anemone is a survivor from the 8th Machine War. She lived with Rose and several other Resistance androids on the islands of Hawaii.
Highlight for further spoilers from the play: [ When the first generation YoRHa androids are sent on the Pearl Harbor mission, the Resistance teams up with them but are utterly decimated in the battle with the Bio-machines. The last we see of Anemone is when she is forced to kill YoRHa No21 because she was infected with the Bio-machine virus. We were lead to assume that Anemone died there as well. ]
We’ve already seen a photo of Anemone in her green hood back in November, which I discussed in this post. It looks as though the eye insignia may represent the Resistance.
These pages of Famitsu listed Anemone’s voice actress as Kanou Chiaki, however, in Famitsu No.1468, they printed a correction. Anemone will be voiced by the same voice actress as Operator 21O, Hatsumi Meari.
The opening show of Yoko Taro’s Thou Shalt Not Die / Kimi Shi ni Tamou Koto Nakare ZERO stage play opens tomorrow evening at 7:00pm at Shinjuku Mura LIVE and will run through Christmas Day!
▲ Nice flowers for Yoko Taro & Moriyama Daisuke. <3
