So, this is going to be another editorial type of post, focusing on a recent post on Twitter. We’re going to explore the complexity of quote translations and how some venues like to rework them to suit a specific purpose, which is more likely than not pure clickbait or engagement farming.
Before we get into the details, let’s review the original post that kicked this off:
The first thing to notice with this post is how sensational it is intended to be viewed, but on closer analysis, you’ll see that this statement not only includes several unsightly typos but also several nonfactual statements:
▶︎ TYPOS
- The title of the series: Neir → NieR
- by the idea → but the idea
▶︎ NONFACTUAL STATEMENTS
- “Yoko Taro initially wanted to add an intimate sex scene between 2B and 9S in the Neir Automata anime”
→ Yoko did not absolutely state this. This is purely based on a singular interpretation of a redacted statement. - [but] the idea was rejected by the Aniplex Producer who argued that “9S would not do that”.
→ This statement was not from a producer from Aniplex but rather the original NieR:Automata game designer at Platinum Games, Takahisa Taura.
The most problematic portion of this post is the steadfast, apparently factual statement that any of the Devs confirmed the copulation between two main characters, which… hold on for a bit, they absolutely did not.
A major issue dealing with issues like this involves Japanese to English translation as well as dealing with the plethora of Japanese context/nuance which cannot be translated via Google or any other free-based machine translation tool. You have to know the language to fully understand the overall context, to know when or where people are just shitting you, and to grasp the underlying nuance.
So, first let’s examine the translation that was initially presented here:
Well, first of all, this particular account left no context or source for this sensational headline. This thread, however, includes the link to the original Famitsu article from July 22, 2023, plus a screenshot of a Google translated segment from the original article (See below).
What’s interesting is that it seems the author of this original article left Famitsu and joined Dengeki Online. This article about the NieR anime was his one of his last articles at Famitsu.
Note: My beef isn’t necessarily with this interpretation as much as it is with representing it as absolute fact, which it absolutely is not. It’s another example of folks placing words in people’s mouths, often with a specific motive, whether it be clout, engagement, or whatever else.
Additionally, it’s not necessarily wrong to use Google Translate or other machine aided translation programs, but you need to already have a certain level of proficiency in the target language to understand the remaining linguistic nuance and context.
Next, I’d like to examine a short passage in a recent interview by Famitsu.
(Please note that the following is my translation, done for editorial purpose for this piece.)
ー No matter what, it takes time for the anime team to fully grasp the original game. By the way, Yoko-san, you were in charge of the series structure, but what exactly did that involve?
Yoko: It started with the script—or rather, the plot—that was presented to me. When I reviewed it, I felt it was a little too similar to the game, so I suggested making some changes.
My first idea was rejected for various reasons, but they began incorporating my ideas from the next one. That’s when they asked if I’d focus on the series structure.
In the early stages, we aimed to stay true to the game, closely following its storyline, but I personally felt there was little merit in simply retelling the same story. Fans would likely expect something new and different in the anime, so we decided on a balancing out the strengths of the game with original elements unique to the anime.
Producer Matsumoto prioritized staying true to the rules of the game, while I tend to break them, preferring to take a step back and approach things differently. That was the sort of balance we came to. The so-called “9S●● incident” caused quite a stir within the team; it was rather something.
ー “The 9S●● incident?!” Could you elaborate on that?
Yoko: At one point, I included a scene in the plot where 9S and 2B do ●●. However, Producer Matsumoto intervened, firmly stating: “9S doesn’t do ●●.” As a result, the scene was cut (laughs).
He was concerned that fans might not react positively to it. I believe that creative works, whether games or anime, ultimately belong to the audience. I understood that Producer Matsumoto, who approached the project with the audience’s perspective in mind, had valid concerns about it, so I decided to scrap the scene.
ー I see. Was there another reason why you chose avoid making the content of the anime identical to the game?
Yoko: I’d actually like to hear Taura-san explain why I didn’t make it the same as the game.
Taura: What?! Why should I answer that? (laughs) Well, it’s like… you know? Even though the way you express things is different between the two mediums, I imagine you wouldn’t want to just recreate something you’ve already made. If you were to do it again, you’d want to change a lot of things, right?
Yoko: That’s true, but I was hoping for something more direct, like, “Yoko-san is just that kind of creator.”
Taura: Yoko was in his 40s when he directed the game and in his 50s when working on the anime. It seems like something changed for him as he entered his 50s.
Back in his 40s, Yoko would never have considered letting 9S do ●●. The fact that he included it this time likely means he’s become better at capturing the essence of ●●● (character) engaging in ●●●●●● (action).
Yoko: I guess I didn’t fully understand what ●● was until I reached my 50s.
Taura: Yoko had a long adolescence—it took him a while, but he finally reached adulthood.
Yoko: Now that you mention it, I haven’t written anything about ●●. Even if I had, it probably would’ve been rejected (laughs). It’s tough to figure out where it fits.
ー Regarding yourself, Taura-san, you were the main planner and designer for the game. What are your thoughts on 2B and 9S’s actions in the anime?
Taura (Yoko): Clearly, it’s not enough.
Taura: Why are you answering for me?! (laughs)
Yoko: Wha, am I wrong?
Taura: Uh, I’m not saying it’s not enough at all.
Taura (Yoko): I really wish there was a ●● scene.
Taura: Knock it off (laughs).
Seriously speaking, games and anime are quite different mediums. In games, players can explore and enjoy actions from any angle based on how they play, while anime relies on dynamic, stylish scenes to captivate the audience.
When making the game, I had a specific image in mind, but through the anime, I was able to rediscover and highlight the cool elements and ideas that weren’t expressed in the game. I’m truly grateful for that opportunity.
The above passages should demonstrate that, since the specific words were omitted here, no definitive answer was given from the devs themselves. Granted, we can still take meaning from the remaining context, but that is a subjective interpretation; it’s your opinion rather than fact. Whether it’s right or wrong, the devs are not about to say one way or the other; therefore, it’s impossible to state which is absolute fact.
But within this context, you have to understand how Yoko works, how he speaks. He is a major cheeky bastard who likes to fuck around, so it makes it difficult to know his real intentions, what he actually means. But it should at least be clearly evident when he’s hotly in Yokoism-fuckery mode, especially in this passage. It doesn’t necessarily translate very well if you’re not aware or are just using machine translation, and it absolutely matters if you’re making a secondary translation from an already translated piece. It’s like making a photocopy from the copy of a copy; it gradually looses definition and quality.
This is often where context and nuance goes to die often for no other reason than to simply save time (and money). This is also how many game localizations are handledー generally the English translation is made first from which other languages such as Spanish, French, German, etc. use this 1st gen translation to base their own rather than going back to the original Japanese script. This clearly can cause significant problems if you’re not referencing back to the original Japanese.
Additionally, it might be important to see how actual native Japanese read and interpret the article. if you don’t believe the J-E translators, you should be able to believe actual Japanese people understanding the contextual meaning of their own native language, right?
▶︎ About Industry Regulations
What I find a lot of consumers don’t have a great understanding about what regulations actually restrict businesses from expressing certain ideas and/or imagery. You can view this sort of censorship as you may, but it’s not possible to simply ignore it. I am not an expert on every area of these regulations, but I do have direct, professional experience translating within these regulations to be able to effectively speak on it.
What’s interesting to know is that people do not willingly determine what rating a game or anime receives; it’s solely based on the content that exists within the product. Typically speaking, game companies want to release their games to reach the highest number of consumers, so if their product hits too many marks on the mature end, they have no choice but to scale back and self-regulate their own work in order to reach a more desired ranking. Again, you can view this part of the business as you will, but it’s merely a fact that must be dealt with. You wouldn’t get ANY product if creators/developers willy-nilly rejected these regulations and just did whatever they wanted. At the end of the day, this is a BUSINESS, pure and simple. That’s why it may be helpful for consumers to get a better understanding of the business related to their favorite fandom.
Additionally, it may be helpful to understand Taura’s role regarding the NieR:Automata Ver.1.1a anime produced by A-1 Pictures via ANIPLEX. Much like games, anime also have certain regulations. I’m not as versed on this end as I am with games, but I can imagine that ANIPLEX and/or A-1 Pictures weren’t looking to produce a show with explicit or even suggested adult content.
A little more detail on the actual regulations manual… and yes, it’s a giant manual that we have to consult regarding the content that we express within the product. Again, this is mostly based on the gaming industry, but I assume other industries like the anime side has something similar.
This manual describes specific content and verbiage for each rating level. If you have more swear words, it’s going to throw it up into a higher rating. If you have certain depictions of violence, that’s also going to add to the overall tally that could throw your ranking up a level. This manual is very detailed, so even flipping through it to see what you can and cannot do is a rather taxing job.
What’s also important to understand here is that… Takahisa Taura has no sway on what is decided on the anime. He was the director if the previously released video game NieR:Automata and his role ended there. He may come on for a little consulting here and there, but that is entirely related to the game design and possibly how to express that within the anime medium. He has absolutely no say on what is or is not put into the anime.
And, I get the feeling that more often than not, folks misinterpret the relationship between Yoko and Taura– they are almost always portraying the traditional TSUKKOMI duo; one plays the dunce and the other plays the straight and narrow, often chastising the dunce. It’s much more complex with a long history than what I’m giving it here, but if you understand a little bit of that, you might understand the dynamic between those two. They’re largely playing off the other in humorous, cheeky tones. A lot of this could be misinterpreted as fact when it was actually said in jest; you entirely need to have a higher level understanding of Japanese context to understand what they’re actually saying, it’s not entirely clear cut or can be translated via machine translation.
So, if you remember anything from this, please let it be that fan interpretations of click-baity translations released by the usual sources (sensational headlines should be a red flag that they’re just farming for views and clicks) may not actually be based in the real world. You’d be amazed how a simple statement can be misconstrued and spread so far that it becomes a collective fact. It’s the Telephone Game in the modern age.
And that’s where my dumb idea of changing this cheeky censored word to “playing hopscotch” comes in because it’s both absurdly ridiculous and funny at the same time, at least in comparison to the general fanbase’s hyper fixation on sex.
So, here. Enjoy a round of hopscotch with 9S & 2B.
Yoko: The so-called “9S hopscotch incident” caused quite a stir within the team; it was rather something.
ー “The 9S hopscotch incident?!”
Yoko: At one point, I included a scene in the plot where 9S and 2B play hopscotch. However, Producer Matsumoto intervened, firmly stating: “9S doesn’t play hopscotch.” As a result, the scene was cut (laughs).
Taura: Back in his 40s, Yoko would never have considered letting 9S play hopscotch.
Yoko: I guess I didn’t fully understand what hopscotch was until I reached my 50s. Now that you mention it, I haven’t written anything about hopscotch. Even if I had, it probably would’ve been rejected (laughs). It’s tough to figure out where it fits.
Taura (Yoko): I really wish there was a hopscotch scene.
Slightly amused perhaps?
Maybe not.
In all honesty, I don’t see that they’re talking about sex necessarily, but could be teasing something similar to what was done in YoRHa Ver.1.3a/aa when Accord shows the crew a rather… interestingly shaped lie detector. I can kinda imagine 9S wondering how to attach this sort of thing to his android frame and how it’s supposed to be used. lol It could be funny rather than raunchy or romantic… and I think that would be more Yoko’s style with these characters.
→ See More: YoRHa Ver.1.3aa Official Report
Also, simply because they called this the “9S ●● incident” and not the “9S & 2B ●● incident” or anything else, I imagine that the focus is more solely focused on 9S rather than the two as a pair, even if they may have been referenced one time in this passage.
That being said, for anyone who was around when NieR:Automata was first released in 2017, people were and still remain super, hyper-fixated on the following…
This bleeped out word has never been officially revealed because they want you to imagine this on your own, to place your own meaning into it, essentially making the story your own.
Yoko: I believe that creative works ultimately belong to the audience.
Therefore, there are no wrong answers here, but the majority of people like to imagine that the word that fits here is “fuck”. Because of course.
Here’s a short list of possibilities that are included but not limited to:
- Kill
- Fuck
- Save
- Free
However, whether it’s a hint or not, it’s stated in the NieR Re[in]carnation collaboration with NieR:Automata that this could also be “free,” as in to free 2B from this shitty world.
“However, 9S secretly wished to free 2B from this endless cycle of war.”
So, I’ll reiterate this line from Yoko:
Yoko: I believe that creative works ultimately belong to the audience.
He has said similar things multiple times, but what it means is that he’s not going to hold your hand and tell you what he means, or how to “correctly” interpret any particular line, phrase, or scene. That’s your job to imagine and place meaning. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that what one person imagines is wrong while another’s is right. There is no right or wrong, so it’s really pointless to argue the point. However, there are more plausible outcomes than others, so I suppose you could argue that with your fellow NieR peers.
In the end, there is no correct answer, so everyone’s interpretation is valid. This is not to say that fan interpretations are wrong–please, by all means, have at you! I just feel like things get out of hand at times, where the facts get blurred to suit a specific narrative or fan fantasy. If you want to believe this omitted word was of the sexual nature, you’re free to do so, but please don’t state definitively that this was the one and only interpretation, because it’s not. If anything from this article sticks with you, please let it be that.