NieR:Automata Presentation Recap from TGS 2016

** Beware of possible spoilers below: NieR:Automata trailer discussion and YoRHa stage play references appear below. **

Did you guys catch the NieR:Automata presentation at TGS2016? Check the video below if you haven’t!

I needed a day or so to recoup from being on my feet all day there… so I’m sorry for the delay in writing anything about it.

Here are some of my notes from the presentation:

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NieR:Automata TGS 2016 – Character Trailer

Square Enix just released another trailer ahead of TGS this weekend. This time, we get to see a little more of the new characters that were revealed in this week’s issue of Famitsu magazine–which you can also see below!

Here’s a look at the characters. Below I’m listing their “souls”. There really is no meaning in the actual word “soul”. It’s just meant to represent their character as a whole, like the whole essence of their personality.

01-2b2B
Voice: Ishikawa Yui
Soul: 信念 Faith
Design by: Yoshida Akihiko 吉田明彦 (CyDesignation, Inc.)

02-9s9S
Voice: Hanae Natsuki
Soul: 孤独 Solitude
Design by: Yoshida Akihiko 吉田明彦 (CyDesignation, Inc.)

03-a2A2
Voice: Suwa Ayaka
Soul: 復讐 Revenge
Design by: Yoshida Akihiko 吉田明彦 (CyDesignation, Inc.)

04-pod042-newPod042
Voice: Yasumoto Hiroki
Soul: 随行 Attendance
Design by: Yoshida Akihiko 吉田明彦 (CyDesignation, Inc.)

05-pod153

Pod153
Voice: Akiyama Kaoru
Soul: 計画 Calculation
Design by: Yoshida Akihiko 吉田明彦 (CyDesignation, Inc.)
These are standard support equipment for all YoRHa units. They are used for long-range attacks and can be equipped with various weapons. They can also be used as a short-distance transport device. They are able to display messages from headquarters and it is possible for them to exchange strategy information between multiple units.

06-adam

Adam
Voice: Namikawa Daisuke
Soul: 憎悪 Hatred
Design by: Nagai Yuuya 永井悠也 (CyDesignation, Inc.)
A mysterious young man. He wears glasses and is very intelligent. Although his temperament is rather cool, he can become very cruel in order to achieve his goals.

07-eve

Eve
Voice: Suzuki Tatsuhisa
Soul: 依存 Dependence
Design by: Nagai Yuuya 永井悠也 (CyDesignation, Inc.)
Adam’s younger twin brother. Unlike his brother, he tends to be impulsive and doesn’t like to think deeply about things. He adores his brother.

08-operator

Operator 21O  (two-one-oh)
Voice: Hatsumi Meari
Soul: 支援 Support
and…
Operator 6O (six-oh)
Voice: Isobe Keiko
Soul: 支援 Support
Design by: Nagai Yuuya 永井悠也 (CyDesignation, Inc.)
These are two of many communication operators stationed on the “Bunker”. They are in charge of relaying orders to deployed YoRHa squadrons and analyzing gathered information. Each operator has their own unique personalities; for example, Operator 6O, who oversees 2B, is bright and cheerful, whereas Operator 21O who oversees 9S is cool and impersonal.

09-pascal

Pascal
Voice: Yuuki Aoi
Soul: 親愛 Affection
Design by: Nagai Yuuya 永井悠也 (CyDesignation, Inc.)
Even though Pascal is a Bio-machine, as a pacifist who despises war, she gathers with other like-minds in hopes to find a way toward peace. With great interest in the history of humanity and the Bio-machines, she is extremely knowledgeable.

10-commander

Commander
Voice: Kanou Chiaki
Soul: 責務 Duty
Design by: Nagai Yuuya 永井悠也 (CyDesignation, Inc.)
Returning character from the YoRHa stage play.
She is the director of the “Bunker” orbital satellite and is in charge of all YoRHa squadrons. She usually appears very calm and collected, but she seems to worry about 2B and 9S. She also has some sort of connection with the prototype A2.

10-emil

Emil
Voice: Kadowaki Mai
Soul: 生存 Survival / Existence
A returning character from the previous NieR. Much of his memory has deteriorated over the thousands of years of his existence.

11-devola-popola

Devola / Popola
Voice: Shiraishi Ryoko
Soul: 贖罪 Atonement / Redemption
Design by: Itahana Toshiyuki 坂鼻利幸 (Square Enix)
Two old generation androids who reside in the Resistance Camp. They are aware of the incident that involved two of their same-model androids in the distance past and feel a deep sense of regret. Their ability to consume alcohol is extremely unusual for their model.

12

??????
Voice: Nakata Jouji
Soul: 超越 Transcendence

———-

Orbital Base Station “Bunker”
Location originally depicted in the YoRHa stage play.
This is one of the military installations setup in Earth orbit. A circular tube structure wraps around the station to create an area with artificial gravity, while the center area is left with zero gravity where a body repair shop, a storage facility for various weapons, and a catapult facility are located. Serving as the YoRHa squadron’s headquarters, the “Bunker” is where new units are created and equipment experiments are performed.

bunker-hall 9s-roombunker-hq03bunker-hq bunker-hq02

  1. YoRHa: For the Glory of Mankind (人類に栄光あれ)
  2. GLOBAL – ISTAR
  3. ACTIVE COMBATANTS: List of YoRHa units in this particular squadron
  4. Squadron is comprised of 18 YoRHa units
  5. Ground Surveillance: Pod Cam
  6. YoRHa

Resistance Camp
Location originally depicted in the YoRHa stage play.
The Resistance Camp is inhabited by androids who were deployed to the surface of the planet long before the YoRHa models were constructed. Those who managed to retreat came together to form the Resistance Army and, because of their deep sense of justice, are currently lending 2B and 9S their assistance “for mankind”. They operate shops to purchase items, upgrade Pod, and offer many sub quests.

resistence-camp

———-

famitsu-no145-01-sm-1200 famitsu-no145-02-sm-1200 famitsu-no145-03-sm-1200 famitsu-no145-04-sm-1200 famitsu-no145-05-sm-1200 famitsu-no145-06-sm-1200 famitsu-no145-07-sm-1200 famitsu-no145-08-sm-1200 famitsu-no145-09-sm-1200 famitsu-no145-10-sm-1200

NieR:Automata TGS Trailer and Translation

The PlayStation TGS presentation began this afternoon at 4:00pm. I get out of work exactly at 4, but my boss drove me to the station around 3:30, so I could watch the beginning portion of the presentation on the train. Just after I switched train lines and was just one more station from my stop, the new NieR:Automata trailer began. I’m sure the people around me thought I was very strange… (No, I wasn’t swinging from the ceiling like the guys at Hooked probably would have, but still…!)

Many of these lines are a bit difficult to hear, but this is my tentative translation of the spoken dialogue during this clip (Possible spoilers are in white text; highlight them to view):

Pod042: Good morning, A2.

Commander: Remember! The pain of losing our home! We will never give up. The ocean, the sky, the earth… We will reclaim the Earth that the atrocious Bio-machines stole from us!

2B: You knew all along, didn’t you, 9S?

9S: Shut up! What are you saying? What the hell do you think you know about us?!

Pod042: 9S. …system…

Deep Voice (Adam/Eve?): Do you really think you can win? Hmpf.

Pascal: My name is Pascal. I am the head leader of this town.

Man (Adam/Eve?): Where are the humans you put such faith in?

Emil: We fight because we believe someday we’ll get through this!

Girl (Devola/Popola): We… we will atone for our sins!

Man: That’s it! That feeling! Hatred! Ahahahahaha!!

Commander: Even if we manage success with but a tuning fork, we will end this war here and now! Glory to mankind!

Operator: Please hold, okay?

Operator: The YoRHa Squadron has launched.

2B: If that’s what you (9S) say we should do, then that’s what we’ll do!

Commander: For the Glory of Mankind!

Response: For the Glory of Mankind!

9S: It can’t be!! AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Deep Voice (Adam/Eve?): For the Glory of Mankind.

I’m pretty sure the very first line is Pod042 because of the previous conte dialogue I had translated before. I am also pretty sure it’s the General speaking above because these are the exact same lines that closed out the ending of the YoRHa stage play.

There’s a line or two that I’m not confident about (shown in italics) and another that I’m pretty sure I heard it right, but still can’t be 100% accurate (underlined).


According to Game Jouhou, the following characters have been confirmed:

The appearance of Pod042, Operator 6O & 21O appeared in the bits of dialogue that I previously translated here.

Lastly, be sure to check out some of the still images from this trailer below! Enjoy!!


2B looking cool

2B and Pod042 looking cool

Currently unknown character

Currently unknown character (Adam?)

A2

A2

9S

9S

Could this be the pixelated screen that Yoko Taro alluded to in past interviews...???

Could this be the pixelated screen that Yoko Taro alluded to in past interviews…???

Bio-machine head

Bio-machine head

Possible "good" robot?

Possible “good” robot? (Pascal?)

Currently unknown character. Notice the 3-eyed Gemini and red eyes...!!

Currently unknown character. Notice the 3-eyed Gemini and red eyes…!! (Eve?)

(Clockwise from 12:00): Red eyes, Bartas' arm?, Cult of Watchers / Three Eyed Gemini

(Clockwise from 12:00): Red eyes, Bartas’ arm?, Cult of Watchers / Three Eyed Gemini

These are probably the android Operators on the Bunker.

These are probably the android Operators on the Bunker.

This is probably the android General stationed on the Bunker.

This is probably the android General stationed on the Bunker.

nier-automata-tgs-2016-trailer-_00128

9S attacking something.

nier-automata-tgs-2016-trailer-_00134

NieR:Automata Merchandise at TGS 2016

Square Enix just updated their site with items that will be available only at this year’s Tokyo Game Show! I was hoping there might be some more NieR:Automata goodies than what had already been revealed…but… This is still great!! <3

tgs%e2%88%92nier-merch

T-shirt – 2B
Size: Mens (L) / Womens (M)
2,900 Yen

T-shirt – Emil
Size: Mens (L) / Womens (M)
2,900 Yen

Mug
1,800 Yen

 You can view more images of these goodies that Yoko Taro & Saito Yosuke had posted on their Twitter accounts in this post here.

Gearing Up for TGS 2016!

Like every year around this time since I moved to East Japan, I need to think what to wear to TGS.

One thing that’s important to understand about TGS is that… the crowds are insane. Imagine the last train from Shinjuku on a Friday or Saturday night, but way worse.

I’m not a crowd person. I don’t like to be squished between sweaty strangers who are trying to make it to a certain booth for free stuff. I’m not a cosplayer who spends the night in town so they can get up early and get in line to change into their costumes. I’m just an average, semi-otaku, anime/game freak. Nothing special about me, but I do occasionally want to show my appreciation for the series and titles that I love.

Last year, I brought two costumes to play around in:

IMG_7288     first-edit

I first went semi-dressed as a female Kung Fury so that I wouldn’t have to wait in line to put anything on… and I brought a small suitcase with my 2B costume to change into later. Apparently, I got the the venue a little later than expected and walked around longer than I thought as Kung Fury that… there really wasn’t any time to switch over to 2B. orz I really don’t know why I tried at all.

So, this year I was thinking what I should do. I don’t have the patience to try any actual cosplay this time around, but I still wanted to do something fun… so I thought, why not get a custom made T-Shirt with something NieR related?

Back in January, I asked a friend of mine on DeviantArt to illustrate a couple characters for me. One was, of course, 2B from the up-coming NieR:Automata, and the other was an illustrated version of my YoRHa OC, No34, that I cosplayed back in 2014 for Halloween. Here’s what she came up with:

yorha-2b_sm                           yorha-no34_sm

Shortly after going to see the first run of Yoko Taro’s stage play YoRHa, I thought up my own character, with stats and her own backstory.

000-DSC00116-goldeyes-cropped

You can read more on YoRHa No34 and view more of my crazy cosplay photos of her here.

Long story short, I just received the T-Shirt that I had custom made… and I’m really happy with it! I still need to try it on and take a couple pics, but… That will have to be a little later. ^^

shirt-front     shirt-back