‘NieR’ Series Producer Says Dev Team Established Hard Rules For Character Creation To “Try And Avoid” International Outrage
[UPDATE – June 12th, 2025: Following this article’s publication, NieR series director Yoko Taro responded to our article, informing a fan who shared it with him that he “x.com/yokotaro/status/1933044002095575201”.
As seen below, the quotes cited in this article came from the subtitles provided by Shift Up themselves. However, that does not necessarily mean either party are in the wrong – instead, this seems to be a classic case of miscommunication.
そんな話聞いたことないですね……
— yokotaro (@yokotaro) June 12, 2025
RT: @felixmtz9830
スクエアはもう自由にデザインさせてくれないの？それって本当？ https://t.co/kC1KQGzEfO
Per our original reporting, neither Taro nor Saito said they were given strict design rules by Square Enix. Rather, Saito explicitly stated that the NieR design team has self-adopted certain rules in order to avoid causing undue controversy in international regions – which we pointed out in order to highlight the unfortunately growing trend of international creators having to reluctantly self-censor their works in order for them to be made accessible in other regions.
While we cannot speak to Taro’s specific mindset or opinion, BIC can extend a branch of understanding to him and any other readers who presumed the article was taking a specific ‘swing’, as a rising tide of loud and disingenuous culture warring has tainted any and all media-related conversations.
The original article follows below.]
According to veteran Square Enix producer Yosuke Saito, a desire to avoid any number of potential cultural controversies has led the NieR series creative team – including creator Yoko Taro – to adopt a set of character design guidelines that take into account the various sensibilities of international audiences.
Saito, whose design talents have helped shape every NieR franchise entry save Drakengard 3, confirmed this unfortunate reality while speaking to Taro, Goddess of Victory: Nikke director Yoo Hyung Suk, and Stellar Blade director Kim Hyung Tae during a June 9th producers roundtable centering on the ongoing Goddess of Victory: Nikke x Stellar Blade x NieR: Automata content collaboration.
At one point during the discussion, the four devs were asked by their host, former PlayStation Studios president Shuhei Yoshida, if they could speak to their respective casts of characters, in particular if “When designing them, were there any visual or narrative aspects that you paid special attention to?”
[Time Stamp: 28:12]
Giving in to their inner fanboy, Yoo and Kim deferred their time to the NieR duo, thus leaving the floor open for Taro, who began his answer by noting, “Basically, our concept is always to do something that’s ‘not like anything else’.”
“What I mean is, if NieR: Replicant had a boy as the main character, then Automata would have a girl protagonist,” he continued. “If Western sci-fi is filled with marine-like soldiers, we might go in the opposite direction and use Gothic Lolita outfits, for example.”
“We tend to take the contrarian route,” the eccentric director further detailed. “We choose that route because competition is fierce in overlapping markets. We’re aiming for the wider blue ocean, so to speak. We want to explore genres and themes that creators often overlook, to try different things with a smaller but dedicated audience.”
“When it comes to a character’s behavior, I always try to create something genuine,” said Taro. “For example, instead of creating a demure girl who only exists in a man’s fantasy and is inexplicably dedicated to the protagonist, I want to give the characters a more realistic feel- like someone who could actually exist around me. I hope that is something that resonates with many people too.”
Pressed by Shuhei for his thoughts on the matter, Saito told his host, “To be honest, of course Director Yoko has his own vision of what he wants to make. However, there are, of course, certain things that are ethically or morally inappropriate -even if they’re just aspects of a character.”
“We try to draw a line by establishing rules about what’s acceptable and what’s not,” he explained. “While certain things might be acceptable in Japan, they could become problematic in certain overseas regions, and even characters could become problematic as well. These are the kind of situation we usually try to avoid creating. As a result, there are actually countries where we couldn’t officially release NieR: Automata.”
Closing out his answer with a bit of levity, Saito ultimately asserted, “Earlier, Director Yoko mentioned creating characters that could exist around him – not ones with overly unrealistic settings. But focusing on creating characters who would feel out of place even if they existed around him. If you think about the Drakengard characters as the kind of friends Director Yoko is surrounded with, you would begin to understand Director Yoko’s worldview.”
“All of them are weirdos,” he laughed, “and among them, Director Yoko is the weirdest one.”
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