So justifications aside, what’s the REASON behind 2B’s fetishized style? Blindfolds are actually visors, but why wouldn’t androids built in the year 11,942 (the year 9S was built and probably around the time 2B was built) be able to just have whatever information these visors give them built into their eyes so they don’t need additional accessories? Skimpy skirts are actually heat sinks, but again, nearly 10,000 years in the future, why is androids overheating even still a problem? Shouldn’t they have fixed that by then? High heels may not be prohibitive, but if androids can just wear anything, why not wear t-shirts and jeans? These androids could have been dressed in any type of clothing and justifications could be made for anything. So there’s a number of justifications for why 2B and other YoRHa units are dressed the way they are, but it doesn’t exactly explain why they’re dressed that way to begin with. Using this justification, androids can wear pretty much anything and it won’t prohibit their abilities because they can just adjust their programming so that a normally prohibitive article of clothing no longer causes issues. This is more my own speculation, but I would think that androids can simply be calibrated to account for something like high heels so that they won’t be prohibitive, whereas they would be for humans. Other things, like the high-heeled boots, don’t appear to have a function, but they don’t necessarily prohibit actions either. Meanwhile, YoRHa skirts (or shorts, for the few male models) also have a function, as explained in a crossover event with another Yoko Taro game SINoALICE, in which it is made clear that these skirts work as heat sinks that allow heat to escape and prevent YoRHa units from overheating. Additionally, director Yoko Taro explained in an interview that YoRHa combat units wear blindfolds to symbolically show that they are blind to the truth, while YoRHa operators wear veils to symbolize their inability to speak the truth. Her blindfold, for example, isn’t really a blindfold, but is referred to as a “military visor” or “goggles.” We’re not really given specifics, but the implication is that this accessory somehow allows 2B and other YoRHa units to see things that they wouldn’t normally be able to see that help them in battle situations. So first thing’s first, and that’s to explain that some of her clothes actually provide functionality in the world of NieR:Automata. How can she be expected to run around, fighting machines when she’s wearing those ridiculous high-heeled boots? How can she see when she’s wearing a blindfold? Wouldn’t her skirt flapping around be distracting? You get the idea. One of the biggest arguments against 2B’s design is the lack of functionality it would appear to provide. (Here’s the link to a spoiler-free article about why you should definitely play this game, even if you’re skeptical about it.) Before reading further, be warned that this article contains MASSIVE SPOILERS for NieR:Automata, so please go play it for yourself before continuing. However, in this article I’ll attempt to explain why it actually sort of makes sense for 2B to be dressed the way that she is within the context of the game.
As I asked in my article on how 2017’s depiction of women in games was, why would an android designed to battle wear high-heeled boots and a blindfold? On the surface, 2B’s outfit seems pretty ridiculous. Additionally, it would also seem that the outfit just doesn’t make sense, given the events of NieR:Automata. To a western audience, however, it looks like 2B is simply the product of straight male sexualization and fetishization. In the game’s home country of Japan, it’s not quite as outrageous, as 2B’s clothes are apparently emulative of Japanese Gothic Lolita fashion, though there are some obvious liberties taken (I can’t imagine a whole lot of Japanese models are walking down the runway with blindfolds on). Whether you like it or hate it, you can’t say it hasn’t had some kind of impression on you. One of the things that’s sure to influence people’s first impressions of NieR:Automata is the way the protagonist, 2B, is dressed. I wrote an article a couple of weeks ago to coincide with the game’s Japanese release, and now today (March 7) I’ll be writing another for the first anniversary of its North American release. Alright, so NieR:Automata is one of my favorite games of all time and I’m currently in the process of celebrating the game’s first anniversary by writing some articles about it.