Square Enix has released photos and details for their upcoming Kainé Bring Arts Figure. This new release is from the NieR franchise, specifically NieR: RepliCant (aka Nier: Gestalt). RepliCant was the Japanese release, while NieR: Gestalt was the U.S. release. While the core gameplay was essentially the same, the story, timeline and some of the characters were changed. The Kainé figure stand just under 6″ tall and includes interchangeable hands, two blades, an Emil head, and a figure stand. The figure will be priced at $69.99, with a 10% discount if you pre-order directly from Square Enix. See the photos after the jump.
A world on the brink of ruin… NIER™ depicts the daily battles of its eponymous protagonist in this world, and now, Kainé, his dual weapon-wielding female warrior companion, makes her appearance to the Bring Arts action figure line!
Her bewitching costume’s revealing design, the bandages that covers half of her body and the “Shade-possessed” skin peeking from underneath it, her dignified expression… These details and more are all recreated in this figure! You can enjoy her presence just as it was in the game through details in the paint application: her silver hair, with paint applied onto clear material to give it a translucent feel; the careful application of color that brings out the textures of each different part of her costume.
An abundance of accessories are included, such as her twin blades and an Emil head that can also be used with the NieR: Automata™ Bring Arts 2B (sold separately).
Display stand included.
NieR: RepliCant/Gestalt Kainé Bring Arts Figure

Goodness me.
Yes I think I'm gonna need a cold shower...right after I go ahead and preorder! 🙄
Holy crap; I might have to buy this purely for the sex appeal. How weird is that?!
What I do love about Kaine being a hermaphrodite is that it's actually treated seriously as part of her backstory as an outcast and serves to inform her coarse/rough personality. Yoko Taro purposely created Kaine as a way to humanize those who are treated as an other in society with that mindset carrying over to Emil's character.
Beyond that, I like that in-game she's treated as a woman through and through, in which her wearing skimpy clothes/lingerie is also her way of owning her femininity. I do hope they go far in expanding the line and hopefully make the rest of the cast from the original Nier.
Beyond that, I like that in-game she's treated as a woman through and through, in which her wearing skimpy clothes/lingerie is also her way of owning her femininity. I do hope they go far in expanding the line and hopefully make the rest of the cast from the original Nier.
Of course, all of this is still fine if the content producers actually tackle these things objectively and kept it realistic. But most often, you find these sort of content merely appeal to emotions to nudge you toward feeling some sort of "complexity" in the situation. To make matters worse, the situations that lead to these dilemmas do not actually exist in the real world (eg. there are no hermaphrodite human beings in real life).
It is also most often the case that the authors of the content are folks who are far from being experts in ethics or philosophy. Of course, one could argue that the emotionalism fits with the "over the top" exaggerated nature of Japanese content, and that is indeed its charm. But it is tiring and quickly becomes hard to relate to unless one abandons all desire for objective analysis.
So in regards to this particular character, is it odd that human beings feel a rather oddness about her state of affairs? YES! But, there is actually nothing wrong with feeling that oddness because things are not as they should be for a human being. Once one realizes that, the plot point of making Kaine a hermaphrodite starts to become pointless. Why? Because no one in their right mind should suddenly start feeling that Kaine is in a normal situation. It would have been far more effective to draw attention to the issue of ostracizing by taking some other realistic attribute.
Kaine's situation is still applicable to issues faced by inters[e]x and trans people, in which I've seen such fans relate to Kaine's gendered stigmatization in-universe. To simply dismiss that feels a bit presumptuous just because you don't find it convincing. Her dilemma isn't somehow diminished just because you don't find the circumstances behind it to be realistic enough, especially when the core issues she deals with can actually be applied to similar problems people have faced in terms of gender identity politics, e.g. questioning/mocking someone's affirmation of their gender identity. Just because it doesn't tackle it based on a completely realistic attribute, it doesn't mean players can't relate to the feelings and experiences of the characters in the games. This is a point that Yoko Taro has addressed when it comes to his character conception and story writing wherein his focus lies on communicating an experience that people can still relate to despite purposely choosing fantastical and inhuman concepts like replicants or androids for his stories.
You mention this attribute as an example of "[nudging] you toward feeling some sort of "complexity" in the situation" when the game doesn't even mention it in the story and only focuses on the narrative of Kaine being ostracized by her village, in which you can only find out about this attribute and the circumstances surrounding it through side materials. I think this makes it obvious that Taro's focus was characterizing Kaine's turmoil as someone whose gender identity was mocked and questioned in the past, as opposed to making a big deal about the fantastical detail of her being an unintended hermaphrodite caused by the fickleness of the Replicant system (yeah no). It doesn't make it pointless since it actually manages to enforce a narrative that people are still able to relate to.
My point in bringing up my appreciation for Yoko Taro's creative intent is because people tend to make a big deal out of it when the game actually doesn't: be it as some form of twisted fanservice (when it wasn't) or as if that puts Kaine's femininity into question, enough that it deserves making light of someone using the pronoun "she" (ironically a realistic issue when it comes to gender identity politics) even though she's still very much treated as a woman. The fact that there wasn't even any malicious intent behind this attribute makes it even weirder to draw attention to it in such a way.
I don't mean any animosity by positing an argument (I apologize if my language comes across as such and feel free to disagree of course), but it's exactly why I centered my initial post on the sincerity behind Yoko Taro's intent instead of propping it up some sort of flawless triumph in making a political statement, the latter of which wasn't my intention at all.
Hermaphrodites, if it ever came into existence, would actually be grounded in something empirically observable and tangible i.e. the person has both types of organs. Same applies for inter-sexed since we are talking about a condition that is genetically verifiable. But the entire concept of a malleable gender identity hinges on something that is completely opposite i.e. a person claiming that what is empirically verifiable about themselves is actually contradictory with they would like to be/experience as being/identified with etc.
So in one sense, making Kaine stand as the analogy for those who are ostracized for promoting/living a concept of gender identity feels dishonest. The two issues are not comparable. Those who oppose the concept of gender identity politics do so on the grounds that there simply isn't an empirically verifiable grounding for it (claiming a different gender than ones sex). But rather than address this concern, it would be cheating to resort to making a hermaphrodite stand as an icon for gender identity.
Thinking along the points you have raised, I would now grant that the game does draw focus onto a similar condition (inter-sexed) that does not get much attention these days (perhaps because it gets lost from gender identity politics that has become more dominant in discussions today). Persons who are faced with the intersex condition do have a heavy cross to bear. In that sense, I do find some fault with the creator/author of the game in that the nuances of such a particular condition were not explored. But yes, you can take heart that because of our discussion, at the very least, I do see Kaine as a character that can draw our attention to an important topic that is largely unheard of today.
Dare I also say it, due to what you have said, I have come to appreciate the character as well
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But rather than address this concern, it would be cheating to resort to making a hermaphrodite stand as an icon for gender identity.
NOTE: Sorry if I can't quote some of your points in full. Forum won't let me post certain words (hence my using brackets like so "[]") since it essentially treats me as a new member due to my very little post count.
Full Thread: NieR Kainé Bring Arts
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