Today Square Enix Ltd., revealed breath-taking, paper re-creations of two of the main characters from NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139… to mark the upcoming launch of the modern re-telling of NieR Replicant rebuilt for the PlayStation 4 computer entertainment system and Xbox One family of devices including Xbox One X, and PC (Steam). The incredibly talented Finnish Origami artist Juho Könkkölä managed to recreate Emil and the Protagonist with the most intricate detail, capturing the beloved characters personality, attire, and weapons through his magical art form.
NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139… | NieR-igami
Having taken approximately 210 hours for the preparation and folding, the origami figures have been made using traditional Japanese paper folding techniques, both separately folded from a single square sheet of Wenzhou paper, without any cutting whatsoever.
Following a careful process of deciding the paper allocation and layout for the figures, Juho then planned out every complicated fold to give the art the key characteristic features that you see in the final design, including the hair, fingers, bespoke weapons, and decadent clothing. The folding process of each of the figures started with a pre-creasing process, whereby several hundred creases were made and folded on the square sheet of paper, which took him over a day for each character.
Then all the pre-made creases were folded into a stick figure, where all the main features came together to form the figure for each of the characters. The large, block-like shapes, were then folded further to recreate the finer details in the art, such as the thin Katana sword wielded by the Protagonist or Emil’s trusty Mace, to capture those infamous characteristics from the videogame. The final element of the shaping then came from the ‘wet folding process’, where Juho put in all the finer shaping and detail.
It was a long process to recreate the characters from NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139… but I’m very proud of the final two pieces of art. When the concept was first brought to me, I instantly had a clear vision of how I could bring Emil and the Protagonist to life through the medium of Origami. The Protagonist was the hardest to recreate, due to the complex dimensional shapes, but I think the extra detail really adds to the final pieces. I hope I have done the franchise justice and that the fans enjoy my work.
Juho Könkkölä, Origami Artist
For more information on the artist Juho Könkkölä, please visit his official website:
https://juhokonkkola.fi/art-process/ or follow him on Instagram @jkonkkola_origami.
NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139… will launch for the PlayStation 4 computer entertainment system, Xbox One family of devices including Xbox One X and PC (Steam) on April 23, 2021. The game is rated PEGI 18. Complete details on all editions of the game and pre-order bonuses are available at: http://www.niergame.com.
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