Should I go ahead and buy the DLC?  I read that the DLC contains the original main character model that was released with the japanese version.  Will downloading this allow me to play the game with the original character model or does it just applies to the DLC?

I'm not really sure. Nier is a fantastic game but father Nier is the guy your going to want to see throughout the story.

Thanks.  Any thought from anyone else?

I never bought the DLC.  Neir is a great game tho and worth playing with or without the DLC.  If you do play it that way let me know, Id play the game again if I got to go from start to finish with a different looking character.

The music gets massively annoying, tho the brief periods of character chatter make up for all of it.

It only applies to the DLC.

Don't think it's worth buying until you've been through an ending or two, DLC is pretty much an endurance run through some battles plus it gets you some rare items, which you might profit from if you want to get all the trophies/achievements.

If you are going after the platinum trophy, getting DLC (aka Eagle Egg farm) will help you a lot.  You get to play brother Nier in the DLC levels, so that's pretty refreshing.  DLC also includes some remix version of songs from Nier soundtrack.  IMO, they worth the $7 pricetag already.

^this. I still need to finish the game though. I got too Op and quit playing at the end.