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Before I start I would like to give two warnings: Fist, I love this show, so this review is most likely going to be very biased, second, I did not (and will not) play the videogame, so the mentions of it I could make are going to be limited to what I saw on just one walkthrough, and of course, I am not going to complain about how is not a 1:1 adaptation because of that, even more so because this is mainly directed towards anime only viewers like myself.
TL; DR: It has poor CGI and is not a videogame, but despite some issues it is still a great science fiction show.
Oh poor show, all it took was one episode of bad CGI and not doing the impossible of making a tv series to be exactly like a videogame for most to not give it a chance. And then something weird happened (they said COVID, but it has become hard to believe) that messed up the release completely, and even more stopped giving a damn because it would come out like a manga on hiatus.
Let’s get the production out of the way. A-1 Pictures usually delivers with the visuals, but I never felt like any of their shows was visually impressive, and NieR:Automata Ver1.1a could have been the exception, but it is not. The overall artwork is great, I had no issue with it, there are no obvious quality drops, the backgrounds of the game are captured perfectly on the show, the motions during battles are really good even when the fights are short, although not so much during relaxing moments, the special effects are really good as well, and the character designs were translated well to 2D, even though the lines in the joints of the characters in the series do not reflect the fact that they are androids as well as the 3D models from the videogame, and obviously, the hairs do not have as much volume as in the game. Some people have issues with 2B’s face since she seems to have lipstick and eye liner or something, not me. That seems very superficial and minimal to me, especially when she wears a skirt and high heels during battles. But the main issue with this anime is the infamous CGI that made lots of people drop it with just one episode. At first glance it is plain awful, but maybe I got used to it, because it did not look that bad to me during a rewatch, I mean, it is still pretty bad compared to the rest, since those CGI mecha do not seem to match with the rest of the show at times, but the motions are still good even during those moments. Luckily it is not that present after the first episode, but it is still the worst visual aspect in a show that is otherwise very solid.
Sound wise, the show is kind of amazing even if it could have been even better. The sound effects are impactful enough and usually very good, yet they could have been a bit louder sometimes in a particular episode, the background music in the show is immersive and very reminiscent of Ghost in the Shell’s, but I have to take points from it for being practically reused from the videogame or the original Nier, even Advent Children had different arrangements of the Final Fantasy VII soundtrack, this series does not seem to be changing the themes one bit, nor add its own. The opening and ending are good but did not make the best first impressions on me. They definitely grew on me over time though, particularly after hearing the full versions, and even more so when I found out a bit more about the lyrics and how they reflect the perspective of the main characters. As for the voice acting, every voice fits the character just right and is well interpreted, and is good what they did editing wise with the robot characters, they might sound a bit annoying to some perhaps but since they are robots trying (and ultimately failing) to be, act and sound human, what was done with them sounds accordingly. I would never have had an issue with this department if I had not watch a walkthrough of the game. I do not know if this is just a thing on the English dub that I watched and it was different on the original Japanese, but over there the robots sound more monotonous and lifeless, which fits the idea and characterization behind them a bit better, as well as the weird feeling both the protagonists and viewer are meant to feel when that happens. So, funnily, if I have to criticize something from the voice acting it is from being way too well done, but I am still not taking points from it.
And now I can finally move to the meat of the series. The premise is rather typical but usually interesting and exciting if you are into science fiction, humanity lives on the Moon and tries to get back Earth which was taken by aliens after they attacked it and conquered it, with the spin of both sides using robots and androids as their military forces. Throughout the show we follow two androids on Earth interacting with the Resistance and fighting alien machines there while investigating a former unit going rogue. It seems like there is not much conflict in it and it is just two sides at war, but there are different interesting clashing perspectives in it:
-The YoRHa units are built to just kill every robot they see so they want to be done with it as soon as possible.
-The androids on Earth were fighting for so long and know and are in contact and even negotiations with some machines, so they are tired of the war and not nearly as extreme. They also have been neglected help from the Human Council for so much time that they do not trust YoRHa units all that much. And even then they have their fair share of internal differences.
-Similarly, the machines have been fighting for so long and had seen so many of them getting destroyed that some of them just want to live peacefully in community.
-Then there is A2, who considers she has been betrayed by the Human Council and YoRHa in the past so she goes rogue on her mission. It is interesting that she is still hunting machines despite not being ordered to do so, but she has a personal reason to do that.
-Then mankind, which you never get to see, just want to take back Earth despite all the sacrificed androids it takes.
-The YoRHa commander, who just seems to be serious and cold at first and not caring about using the Resistance members as decoys like the Human Council orders, yet does not like sending the androids to their destruction.
As you know already if you played the videogame, or have guessed with the above, this is another one of those what if stories where AI essentially developed a level of conscience and self-awareness that they consider themselves to be humans, or equals to humans. So here you have every character going existential in one way or another, and this is a very important thing to clarify. If you go into this show expecting to get all the action from the videogame, you will be disappointed. There is action alright but the series focuses more on the existential drama of the story of the game. The characters in this show are constantly pondering about how humans are and act, how we do certain things, the things we do under certain moments, why are those even important and what do they mean to us, and are also curious about Earth and why is it so important to mankind, while the alien machines that now want to live in peace on the planet try to mimic what they came to know about humans and life on Earth, and they talk about emotions, bonds, ways to organize and live in society, concepts such as loyalty and love, they claim to have a soul, and even try to mimic different ways humans show affection, heck they even have sex at one point.
Basically, the series more or less references to, or combines ideas of Sartre, Beauvoir, Camus, Nietzsche, Theseus and Pascal and although the way said ideas are integrated is basic, this makes the experience easily digestible and enjoyable, instead of tedious and tiresome. Also, since the concepts are related to the plot and characterization, and unlike other anime Nier:Automata Ver1.1a does not quotes the philosophers, and thus it does not comes off as pretentious.
But it is not like the show just has androids and robots just talking about these things either, there is also action, mainly the hack & slash portions of the videogame, while 9S’ hacking sections and the shoot ‘em up/bullet hell bits have a much more minimal presence, even more so with the latter. And even those are usually accompanied by the machines challenging the concept of them that the androids have been bombarded with all the time by YoRHa and the Human Council, so there is theme exploration even there.
There is also some comedy, and although I was born a grumpy old man that prefers his serious moody shows to stay as serious and moody as possible, I was mostly fine with the mix here. There is some Yoko Taro trademark humor in it, like a post ending puppet theater segment that shows all the alternative endings from the videogame, as well as speeding up the credits that come right after, like in the videogame. There are some silly bits that are meant to relax, yet they are usually followed by soldiers talking about everything they have lost, their need for hope, or if all the fighting is really worth it, or the scene where the village leader Pascal says to 9S that despite all the modifications for weaponry done on his body, he is still the same on the inside because of his soul or heart, even Operator 21O asking 9S to collect photos of certain things on Earth are meant to show her curiosity about it and humans, or Operator 6O asking 2B to put a flower on her hair is meant to show hers about the same things, as well as certain human customs and even fashion choices. So there is theme exploration even in those moments, no scene in this series feels like it wastes time.
And it is not like the show sacrifices its plot and pacing for the sake of theme exploration either, on episode 2, 2B and 9S are assigned the mission to do reconnaissance and find the reason for the weird behavior of the alien machines, as well as why so many other YoRHa units have been disappearing. With proper anticipation and build up, and without having you wait that much time for answers, by the eight episode you already know the reasons for both of those things, and there is a proper follow up after said answers were given.
And it is also not like the show is all plot and no interesting characters either. The protagonists as you sure know are female android YoRHa Model No.2 Type B (for Battler) and male android YoRHa Model No.9 Type S (for Scanner), 2B and 9S respectively for short.
She seems to be always serious and collected during relaxing moments and wants to complete missions as quick as possible, and she always tells 9S to no get emotional, but is clearly affected by the loss of a squad she was part of at the beginning of the show, which is why she does not mind doing errands instead of fighting, as well as 9S being a different 9S she fought along with in the first episode, which is why she refuses to call him by his nickname, so she is the more emotional of the two. She is also clearly doubtful about her duty and the depiction of the alien machines from YoRHa and the Human Council’s propaganda compared to what she finds on Earth.
He, on the contrary, tries to get closer to 2B and is always far more relaxed and friendly during relaxing moments, but is otherwise serious and merciless during battles, not doubting to kill innocent machines, even children. He also hacks robots during fights and gets to see their memories, convinced that they cannot possibly have something such as memories and they are just trying to fool him by mimicking humans. He is clearly more in line with YoRHa and the Human Council’s propaganda and denies every display of emotion and cognition done by the robots, but even he starts to doubt that throughout the series as he interacts with the Resistance, or Pascal, or the encounter with A2, and even spies on YoRHa’s commander at one point.
Other important characters include deserter veteran soldier Type A (for Attacker) No.2, A2 for short, on the hunt of machines and trying to put YoRHa units against the Human Council because of her past, adding a former soldier betrayed by her military layer to the show, Resistance members Lily the leader, with a close past connection with A2, and Jackass, who acts as a comic relief character and a technology and data freak of sorts but still has her serious and sharp side like Lily.
The only somewhat fleshed out robot would be Pascal, a former battle unit, leader of a village, trying to be up to his position, acting silly at times and challenging 9S’ views at others. Much like A2, he is a deserter, and much like Adam, he yearns for learning.
The machine brothers Adam and Eve, acting as antagonists in the show, evolved from many others. The former develops intelligence and language throughout their apparitions, by reading and interpreting different human writings to be like them, while the latter is just defined by how much he admires his older brother.
There are more robots that appear for about one episode to explore certain themes, and they have a backdrop, but they are not as important because of lack of screen time.
There are also more characters from the Nier franchise as a nod to the fans but they appear as cameos with not much to do or say.
Aside from the writing, another thing that stands out is the directing, with very good battle choreography during fights, following every motion and even referencing the videogame at points. Sometimes there are also long atmospheric scenes with very minimal dialogue, or even mute, letting the viewer figure what is happening by themselves, showing instead of telling. The art style also changes completely when showing Pascal’s past. The sixth episode which is the one showing Lily and A2’s past is the one that stands out the most, using first person perspective during some shots, and having Lily and 2B walking on a place, while the memories of the former transition over to behind the space they are walking on, so she is, in a way, reliving her past. I find it quite impressive coming from the people responsible for it, who before this title did not make anything that I find to be particularly good.
Another thing that I want to point out as a positive, is the fact that, despite being based on a videogame where it is possible to have a relatively high level of fanservice, and adapted by #1 butt fetishist Japanese studio A-1 Pictures, the instances in the show where skin is shown that can be counted as fanservice are few, scattered, and subtle. It also makes sense to have like three or four very quick butt shots with 2B jumping everywhere while using a skirt, so I did not have a problem with them while watching the series, and if you have read another one of my reviews you may know that I always bitch about unnecessary nudity moments. Still, I have to say that I did not like how they increased in the final episodes.
But despite my praises, Nier:Automata Ver1.1a is certainly not without its questionable things of different nature.
The first one has to do with the concept itself. As much as I tend to love these kind of stories where AI becomes sentient and stuff, the scenario is still hard to accept even in these times. AI is programmed by humans, the things it can do are limited to what a human commands. Granted, this story happens way further in the future so who knows, but in our times, the concept is still not fully believable. Another thing to point out about these premises are how AI develop conscience, self-awareness and free will, despite being built and programmed by others, so the things they should develop on their own by definition, were actually programmed by others, sounds a bit contradictory does not it? It is even weirder when it comes to the machines, but is it perhaps easier to accept since they were made by a supposedly advanced space species, again, in the future.
Then there are things that are questionable within the writing of Nier:Automata itself, like why would you program emotions into your android military forces, knowing that could potentially lead them to oppose you, which is something that actually happens, should not the YoRHa units be more monitored and controlled in some way to prevent that same possibility? Why would the robots try to be humans when they were made by another completely different species? Ok maybe the reasoning is that they want to live on Earth and they want to show androids and humans that they can be the same, and they fail, so the franchise addresses that in a way. Then there is something regarding the robots and their alien creators which does not make much sense when you consider that a good number of them moves in sloppy ways, and cannot even fight against the androids. These are things that affect the credibility of Nier:Automata specifically, and without clear answers they feel like they are the way they are just so the story can happen.
And another issue of the anime itself, is how it shows the backgrounds of certain machines and throws references to the original Nier. Although I do appreciate how those scenes are presented as I said earlier, it is true that if you are an anime only like myself you can be confused by what is shown, even more so with the references. Like, I know who Kaine is, but since I did not watch a walkthrough of the original Nier yet, I did not get why her brief apparition was important, or what that wedding earlier even was. The scenes by their own still function at showing the background stories of the characters and impact 9S, but it is understandable if anime onlys are confused with them and feel indifferent towards them.
Other issues include how sometimes some cinematics from Route B are integrated in ways that do not feel properly contextualized, and the fact that part of the plot is left to be adapted. The season ends in a good point but the story is still incomplete. Also, as great as 2B and 9S are, and although the rest of the cast is still somewhat fleshed out and given a good enough either presence or personality, or a backdrop, or all of those things, they are still not as good characters as the main two, which are the only ones to get proper development and catharsis.
I would now like to talk about the criticisms about how the adaptation works compared to the videogame. I heard and read complaints about how the videogame is more engaging thanks to the three obligatory runs to complete the whole story, and how it shows more information about the story and characters each time that way, there is replay value, while the anime gives you all the information you need at once, thus it does not have the same sense of intrigue and rewatch value. Those points are somewhat true but also unfair with the show, an anime television series is not a videogame, it is supposed to give you the full story at once to be complete, which is why it skips most side quests. Also it has rewatch value because that way you might notice things you missed the first time, or how it foreshadows or builds up future events.
Granted, a more faithful adaptation to the videogame could be possible with more seasons, but for that to be done that way, I can only think that it should be like either the Endless Eight arc of the Haruhi Suzumiya franchise, which although it had interesting directing choices, it was mostly hated even by its fans for how minimal the new content was on each episode, or the Fate/Stay Night franchise, which adapts each route on a different series each time. The problem with that approach is how every adaptation lacks important details about either the story or the world or the lore or the characters, even in the original game. If you just consume Fate or Unlimited Blade Works, you know nothing about several characters, and you are missing a lot of lore that is only shown on Heaven’s Feel, on which so many characters die so fast and early, you have to watch or play the other two to even know who they are. If you adapt a videogame that way, it might mean more possible money and a longer time you have a fanbase, but writing wise it is not a good way to do it, because none of the stories will be entirely complete without the others. Retakes of a same story from different perspectives can work just fine, but exact reruns of that said same story works only for videogames, and is otherwise not good writing.
And this criticism did not even age well now that the season is complete and the continuation adapting the third route was confirmed.
Plus, imagine how much time it would take them to release three series instead of just one or two, why with the horrible release date this one alone had. That is a serious criticism that can be made about this anime but not in terms of writing, it is not a problem within the series itself, but rather a problem of it as a product, thanks to the people responsible for it. The release schedule was so irregular without much explanation, and the one given, COVID, was hard to believe for how long the series was postponed. It was even worse because in the meantime they released all kind of products, from the soundtrack, to podcasts, to a card game, to figurines, to puzzles, even the puppets you can see in the post credits each episode, among many more, it felt like they were trolling us and delaying the series on purpose to sell more stuff of it. Obviously this will not be a problem once the series is fully complete and available to watch from beginning to end whenever someone feels like it, but in the era of overproduction of products, hype, instant gratification, and short memory and attentions spans, it is a big issue for some, and I do not see many people recommending this anime in the future because it became kind of niche even when it was airing.
And now, I would like to add a summary for people who have already played the videogame, where I tell you what parts of the videogame are adapted on each episode, and what the adaptation skips or changes, as much as I can notice:
Episode 1-A foreshadowing of route A ending, followed by the prologue, including the very beginning of route B.
Episode 2-It is mostly original, half of it follows a robot that grows and take care of flowers, while the other half shows the Resistance, which 2B and 9S get to meet after the maintenance scene. Anemone is replaced by Lily and also, Devola and Popola appear. It includes some cinematics from Route B.
Episode 3-Follows 2B and 9S meeting the Resistance camp, including Jackass, who is more energetic and silly here, acting as the comic relief character. They also go to the desert, and the City Ruins where they meet all the android corpses and very briefly fight against Adam and Eve. The only important skipped bit was the member of the Resistance that wants to conserve his original leg, as the only remain of his original self. This conversation is somewhat present on episode 7.
Episode 4-2B and 9S go to the Amusement Park and fight against Simone/Beauvoir, I guess the Memories of a Songstress novel from the videogame is included in a way as a flashback, though the dialogues are quite different, so maybe not. At the end of it 9S tells 2B to not hesitate to kill machines, this way is far more impactful and makes more sense than in the videogame, partly because of the events on the episode itself, and partly because on the original he says that to her during a random encounter with a group on the desert, while the player has the option to casually slaughter them to grind experience without hesitation.
Episode 5-2B and 9S go to the Ruins of Commercial Facilities and the village where Pascal lives, they also find Emil, in a way, and reveal him as a weapon. Kaine appears in a flashback. It includes cinematics of Adam and Eve on the table.
Episode 6-Shows Lily and A2’s past, adapted from the Anemone: Encounter, Understanding and Separation novels from the game, the Ongakugeki YoRHa Ver.1.2 stage play, and the YoRHa: Shinjuwan Kouka Sakusen Kiroku manga. Anemone appears as a side character, as she was replaced by Lily in this series. Very good on its own but I found the other version I saw to be more detailed and introspective, thus better.
Episode 7-It fuses some side quests into a new one of sorts, leading 2B and 9S into the Forest Kingdom and their encounter and fight with A2. Since she cleared all the guards, it skips all the fights in it, and the castle sequence from the game, but it shows the backstory of the place that is shown on Route B. An important thing that was skipped between episode 5 and this one is the second encounter with Adam and Eve, and the reveal of what happened with the aliens. In this episode Pascal and 92 discuss about how much of you is still you if you change your body too much, so in a way it has the conversation that could have been on episode 2.
Episode 8-It mostly has the main characters interacting in the Flooded City, with the Lunar Tear accessory included, it does not adapt the fights and protecting the carrier mission from the game, thus it does not feature the other YoRHa units. With major changes, the end of the episode leads into the mission to find 9S.
Episode 9-It begins with 9S arguing with Adam in the cyberspace, then 2B reaches that room where the last episode left off, and goes to the Underground to find an access to the Copied City, where Adams presents himself and reveals what happened with the aliens, a bit that was missing from earlier episodes, as the second encounter was completely skipped. Then the two of them fight, with a major change in the outcome, for the better, honestly.
Episode 10-It adapts 2B going to the abandoned factory and fighting the Robot God, a mission from the videogame which was reconnected directly with the main plot through the outcome of the previous episode, thus I find it better than the original. The after credits puppet theater shows the Red Girls briefly.
Episode 11-It has the full scale attack of the alien machines on the Resistance Camp rewritten into an original fight which I did not find all that good in any particular way, but at least had the Resistance being a somewhat active part of it, unlike the game. It also has a bit more of immersion giving to the brothers and now the Red Girls officially appear in the anime, even if for an even more brief moment than before. Still, as a whole, I found this episode to be the worst of the season, both as an adaptation and on its own.
Episode 12-It shows the outcome and the Route A ending, even finishing with End of the World as a mid-episode ending song. Afterwards it shows 9S getting all the information he comes to learn about during his data overhaul and synchronization in Route B, even displaying some messages he reads in the game. It also shows him encountering the Red Girls, now responsible for these leaks in information, something which I also find it to be better than the original. Aside from that, their apparition, alongside with a post ending teaser, anticipates events from Route C and the second season.
As a whole, despite not free of issues in writing, visuals and presentation, along with a very bad release schedule, I found it to be a great existential post-apocalyptic war drama and the best anime to come out in years, as well as the best videogame adaptation so far for keeping the core story with more changes to its favor, although some of them were not as equally good, and also for making every second of it count for plot progression, characterization and theme exploration. An easy entry among my favorites anime of all time.
8/10
