‘NieR: Automata’ Ver1.1a Anime Review: 2B ‘Or not to [B]e’?

Initializing Pod 042…

There’s been an increasing number of video games being adapted for the screen of late. And while live-action adaptations are mostly doomed to fail, animations on the other hand have been fairly successful. Headlining the list, we have Arcane (League of Legends), Castlevania, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (responsible for popularizing Cyberpunk 2077), to name a few. Of course, there are some animated adaptations that are better left untouched (looking at you, Persona 5: The Animation).    

Video games are another medium for story telling after all. Compare a video game’s storyline to most books published today and chances are you’ll find a far better storyline with better writing from a video game than in a book published by a mainstream publisher. There are compelling, hauntingly beautiful, captivating and incredibly moving stories in these games. One such story is told in NieR: Automata.

Without venturing into spoiler territory, the setting is as thus:

The year is 11954 AD. Earth, which had been taken over by extraterrestrials has now been overrun by an army of sentient machine lifeforms. The remaining humans have retreated to the moon and YoRHa — an elite android force has been deployed to reclaim Earth. We see the story unfold through the perspectives of three YoRHa androids 2B, 9S and A2 as they spend their days fighting the 14th Machine War on Earth and exploring what’s left of it. They soon learn however, that the situation on Earth isn’t exactly as black and white as life on the YoRHa bunker.

Simple enough, but that doesn’t even scratch the surface of a game which caused a combination of an existential crisis, existential dread and depression for many who played it. Because while it can be argued that NieR: Automata’s strong point is its OST, graphics, its characters (and their models), NieR: Automata’s strong point is really in its plot. It’s a masterpiece and when you’re finally done, it leaves a void deeper and darker than the depths of space you see from the YoRHa bunker.    

It is also a game where you have 26 (or 27, if you count the DLC) different endings, one for each letter of the alphabet. The more you replay NieR: Automata (and you’ll need to replay it quite a few times to get all the endings), the more you unravel the threads of the story. It’s a unique experience that can be appreciated only in the form of an interactive medium, where you take control of the character.

So, when it was announced that NieR: Automata was getting an anime, the biggest question was how will they adapt this story? There are so many quests that contribute to making the experience memorable while giving you an insight into this dystopic world and its inhabitants. How will it translate to screen?

After the premiere of the first episode, the reaction is mixed at best.

While the 2D animation of the show is striking, the use of CGI in the show is mediocre. It’s almost as if they used the in-game models but took away the polish. It is jarring when juxtaposed with the 2D environment. The models are dull, toned down and washed out, looking lifeless and static. When the anime switches back to the 2D art, suddenly everything appears infinitely more colourful and smoother. It’s like Dorothy dropping into Oz from Kansas, and not in a good way. Especially when they’re in their flight units. It’s difficult to ignore it because the game was a work of art.

However, they make up for the mess that is the CGI with the use of puppets at the end of the episode, which demonstrates a joke ending and gets a bit of worldbuilding done. Nothing can stand in the path of the adorable 9S and 2B puppets; truly YoRHa’s most formidable weapon is the cuteness factor.

The fight scenes are recreated in the anime exactly as they were in the game. While the sequences themselves were well done, the prologue has one of the toughest fights in the game. You are immediately thrust into the thick of things with no knowledge or experience of the rigorous training YoRHa androids go through. There’s just so much to focus on and very little time to get the hang of things. And that really drives home the fact that majority of YoRHa’s forces got obliterated before the boss fight at the end of the prologue. The anime doesn’t really portray that all so well, but one can’t really complain. We are impartial observers in an anime, not standing in the characters’ shoes like we do in the game. That said, 2B in the anime making the prologue fight look like a cakewalk does feel a little underwhelming.

NieR: Automata’s amazing soundtrack makes a reappearance in the anime which was a very pleasant surprise. Music played a big role in setting the mood for the game with its orchestral soundtrack featuring lyrics in the fictional Chaos language. The lexicon, created by singer Emi Evans, is an imagined version of language in the distant future, indistinguishable to the people of today obtained by blending a number of languages currently in existence. In the anime, the opening song, however, does not use the game’s soundtrack and instead features the song “Escalate” by Japanese singer Aimer. While “Escalate” is a good song, one can’t help but feel that it doesn’t exactly match the tone and setting of the world of NieR: Automata as much as the whimsical, dream-like and occasionally melancholic made-up lyrics of the Chaos language.

The game has three routes – A, B and C. A being 2B’s perspective, B is 9S’ and C is A2’s. The first episode is nearly a scene-by-scene recreation of the prologue, blending both route A and B. As far as adaptations go, it’s very faithful. It’s a near-perfect copy of the game’s storyline with a few tweaks here and there. There’s a whole lot more foreshadowing done in the anime, much more than the game, which is to be expected since there is around 60-80 hours of gameplay to be condensed into a show with 24-minute episodes.

So, what would an abridged retelling of a game bring to the table? How will it add to the lore? And if it is indeed a complete recreation of the game in anime form why not call it NieR: Automata the animation? Why is it NieR: Automata Ver. 1.1a, a title that implies it is different from the game? 

Yoko Taro (the game director/writer who created the Drakengard franchise and its spin off franchise which is NieR) has said: “NieR: Automata was a story we created to be a game, so copying it as-is wouldn’t make an interesting story for an anime. So, I brought up the idea of changings things around. The original creator was trying to destroy the original story, and the anime staff is desperately trying to stop that.”

Knowing Yoko Taro, he’s probably going to make sure the anime deviates from the game’s storyline, hence the Ver. 1.1a in the title. There’s hope yet for the anime, it’s still too early to tell how the adaptation is going to pan out. However, that said, it’s still best to first play the game and only then watch the show. Playing NieR: Automata is a whole different ball game from just watching it unfold in front of you.

Pausing the title card, one will find a couple of hex string easter eggs caught by particularly discerning androids, here are the translations:

e38090e5a0b1e5918ae38091 0d0ae382a2e383b3e38389e383ade382a4e38389e381af e7949fe381a8e6adbbe38292e7b9b0e3828ae8bf94e38199e5ad98e59ca8e381a7e38182e3828be38082

[Nier:Automata] 【報告】 アンドロイドは生と死を繰り返す存在である。

[Nier:Automata] 【Report】 Androids are beings who repeat life and death.

e38090e5a0b1e5918ae380910d0ae8bcaae5bbbbe381aee980a3e98e96e3818ee38282e3819fe38289e38199e381aee381afe38081e 69591e6b888e3818be38081e5b4a9e5a38ae3818be38082
[Nier:Automata] 【報告】 輪廻の連鎖ぎもたらすのは、救済か、崩壊か。

[Nier:Automata] 【Report】 Will the chain of samsara be brought about by salvation or collapse?

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[Nier:Automata] ヨルハ

[Nier:Automata] YoRHa

e383ace382b8e382b9e382bfe383b3e382b9

[Nier:Automata] レジスタンス

[Nier:Automata] : Resistance

That’ll be all.

Signing off from the bunker.

-2E