The anime’s biggest flaw is its inability to create atmosphere, which is conversely one of the game’s biggest strengths complemented by a patient story. This is especially problematic when atmosphere is fundamental to Nier Automata’s compelling, thematically rich and very visual storytelling and how Yoko Taro would funnel a lot of his creative direction through; sometimes powerfully enough to even recontextualize the world he’s concocted. Nier Automata is set in a beautiful post-apocalyptic world where futurism is overrun with greenery, yet the anime never leans into this hauntingly desolate, atmospheric world except for once in episode 2 with the anime-original opening sequence involving the Machines. The pensive sadness of Nier Automata is lost to mere opaqueness because it fails to use silence to tap into the potential of its world for the narrative it wants to tell, which consequently jeopardises the plot and characters as they are not yet interesting enough to stand on their own. This whilst relying on still frames and sometimes exposition dumps leads to the anime underselling otherwise emotional key story beats, and it makes the story feel like it’s preoccupied with moving from plot point A to B despite its commendable efforts to avoid that so it can manage with the handful of episodes it was dealt with in order to condense such expansive content into. In retrospect, the hasty execution of the anime; obviously owing to an atrocious production schedule that was overbearing the staff; was indicative from the quality of the premiere in all its low frame-rate, zero-compositing CGI glory; which was also just a 1:1 adaptation of the prologue devoid of any artistry intent on specializing the content for a 20-minute-length TV format. Let alone the third delay five episodes later which resulted in a four-month hiatus.
However, the art direction and series composition cannot be ignored for their merits. And the score is of course palatial, using OSTs directly from the game. Regardless of the immersion-busting CGI and very average animation, the art direction expressly displays an appreciation for aesthetics with its gorgeous character models and beautiful background art, accompanied by a refined color palette harmonious with the overarching mood of the series. This isn’t all too surprising considering the works of art that were the key visuals for this title. Regarding series composition, Ryouji Masuyama the director intended to leave everything from the source material unchanged before Yoko Taro insisted otherwise, and I believe that change was for the better. It justifies the existence of this adaptation, and the mixing of the game’s story with its scattered supplemental content alongside the subtle–occasionally witty–fanservice is very much appreciated. The anime-original content is nothing to write home about, but it is respectful of the pre-established story’s sensibilities. All of this shows the meritorious effort of this adaptation and it confutes the bystanding impression that this is just another soulless cash-grab. I just wish it had properly put these strengths to use. There are amazing background shots which the anime doesn’t allow to linger and enrich its atmospheric narrative with, the elegant music from the game is only used for 10 seconds between scenes, and the pacing is plagued with inconsistencies where less important plot points drag on with uncomfortable lethargy whilst others are quickly transitioned through or skipped altogether with negligence towards thematic exploration. The direction is chiefly monotonous and this makes the story’s presentation lacklustre.
There are glimpses of excellence in NieR:Automata Ver1.1a, but its faults ultimately make this a somewhat mediocre and forgettable anime as a standalone title. The 2D visuals and the music must be praised, and the efforts in which it takes to be an inoffensive swerving from becoming a pointless 1:1 adaptation as an inferior product is also worthy of that same praise. But aside from needing to have played the game to sincerely appreciate most of the aforementioned merits; even if you have, the direction remains predominantly monotonous for a source material with such artistry and this results in a debilitated presentation of oftentimes dull executions of the powerful themes and world wielded by Nier Automata. Unfortunately, the haemorrhaging production schedule did no favors for the patient narrative either and this anime deserved so much better than having its reputation tarnished by a huge hiatus.
Watch this after you’ve already played the game. The anime being your first exposure to Nier Automata isn’t ideal. But at the same time, this certainly isn’t an offensive disaster of an adaptation enough to leave a bitter aftertaste either. As I said, Ver 1.1a isn’t a bad anime by itself; the story and the art direction are still much better than average. It isn’t a second-rate product to the video game struggling to justify its existence like many VG-to-anime adaptations fall victim to the fate of, and there is evidently charm to it. So you can’t go wrong with picking it up as supplemental content. And seriously, play the video game already if you haven’t… Nier Automata marked a landmark step in video game storytelling because arguably for the first time ever, video games went toe-to-toe with the likes of film and literature in the philosophical arena. It’s a metafictive, nihilistic yet hopeful postmodern masterpiece. Its themes of existentialism, identity, free will and determinism, consciousness and emotion, transcendence and evolution etc are timeless, and they’re explored with sophisticated intricacy. Even if Ver 1.1a was a stellar anime adaptation with industry-setting cinematography, it still wouldn’t completely capture the ethereal beauty of this title because of how extensively it utilizes the complex medium in which it resides.
