There are two distinct mindsets to be in watching this, either you have played the game and know the story or are new and watching it for the first time in this anime. I'm so jealous of the latter. This is a story that is so incredible and near to my heart that I, early on, really disliked how they started the first season. Why do we need an anime recreation of this already fantastic story, one where having choice in game makes it so much more interactive and impactful and personal and gut-wrenching. A-1 Pictures answered this with this season.
Early on in Season 1 I felt wrong and like I actually was watching something pretty masterful. With the obvious CGI early, I was so worried and watching with my eyes covered how they would do one of my favorite moments of the game justice. Turns out they went all out and nailed it. I ws in shock and disbelief in the best way possible. But the really impactful moments in the game build later on, and as season 1 started to wrap up, I applauded the effort involved to put the first half of this story into anime form. It was great and I enjoyed it and did not have much to think about a recreation of the second half, even when it was announced and began airing. I was excited to continue the story, but it is so much more.
What A-1 Pictures and the staff and everyone involved have done here is brilliant and worth crowning it Anime of the Year. To take such an incredible story and adapt it so stunningly in its own way is more than I could ever ask for. There is not one moment of bad CGI I recall from this season. There isn't a single moment where I wasn't taken back to the story of the game and had my memories built on, in a way eerily similar to the androids. Like it re-defined what this story meant to me. And it became a crucial part in understanding it. This is not just a re-creation of the game's story. This is a continuation of it. And Yoko Taro is a madman genius and this is my anime of the year and I'm going to leave it at that.
This is something that needs to be experienced, by anime fans in general YES and for Nier fans 100/10. This is still this story. We are still up. Masterpiece.
10
