I mean Yoko Taro is such a mad lad, whose to say he didn't tell the animators: "let's have the first few episodes be bland and stiff and over time the animation and story becomes more fluid and unique to show how the androids are behaving less robotically and more like humans." You can't take anything for granted with this guy.
My favorite thing the anime did was actually show 2B killing 9S multiple times. In the game we're told 2B has been killing 9S over and over, but the only times we see it are the black box detonation at the beginning, and 2B choking him at the end of the 1st act, both of which 9S consented to. Seeing her mercilessly cut down 9S and seeing the betrayal on his face hit different.
I had never played the game, had no idea what it was about, but jumped into it searching for new animes to watch. And boy was I taken for a ride. The protagonists are not overwhelming and i wanted to see more of 9s and his role in the story, because usually if we have characters sexy like 2b, male characters like him are usually put on the sidelines with no big part. It was all unexpected, and before i got to know it was an adaptation of the game, i was watching it as some anime series. Moving forward, discovering the hidden meanings and implications, im delving more into the game and novellas. I’ve watched the anime more than 5 times to date. To me, the anime is a good intro to the game.
Highly recommend exploring the other media if interested. Automata (anime and game) are just the tip of the iceberg for this masterpiece of a series. While it is not 100% perfect, I've never experienced anything else like it. It has also given me one of my favorite characters of all time that appears in Replicant/Gestalt. Like all of the characters in Drakengard and NieR are so good.
I don’t think its any contest on calling Nier Anime the best video game adaptation to exist. Aside from faithfully recreating the original game, the anime added so much more lore and even tied up so many loose ends from Replicant and Drakengard, that this was a show EVERYBODY could get into and love. I loved how after the first episode when people had fears and conflictions, they improved the Anime in almost every possible way, that I’d say adapted the original game EVEN BETTER. I wish more people had appreciation for anime, because this show no doubt is the best way of experiencing the Nier story without playing the “semi-difficult” video game. 10/10
This is exactly my sentiment about the show. I didn't watch it until last Friday, because I though the game was unadaptable and could only work in a video game format, meaning I also missed the bad cgi and long breaks, so I just binged it in one day and it might sound like blasphemy to some people, but I love the anime more than the game and I loved the game to death. I couldn't be more wrong and I'm so happy I gave it a chance. Not only was it able to wonderfully adapt the feeling of the game, it took the story to another level by expanding on several characters. Case in point: A2 and her backstory. I didn't care that much for A2 while playing the game and it almost felt like Yoko Taro wanted to punish me for it with prejudice. Making A2 so cheerful and full of innocence then breaking her like that made me fall in love with her character at last, all it took was stabbing my heart and twisting the knife. 10/10, worth the suffering.
@@id9504 I can’t go as far as to say I like the anime better, but I’m really really glad I picked it back up eight weeks ago. It’s a great binge, and I hope it did well enough to lead to more NieR anime content in the future. Even an OVA for this current run has the potential to be great. There’s still a ton of novellas and other games and whatnot worth adapting.
You have to learn, it's usually a good thing when Yoko Taro is involved, especially if it's the retelling of the same story. You'll always get something new out of it.
I honestly agree, and I have played the game multiple times. In my opinion, I say the anime is better in telling the story than in the game. I still love the game, but I felt there were some details that were missing, like A2’s backstory (that is, if you read the novella), and Devola and Popola’s backstory being fully animated. Even people who never knew of the games, loved it.
so the anime started with the worst cgi i have seen in a while and my initial thought back then was: "yep, that's something yoko taro would do." the first episode is a blatant "lie" but these are only my thoughts lol
Not only A2 but 2B & 9S were all shown good & very clear. 2B is also kind & nice and her love for 9S is shown beautifully. 9S's conditions were also shown great. Anime made many things easier to understand or better understand.
For an account with only 43 videos, this was pretty professionally done. Keep it up! With that said, I'm very happy with how the anime turned out. I think they must've taken a lot of the criticism from the earlier episodes as constructive because they really made the remainder of the anime very special. It was a treat to see them flesh out the characters, especially A2. I recall reading through her backstory in the terminal and feeling so out of the loop with how abstract the whole thing felt. I think the anime did a phenomenal job with the plot as well, considering we're on the same page regarding how the game was hard to follow at times. After seeing Accord at the very end, I felt enticed to watch a 6 hour timeline breakdown, and I was so surprised to find such rich lore to what I already thought was a very profound work of art. I loved the game back when I beat it before the anime was even announced, but I have the anime to thank for in encouraging me to grow so much closer to the series.
Great video friend. Iv'e been a long time fan of the game. Next month I've invited all my friends to a NieR anime binge marathon. I'm a girl, and my female friends don't really play games, so I'm so happy i can share NieR with them in a format they can consume!
The Automata game was designed to be a decent entry point to the DrakeNier franchise, for people who hadn't played any of the previous works. In many ways, the anime wouldn't have been a faithful adaptation if it hadn't *also* been designed as a decent entry point, and A-1 absolutely nailed it. Except maybe for the CGI in the first episode. I don't know what was up with that either.
In my case, I really didn't drop it. I just watched the episodes that were available at the time (like 8 or 9 episodes) and then... I forgot about it. The wait for more episodes was painful so I thought "I will watch it when the rest is out". I'm hearing great things about it and it seems the anime is finally done so I think it's time to rewatch from the start.
I didn't want it to drop it, because there were slight changes in the story, which - surprise or not as someone said - are all canon, because Yoko Taro play 5D Chess with us all. Also, I wanted to see how they are going to finish the series, as game lets you choose (despite Nier fandom ultimately agreeing upon one true ending).
I'm 2 episodes away from finish (waiting for them to get dubbed because I played the game in EN and it sounds like for the main characters at least they used the same VAs, or really good impressions of them). The CGI didn't bother me at all, didn't even notice. The thing that bugged me was the pacing, especially with boss battles. Big epic 5-10 minute fights reduced to 15-30 seconds in the anime. It made them feel inconsequential. I'm not suggesting going full 90's/00's shonen and making each fight multiple episodes long, but having even like 3-5 minute fight sequences for the boss battles would have given them a similar feeling in scale. Another things with the pacing is that I think putting some of the reveals earlier on makes it less shocking. It's skipping the slow drip of "are we the baddies?" and just skipping to "yep" I did get bored until they started introducing changes, because I've played the game, I know what happens, so there's no surprise or shock and everything felt predictable. Where I really liked it was when they made changes, and like you said when they animate parts that were only in text or still form in game. Those were the best part for me who's already familiar with the story. Even subtle changes like swapping Lily for Anemone was great. The parts that I felt actually were unadaptable in the game are the 4th wall breaking moments, and things like adjusting your video/audio settings being canon, recorded and played back to you. Or having a jukebox where you can play the different music in all it's different renditions. There's also things like when you're infected it doesn't just affect the character, but your entire HUD. Another less than polished piece I had was actually how the music was utilized. For a game, the had adaptive music that transition based on what's going and that was amazing. For an anime adaptation I would expect specific music transition created for the show, instead it looks like they just took the OST and faded things in and out, it wasn't rearranged to fit the show. It doesn't need to be anything big, but for example the Persona 5 OST they actually have proper endings for each track instead of fade outs, even though in the game they just loop. The tweaked it for the OST version. For an anime adaptation I would have expected similar tweaks to fit with the flow of the story better. Overall, I'm finding it enjoyable, but nothing that really blows me away, a solid 7/10 unless the last 2 episodes change my mind. The game was a 9.5/10 for me.
As a fan of the games I never dropped it & kept up the entire way through. I really enjoyed it especially in part 2 where I got to C things I could only imagine in my head & it was all surprisingly accurate to wut was in my head which made me so elated. I'm glad we have a visual representation of those things to jus watch or reference now. I love the little changes & additions. I'm incredibly satisfied wit how it turned out(even if they unfortunately missed out on 1 or 2 things I would've loved to be there but time & wutnot). I Higley rec to anyone interested
The entire post Drakenguard to Nier lore drop was insane to witness. Out of nowhere. It's an ok adaptation. I liked that the feeling of the key plot events stayed, if slightly tweaked (Pascal) I just wish the pacing was more in line with the game. The anime gives you no set up to accept Yorha as an institution before dismantling it immediately, with subversion and existentialism, lessening the impact. I still think a combo of Nier anime, Nier games and supplemental materials that makes the perfect Nier experience.
The anime has a break neck pace compared to the game, and that definitely lessens the impact of everything. While this adaption is ok, the game is a far superior experience, and remains "unadaptable" in my opinion.
Yeah. I loved this adaptation so much, and I'm so happy about the small changes taken. They aren't improvements over the game's story. Just an alternate timeline of events that I enjoyed. What really got me interested in the show before watching it was the changes in the climax of route A. I found them so interesting that I had to watch it at some point. Then, on a whim, I started the show, and after episode 2 (the flower short story specifically), I was sold. I would not consider the anime to be better than the game. They are two different mediums with their own strengths and shortcomings, and both are equally worthy of being experienced. However, in regards to the story, the anime does feel more complete. I would recommend it to fans of the game and newcomers alike. Sadly, I've never been as attached to A2 while playing the game, but now she's one of my favorite characters, thanks to the anime.
Speaking for my gaming style here, and agreeing to your review.. There are lots of missing story or scenes in the game, that the anime fills in such beautifully for me.. Such as the backstory of A2, the scene where 9s gain his memory in the tower.. The anime retell those texts beautifully.. And turns out A2 still my favorite character, after all this time.. i forgot how great character she is in the game.. Also agree with you, the anime can be a good starting point for people who don't play the (wholesome) game.. Here's hoping Yoko-sama finds his muse and inspiration, to create another masterpiece of a story..
Last year my friend and I tried watching it but the first couple episodes weren't that interesting to us. The beginning of the game has always been the most uninteresting parts of the game for me, and it was only really fun because of the gameplay. So, in the show, it felt slow to get to anything interesting. It also didn't look that great visually which was disappointing. However, I have come back to it since it was now complete, and I did enjoy it a lot more than my initial impressions would have led me to believe. However, I still feel the game handled a lot of things better. Some reveals seem less obvious in the game, some things that happened were more impactful because YOU did them, and some characters seemed more like jerks than I thought they were. But there was also a lot of new content and other interpretations I enjoyed a lot like A2's
@@Jeffrey421942 Automata uses the video game medium so cleverly in places, and some of those moments are what led me to first question the need for this adaption (hence the title). I was really impressed with how the anime handled or interpreted some of those scenes, but that doesn’t mean the game isn’t worth playing.
My first exposure to Nier Automata was the stellar soundtrack and then came the anime. When it went on hiatus I ended up downloading the game and now I've played through it multiple times, have like 3 Nier figures, and own it on multiple consoles. It's beautiful game and the anime did a really good job capturing the intrigue
I generally stopped watching anime since its generally not what im looking for anymore, especially modern anime. Hearing one of my favourite games get an anime adaptation and i wrote it off immediately. I had 0 faith because automata worked as well as it did due to it being a video game, it actually took advantage of the medium. A year later i got a friend to play through the game and looked into the anime again, skipped forward to get a peek at it's contents, especially the most shocking scenes, and was pleasantly surprised by how well it was handled. The puppets on top of that was the most yoko taro thing ive seen in animation
I bought NieR Automata Game of the YoRHa edition, full price, even though I’ve already read every single spoiler in the wiki, and have watched some important cutscenes and battles in UA-cam, including the main four endings, because I really, really, REALLY liked what I was seeing and reading all around. It is now one of my most favorite games of all time, and is a huge influence to my preferences. I skipped on the Automata anime because the art style didn’t resemble the official art lol. I always say that Leilia of Maquia looks more like A2 than A2 in the anime does (because Maquia character designer was the guy who drew some Automata official artwork, including the cover art.) Also, I absolutely detest A1 Pictures. I hardly watch anime these days, and when I do, it’s almost always from Wit, IG, Sunrise, Bones, MAPPA and Trigger, so I have unrealistic expectations on anime, lol. I wonder what could’ve happened if they borrowed Sunrise staff to work on the 3D sequences. I watched Unicorn, Origin and Hathaway’s Flash, and those did 3D sequences goddamn well! But i do have the Short Story Long book, so I’ll go check out some episodes at least. It’s certainly a strange yet genius idea to adapt the machine-and-flower story. I have a coworker who watched the Automata anime but doesn’t know sh about the game. She really likes 9S’s cuteness and obvious closeness to 2B, and she thinks Adam and Eve are hot, she would BL them if they weren’t siblings. She thinks the machines are cute, and she wonders why they’re bad if they’re friend shaped. She’s the type who absolutely can’t absorb the plot in an anime/game, so her reasons for liking Automata anime is incredibly shallow, but at least she’s still a NieR Automata fan.
I could have watched the scene with the robot planting and the soundtrack in the background all day. Nier's ost makes me feel things Edit: I still cry every time I play that end credit scene as weight of the world plays
Wow thank you so much for the explanation. I did drop the anime around first few episodes, but I think I will give it a go (again) after watching this vid
I had 100%'d this game twice and deleted my save file twice. I was not going to watch this because I doubted this would add anything to the experience. But hear it from me to watch this show. S1 is rough, really rough in the beginning. But S2 fleshes everything out and adds depth to some aspects of the game not seen anywhere. Production quality hits where it's supposed to be, and we get an absolute banger ending song by Yoko Taro and Keiichi Okabe themselves.
I played the game years ago and was waiting for the anime to finish, also to see if it was any good. I definitely wanna check it out now that its done as I loved the game, but im curious about what the anime didnt adapt from both the game and supplemental material. Is there a list or something to see what im missing if I watch the show?
I finally got around to playing the game when the anime went on hiatus. After 100% it, I was excited to pick up watching Nier again. The ending of the anime fucking broke me...
The fact they used the OG Videogame OST and the Boss models from the game is amazing. They blended the need for action and quick scenes. People that think their 3D is bad needs to fucking grow up and RE-watch the entire series.
Before watching, i dropped off the show when it went on the hiatus. When it came back, i didnt feel like i needed to watch it because it was mostly just retelling things that already happened and the show was in a star wars situation. Of telling stories in a concluded time era
Apologies! I grew up with a speech impediment, so I end up prioritize enunciation over pacing way more than I should, and I still struggle with some words like “world.” I’m glad to hear you were still able to enjoy the video!
@@TrackingShots Oh, it's nothing to apologize for, trust me, any more than a thick accent would be something to apologize for. Honestly, I was worried I was being an asshole for even pointing it out!
@@rebeccaliar9873 it was fair feedback I had speech issues growing up but understanding what the issue is and being creative in tackling it greatly improved my speaking skills. You arwnt an asshole you cared enough to provide actionable feedback to better their craft. That's a positive thing imo.
I had mixed feelings about it. I thought some of the story changes were downright bizarre, and some emotionally impactful moments from the game were less so. There were good additions for sure (the type-E sidequest for example) but overall the pace of the anime felt both dragging and rushed. It seemed like for every great moment, there was a disappointing one that was set up for greatness but fell flat. I'm glad it exists, but a game is far and away the better art medium for Yoko Taro's storytelling.
Nier Automata was a stage play first, but even before that it was a mere J-Pop group You could even argue it started out as an Audio Drama first because NieR Replicant Drama CD (2011) had a story about Emil fighting Aliens From the very beginning Automata was an adaptation It was always adaptable
I suppose in my case, ignorance is bliss. I had no expectations of the anime even after playing the game. I’m actually late to the series. I only played the game this year and jumped into the anime almost immediately after I finished the game. I enjoyed the anime from the start. I don’t care that they made changes to it, it all worked as far as I’m concerned.
Automata especially is an amazing experience. Its almost an insult to call it a game. The only other gaming experience that felt as unique as nier and immersive was the first deadspace. Both cross the boundaries of what a game is giving somewhere between being a story and
@returnedtomonkey8886 pretty basic stuff dude. Can't really say it's memorable at all. That game was about awesome gameplay. The story was as basic as any tom Clancy story.
So the thing I have been trying to figure out is if the anime will spoil the game for me. From what I can gather from you video, while is *does* spoil, it's not a heavy spoiler, and the anime is more of a supplement to the game/franchise. To give context; I have a physical copy of Nier, and have Replicant on my wishlis. So I didn't want to watch the anime only to have a some weirdly convoluted anime, that spoils the ending(s) for me.
i dropped nier automata some time in the delays but a few weeks ago i decided to watch it all again and all i can say is: 1st part is boring ngl but the 2nd part is PEAK 10/10
Yoko Taro is involved in the Anime since Day 1 only dumb folks who don't know about inside stuff will make bad rumours about Nier Automata anime and then make shit up to reduce its hype. The Anime Literally expands upon many of the things which were only hinted in the game. Not to mention it makes certain scenes even more fluid and dynamic which is something only possible in 2D animation
I forgot this had an anime. The downer of an ending(s) to Automata made me fall off the Nier franchise as a whole. So I guess I wouldn't have checked it out anyway.
I wouldn’t say the ending is that much of a downer, it’s super hopeful that 9S and 2B may now create something on their own accord rather than being tied down. We are of course not told how they go about doing that, but that’s part of the point
If you haven't touched anything of the supplemental material, the anime is a must honestly everything is a surprise for people that only played the game
Ugh, another creator calling Nier Replicant the OG game, it wasn’t and has never been, Nier Gestalt aka “Nier” on 360 was the origonal release, targeting western audiences before the Japanese exclusive ps3 release Nier Replicant. Drag-on Dragoon is one of those titles that has little impact inside Japan and sold much better outside of Japan so a sequel/spinoff was targeted towards the west first, Nier Replicant was months later. In otherwords Father Nier was OG Nier. It only matters in the outer fringes, but in lore Father Nier had a wife who also died to the black scrawl, and suffering relapse caused nightmares which she detailed in a journal and you can experience as actually released challenge level dlc. Content thats been simply lost now. This series is highly subversive and asks unique questions; Drakengard 1 asks, How can you be the hero and save the world while standing on the backs of a million corpses? Nier asks, Can you be the villan while making only morally good choices?
Sorry but your wrong. Both Nier Gestalt AND Replicant came out same Day in JP on April 22 2010. Youre right though that Daddy Nier was Designed for Western Audience and Brother Nier for the JP Audience but to say that Daddy Nier was the OG is also wrong. Yoko Taro even stated in an Interview that there is no prefered Nier. In some Parts Daddy makes more Sense while in others Brother makes more sense. Its up to the Player whoever he likes more.
I don’t understand, it looks good to me. Learn to be grateful for what you get instead of being entitled babies. @ing me will be proving my point, so don’t waste your time.
nier automata was undaptable. and it still is. I swear to god ppl dont understand that the story isnt all that nier is. its just a part of it. i mean sure they retold the story. But thats not enough. Nier is first and foremost an honest to god video game. its not a generic jrpg where the story progresses trough dialogue and cutscnes only. A ton of the story is told in item descriptions, in the ui, in the way tbe camera is apnned, in all the crazy things yoko taro does with the hacking minigame, hell the menu itself. Unlike most jrpgs you actually play way more than you watch. This game like dark souls for example uses the medium of video games to perfectly tell its story , the anime didnt try to use the anime medium to do the same. An example of show that uses anime as a medium itself to enhance the story is evangelion. So it was just a retelling that didnt do anything more interesting that the story in the game. So i still no reason for this to exist and i see absolutely 0 reason for someone to watch this instead of playing the game. My favourite thing from the show wasnt even the show. It was the puppet plays at the end of epsiodes . They felt unique to the anime and entartaining
One must not replace the other, I loved both games and anime, because it simply gave me more scenes of how things happened! The moves, the animation, while the gameplay is flawless I see no reason for someone to hate the anime or not accepting it. I love both because the anime gave me more complete contest of things that happened in the original work of art that is Nier Automata game.
I mean Yoko Taro is such a mad lad, whose to say he didn't tell the animators: "let's have the first few episodes be bland and stiff and over time the animation and story becomes more fluid and unique to show how the androids are behaving less robotically and more like humans." You can't take anything for granted with this guy.
Well , reality is that show has lot of production issues. The first ep CG got fixed in Blu-ray version.
My favorite thing the anime did was actually show 2B killing 9S multiple times. In the game we're told 2B has been killing 9S over and over, but the only times we see it are the black box detonation at the beginning, and 2B choking him at the end of the 1st act, both of which 9S consented to. Seeing her mercilessly cut down 9S and seeing the betrayal on his face hit different.
I had never played the game, had no idea what it was about, but jumped into it searching for new animes to watch. And boy was I taken for a ride. The protagonists are not overwhelming and i wanted to see more of 9s and his role in the story, because usually if we have characters sexy like 2b, male characters like him are usually put on the sidelines with no big part. It was all unexpected, and before i got to know it was an adaptation of the game, i was watching it as some anime series. Moving forward, discovering the hidden meanings and implications, im delving more into the game and novellas. I’ve watched the anime more than 5 times to date. To me, the anime is a good intro to the game.
The game is something you can never compare to anything else.
Highly recommend exploring the other media if interested. Automata (anime and game) are just the tip of the iceberg for this masterpiece of a series. While it is not 100% perfect, I've never experienced anything else like it. It has also given me one of my favorite characters of all time that appears in Replicant/Gestalt. Like all of the characters in Drakengard and NieR are so good.
Funny thing is 9s is the protagonist for the most part. 2B is more of a marketing tool to hook people
I hope you play it, it's a game you'll only get to experience for the first time once, if that makes sense
I *did* drop this anime. Because I started to play the actual game. 😉 I'll get around to picking it up again once I finish the game.
ohh Have fun ^O^
dont cry
That's actually the best way to experience Nier Automata
Ready your 'feelings' buddy.. it's gonna be a thrilling roller coaster ride..
The first episode got fixed in the blu ray release and the horrible CGI
Can you gimme a link to download?
Horrible? You're spoiled watch berserk this was barely noticeable.
@@Synnerster This was my first anime and all the cgi looked fine to me. Spoiled sounds about right.
I liked the anime a lot, I didn't even mind the bad CGI in the beginning. I only played Automata.
I don’t think its any contest on calling Nier Anime the best video game adaptation to exist. Aside from faithfully recreating the original game, the anime added so much more lore and even tied up so many loose ends from Replicant and Drakengard, that this was a show EVERYBODY could get into and love. I loved how after the first episode when people had fears and conflictions, they improved the Anime in almost every possible way, that I’d say adapted the original game EVEN BETTER. I wish more people had appreciation for anime, because this show no doubt is the best way of experiencing the Nier story without playing the “semi-difficult” video game.
10/10
This is exactly my sentiment about the show. I didn't watch it until last Friday, because I though the game was unadaptable and could only work in a video game format, meaning I also missed the bad cgi and long breaks, so I just binged it in one day and it might sound like blasphemy to some people, but I love the anime more than the game and I loved the game to death. I couldn't be more wrong and I'm so happy I gave it a chance. Not only was it able to wonderfully adapt the feeling of the game, it took the story to another level by expanding on several characters.
Case in point: A2 and her backstory.
I didn't care that much for A2 while playing the game and it almost felt like Yoko Taro wanted to punish me for it with prejudice. Making A2 so cheerful and full of innocence then breaking her like that made me fall in love with her character at last, all it took was stabbing my heart and twisting the knife. 10/10, worth the suffering.
@@id9504 I can’t go as far as to say I like the anime better, but I’m really really glad I picked it back up eight weeks ago. It’s a great binge, and I hope it did well enough to lead to more NieR anime content in the future. Even an OVA for this current run has the potential to be great. There’s still a ton of novellas and other games and whatnot worth adapting.
You have to learn, it's usually a good thing when Yoko Taro is involved, especially if it's the retelling of the same story. You'll always get something new out of it.
@@sonic4life Should've expected this after Nier: Replicant v1.22
I honestly agree, and I have played the game multiple times. In my opinion, I say the anime is better in telling the story than in the game. I still love the game, but I felt there were some details that were missing, like A2’s backstory (that is, if you read the novella), and Devola and Popola’s backstory being fully animated. Even people who never knew of the games, loved it.
so the anime started with the worst cgi i have seen in a while and my initial thought back then was:
"yep, that's something yoko taro would do."
the first episode is a blatant "lie"
but these are only my thoughts lol
Not only A2 but 2B & 9S were all shown good & very clear. 2B is also kind & nice and her love for 9S is shown beautifully. 9S's conditions were also shown great.
Anime made many things easier to understand or better understand.
For an account with only 43 videos, this was pretty professionally done. Keep it up!
With that said, I'm very happy with how the anime turned out. I think they must've taken a lot of the criticism from the earlier episodes as constructive because they really made the remainder of the anime very special.
It was a treat to see them flesh out the characters, especially A2. I recall reading through her backstory in the terminal and feeling so out of the loop with how abstract the whole thing felt. I think the anime did a phenomenal job with the plot as well, considering we're on the same page regarding how the game was hard to follow at times.
After seeing Accord at the very end, I felt enticed to watch a 6 hour timeline breakdown, and I was so surprised to find such rich lore to what I already thought was a very profound work of art. I loved the game back when I beat it before the anime was even announced, but I have the anime to thank for in encouraging me to grow so much closer to the series.
Great video friend. Iv'e been a long time fan of the game. Next month I've invited all my friends to a NieR anime binge marathon. I'm a girl, and my female friends don't really play games, so I'm so happy i can share NieR with them in a format they can consume!
The Automata game was designed to be a decent entry point to the DrakeNier franchise, for people who hadn't played any of the previous works. In many ways, the anime wouldn't have been a faithful adaptation if it hadn't *also* been designed as a decent entry point, and A-1 absolutely nailed it.
Except maybe for the CGI in the first episode. I don't know what was up with that either.
I'm pretty sure it wasn't. It wasn't designed to be an entry point. It was simply a stand alone, which by default, anyone could use as an entry point.
In my case, I really didn't drop it. I just watched the episodes that were available at the time (like 8 or 9 episodes) and then... I forgot about it. The wait for more episodes was painful so I thought "I will watch it when the rest is out". I'm hearing great things about it and it seems the anime is finally done so I think it's time to rewatch from the start.
I didn't want it to drop it, because there were slight changes in the story, which - surprise or not as someone said - are all canon, because Yoko Taro play 5D Chess with us all.
Also, I wanted to see how they are going to finish the series, as game lets you choose (despite Nier fandom ultimately agreeing upon one true ending).
I'm 2 episodes away from finish (waiting for them to get dubbed because I played the game in EN and it sounds like for the main characters at least they used the same VAs, or really good impressions of them).
The CGI didn't bother me at all, didn't even notice. The thing that bugged me was the pacing, especially with boss battles. Big epic 5-10 minute fights reduced to 15-30 seconds in the anime. It made them feel inconsequential. I'm not suggesting going full 90's/00's shonen and making each fight multiple episodes long, but having even like 3-5 minute fight sequences for the boss battles would have given them a similar feeling in scale.
Another things with the pacing is that I think putting some of the reveals earlier on makes it less shocking. It's skipping the slow drip of "are we the baddies?" and just skipping to "yep"
I did get bored until they started introducing changes, because I've played the game, I know what happens, so there's no surprise or shock and everything felt predictable. Where I really liked it was when they made changes, and like you said when they animate parts that were only in text or still form in game. Those were the best part for me who's already familiar with the story. Even subtle changes like swapping Lily for Anemone was great.
The parts that I felt actually were unadaptable in the game are the 4th wall breaking moments, and things like adjusting your video/audio settings being canon, recorded and played back to you. Or having a jukebox where you can play the different music in all it's different renditions. There's also things like when you're infected it doesn't just affect the character, but your entire HUD.
Another less than polished piece I had was actually how the music was utilized. For a game, the had adaptive music that transition based on what's going and that was amazing. For an anime adaptation I would expect specific music transition created for the show, instead it looks like they just took the OST and faded things in and out, it wasn't rearranged to fit the show. It doesn't need to be anything big, but for example the Persona 5 OST they actually have proper endings for each track instead of fade outs, even though in the game they just loop. The tweaked it for the OST version. For an anime adaptation I would have expected similar tweaks to fit with the flow of the story better.
Overall, I'm finding it enjoyable, but nothing that really blows me away, a solid 7/10 unless the last 2 episodes change my mind. The game was a 9.5/10 for me.
What a good video. Thanks
Grateful that the anime exists, as I'm a big fan. Hopefully Replicant gets adapted too.
Here’s hoping!
It certainly delivered, I never had any doubts even with those "off" moments. Now I'm just hoping Yoko Taro uses that open-ended ending though.
As a fan of the games I never dropped it & kept up the entire way through. I really enjoyed it especially in part 2 where I got to C things I could only imagine in my head & it was all surprisingly accurate to wut was in my head which made me so elated. I'm glad we have a visual representation of those things to jus watch or reference now. I love the little changes & additions. I'm incredibly satisfied wit how it turned out(even if they unfortunately missed out on 1 or 2 things I would've loved to be there but time & wutnot). I Higley rec to anyone interested
The entire post Drakenguard to Nier lore drop was insane to witness. Out of nowhere.
It's an ok adaptation.
I liked that the feeling of the key plot events stayed, if slightly tweaked (Pascal)
I just wish the pacing was more in line with the game. The anime gives you no set up to accept Yorha as an institution before dismantling it immediately, with subversion and existentialism, lessening the impact.
I still think a combo of Nier anime, Nier games and supplemental materials that makes the perfect Nier experience.
pacing where you have to replay the game from the beginning again? nah, thank you, anime really fixed that one for me
The anime has a break neck pace compared to the game, and that definitely lessens the impact of everything. While this adaption is ok, the game is a far superior experience, and remains "unadaptable" in my opinion.
Yeah. I loved this adaptation so much, and I'm so happy about the small changes taken. They aren't improvements over the game's story. Just an alternate timeline of events that I enjoyed. What really got me interested in the show before watching it was the changes in the climax of route A. I found them so interesting that I had to watch it at some point. Then, on a whim, I started the show, and after episode 2 (the flower short story specifically), I was sold.
I would not consider the anime to be better than the game. They are two different mediums with their own strengths and shortcomings, and both are equally worthy of being experienced. However, in regards to the story, the anime does feel more complete. I would recommend it to fans of the game and newcomers alike. Sadly, I've never been as attached to A2 while playing the game, but now she's one of my favorite characters, thanks to the anime.
I never even knew this came out until now.
Speaking for my gaming style here, and agreeing to your review.. There are lots of missing story or scenes in the game, that the anime fills in such beautifully for me.. Such as the backstory of A2, the scene where 9s gain his memory in the tower.. The anime retell those texts beautifully.. And turns out A2 still my favorite character, after all this time.. i forgot how great character she is in the game.. Also agree with you, the anime can be a good starting point for people who don't play the (wholesome) game..
Here's hoping Yoko-sama finds his muse and inspiration, to create another masterpiece of a story..
Last year my friend and I tried watching it but the first couple episodes weren't that interesting to us. The beginning of the game has always been the most uninteresting parts of the game for me, and it was only really fun because of the gameplay. So, in the show, it felt slow to get to anything interesting. It also didn't look that great visually which was disappointing.
However, I have come back to it since it was now complete, and I did enjoy it a lot more than my initial impressions would have led me to believe. However, I still feel the game handled a lot of things better. Some reveals seem less obvious in the game, some things that happened were more impactful because YOU did them, and some characters seemed more like jerks than I thought they were. But there was also a lot of new content and other interpretations I enjoyed a lot like A2's
@@Jeffrey421942 Automata uses the video game medium so cleverly in places, and some of those moments are what led me to first question the need for this adaption (hence the title). I was really impressed with how the anime handled or interpreted some of those scenes, but that doesn’t mean the game isn’t worth playing.
My first exposure to Nier Automata was the stellar soundtrack and then came the anime. When it went on hiatus I ended up downloading the game and now I've played through it multiple times, have like 3 Nier figures, and own it on multiple consoles. It's beautiful game and the anime did a really good job capturing the intrigue
I binged it all just in time for the last episode. It was marbelous!
I generally stopped watching anime since its generally not what im looking for anymore, especially modern anime.
Hearing one of my favourite games get an anime adaptation and i wrote it off immediately. I had 0 faith because automata worked as well as it did due to it being a video game, it actually took advantage of the medium.
A year later i got a friend to play through the game and looked into the anime again, skipped forward to get a peek at it's contents, especially the most shocking scenes, and was pleasantly surprised by how well it was handled. The puppets on top of that was the most yoko taro thing ive seen in animation
I bought NieR Automata Game of the YoRHa edition, full price, even though I’ve already read every single spoiler in the wiki, and have watched some important cutscenes and battles in UA-cam, including the main four endings, because I really, really, REALLY liked what I was seeing and reading all around. It is now one of my most favorite games of all time, and is a huge influence to my preferences.
I skipped on the Automata anime because the art style didn’t resemble the official art lol. I always say that Leilia of Maquia looks more like A2 than A2 in the anime does (because Maquia character designer was the guy who drew some Automata official artwork, including the cover art.) Also, I absolutely detest A1 Pictures. I hardly watch anime these days, and when I do, it’s almost always from Wit, IG, Sunrise, Bones, MAPPA and Trigger, so I have unrealistic expectations on anime, lol. I wonder what could’ve happened if they borrowed Sunrise staff to work on the 3D sequences. I watched Unicorn, Origin and Hathaway’s Flash, and those did 3D sequences goddamn well!
But i do have the Short Story Long book, so I’ll go check out some episodes at least. It’s certainly a strange yet genius idea to adapt the machine-and-flower story.
I have a coworker who watched the Automata anime but doesn’t know sh about the game. She really likes 9S’s cuteness and obvious closeness to 2B, and she thinks Adam and Eve are hot, she would BL them if they weren’t siblings. She thinks the machines are cute, and she wonders why they’re bad if they’re friend shaped. She’s the type who absolutely can’t absorb the plot in an anime/game, so her reasons for liking Automata anime is incredibly shallow, but at least she’s still a NieR Automata fan.
I could have watched the scene with the robot planting and the soundtrack in the background all day. Nier's ost makes me feel things
Edit: I still cry every time I play that end credit scene as weight of the world plays
Wow thank you so much for the explanation. I did drop the anime around first few episodes, but I think I will give it a go (again) after watching this vid
Just binged it all in 2 days. with no prior Nier watch or played, it was a Treasure
I wish I can re experience the story for the 1st time again :( lol
I had 100%'d this game twice and deleted my save file twice. I was not going to watch this because I doubted this would add anything to the experience. But hear it from me to watch this show. S1 is rough, really rough in the beginning. But S2 fleshes everything out and adds depth to some aspects of the game not seen anywhere. Production quality hits where it's supposed to be, and we get an absolute banger ending song by Yoko Taro and Keiichi Okabe themselves.
I dropped it due to delays and knew I would forget what's happening. Started it again now.
I have gone back and forth on whether or not to watch the anime for a while. Your video has convinced me that I NEED to see it now. Thank you!
Yeah, turns out the anime adaptation chose to be an alternative timeline. And I think that was a good decision for the most part.
No its just the true canon
@@christien6230 source? If Your Source isn't Yoko Taro I call bs.
@@christien6230 nah, i think accord being there confirms the whole alternate timeline thing
I played the game years ago and was waiting for the anime to finish, also to see if it was any good. I definitely wanna check it out now that its done as I loved the game, but im curious about what the anime didnt adapt from both the game and supplemental material. Is there a list or something to see what im missing if I watch the show?
The anime is a very good reason to revisit the Nier world
I finally got around to playing the game when the anime went on hiatus. After 100% it, I was excited to pick up watching Nier again. The ending of the anime fucking broke me...
The fact they used the OG Videogame OST and the Boss models from the game is amazing. They blended the need for action and quick scenes. People that think their 3D is bad needs to fucking grow up and RE-watch the entire series.
I feel sorry for anyone who overlooked this series just cuz it didn’t look like the generic anime they’re used to
The anime is also supposed to be in a different timeline or something.
Before watching, i dropped off the show when it went on the hiatus. When it came back, i didnt feel like i needed to watch it because it was mostly just retelling things that already happened and the show was in a star wars situation. Of telling stories in a concluded time era
i just finished the anime, im ready to play the game..glory to humanity!!!
I loved both the game & anime but most has been fixed in the blu ray I really enjoyed it
We need a neir and neir replicant anime
I really enjoy your work, but the way you stretch out the syllable of a word every time you pause can get surprisingly noticeable real fast.
Ya makes the video feel padded even if it isnt. It really huuuuuuurrrrrtttttsss the pacing of the viddddddeeeeeeeoooooo. Lol
Apologies! I grew up with a speech impediment, so I end up prioritize enunciation over pacing way more than I should, and I still struggle with some words like “world.” I’m glad to hear you were still able to enjoy the video!
@@TrackingShots Oh, it's nothing to apologize for, trust me, any more than a thick accent would be something to apologize for. Honestly, I was worried I was being an asshole for even pointing it out!
@@rebeccaliar9873 it was fair feedback I had speech issues growing up but understanding what the issue is and being creative in tackling it greatly improved my speaking skills. You arwnt an asshole you cared enough to provide actionable feedback to better their craft. That's a positive thing imo.
My only problem is that they changed the damn intro quote
I had mixed feelings about it. I thought some of the story changes were downright bizarre, and some emotionally impactful moments from the game were less so. There were good additions for sure (the type-E sidequest for example) but overall the pace of the anime felt both dragging and rushed. It seemed like for every great moment, there was a disappointing one that was set up for greatness but fell flat. I'm glad it exists, but a game is far and away the better art medium for Yoko Taro's storytelling.
Liking this for the Clemps shout out
Clemps is great! Hearing him on Friendcast is how I first heard about NieR.
Nier Automata was a stage play first, but even before that it was a mere J-Pop group
You could even argue it started out as an Audio Drama first because NieR Replicant Drama CD (2011) had a story about Emil fighting Aliens
From the very beginning Automata was an adaptation
It was always adaptable
I suppose in my case, ignorance is bliss. I had no expectations of the anime even after playing the game. I’m actually late to the series. I only played the game this year and jumped into the anime almost immediately after I finished the game. I enjoyed the anime from the start. I don’t care that they made changes to it, it all worked as far as I’m concerned.
I kept on from start to finish
It was mainly the lack of fps lol. The original was so fluid with animations, whereas the anime was like a slideshow.
Automata especially is an amazing experience. Its almost an insult to call it a game.
The only other gaming experience that felt as unique as nier and immersive was the first deadspace. Both cross the boundaries of what a game is giving somewhere between being a story and
Bro did not play metal geat solid 2 and 3 and it shows.
@returnedtomonkey8886 who me? Yeah I definitely did. Nowhere near as magical.
@returnedtomonkey8886 pretty basic stuff dude. Can't really say it's memorable at all. That game was about awesome gameplay. The story was as basic as any tom Clancy story.
@@magincap70 calling mgs3's story is insane.
I read the books first and in my opinion is the best way to meet the story.
“Think you could recommend”? The anime is amazing.
Where to watch?!?!
for me it was just Beautiful
So the thing I have been trying to figure out is if the anime will spoil the game for me. From what I can gather from you video, while is *does* spoil, it's not a heavy spoiler, and the anime is more of a supplement to the game/franchise.
To give context; I have a physical copy of Nier, and have Replicant on my wishlis. So I didn't want to watch the anime only to have a some weirdly convoluted anime, that spoils the ending(s) for me.
It will 1000% spoil all of Nier: Automata. The first Nier? Not so much.
@@TrackingShots I should play and beat the game then, at least once, from what you're describing to me lol.
i dropped nier automata some time in the delays but a few weeks ago i decided to watch it all again and all i can say is: 1st part is boring ngl but the 2nd part is PEAK 10/10
Yoko Taro is involved in the Anime since Day 1 only dumb folks who don't know about inside stuff will make bad rumours about Nier Automata anime and then make shit up to reduce its hype.
The Anime Literally expands upon many of the things which were only hinted in the game. Not to mention it makes certain scenes even more fluid and dynamic which is something only possible in 2D animation
Still, they could’ve done certai things better imo.
The best parts however were anything with A2.
I forgot this had an anime. The downer of an ending(s) to Automata made me fall off the Nier franchise as a whole. So I guess I wouldn't have checked it out anyway.
I wouldn’t say the ending is that much of a downer, it’s super hopeful that 9S and 2B may now create something on their own accord rather than being tied down. We are of course not told how they go about doing that, but that’s part of the point
I thought it was great watched it whole. Exceptions ruin your experience. Waited till now to watch the whole thing in one go was worth it.
I never intended to watch it, because it was unnecessary. Like, there is no gain that an anime adaptation can give the player over the game.
If you haven't touched anything of the supplemental material, the anime is a must honestly everything is a surprise for people that only played the game
@@Kai_2053 OK, I'll take your advice on that.
You have no idea how wrong you are buddy. Used to think the same, so glad I've decided to give it a shot.
Ugh, another creator calling Nier Replicant the OG game, it wasn’t and has never been, Nier Gestalt aka “Nier” on 360 was the origonal release, targeting western audiences before the Japanese exclusive ps3 release Nier Replicant. Drag-on Dragoon is one of those titles that has little impact inside Japan and sold much better outside of Japan so a sequel/spinoff was targeted towards the west first, Nier Replicant was months later.
In otherwords Father Nier was OG Nier. It only matters in the outer fringes, but in lore Father Nier had a wife who also died to the black scrawl, and suffering relapse caused nightmares which she detailed in a journal and you can experience as actually released challenge level dlc. Content thats been simply lost now.
This series is highly subversive and asks unique questions;
Drakengard 1 asks, How can you be the hero and save the world while standing on the backs of a million corpses?
Nier asks, Can you be the villan while making only morally good choices?
Sorry but your wrong. Both Nier Gestalt AND Replicant came out same Day in JP on April 22 2010. Youre right though that Daddy Nier was Designed for Western Audience and Brother Nier for the JP Audience but to say that Daddy Nier was the OG is also wrong. Yoko Taro even stated in an Interview that there is no prefered Nier. In some Parts Daddy makes more Sense while in others Brother makes more sense. Its up to the Player whoever he likes more.
The challenge level still exists in the remake btw, you play as father Nier in it.
im really sick of CGi crap... half the time its not very good
I don’t understand, it looks good to me. Learn to be grateful for what you get instead of being entitled babies. @ing me will be proving my point, so don’t waste your time.
nier automata was undaptable. and it still is. I swear to god ppl dont understand that the story isnt all that nier is. its just a part of it. i mean sure they retold the story. But thats not enough. Nier is first and foremost an honest to god video game. its not a generic jrpg where the story progresses trough dialogue and cutscnes only. A ton of the story is told in item descriptions, in the ui, in the way tbe camera is apnned, in all the crazy things yoko taro does with the hacking minigame, hell the menu itself. Unlike most jrpgs you actually play way more than you watch. This game like dark souls for example uses the medium of video games to perfectly tell its story , the anime didnt try to use the anime medium to do the same. An example of show that uses anime as a medium itself to enhance the story is evangelion. So it was just a retelling that didnt do anything more interesting that the story in the game. So i still no reason for this to exist and i see absolutely 0 reason for someone to watch this instead of playing the game.
My favourite thing from the show wasnt even the show. It was the puppet plays at the end of epsiodes . They felt unique to the anime and entartaining
One must not replace the other, I loved both games and anime, because it simply gave me more scenes of how things happened! The moves, the animation, while the gameplay is flawless I see no reason for someone to hate the anime or not accepting it. I love both because the anime gave me more complete contest of things that happened in the original work of art that is Nier Automata game.
agreed, imo only episode 5 of season 2 worth watching
loved anime more than the game. not even close. fight me
@@miramaxcinemax5512 never played the game? sad
@@miramaxcinemax5512 that means you never wanted to play the game just watch a story. watch a movie then, gaming aint for you
i was already gone by the opening song and i dont plan to ever come back