#don’t judge my punctuation and grammar i woke up at 5 am

[marisramblings]

You Need to Watch Nier: Automata Ver 1.1a

Adaptations get a, deservedly, bad rap, but Nier’s anime is a wonderful change of pace. I’m not going to explain why many adaptions suck, small budget, cashgrab, lifeless, etc, but why this one is great and should be the standard. I played Nier: Automata around the end of 2022 and I liked it. It’s a great game with some issues. My biggest gripe is how a lot of pertinent characterization is separated into different media. There are mangas and stage plays that are canon. This information is not in the game. Due to that, I found many of the characters a little flat, particularly, 2b. The anime is only 8 episodes in, but it has breathed life into everyone. I don’t want to spoil too much, especially if you’ve only seen the anime. Personally, I recommend playing the game, or watch someone play, and then watch the anime. While you’re at it, watch/play Nier Gestalt.

9s’s future actions are foreshadowed from the beginning. His personality has been expanded on and explored. 2b has been given the depth and little shades of personality she needed in the game. I love her now. We get a2’s backstory, reimagined hacking, character building moments, Devola and Papola from the beginning, 6o and 21o, etc.

I’ve never been one of those people who thinks an adaption must be 1:1. Different mediums require different aspects. I don’t need verbosity in a movie but I do need it in a written book. An good adaption needs to expand and explore the story/characters while keeping the spirit of the original media. I’m looking at you Velma. The anime feels like the game even though its deviated so much. Yes, the cgi could be better, but the narrative it’s painting more than makes up for it. When certain story beats occur later on, I know they will destroy the audience because our emotional attachment will be stronger.

I am getting ahead of myself, the anime could totally flop halfway through. If it stays the course, though, it will be a fucking masterpiece.

Edit: it stayed the course!