Summary
Besides the numerous production issues and hiatus, theNieR Automata ver1.1aanime has mostly pleased fans with its adaptation of the masterpiece game. The story of 2B, 9S, and A2 is as powerful and moving as ever now in animated form.
With the talented staff at A-1 Pictures and the supervision of Yoko Taro, theNieR Automataanime serves not as a replacement for the game but as an expansion of the experience that enhances the original story of the YoRHa. While the story was adapted faithfully for the most part, several key differences deviate from the game. Here are all the major changes the anime made in Cour 1.
Routes A and B
Dual Perspective At Once
In the original game, each playthrough goes through a “Route”. One storyline is told in a route, while the player must play the game again,loading their save file to move on to the next route and progress the story. In the game, Route A is the first act from 2B’s perspective. She’s the only playable character and the player only sees what she sees. Route B is the same story but follows 9S’s perspective. The player controls 9S and sees the story through his eyes, and thanks to his hacking abilities, you get more background on the Machine Lifeforms.
The anime’s Part 1 merges both routes, following both 2B and 9S at the same time. This includes the events of the first act, but the audience sees everything both protagonists see and more. Including the Machine Lifeform backgrounds from Route B. This makes the story more easily digestible and easy to follow for an anime audience.
Character Differences, Interesting Changes
In the original game, the resistance leader was the female android Anemone. She is an adult android with a past connection to A2. In the Pearl Harbor Descent, she and her resistance squad, led by Captain Rose,team up with the Experimental M Squadron of YoRHa androids on an extremely dangerous mission. All the members of the team are killed in action except for Anemone and A2, who was known as No.2 at the time.
In the anime, Anemone is still present in the Pearl Harbor Descent, but instead of her surviving and taking Rose’s role as leader, it’s the youngest of the team, Lily. She was also in the game’s version of the mission, but she died along with all the others. Lily and Anemone’s places are switched, leaving Lily as the Resistance leader,and with the connection to A2.
Commander White’s Change in Personality
Commander White is the leader of the YoRHa. She’s a graceful and commanding android who manages the entire YoRHa force from the Bunker. In the game, she’s usually cold, and she always puts the mission as the top priority, leaving the androids' safety as secondary. Sometimes discarding them without a second thought. In the anime, Commander White gets new scenes of conversations with the Council of Humanity. In these scenes, the commander is often seen to be much more concerned about her soldiers' safety. She’s seen to be much more caring and hands-on with the YoRHa. All of that is ignored by the Council of Humanity, which goes a long way to show thatWhite is as much of a puppet as her soldiers.
A2’s Backstory Fully Displayed
A2’s backstory is only told in supplementary material. But in the anime, Lily tells 2B of the Pearl Harbor Descent mission. Fully showing A2’s backstory before she appears in the present time. This goes to show both of her teammates in Experimental M Squadron and her appearance and drastically different personalitybefore she became the YoRHa deserter.
Adam And Eve Swap Places
While the machine brothers' personalities and relationships are the same, there’s a crucial change regarding their final fate. In the game, Adam battles 2B in the Copied City. 2B defeats and kills him there and rescues 9S. Eve later finds out about his brother’s death and goes berserk, launching an all-out Machine attack on the Resistance andfighting 2B and 9S as the final boss of Route A/B.
In the anime, however, 2B’s encounter with Adam is extended. Adam lures 9S into a room full of paintings of the two androids, after which he kidnaps him. 2B enters the Copied City and finds Adam in a replica church, with ominous statues of humans, likely a foreshadowing to the finale’s Ark. 2B and Adam battle in a replica of The Library, a location that originally only appears in The Tower in Route C. Just as 2B is about to defeat Adam, Eve intervenes and takes the killing blow, dying in his brother’s arms.
Adam is the one to go berserkand launch the all-out attack, and in the anime, he turns into a monster similar to those seen in the NieR Reincarnation game. His battle involves the Resistance and his final fight with 2B and 9S is longer and much more dramatic.
Other Important But Lesser Changes
Emil in the original game is a mysterious character that acts as a wandering shop carrying important items. He’s one of the copies of the original Emil, a main character in the previous game, NieR Replicant. His role is mostly seen in side quests as he connects Automata with Replicant, referencing his friends Nier and Kainé, the protagonists of Replicant, merely in nods, not saying their names.
Emil is merged with a tree near Pascal’s Village in the anime. And when 9S hacks into him, he sees Emil’s memories, showing Kainé, Yonah, Grimoire Weis, and Nier in full. This is one of the ways the anime ties into NieR Replicant much closer than the game.
Devola and Popola, the twin sisters,show up late in the original game. In the anime, they’re seen much earlier when 2B and 9S meet the Resistance. And the Resistance members reference their backstory early. The discovery of Pascal and his village is different. In the game, 2B and 9S are led by a member of the village after they battle Simone in the Amusement Park. In the anime, 2B and 9S are tasked by Lily to deliver supplies to Pascal, and they find the village beyond the abandoned commercial facility. Pascal is also more lively and articulate in the anime, being able to crack jokes. Emil also plays a role in his backstory, being the one that inspired Pascal to become a pacifist. Pascal’s past as a fighting machine is also shown in the anime.
The Grün Machine Goliath encounter never happens in the anime. Instead, 2B and 9S spend time together in the coastal ruins of the Flooded City until they meet with Jackass. Later, this is where Adam kidnaps 9S. Jackass also gets a ton of more screen time in the anime, serving as a comedy relief character.
These are the major differences between the NieR Automata game and anime. The anime took some liberties with the events while still maintaining the original essence of the game. As NieR creator Yoko Taro supervised it, the anime doesn’t stray too far from the game, at least in Part 1.
NieR: Automata Ver1.1a
Based on the video game developed by PlatinumGames and Square Enix, NieR: Automata 1.1a is an adaptation that centers around members of a special android force created by Humanity in the distant future. In the year 5012, with Humanity at the brink of extinction and Earth all but claimed by Alien invaders with Machine Lifeforms, Humanity launches a counterattack to reclaim the planet. 9S, an elite attack unit, is sent to convene with an analysis unit known as 9S to eradicate the threat. But as the two learn about the world and themselves, they ponder the meaning of existence and whether they’re more than just weapons of destruction.
