NieR:Automata Ver1.1a (2023-2024)

Director: Ryoji Masuyama
Studio: A-1 Pictures
Starring: Yui Ishikawa, Natsuki Hanae, Ayaka Suwa
Episodes: 24

Synopsis:
Elite combat androids are dispatched in the latest phase of a long-running war to retake Earth from the machine army of alien invaders.

Impressions:
I'm not nearly well-coordinated enough for character action games, but while I haven't played NieR:Automata, I have seen LPs of the game, so I was familiar with the story and I was curious to see how this adaptation would work. While there are some changes to the story and characters, this is mostly a straight run through the game's story with some offshoots for the various endings (the joke ones being relegated to puppet theater segments at the end of episodes). I particularly like the dynamic between 2B and Nines9S. If you haven't played the game but are familiar with the kind of writer Yoko Taro is, you know that there's going to be heaping helpings of mindscrew and grimdark. How much you're up for a ride like that is something only you can answer for youself. Coming from A-1 Pictures, there's no skimping on the production values, so you can expect visuals to be about as good as they can be for a TV production with beautiful art and some really good action scenes. I enjoyed it quite a bit and I imagine a lot of fans of the game will like it just as much or more. While I wouldn't mind adding this to my collection, I don't know if I can recommend it quite so readily to general audiences, the Yoko Taro story being what it is, but definitely give it a watch at the very least.

Rating:
Watch It