NieR: Automata Ver 1.1a

If you live on this planet, you have probably heard of Nier Automata, the legendary video game created by Yoko Taro and released in 2017.

I am a big fan of the video game and I really waited for the premiere of this anime with great excitement and expectations. Nier Automata has an extraordinary story, incredible characters, and truly impressive plot twists that made me fantasize to the fullest of what could be achieved by turning this game into an anime series.

However, there is an absolute reality that clearly escaped Yoko Taro and that I did not count on: the narrative of a video game is completely different from the narrative of an anime.

In a video game, you are the protagonist. The player delves into the adventure and discovers, thanks to their own effort, every corner of it. The player forms "bonds" with other characters, and, thanks to the decisions they make, despite being a linear story, there are never two video game adventures alike. Nier Automata is an impressive video game that in a few minutes manages to transport the player to an impressive futuristic world, and little by little you become one with the adventure.

The big mistake of the Nier Automata anime is that it seeks to reproduce the same narrative. Especially the first chapters, it really feels like the game. Unfortunately, that is a fatal mistake. In a video game, there are players. In an anime, there are spectators.

The way the Nier Automata anime carries its narrative is like inviting the viewer to ask questions, or to delve deeper into what is happening. While this works in a video game, it is a fatal mistake in an anime. The reason is that the viewer simply does not have enough reasons to continue with the narrative. Nier Automata is an anime that does not manage to tell a solid story because it always wants to keep "a mystery of exploration," which is not compatible with an anime.

Personally, as the chapters progressed, I wanted to see how they told a story, because I already know how it ends. However, if someone does not have the same motivation, they will find Nier Automata a boring, gray, depressing anime that gives no incentive to continue watching it.

If you are a fan of the video game, it is a recommended anime. If you are not, the truth is, I bet you will get bored by the third chapter for having a plot that tries to "make itself interesting" and never succeeds.