"Glory to mankind."

As a fan of the greater Drakenier series, I was going to give this anime a shot no matter what, and I'm truly glad that I did. I was anticipating a full 1:1 adaptation of the game, and while it does directly take moments from the game, there's plenty of original content and adaptation of Automata's side stories that keep the anime fresh. This is a spoiler-free review, as I do encourage those who choose to read this to watch it yourself.

Now, admittedly, as much as I enjoyed Nier Automata ver 1.1a, there were some flaws that I feel like I have to point out in order to be an honest reviewer. The early episodes had some truly rough animation, particularly when it came to the CGI of the mech suits and having the characters in said mech suits. The models look directly ripped from the game which, on paper, doesn't sound half-bad. If it were handled well, I'd say that it was a fun way to tie the game to the anime...

Keywords "if it were handled well".

In execution, it's very jarring - especially when the 2D animation doesn't match up with the very muted and desaturated look of those models. It's a bit sloppy. There's also quite a number of issues in the last few episodes (9-12) that stuck out to me. Jarring cuts, mismatched shots where actions don't line up with the next in a way that reads as unintentional rather than adding to the cinematic language... Even with the incredibly long delay between episode 8 and the rest of the series, there's a few things holding the animation back. There's also some pacing issues with those last few episodes where things feel a little rushed, and for those who haven't played the game, some things might come off as a bit jarring or like they come out of nowhere just for the sake of having a twist... As someone who has played the game and watched others play it, I can forgive this as it is incredibly true to the game's storytelling, but I can definitely see where someone who hasn't might find this contrived.

But even so, if you can stomach the flaws, the anime provides so much more for the viewer to enjoy. The story is fantastic; it holds true to the game while putting its own twist on it, all thanks to Yoko Taro's (slightly dialed down) direction. There are shots that genuinely look amazing and add to the visual storytelling, and the anime does a lot of unique things in its adaptation of certain gameplay features, such as 9S' hacking abilities. There's also those cute little after-credits puppet segments, which hold a lot of charm to them and I could tell that the creators and voice actors had a lot of fun with. When the anime hits its stride after the early episodes, the CGI genuinely looks fantastic and blends really well with the 2D animation, which in and of itself also looks phenomenal. Nier Automata ver. 1.1a is a genuinely beautiful work, and it handles its characters with immense care.

It's not a perfect work, but it's definitely a fun time.