There was never a world in which NieR: Automata Ver1.1.a ended in a predictable way. The anime adaptation of the 2017 action RPG from Yoko Taro and PlatinumGames has continuously deviated from the expected narrative since it began airing in 2023. Over 24 episodes, Ver1.1a offered a gripping retelling of the original story for newcomers while also constantly playing with the franchie’s extended lore to keep longtime fans on their toes. With last week’s finale, the show went out on an undeniable high note that speaks to the story’s effectiveness regardless of medium as well as Taro’s shifting relationship with its themes.
For the majority of its runtime, the final episode of Ver1.1a, “the [E]nd of YoRHa”, doesn’t mess with the true ending of the game, from which this finale gets its name. But just when the show seems over and the credits start to roll, things begin to change. Unlike in the game’s ending, Ver1.1a shows us the aftermath of the final confrontation between androids A2, 9S, the machine lifeforms, and the remnants of YoRHa. More shockingly, it’s a happy ending. First we see 9S awaken with his blue eyes shining and no sign of the virus that once threatened his life and sanity. Then we see 2B awaken next to him. The two reunite without their blindfolds and weapons, stripped of their roles as androids of YoRHA. They have a new future ahead of them, together. The credits then cut to A2, resting peacefully next to the NieR franchise’s signature lunar tear growing beside her. It’s a symbol of hope, and a recognition that the better future A2 has fought for is beginning to blossom. A last title card reveals a new name for the episode: “Alternative [E]den.”
Finally, we see a mysterious girl with black pigtails walking away with a large suitcase in hand. She turns to the camera, her bespeckled face staring directly at the viewer. She winks and then the show ends. That girl is perhaps the most important character in the lore of Drakengard and NieR. Her name is Accord and she is a constant observer of the Drakengard/NieR universe whose name pops up in NieR, Automata, and even the now defunct Reincarnation. Her most prominent appearance, however, is in Drakengard 3. In one of the game’s many routes, we see the mysterious girl make a phone call to an unknown party after which she is explicitly granted permission to intervene with the narrative and give protagonist Zero a chance to change her fate. While not explicitly said, this unknown party represents creator Yoko Taro intervening in his own narrative to help push the characters towards a better future.
Throughout the Drakengard/Nier series, Taro has always dealt with dark and depressing themes about nihilism and hopelessness in the face of tragedy or overwhelmingly bad odds. There is not much happiness to be found in his games and that which does exist is often fleeting and comes at a cost. Yet with every subsequent game Taro makes, his nihilism seems to be decreasing—.while Automata was already a more hopeful story than anything that came before it (something the director discussed with Kotaku in 2018) it still comes with so much loss and sacrifice for A2, 2B, 9S, and more.
But in Ver1.1a Taro gives these characters a chance to be happy. Seven years since the game’s release, it seems he’s decided that these characters have sacrificed enough without seeing the fruit of their suffering. Over the years Taro has shown a growing optimism in his narratives despite the rise of nihilism in the real world. The 2021 remake of the original NieR includes a new ending that lets players save the protagonist from his own sacrifice. Like Ver1.1a’s “Alternative [E]den”, it lets the characters lie in peace.
With Ver1.1a, Taro shows the rest of the video game industry how to do a remake. Rather than a hollow retreading of a story meant to gain a new audience (and more profit), each time Taro revisits Automata’s story, he interrogates his own artistic intent and execution. Through this approach, Automata has become a shifting thing that reflects Taro’s growing optimism through the lens of the same characters. This is what makes NieR: Automata a masterpiece: whether it be as a video game, a play, a manga, or an anime.
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