NieR: Automata anime and game comparison videos show how Ver1.1a faithfully recreates the game’s scenes

Videos comparing the NieR: Automata anime trailer to scenes from the game are gaining traction online. In addition to the below video from Kakuchopurei, a number of different scenes can be compared by checking videos posted by users on YouTube, Reddit, and other social media sites.

NieR: Automata is an action RPG that was directed by Yoko Taro and released in 2017. In June of 2022, it was revealed that the game had surpassed over 6.5 million units shipped and downloaded. With its moving story from the mind of Yoko Taro and awesome action gameplay from PlatinumGames, it wasn’t only a sales success but a critical success with players.

NieR: Automata Ver1.1a is an upcoming anime based on the NieR: Automata video game. It’s being made by A-1 Pictures who are behind works such as Lycoris Recoil and the Persona anime series. It’s being directed by Ryouji Masuyama, with the composition of the series being handled by both Yoko Taro and Masuyama.

When looking at these videos comparing scenes from NieR: Automata Ver1.1a to the game, we can see a lot of the camera work and character movement is the same as it was in the game. Cutscenes that were originally made with 3D models are being remade as 2D animation.

During the recent Aniplex Online Fest 2022 event, Yoko Taro and Ryouji Masuyama talked about NieR: Automata Ver1.1a. During a section titled, “How is the animation footage being created — ?” Yoko Taro commented that while the visuals are inheriting the look of the game, “the anime uses camera blocking or emotional depictions of characters to do things that we couldn’t do in the game,” following with, “that left a lasting impression on me.”

Masuyama stated, “The game movies themselves are very beautiful and complete as is, so there was a part of me that didn’t want to change it up that much. So it’s not exactly porting it into anime plus filling in the gaps so to say, but to get it close to the movie scenes including all the places where we made changes.”

Some of the recently revealed animation being scenes from the game animated as they were is probably a result of this design philosophy that sees the cutscenes as complete and not wanting to change them. It sounds like the anime is going to be paying proper respect to the source material.

Furthermore, Yoko Taro mentions that he proposed some changes to the story, saying the story was for a game and that it wouldn’t be interesting if turned into an anime as is. However, Masuyama and the producers at Aniplex were of the mind that the story should be changed as little as possible for the fans. “The original creator was trying to destroy the original story, and the anime staff is desperately stopping that… Such a debate kept going back and forth for a long time,” says Yoko Taro.

While the anime looks like it will respect the original game, the title does contain “V1.1a” so it seems likely there will at least be some changes to the story.

NieR: Automata Ver1.1a is scheduled to air in January of 2023.

Written by. Nick Mosier based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2022-09-27 17:12 JST)