©SQUARE ENIX/HUMAN COMMITTEE
now that NieR: Automata Version 1.1a Taking the time to chronicle the robot’s decline and remind us how the A2 became the murder-machine queen it is today, “Kid[D]In “The End of the Hood,” the story takes a necessary step back, giving A2 a chance to reflect and readjust. She may not think Note that engaging in any reflection or recalibration only to be immobilized by a combination of defective parts and sheer, malicious stubbornness tends to limit one’s options. So, over the course of several decades, driven solely by slaughtering enemies, A2 is forced to be accepted into Pascal’s robotic villagers, who make many awkward attempts to befriend her. It’s very cute.
As far as episodes go, this is hardly one of them near automatonThe most exciting or shocking chapter, but it plays into the fairy-tale philosophical reflections that characterize fairy tales Yoko Taro story. Is it particularly surprising that A2 slowly begins to recognize (for lack of a better term) the “humanity” of the machine enemies she hates? Of course not. What if the anime installed a giant, flashing neon sign above A2’s head that said “Soon she too will learn that killing indiscriminately is an evil and corrupt act that stains the history of mankind” This arc of development will only become more apparent. Still, the thing about fairy tales, even the weird ones featuring sexy maid murderers and their floating machine-gun friends, is that the obviousness of their morality is only an integral part of their power. Due to the trauma she suffered as a soldier in this eternal war, the A2 has been twisted into a violent weapon of astonishing efficiency, so you can bet your bottom dollar Neil She will find a way to confront the flaws of her own perspective while also taking into account the overwhelming power of the system that put her in this position. That’s, like, Neilof the whole thingand it does it extremely well.
Plus, if we’re talking about pure entertainment value, then who in their right mind would turn down the chance to watch A2’s ridiculous but ineffective attempt to stop a machine from befriending her and curing her? I know Pod 042 doesn’t giggle mischievously, but you just Know This is what he’s doing somewhere in the code when he nonchalantly refuses to interfere with the dose of “medicine” A2 gets from her new little caregiver.
Another thing I appreciated about this episode was how it clarified for me the rationale for having Lily as the new face of the Resistance Version 1.1a story. Since we’re going to lose a lot of the background detail and casual storytelling that happens in A2’s gameplay portion, we need to find a way to create a connection between her and the audience that makes sense. Since we’ve spent the better part of a season and a half with Lily, a consistent and likable character in the story, her reunion with A2 carries a lot of emotional weight, bringing to life the innocent and trusting character A2 once played. The girls are tied together with this sturdy machine and it may be showing some slight signs of turning on again.
9S is also around, dealing with his soul-eating pain, and I wonder if it would have been more effective if the show followed the game’s structure, swapping back and forth between the two competing protagonists after they’ve had time to complete an important “part” of their path. . I don’t want to blame 9S for losing himself in his rage, but it tends to come across as a bit intense when all you get are brief clips of him swearing revenge and/or crying and screaming due to his overwhelming need for revenge. Then again, maybe the show will never let us stray too far from the story, because sooner or later his path and A2’s will converge…
grade:
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• This week’s puppet show features Pascal the puppet and his puppet villagers who respond to a letter about “machine boxes” scattered across the land, which is great, although I’m now wondering about the ” “Vending machine” save terminal already appeared in the animation? i feel like them must At some point, but I don’t want to rewatch seventeen weeks of old episodes to find out…
• Looks like we’ll be taking a recap break next week. I crossed my fingers and prayed to the anime gods that this wasn’t a dire sign of impending production issues.
NieR: Automata version 1.1a Season 2 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
James is a writer with many thoughts and feelings about anime and other pop culture, which can also be found in twitterhis blog and his podcast.
