The following contains spoilers for episodes 1 and 2 of NieR Automata Ver1.1a, now streaming on Crunchyroll.
After fans eagerly awaited NieR's very first anime adaptation, it's finally here! While the first episode stayed true to its source material and set the plot for the rest of the series, the second episode branched off into an anime-original narrative.
While this will undoubtedly receive mixed reviews, by having an expanded narrative on the Resistance this time, will allow for a unique and exciting experience, for both newcomers and veterans alike. As Yoko Taro himself stated, it would be boring to just animate the entire game, and just having it resemble a playthrough.
2B or Not To [B]e?
From the beginning of episode 1, we're introduced to 2B carrying what seems to be 9S's lifeless body. In a monologue, she laments about the war they're fighting and wonders how much longer they have to go on. From then on, we're introduced to 2B embarking on the same mission that we see at the beginning of the game. After the rest of her squad is wiped out, she's left to fend for herself. It's at that time that 9S is instructed by 21O to come to 2B's assistance. Meanwhile, she defeats the machines going up against her and meets 9S for what looks to be the first time - though 2B's dialogue implies they've met before.
As the pair scout out their assigned area, 9S gives us a brief rundown of how the machine lifeforms operate. While sometimes they mimic human behavior, they are essentially just empty shells that are incapable of thought - there is no meaning to their actions. 2B manages to weaken the Goliath (her target for the mission), and so 9S hacks into it to take it apart from the inside. Little do they both know, it has more than one core and more than one body. After 9S is fatally wounded, and 2B unable to fix him, the two are left to use their black boxes to take out the three Goliaths with them. As the credits roll, a newly awakened 2B rises from her bunker to greet a revived 9S. Though only 2B's memories were fully restored, 9S commends her on their last mission.
Making Use of Its Time
NieR Automata Ver1.1a succeeded in adapting the first 2 hours of the game into a 23-minute introduction. The staff took care in including vital aspects of the introduction to ensure that anime-onlys would understand the narrative - and for NieR veterans to have a good recap.
Additionally, they didn't include too much exposition in 2B's relationship to 9S, so it was more of a mystery of how she felt about him - but there was enough left to speculate. 2B's initial battle phase was shot 1:1 in a homage to the game's first cutscene, among others. They don't say, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" for nothing - and A-1 Pictures knew exactly what they were doing. It's also worth mentioning that the map layouts from the game weren't modified at all, either. It had a solid start, for sure!
city e[S]cape
Episode 2 branches from the game and into anime-only territory. It starts with a disembodied voice - presumably the main leader of YoRHa informing the current android models of their predicament. After battling a war against the aliens and machines, that have gone on for centuries, they are currently at a stalemate. Because of this, humans have fled to the Moon for safety, and are relying on androids to fight on their behalf. However, The Council of Humanity anticipates the centuries long war to be nearing its end, with the production of the new YoRHa androids.
Meanwhile, we get a peak into the machines' everyday lives, in which one becomes enamored with human knowledge and begins to develop emotion and curiosity - a contrast to its previous hostile nature. It's at this point where it reads a book, that we see seemingly repaired televisions displaying reruns of footage from the distant past. One of which is a news broadcast from 2003, where a newscaster is reporting on a "mysterious" monster found in Shinjuku - a reference to the end of Drakengard, which directly leads into the events of NieR: Replicant. Using its new-found knowledge, it discovers a Lunar Tear and decides to grow a garden in a wholesome montage, where its act of kindness rubs off on its peers, and they work create large patches of flowers. An interesting observation is that it starts muttering, "Big Brother" upon encountering the Lunar Tear - a reference to Yonah in Replicant.
We then switch to a group of androids dressed in more war-equipped clothes, discussing what they'll do if they run out of materials. On a nearby radio, The Council of Humanity broadcasts an encouraging speech to lift their spirits and morale, but the captain of that team is having none of it. Here we meet Lily, who insists that the message is disingenuous, and they have long since abandoned The Resistance, the group she and the others belong to.
Resuming 2B and 9S's encounter from the last episode, they are both summoned to investigate into what happened with the previous team sent to Earth, as communication was promptly cut off - presumably by Lily. As they descend to the surface, the pair would find The Resistance cornered by the machines, after an unsuccessful bombing attempt as a result of running out of bullets and suffering too many losses previously. Thankfully 2B and 9S were able to take them out, but at the cost of the non-hostile machines as well. Upon seeing 2B, Lily panics and calls her "Number Two", in disbelief. This implies Lily may have met the former at one point. We are last shown more machines reading books, just like the one at the beginning of the episode was.
Branching Off in a Good Way
Episode 2 gives us a good look into the broader scheme of things in the NieR Automata world. It was interesting to see how a machine is not inherently evil, and instead may have just been conditioned to be violent - a callback to what 9S speculated in episode 1 about machines "mindlessly" imitating human behavior. But perhaps it may not all be so mindless after all. This episode's inclusion of the news broadcast from 2003, may hint towards some more content relating to Replicant or even Drakengard. Manga readers may recognize Lily, who was not initially a leader, but one of the weaker models and a meek personality. It will be interesting to see how her character plays out in future episodes. And it's cool to see multiple works and side stories come together.
A quick nod to 9S's behavior towards 2B. If you haven't noticed already, he definitely has a massive crush - and this episode didn't hesitate to show how bashful he is around her.
Free [P]uppet Shows!
In a post-credit scene at the end of episode 1, we are treated to a puppet show in which 2B and 9S explain to us how there are multiple endings to the original game, and then go onto talk about what their letter designations are and what they mean. 9S, being his happy energetic self, also pulls out his black box to demonstrate its importance.
Unfortunately, 2B seems a little tooB eager to end the episode and puts her black box against his, blowing up the studio. The screen then has a written monologue that explains what just happened, and the credits roll in a mock parody of the joke endings in the original NieR Automata game. This brings the episode to an ironic close, as they were just referencing the multiple endings previously. Episode 2's post-credit puppet show has 2B removing her OS chip to trigger one of the joke endings, also seen in the game (ending T). Some advice: If you value your save data, don't do it.