NieR: Automata Ver1.1a currently adapts the game of the same name, although despite it only being one episode into the season; it certainly has been heavily anticipated and promoted. Its story and themes are heavily significant for the way how its game managed to convey the feeling, especially since at the time many people connected heavily with the story and its characters. Along with the gameplay, it provided a story that left people begging for more detail, with philosophical debates and references to other philosophers of the like represented in its robotic characters. However, the important question to consider is whether the anime of NieR: Automata Ver1.1a is adapting the game in an accurate and efficient manner that leaves the audience and fans satisfied.
NieR: Automata Ver1.1a is the anime adaptation of the game of the same name, announced back on February 23, 2022, and released nearly a year later in 2023. Many fans have been anticipating how the anime would handle the adaptation, and the anime itself has released one episode depicting the first mission of the story. However, NieR:Automata the game had an interesting development and way of conveying its story through gameplay, especially through the multiple playthrough and eventually its endgame content. Developing a story the way a game does via animation and an episode-by-episode run on a weekly basis is a tall order for A-1 Pictures, considering it has been tasked with animating the story onto the screen. This brings up the question of whether or not the anime has managed to adapt the game well so far.
Adapting The First Mission
The first episode of NieR:Automata Ver1.1a begins by adapting the first mission and prologue mission of the story, with pacing of the mission, and well-choreographed fight scenes with moments of dialogue. For the most part, it's art direction and animation style are different and more dynamic than the games own control input when it came to fights. One important thing to note, is that despite the combat being much different the game, it doesn't feel poorly animated or even too slow in pacing. In fact, one of the strengths so far of the first mission is that from beginning to end it adapts the prologue mission while not missing a beat of what happens.
From 2B's entrance with her squad all the way to the end of the first episode, the episode seems well-paced as well as pleasant to look at, aesthetically speaking. Of course, more than just aesthetic or fight scenes, the anime adapts the characters of 2B and 9S faithfully. With 2B's stoic and professional demeanor over the course of the mission, and 9S's more expressive demeanor and more utility based-arsenal; the episode manages to even adapt the hacking sequences with an impressive level of detail while conveying to the audience what exactly is going on. Generally speaking, even at the end of the episode, 2B and 9S's conversation regarding the outcomes of their missions strikes a chord with how silent it ended up being and contemplative for the audience.
Adapting Future Episodes.
NieR:Automata Ver1.1a as an anime is off to a decent start, with fans enjoying the pacing and the adaptation to a certain degree. However, despite its well-paced start, there isn't any guarantee that all the episodes will be well-paced or even animated to the best extent if they were to restrict their episode run to 12 episodes. That isn't normally enough to cover a game that lasts nearly 50 hours when attempting to play every route, and covering every route on its own could prove to be a challenge since the anime is tasked with adapting all the game in a manner that is provocative as well as interesting. There is the inherent possibility that A-1 Pictures could make a few mistakes, or at most make an animated episode that while pleasing could also be poorly paced. It depends entirely on the writers adapting this game into an anime, and the results may vary.
Regardless, it is still too early in the season's run to make any definitive answers or sweeping judgments considering the first episode released recently. The adaptation so far hasn't provided many reasons to be concerned or skeptical of their quality in the near future. Especially considering how the first mission itself was pretty short even in the game, so it was well-paced in the first episode. Regardless, NieR:Automata Ver1.1a as an anime is doing well as a story, although there is always the concern many fans may have about how it will handle the ending. More importantly, there is the question of how the characters' personality will be handled, along with a couple of fan favorites, one example being Emil. The anime itself has to juggle the characters as well as making sure they all get their proper screen time without lingering or cutting it short to the point of leaving them out of the story in general.
Thankfully, the anime itself will run for 24 episodes, which is most likely enough episodes and time to run the seasons episodes and with the screen time that entails approximately 10 hours of footage for the anime. That is about the same length for three movies, and many fans find that confidently enough to adapt and properly tell the story of NieR:Automata. Whether this anime becomes a success or flops as a result, it depends on the fans' reaction to how they handle the story as well as its own adaptation. Even so, the anime has shown promise with its first episode, so it is most likely that NieR:Automata Ver1.1a will be well-produced as well as adapted in the near future.