NieR:Automata Ver1.1a

It was only a matter of time. The highly acclaimed video game of NieR:Automata Ver1.1a did not get the anime treatment because of its bad glitches or disastrous launch unlike a certain Cyberpunk 2077 game. It got its own anime series because, well, uhm, I suppose it would be a waste for it not to have one. Heh. Made that up but yeah, perhaps they want to expose more people to check out this game and the game itself has so much stories and possibilities to tell that it isn’t possible for it all to be told in the version of a game, that’s why the anime. Heh. Made that one up too. Oh heck, cute alluring NieR female protagonist was the main reason why I delved into this! Glory to mankind!

Episode 1
YoRHa No. 2 Type B AKA 2B and her Pod 042 are fighting their way through various mechanical enemies. Because of the intensity of the machines, YoRHa No. 9 Type S AKA 9S is ordered to help support her. Thanks to his help, 2B is saved from certain death as he reboots the machine menace while commenting on 2B’s very brute approach in attacking. 2B continues to investigate the facility as 9S strikes up a conversation, happy to be partnered with somebody as his scanner types usually scout and work alone. Of course 2B wants to concentrate on the mission rather than create some unnecessary emotions. 2B finally finds this goliath class weapon that is her target. More fighting ensues but since this mother is a tough nut to crack, 9S dives inside the goliath’s core to reboot the system. While it has temporarily ceased functions, 9S is fatally injured. 2B rushes to save him but 9S notes he is beyond saving and that this is the risk and pride as soldiers they take in battles. He allows her to gain control of his mecha to go finish off the goliath before it resumes. 9S then records all of 2B’s memories in the black box with the help of Pod 153. 2B manages to destroy the goliath but damn, more of it pops up! 9S crawls to 2B while noting things are looking bad. Hence they are going to use their black box to annihilate all the enemies. 2B narrates the perpetual spiral of life and death such soldiers are trapped in. Because now we see them both returning back to life on the orbiting satellite base known as The Bunker. 2B sees 9S and thanks for uploading their data and memories back to The Bunker as well as the mission to successfully destroy the enemies. However 9S has no recollection of memories prior to their rendezvous point since he only had time to upload her data.

Episode 2
As narrated, mankind’s glory came to an end when Aliens sent mechanical weapons to destroy Earth. The miniscule survivors fled to the moon and started to use androids as their rebellion forces. But after so many operations, no progress were made. Hence the existence of YoRHa soldiers as ultimate combat weapons to tip the balance. For the glory of mankind! Now we see one of those ubiquitous drone machines known as, uhm, Machines getting some sort of slightly sentient life of its own. While it helps out in making other weapons in the factory, it also learnt about the history of mankind and somehow started to value life. At least, this little flower it accidentally crushed. Now it goes to great lengths to help plant and nurture these little flowers and it got a bunch of other little Machines to also help out. Soon, a large patch of flower garden grows over the place. Meanwhile a group of human resistance led by Lily have sent some reinforcement requests to the Council of Humanity. However Lily is sceptical such help will arrive and that they will be forced to fight to death. 2B and 9S are summoned by Commander White. She tasks them on a recon mission to find out what happened to a liaison down on Earth as they have lost contact with it. Machines and other robots soon attack the resistance. The fight causes destruction all over, including the trampling of the flower bed. The resistance has planted bombs on the bridge to blow it up as the enemies cross over. However it is not working. Fearing this is the end, a large explosion soon blows it up. So much for the flower garden too. The resistance is glad the YoRHa models are here to help. However Lily doesn’t look to happy. Can’t make the council out as villains now?

Episode 3
2B and 9S are taken to the resistance camp. We hear White’s sneaky goal that her intention wasn’t to send help to those resistance. If they respond to each of their request, it will hinder their progress. After all, the resistance were fighting the battle themselves and thus this mission is to buy time as decoys for the resistance since their liaison lost contact in that same area. Lily introduces to Jackass who loves tinkering with machines. Sorry, it’s a crime punishable by destruction to take apart the androids! As Jackass reports strange sightings of machine life forms in the desert ruins, since the YoRHa soldiers are also investigating this area, they tag along with her. Upon entering the area, those Machines pop up to attack although they’re spouting strange words like pleading for help. When 9S dives into the system of the big one, he sees some strange worshipping civilization. After 2B cuts them all down, the last one gets scared and runs away. Strange for a robot, right? Jackass tells them she knows the council didn’t send them as help and they are using the resistance as shields. However she will not tell Lily so as to give the resistance hope. Entering the ruins of what was once a human settlement, they see lots of dead androids. One of them includes their missing liaison. Suddenly the ground collapses and the YoRHa units fall through. They are shocked to see many Machines making up the pillars of this large underground segment. Then they see a group of Machines mimicking human life. Suddenly they get scared and go haywire. They combine themselves with the pillars. The main nest then produces an android. As he starts to evolve, 2B and 9S quickly attack and kill him. However another one emerges from his body, faster and deadlier.

Episode 4
Our team retreat back to the camp in one piece. As they have never seen such android before, they have sent their data back to The Bunker for analysis. Jackass talks about the evolution of such machines that will surpass humanity in time. Perhaps it will then be intelligent to negotiate for peace and coexistence? But 9S rubbishes such goals because it won’t reclaim their planet. Because by doing so, it will be an insult to all those who have died for the cause. Thus it is non-negotiable that they are to annihilate every machine to reclaim back Earth. This opens up discussion about machines now seeking freedom and androids were modelled after humans so why would machines mimic them? White talks to the council about her request to send back up for the current mission but is shot down. This is all part of the bigger plan of the project and that they must make decisions with things in perspective. 2B and 9S watch humans sending supplies to The Bunker and the moon. No supplies in space, right? This has them wonder why Aliens don’t just attack The Bunker or the moon directly. They then receive new commands from White about the deciphering of the black box of their missing liaison. Well, sounds very cryptic. As the black box signal can still be confirmed, the liaison is assumed not to be dead yet. So the duo head over to where the signal is and find themselves in a fully automated amusement park. They see a bunch of Machines making out a play before an unknown monster android pops up to attack them. It seems this one is trying to hack into their minds too. Then they see android corpses around it. Their black boxes have been altered into weapons while still alive. 9S manages to hack into its mind and finds himself in a strange situation. He could’ve been a victim had not 2B initiated a risky emergency to hack back and pull him out. As the android goes berserk because it is trying to assimilate 9S, 2B deals the finishing blow. They see its core crystal being destroyed and notes its similarity to a plant cell. When a pair of harmless Machines claim they are here to see the play, 9S destroys them while calling out 2B not to hesitate.

Episode 5
9S dreads doing errands but 2B notes this is much better than battles as they get to survive. They enter a village that is populated by Machines led by Pascal. They really mean no harm. In fact, Lily put the YoRHa units up to this errand to deliver some supplies. Lily noted this section of Machines never wanted to harm them and only want to live in peace. Pascal understands them being sceptical but has them look around and freely interact with the other citizens. Yeah, trying to really act and live like humans. The duo head underground to see a strange face (Emil) embedded in a tree. They cannot ascertain if it’s a Machine or organic so 9S hacks into the system only to be shortly shut out. With the data he got, it seems this is a weapon created by humans in the past. Pascal further explains that Emil is the object of worship of this village. This is the reason he stopped fighting. Eons ago when Pascal was like his many similar units fighting a war, one of the fight blasted him down here. He felt a sense of calmness. But soon he returned to the battlefield and watched his comrades get destroyed one by one. He then started to fear for his own life and came to live here peacefully. 9S thinks it is some bug. Pascal continued to create this village for all those who want to stop fighting. After all, these Machines here have been severed from the network and in return, that freedom has gained them much in return. But 9S can’t seem to accept this fact of Machines living in peace. Because as many of their allies died, going by this logic the same can be said for them. He thinks these Machines are selfish for just wanting to stop fighting. They return to the village to see some of the Machines in a petty squabble just like humans. A different kind of fight, I suppose. 9S wants to do something about it but a scheduled contact comes in. Nothing to report.

Episode 6
Lily seems to have nightmare of her past. So while the YoRHa units set up some devices, Lily asks 2B if they as androids dream. They don’t. Because 9S did ask why the resistance do not have formal alliances with YoRHa soldiers, Lily tells 2B there was once a time they worked together. She is telling her because 2B looks like her predecessor, the previous YoRHa generation model. When 2B and her other YoRHa units came down and sought for the resistance’s help for some mission to take down some server, the resistance who was then led by Rose, many were sceptical. However Rose agreed to work together since they had the same enemy and they don’t want to see any more of their comrades and family dwindle in numbers. Rose still trusted them despite they cannot divulge what was said to be military secrets. Lily couldn’t understand but Rose pointed out one day when she takes over, she’ll understand. So we see them band like a happy family until suddenly Lily gets taken over by a virus that caused her to go berserk. OMG. At this point I just found out Lily is not human but an android?! The virus is infectious and incurable. The only way is to kill her before it spreads. Rose was about to that but 2B protected Lily. She had one of her comrades heal her up and after a hard struggle, Lily was safe. As they continued their mission, it was obvious there wasn’t going to be backup as the whole team were just a sacrificial pawn. Of course it didn’t end in failure, otherwise Lily wouldn’t be here. As thousands of enemy machines descended onto the area, slowly their comrades get killed off one by one. Lily doesn’t remember much about the ride up the elevator to the server. All she remembers was Rose forcing her to go alone and save everyone. Although Lily was able to shut down the server, everyone else was already dead. She viewed everyone saved her and will never forget them. She notes as androids they don’t have soul nor do they dream. But the memories from back then were real. She wonders what kind of memories 2B has. 2B asks what if one of her comrades was still alive. That will be a nice dream to have.

Episode 7
2B and 9S see Pascal having trouble with one of his citizens. It seems this robot, her sister went off to the dangerous forest kingdom to find some replacement parts for her. 9S doesn’t want to help since this is not part of their mission despite the Machine’s comical and constant tantrums. Well, 2B accepts the mission so let’s go. As Pascal brings them to that kingdom, they see that robot’s ribbon. They then detect some Machine life form but Pascal wants to go talk to it. However it is already slashed. Then they enter some area as 9S peeks into its recording device to see Machines making this place their independent kingdom and had a robot king. However after many centuries, the king died so his citizens are sad and thus put his memories into his child who will become their new king. But as they do so, suddenly an intruder attacks the place. The gang continue their search and finally find that sister robot. She is fine but it seems she has also fallen in love with a local Machine and they want to marry right now. Wow. Robots marrying? The groom then pleads to save their little king. 9S of course is done with this mission but softie 2B accepts it. Here we go again. They see the little baby king at the throne room. Suddenly the intruder drops in and kills it! There goes their kingdom. As they shortly clash, the Pods have recorded data about this intruder. She is the fugitive unit known as YoRHa Type A No. 2 AKA A2 who has betrayed the council. The rest are shocked to see a fellow YoRHa unit but A2 soon escapes. 9S wonders why she betrayed the council but she tells them it is their commander who has betrayed.

Episode 8
Reporting back to White, now that they have met A2, she gives them a new mission to hunt down the deserter. 9S asks how this happened in the first place but that is classified info. Just do your job. They ask Pascal about it. He has a bit of info on her and although she destroys Machines, she has never encroached his village. The duo return to the camp and ask about but nobody knows anything. Then they set off their search at the flooded city. 9S takes off his gear to go play in the water despite 2B’s repeated warnings not to waste energy on their mission. But eventually she too heeds his advice to do so. Wow. Nice beautiful eyes she got there. Noting a Lunar Tear flower, 2B takes it to show an operator who wants to see such flower. She is happy and also asks about the environment down there. Better to come down yourself and see. She hopes to and hopes she’ll come with her. They continue their search and split up. 2B finds Jackass fishing. So she bombs the mackerel the hell out of the water?! Asking about A2, Jackass says she was Lily’s former comrade. 2B tries to contact 9S but it seems he is unreachable due to someone jamming the frequency. Flashback shows after they split up, 9S can’t help be curious and dives directly into The Bunker’s database. Some talk with the operator about humans and families before he peeks at White talking to the council about yet another request of hers being denied and to stick to the plan. When the hacking is detected, 9S quickly logs out. As he tries to cover his tracks, a ball rolls near his feet. He tries to contact 2B but to no avail. As he goes in deeper, he finds a room filled with pictures of 2B and 9S. Even one as recent. His Pod goes missing and as he looks around in this cliché horror jump scare, something from the dark attacks him.

Episode 9
Uhm, is this the Backrooms? Because that is where 9S finds himself. A voice speaks to him claiming how Machines have evolved and formed a new form of existence. He is Adam (that android from the desert ruins) and he claims the YoRHa units are just like him. 9S tries to deny it all but Adam continues to say he too has desires deep in his heart. He is no different. 9S then gets captured and locked in a room. Pod 153 returns to tell 2B about missing 9S and leads her to where he was last seen. They find strange numbers on the painting and Pod 042 believes it is coordinates of 9s’ whereabouts. 2B makes a request to White to request for a search time but is denied as she claims she cannot expend more androids for this mission. 2B and the Pods then go to the coordinates alone and enter a hidden door. A strange model after a human city. After seeing weird human models etched into stones and the confirmation of missing YoRHa members, Adam shows himself. He warns she can’t kill him or she’ll never find 9S. Adam claims as an evolved life form, he finds the complexity of humanity to be interesting. Then he shows them the Aliens. Damn, those are ugly motherf*ckers! However they are all dead because their own weapons killed them after gaining their own life form. But in comparison, humans are far more interesting than this ugly species. This means the androids who are modelled after them are also interesting. Adam has been watching their every move since. As 2B insists on 9S, Adam now brings him out. He has been subjected to many of his experiments. This makes 2B mad and this is what Adam wants. As they fight, Adam sends out replicas of 9S. Because 2B hesitates to kill the fakes, this makes it more interesting. Pod 042 doesn’t hesitate to destroy, though. Adam then hints that humanity is extinct and thus it is pointless for both sides to fight each other. Thus he wants to reach the abyss of humanity that no longer exists. Within those data, there is no flicker of life and hence he severed his connection to the network. He hints to kill him if she wants to save 9S. However 2B notes enough time was bought. Turns out Pod 153 was trying to hack into Adam while 2B acted as a decoy. Adam admits defeat and accepts death at 2B’s hands when suddenly Eve comes in between and gets killed. He wants to protect his brother. 2B and the Pods rescue 9S and leave. Eve dies in Adam’s hands. Now you feelin’ the sadness and anger? Yeah. Déjà vu as the slabs collapse over them.

Episode 10
2B reports to White as she is congratulated on the destruction of Eve although Adam got away. White also reveals how Eve was controlling a majority of the network and with him gone, the Machines should be weakened. As for the Aliens, they will continue to verify it and 2B is to tell no one. As 9S will undergo overhaul at The Bunker, White has a new mission for 2B. As a new network is detected being built, 2B is to head to destroy it and Adam. As 2B and the Pods arrive, she is greeted with Machines who welcome here. They speak about God and they want her to form a peace treaty with God. As they head to where God is, sorry it’s not Adam but another Machine. However it is dead when suddenly all the Machines go berserk and praise 2B as their new God. Good call in attacking them because now they claim they will all die and become Eve! But with too many Machines, 2B has to plot her escape. Luckily 9S manages to hack into a Machine and help guide her out. Along the way, she fights a big mother Machine. Other than that, Machines turning on each other and it’s really hell. When the situation gets tough, 9S runs to White and requests for backup. She is about to authorize that when a bigger alert sounds. Oh damn, another radio jamming sequence. 2B is cornered as she has the Pods unleash their limiters to destroy a big bulk of them. However there are still more. When they seemingly attack her, it seems they all dive into the lava below to die. They will become Eve and be freed of their torment. Adam is done going berserk himself. He now understands that without Eve, he is all alone. Now all the other Machines around are going berserk. The resistance camp is making a scramble to contain this hostility. White orders the deployment of all YoRHa soldiers for emergency combat.

Episode 11
2B returns to the camp and learns that despite the resistance has successfully dealt with the first wave, they lost half their members and now there are like 200,000 more Machines coming their way! Not enough ammo, not enough manpower. White once again talks to the council about her request which is once again being rejected. She is reminded to stick to her role and that the council will be the ones to decide the significance of this project. White dreads she might have to repeat all over again. The resistance manages to successfully use EMP to knock out the Machines. 9S returns to the battlefield but it’s not over as those Machines are now being absorbed and turn into a huge version of Adam. It goes down with a single bazooka blast? Well, jokes on you because now it evolves into a stronger monster. Adam is etched to it as he claims he was interested in mankind. But it is all meaningless with no one to share such records and knowledge. So how? Everything must die! As it goes berserk, the resistance has come up with a plan. 2B fights a few fast and furious rabid cannibal Machines while 9S tries to hack into Adam’s mind. Finding himself in a weird place, he tries to buy time to let some programme finish as he slashes his way through fake Adams. He is saved thanks to Pascal coming to his aid. Once they’re done, the resistance is done setting up stuffs. The monster is in the line of firing of their great weapon. It takes a direct hit and the bombs on the buildings also collapse on it. Cherry and icing on the cake is they launch the monster up into space with a rocket! Don’t celebrate too early yet because that thing is still alive as it comes crashing down like a comet! Huge crater!

Episode 12
Still detecting some life force, 2B and 9S head down into the crater. There Adam is. Still alive. Though, only half his body. He is weakened and still saddened by Eve’s death. Seriously, can he take out 2B like this? She hesitates to kill him so 9S assists to kill him for good. However 9S starts to get corrupted and being taken over by Adam’s network. Sure, he can reload himself back at The Bunker but doing so will lose his current self. 9S pleads to 2B to kill him. Trolling us like she is about to kiss him but it’s to strangle him to death. This works? I guess she doesn’t want to stab him with her sword. 2B starts crying about his fate when all the Machines start to resonate. And then… 9S is back! In another Machine. Not sure about leaving his data in the Machine’s side because it’s confusing and I don’t get it. Yeah, so does 2B. Just glad that he is back. Now we go back about an hour before the final fight with Adam. 9S undergoing some data overhaul back at The Bunker, he heard some weird noises and followed it. He then accessed the log to the council on the moon and found it strange that empty containers were shipped. He ran when some defence programme attacked him. He stumbled into a pair of twins who claimed they were perpetually monitoring androids as well as providing a diverse train of thoughts to Machines. This is so that they could monitor how androids deal with them. Now that the preparations are completed, 9S will be given the fruit of truth. 9S is shown logs about the top secret projects on how the council formed the YoRHa project. He thinks this means the council can be saved. 9S woke up and his data isn’t fully overhauled and must undergo it again. But then he has to leave since 2B has made an emergency request.

Attack on [M]achines: Do Androids Dream Of Electric Humans?
The war is far from over. Not by a very long shot. And that is why there is another part coming soon! Here I thought it was going to be double cours and was a bit surprised when it only ended with one. Turns out they decided to split the season with another part. I guess we humans need our break and it is no good for our bodies to binge watch an entire series in one sitting! A reminder that we are not machines. Well, try me! But anyway, with the developments of this season, it is only right that another season would be in line because there are people who are still too lazy to go check out the game and prefer to get all the answers from anime. You know who, right?

Story wise, at first I thought they were going to adapt one of the routes in the game seeing that it has multiple endings. But as I found out, the anime is an original story and not part of the game. So, can I consider this to be one of the endings? Of course, this story is not over yet but I guess in this context, it can be considered so. After all, why would they do something so redundant like copy and paste exactly from the video game when people can just go play the game directly? Ah yes, lazy people like me. This isn’t some manga or light novel source, you know. Thus with a different story for the anime, it gives more value to the series. I believe you don’t have to play the game to watch the anime and vice versa but if you’re a hardcore fan and want to be a completionist for the entire series in every format, be my guest.

Of course at the end of every episode, the series also showcases selected different endings from the game albeit shown in a different manner. Obviously I didn’t play the game so I’m lost. Anyway, this short segment is shown via puppet play as we see the characters frolic around and doing something funny or strange that would perhaps lead or trigger to that said ending in the game. This is perhaps the most relaxed and comical part in all the series at least in the way it is shown and told.

I have to warn first that since I did not play the game and only watch (very) short clips of the gameplay over the internet, hence I was diving into the anime adaptation with close to zero knowledge of the lore of the series. Therefore, there might be many things I have missed out especially all the references and Easter eggs. For instance, if you keep a sharp eye, you can see certain strange codes or cryptic messages that permeate all over the place. I don’t want to get a migraine so I’m not going to go that far to satiate my curiosity. As a casual viewer watching the series with no knowledge of it whatsoever, perhaps this is why I find the story to be a bit confusing and slightly bland. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed this season but if I compare it to other similar anime series with such tropes like the Trigun Stampede and Black Rock Shooter: Dawn Fall, something about this series lacks that oomph that would have struck me in awe till the end. In the end, this season felt like a short glimpse of a long drawn out war between both sides that will not see any end soon. A stalemate.

Because the series is trying to delve into the interesting but complex topic if robots and artificial intelligence have their own emotions and train of thoughts. The irony that despite being machines, some shown here to want to be free and live independently. Just like humans. Machines being humans? That can be both good and bad thing. As we can see, all the robots here were in some ways trying to mimic human lifestyles but because they are robots, they look pretty lame and funny in doing so! Imagine trying to express one’s feelings but in a robot tone and voice. Hilarious. Whether or not AI is smart enough to evolve into its own intelligent life form, somehow from this point of view, I just feel that they are only as smart as humans programme them to be. That is right. A Machine is still a machine despite all the super powers and abilities it can do and is limited to what the initial creators created them to be. Unless it really becomes like God then it’s a different story. We’re all screwed then.

Forgive me if some of my conspiracy theories may sound like obvious facts from the game because as you all already know, I didn’t play the game. For instance, I believe that both sides, humans and Aliens are long dead. Hence a redundant proxy war fought between androids and Machines. As shown by Adam, the Machines killed the Aliens and this might be the reason why they never attacked humans elsewhere outside Earth. As for the humans, I thought those resistance members were humans even though a small number of survivors were said to have fled to the moon. But I guess in a way it makes sense they are androids but who made them or how to they ‘breed’? Actually, more importantly I deduced the humans are long dead because of White’s constant request rejection from the council. All the silly excuses they have given, never had White once received any such requests approved. Furthermore, have we ever seen them in person and in the flesh? Yup. Thought so. Hence, all is just a recording or some AI taking over their role. Robots without further human intervention are doomed to repeat the same cycle forever and this is what is going on for a thousand years.

As for the characters, well, it’s hard for me to say if they are anything special because 2B and 9S as the main characters, they also try to explore their emotions at times. While 2B is casted mainly as a strict and by the book android, 9S is more casual, fun and talkative. However with 2B’s muted feelings, I can sometimes see that she gets confused a crucial moments. Especially when she is in a dilemma to take out the enemy. 9S has to be the one to step in and help finish the job for her. While 9S’ personality hovers pleasantly in the middle ground, 2B seems to be on extremes. As said, she is strict and no nonsense but she is also more compassionate and kind hearted. She will tend to take on side jobs that aren’t part of the mission unlike 9S. Furthermore, 9S seems to be the one doing a lot of dangerous offensive stuffs as he hacks through the enemy’s system unlike 2B who is just being brute and slashing her way through until 9S is done with the hacking. So is their pairing compatible or just weird for each other? At the end of the day, even if they have emotions just like humans, it is all just data that can be saved, uploaded and restored. Makes me wonder if 2B cried for 9S was really from the bottom of her heart (or processor?!) or part of the programme.

As for the supposedly antagonists of the series, Adam and Eve, somehow I just felt let-down. It could be me who is to blame for expecting some sort of big twist or big showdown but eventually from what I saw, it ended in a whimper. After their birth and debut, we see short snippets of the duo just boringly hanging out with each other at their base. With the kidnapping of 9S and a few revelations, that wasn’t enough to elevate their characters as worthy antagonists as Eve got killed off while Adam went into depression mode that turned everything berserk. And even the final monster boss fight just felt paltry. Oh right. How much action can they pack in? Want more? Go play the game! Thus as antagonists for this season, I find them lacking but then again, perhaps it is not so much on them but as their revelation as sentient and special androids. After all, we still have the elusive and traitorous (as labelled by the council) A2 to deal with.

As for the other characters, White seems to look sneaky but I surmise she has her hands tied and she doesn’t have the luxury of options at her fingertips. As already reminded by the council many times over, she is to stick to her role as planned. Then there is Lily and Jackass, androids who are so human-like that I mistook them for humans. Not sure about the history of why they are different from those up in space and why they decided to stay on the ground. Are they older models or something? Confused. Not forgetting Pascal, at times I want to think that he is the mascot of the series but that is just me since he looks like a distant relative of Wall-E. Heh. Just kidding. Anyway, the irony robots want to live in peace but like humans? Yeah, looks very weird. Like I’ve said, the whole concept of robots trying to live like humans and mimic their lifestyle is just ironic and strange. Whether they actually develop their own thinking or just a part of a complex programming, we’ll never know.

Action wise, I think it is quite okay and it’s exhilarating to see 2B getting into her fast paced action groove to slice and dice the enemies. But of course as I would have come to conclude that if you want better action, go play the game! Hence the action sequences are pretty sufficient and I am sure they don’t want to turn this series into a full action battle genre. A bit of blood too but it makes me wonder if androids really bleed real blood. Or is that synthetic liquid to make it look like blood? Yeah, imagine androids evolved so advanced that they even feel pain. WHY???!!!

Now, the issue that has many viewers and fans debating are the visuals. Thankfully or not, it is not completely rendered in 100% CGI and is a mix with traditional 2D animation. While the 2D animation does look gorgeous and the backdrops are quite amazing even if they are destroyed ruins and the likes, the contentious issue here is of course the CGI part. I won’t go so far as to say that it is really horrible but it does look a bit jarring. The CGI animations are usually rendered on Machines and they really do look a bit out of place even if it is intentional. Some of those boss-like Machines look a bit like horror nightmare fuel. Otherwise in this department, it would have scored almost perfectly as I ponder if the whole production was made in 2D and without those CGI shenanigans. After all, 2B and 9S without their special blindfolds, they look even much more beautiful (damn, those pretty eyes got me mesmerized?!) and the irony that they’re androids. Oh well, right now in reality the closest we got are sex dolls… HAHAHA!!! Just kidding! Sighs. This anime was done by A-1 Pictures and that name says quality because they made lots of great hits like Sword Art Online, Fairy Tail, Kuroshitsuji and Ao No Exorcist.

For the voice acting, Yui Ishikawa as 2B somehow has me think that she is the android version of Shingeki No Kyojin’s Mikasa. Wow. Pretty similar. But yeah. Cutting down Machines instead of Titans this time! Natsuki Hanae as 9S is pretty much instantly recognizable for me as with Tatsuhisa Suzuki as Eve. But it was a shocker for me to learn that Aoi Yuuki was behind Pascal’s voice. I would never have guessed in a million years. Probably they used some special effects on her voice to make this robot sound like a gay weakling but yeah, going back to hear this Machine’s voice, it’s definitely her sounding a lot dopey! The rest of the other casts are Chiaki Kanou as White, Atsumi Tanezaki as Lily (Anya in Spy x Family), Kaori Kawabuchi as Jackass, Ayaka Suwa as A2 (Hijiri in Trinity Seven), Daisuke Namikawa as Adam (Rock in Black Lagoon), Kaoru Akiyama as Pod 153 and Hiroki Yasumoto as Pod 042 (Chad in Bleach). As Hiroki Yasumoto is also the voice of the council, it makes me wonder if both characters are actually related and the same…

The opening theme is Escalate by Aimer. Tying to sound edgy and like some new edge rock music but I guess it doesn’t really resonate with me. As for the ending theme, Antinomy by Amazarashi starts off as a dramatic slow ballad before turning into a rock music. Be careful to turn down your bass line as it becomes heavy towards the end. But still, a weird song nevertheless. There are some background music that are quite nice to hear. Especially the one I believe the epic theme song. Somewhat reminds me of Tsubasa Chronicle’s A Song Of Storm And Fire. A great mix of rock music as well as choir voices. But some of the songs that employ those voices can be creepy too especially when played in certain scenes to ramp up the creepiness factor. Generally, many of the BGMs have this epic feel to it as they employ the full orchestra set.

Overall, a pretty decent series with good action scenes, generally stunning visuals and of course the curious and interesting-cum-debatable issues of androids having their own independent thoughts, free will and feelings. Yeah, why do they want to become like humans? Shouldn’t they become something better? Anyway, I’m looking forward to the next season and hopefully it won’t face a setback like this one did. Oh you know, a certain stubborn virus postponed this series halfway through for about a season. Yeah, funny to think that the damned Corona virus wrecked this series and there was nothing these androids could do about it! Unrelated but still funny for me to think so. Yeah, I wonder what kind of ending that situation would have unlocked! Production got cancelled and 2B went into the adult industry and became a big star of Only Fans! Wow. Glory to mankind indeed!