Episode Review: NieR:Automata Ver1.1A Episode 14: The Fall

The hunter became the hunted

After a long time of fighting, killing and dying, YoHRa has found a way to end the war once and for all. And of course, per their “human” master’s bidding, YoHRa is throwing everything it has into this operation, even sending type-O androids onto the field. In this episode, we see more of YoHRa operatives than ever, as well as their relationship. But of course, the highlight is their fallen victory as well.

Just as any final battle in fiction, we get to see the scale of the forces – this time from YoHRa. The flight units and the suit-ed up androids also look great. Really give a Wolf Brigade feel to it but with more female operatives this time. The opening volleys of the attack is also impressive as the androids orbital drop to the battlefield and began an all-out offensive against the machine lifeforms. A-1 did very well with the humanoid combat, but they also did very well for the CG mechanical battles. That’s not to say the Android combat isn’t good as the Operator-type androids were amazing in this episode.

We also get a first look at the Red Girls – aka N2 aka Terminal Alpha and Beta. Well in the anime they look a different kind of creepy compared to the game, but still creepy nonetheless. When they appear, game players definitely know what was going to happen. Commander White also looks more like a puppet head now more than ever. Even though her face doesn’t show anything, we can tell from her eyes.

Even though the decisive battle was raging on, we still get some levity moment, although it got everything to do with the plot – which makes it both funny and interesting. 9S – the new one – is leading the Scanner type in their effort to hack and neutralize the machine lifeform network. And each of them was paired with a Battler type. The variation in their appearances give us some fresh looks to spice things up a bit. And the S-types being pampered by the B-types is pretty funny as well, since 9S’ feelings for his 2B obviously propagated to the other S-types as well. And the B-types’ “affection” towards the S-type is probably because 2B’s hidden emotion was showing through them, and since our 2B is now an E-type, she doesn’t show those emotion.

It’s also pretty nice to see the Resistance got in some very good hits. Although some parts is pretty hax-like. But still, they got to show some fighting chance and advantages gained over the machine lifeforms. Although we know these are the preludes to something more sinister and disastrous, it is just normal progression of plot. While predictable, it still stir some form of emotions for the viewers – especially those that haven’t played the game.

And then came the fall, the machine lifeforms manage to infect the YoHRa network and compromise the B-type Androids that cause the to kill their S-type partner. The ara-ara onee-sans are hunting down their shota combat partners, and spewing some very yandere-like dialogue. The S-types were also hacked to cause a global EMP attack. The imagery wasn’t very grandiose, but atleast they were uniform and look in-line with the S-type capacity. 9S was the only one that didn’t got hack because he’s the only irregular Scanner type that wasn’t updated with the YoHRa network. But 2B isn’t the same, and of course, she’s MIA by herself.

I really like this development that put 9S in the active position since season 1, we got shown 9S was bamboozled by Adam and Eve. And 2B was the one that saved him. This time, 2B will be the one going under attack and 9S will be going to her aide. But this time, A2 will also be joining the fray. As far as the adaptation quality, A-1 is doing well. Although I would like to see more marketing for the series. Looking forward to more of the story.

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