“NieR:Automata Ver1.1a”: Producer Opens Up About Her Passion for the Original Work and How She Poured Her Heart and Soul Into the Anime Adaptation [Part 2 of 2]

• 

  Miho Matsumoto

  Aniplex Inc.

Click here to view the first part of this article: “NieR:Automata Ver1.1a”: Producer Opens Up About Her Passion for the Original Work and How She Poured Her Heart and Soul Into the Anime Adaptation [Part 1 of 2]

The second cour is what makes “NieR:Automata” magnificent

――About a year after the first cour of “NieR:Automata Ver1.1a” was aired, the much-anticipated second cour will finally be aired. Is it correct to expect that the second cour will be the sequel to the first?

Correct. It’s basically the sequel to the first cour, but YOKO TARO, the director of the game, has said it came to be something that can be enjoyed by anyone, even those who have not watched the first cour.

As the story of the first cour has a clear ending, and a new story begins in this cour, there’s no problem if you begin watching the anime from the second cour. I hope as many people as possible watch it.

Anime “NieR:Automata Ver1.1a” Promotion File 011

――Your love of the story of “NieR:Automata” led you to take on the challenge of making it into an anime. What are the highlights of the story of the second cour?

Developments in the second cour are what make “NieR:Automata” interesting. When I played the original game, I was awed by the way the world view was turned upside down. I was totally immersed in it, saying to myself, “Wow, so this is what it was all about!”

I want the players to experience the same kind of surprise when what they saw in the first cour is taken to a place they never imagined in the second cour. Also, there are things they will understand for the first time if they go back and watch the first cour after watching the second cour. So these are the things I hope the viewers will enjoy.

――When the first cour aired, some episodes were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. What was the situation like for the production team?

Honestly, there was nothing we could do at the time. If someone on the team was infected with the coronavirus, that person would have been restricted from showing up for work for two weeks. And studio activity would have had to be suspended to prevent infection. It was a matter of human life, you know.

So it was impossible for us to defy the situation and continue with production work. On top of that, even though we tried to find ways to recover from the delays in the production schedule, there was no way we could. It was an unprecedented situation and all we could do was feel our way through it.

――You were working remotely, I understand.

Correct. We were just doing whatever we could under the circumstances. Communication between the staff is key in anime production, but we had to communicate in a way that was different from normal. In many occasions we had to work in separate locations. I think the situation caused unimaginable difficulties for Director Masuyama, who was supervising the staff, and Fujii-san, the animation producer at that time.

It wasn’t possible for me to help the staff’s work, either. There was nothing I could do. So we decided to put the broadcast on hold and air the remaining four episodes after their production was complete. I felt so sorry for the people who were enjoying the anime. I was also very frustrated with myself.

――How was the reaction to the first cour of the broadcast?

My initial goal was to make “NieR:Automata” known to people who have never played the game and let them know it’s such an engaging game. I have a feeling this is being achieved gradually. We got messages from listeners of the program podcast. Some said the anime introduced them to the game and others said they became fans of the game, which was really encouraging to me.

My hope is that watching the anime will, for example, lead people to play the game or read its novelization, so that as many people as possible will realize how great “NieR:Automata” is. Also, I hope that people will regard “NieR:Automata Ver1.1a,” the anime adaptation of the game, in a fresh light and realize how enjoyable and fascinating anime can be as a mode of visual expression. So that remains my goal.

The difficulties of making an anime adaptation of a game

――"NieR:Automata Ver1.1a" is an anime adaptation of a game. Have you worked on other projects for adapting a game into an anime?

When SQUARE ENIX released “FINAL FANTASY XV,” there was a project simultaneously underway to create a full 3D computer graphic film depicting a story preceding the game, called “KINGSGLAIVE FINAL FANTASY XV,” as well as “BROTHERHOOD FINAL FANTASY XV,” a short anime film depicting the game’s main characters in a new light. I was involved in both the CG film and the short anime in the capacity as an assistant producer at Aniplex.

――What difficulties do you face when adapting a game into an anime?

A game is a form of media in which you become the player and spend tens or hundreds of hours to experience a unique world with the other characters. And I think it’s very difficult to cram these hours of experience into, say, 12 or 24 episodes of a TV anime series. On top of that, each player has their own unique set of experiences and memories. So you have to select from these and then make a consistent whole for the anime, which makes it even more difficult.

If someone who has played a game watches its anime adaptation and the anime gives the impression that its world and their experience differ from what the player perceived in the game, in other words a negative reaction, they would be quick to drift away. Considering these factors, I think adapting games into anime presents a serious challenge you cannot take on casually.

――“NieR:Automata Ver1.1a” the anime has many action scenes. How were such scenes created in the process of adapting “NieR:Automata,” the original action role-playing game, into an anime?

YOKO-san, Director Masuyama and I agreed that we didn’t want to have a single episode in which a battle is the main feature and the story doesn’t progress at all. We all agreed that we wanted to incorporate action scenes of the game into the story of the anime in a meaningful way.

We were very lucky to have been able to borrow the 3D model data used in the original game“NieR:Automata,” and so we were able to draw characters using this data as guides. That was very helpful.

This data made it possible for us to recreate and animate the action from the original game with a high level of quality. We also incorporated camera work unique to the anime. So I think we’ve created action scenes that can be enjoyed by people who have played the game as well.

――Are there any other parts of the anime that were influenced by the original game?

The event scenes in the game were already done as complete video segments. I think this made it easy for both the production staff and the artists involved to have a baseline understanding of what the completed scenes would be like when they recreated them in the anime. So we had a different approach than creating scenes based on text of a novel or black-and-while drawings of manga, for example.

Also, the music staff for the game did the music for the anime version. So we were lucky to be able to use the same music used in the game.

This allowed us to proceed in a way in which the music was already there even before we began making the animation. In a normal anime production process, music is added to video in the second half of the production schedule, but for this anime, we were able to the select music used in each scene while work on the scenario and the storyboard was still underway. I think this was also a key factor that enabled us to make the anime faithful to the original game.

“NieR:Automata Ver1.1a” has become my life work

――The game was launched in 2017, so the broadcast of the second cour marks seven years. You have been involved with this anime for so long.

You're right. Ever since I’d been captivated by the game, I’d wished to make it into an anime adaptation. This passion was what drove me in my work. It may have become my life work.

I think there have been a few occasions where I had to consider the option of giving up on the project. But I always knew that, if I gave up, I would regret it for the rest of my life, so I was determined to get it done until the end.

――The second cour of “NieR:Automata Ver1.1a” is finally going on air. What are the things you want the viewers to pay attention to?

We incorporated tons of things into the first cour, and we again incorporated tons of things into the second cour. It probably offers new experiences particular to the anime version in addition to the excitement of the original game, so I want the viewers to simply enjoy it.

All of the staff put their 100 percent into making this anime. And, of course, you have the puppet show, too. We've upgraded the puppet show in places (laughs), and we incorporated things that can make you think, “Wow, they went this far in making this anime!” These are the things I hope the viewers will see.

Click here to view the first part of this article: “NieR:Automata Ver1.1a”: Producer Opens Up About Her Passion for the Original Work and How She Poured Her Heart and Soul Into the Anime Adaptation [Part 1 of 2]

Text by Hidekuni Shida
Photos by Osamu Hoshikawa
Translated by Atsushi Kodera

©SQUARE ENIX/Council of Humanity