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Nier: Automata Ver1.1atremendously ramped up the action and drama with episode #20, and thanks to that, there’s plenty to look forward to withepisode #21and beyond. As 9S and A2 deal with one traumatic event after another, both find themselves growing in opposite directions of each other, and that’s sure to make their inevitable encounter all the more tragic.
Nier: Automata Ver1.1aepisode #20 picked up where episode #19 left off with A2 preparing to protect Pascal’s village from an invasion and 9S working to break into the Tower. Both A2 and 9S had to deal with tragedy on physical and emotional levels, and in 9S’ case,9S faced a startling revelation about the very nature of the existence of him and all other androids.
It was an appropriately dramatic episode for the late stages of theNier: Automataanime, and whatever follows will surely be just as great to watch.
What Time Nier: Automata Ver1.1a Episode 21 Releases
As with previous episodes,Nier: Automata Ver1.1astreams exclusively on Crunchyroll, accessed through their app, website, and third-party streaming services like Amazon Prime. Assuming there are no further delays,Nier: Automata Ver1.1aepisode #19 will premiere on Friday, September 6 at 9:00 AM Pacific Standard Time (PST), 12:00 PM Eastern Standard Time (EST), and 5:00 PM British Standard Time (BST).
What Happened In Nier: Automata Ver1.1a Episode 20?
Produced By A-1 Pictures; Directed By Toru Hamasaki
Nier: Automata Ver1.1aepisode #20, “deb[U]nked,” opened with A2 and the machine lifeforms of Pascal’s village fighting an invading army of evil machine lifeforms. While they managed to defeat the initial assault,a second wave of machine lifeforms attacked Pascal’s village just as everyone let their guard down and destroyed the village, with all the villagers save for Pascal and the children killed in the process. To make things worse, a Goliath-class machine lifeform was detected to be approaching them, and Pascal took the children to safety while A2 moved to hold it off.
Lacking the power and equipment needed to fight a Goliath-class enemy, A2 activated her limiters to bolster her power at the cost of gradually breaking her body down. With her newfound power, A2 could fight against the Goliath, but its size and power left her unable to do much more than stall it. Fortunately, before A2 could be defeated,Pascal, piloting the Goliath-class machine lifeform 2B and 9S defeated inNier: Automata Ver1.1aseason 1, appeared to save A2and renounced his pacifist ways to take up the fight.
At the same time, 9S made a trek through the desert to the second sub-unit, which served as an information bank for the machine lifeforms. Upon hacking into it, 9S learned various secrets about the machine lifeforms, including, most startlingly, thatYoRHa’s androids and the machine lifeforms are made from the same core components. 9S refused to acknowledge that, and when the AI of the sub-unit tried to destroy his memories of 2B, 9S responded by stabbing it repeatedly until it was dead, the episode ending on that somber note.
Nier: Automata Ver1.1a Episode 20 Marks The End Of Its Comedy
In the joke ending for episode #20, the puppets of Pods 042 and 153 stated they would be ceasing production in light of 9S’ worsening mental state. The joke endings were often the only source of levity in an episode, soNier: Automata Ver1.1adropping its joke endings means every episode can be expected to be largely dark and serious from here on out. A big part of the joke ending was to provide meta-commentary on the DVDs possibly being delayed, but it still serves as a statement of what can be expected of the anime’s tone, going forward.
Nier: Automata Ver1.1a Episode 20 Perfectly Balances Its Differing Narratives
Nier: Automata Ver1.1aepisode #20 on the differing narratives of A2 and 9S’ stories, and both were great to watch play out. For A2’s story, not only was there great action from both A2 and Pascal, butNier: Automata Ver1.1aepisode #20’s story for A2 did a great job of highlighting the tragedy of Pascal’s village through its stellar animation and direction, even rendering a few scenes with limited color to emphasize that point. With more content like this, it will be easy to endear people to A2’s character, even with the series so close to ending.
For 9S’ story, while it wasn’t as intense as A2’s story, or even as what he went through in episode #19,Nier: Automata Ver1.1aepisode #20 still did a great job of highlighting the worsening of 9S’ mental state through his tone and increasingly violent attitude, his breakdown at the end of the episode being a perfect encapsulation of that. Add in the ramifications of 9S learning that androids and machine lifeforms have a common origin, and it was another great installment in 9S’ story andNier: Automata Ver1.1a, as a whole.
Be sure to watchNier: Automata Ver1.1aepisode #21 when it releases on Friday, September 6.
NieR:Automata Ver1.1a
Cast
In a distant future where humanity has fled to the Moon, androids 2B and 9S are deployed to Earth to battle the alien-created Machine Lifeforms threatening to eradicate the remnants of civilization. As they fight for survival, the truth about the world and their purpose begins to unravel, revealing deep existential mysteries.
