NieR:Automata Ver 1.1a Season 2

Episode 22

Devola and Popola's story is one that I've been very curious to see unfold. As someone who has played all the games and poured through the supplemental material, there's plenty to like about the opportunity to see the enigmatic redheads again. Still, I also have to try and divorce myself from my love of the source material and look at this 22nd episode of NieR:Automata Ver1.1a as exactly that: An episode of television. Though I think “just y[O]u and me” has a lot of pleasing imagery and impactful mood that makes it a worthwhile time, I'm still not sure if it is the show's most successful chapter.

One of the surprising revelations I've had about NieR as I've watched this series is how much less invested I am in 9S' story. A part of this can be attributed to losing so much of our “bonding” time with him that comes from dozens of hours of gameplay and I also think that his story simply doesn't work as well as a standalone element of the whole tapestry of Automata. I love the character and what he represents within the larger narrative but there's something about his antagonistic and petulant nature in these final episodes that is harder to latch on to when you're not directly controlling the guy. His confrontation with the ghosts of his former, killed selves should be a hard-hitting moment, but instead, I just want to get back to A2's side of things or to spend more time with Devola and Popola than we already do. It's not bad, it's easily my least favorite part of a tale that I still think is excellent.

As for Devola and Popola, I'm already of the opinion that the two characters only work as symbols of suffering when it comes to their roles as legacy characters in NieR:Automata. That goes for the anime and the game. I completed the first NieR after I played its sequel, so when I first finished Automata, one of my lingering questions was why the heck the game suddenly devoted so much attention to those two random robot twins in the final hours of the game. Once you learn how integral the original Devola and Popola units were to the history of this branch of the DrakeNieR multiverse, there's more pathos to be found in the sad tale of these two long-suffering and eternally penitent copies, but only so much more.

None of this is to take away from the excellent vocal performance of Ryōko Shiraishi, who has been delivering the twins' melancholy (and sometimes menacing) lines with aplomb for years. It's simply that NieR:Automata never gave them enough to do for them to work as characters with their own arc in Automata itself. They are, rather, a small but resonant link in the chain that connects the two mainline NieR games and their many multimedia spinoffs. That's all well and good—and I'm glad that the show gave 9S one final opportunity to be reminded of the goodness that “people” are capable of despite the amount of suffering they've been through. This adaptation of Automata has always been at its best when it can stand alone instead of relying on background knowledge of other works. If keeping Devola and Popola in the story inspires folks to check out the excellent original game (or it's even more excellent 2021 remake for modern systems), then I'm willing to forgive Yokō Tarō and Co. one final bit of self-indulgence.

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NieR:Automata Ver 1.1a Season 2 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

James is a writer with many thoughts and feelings about anime and other pop-culture, which can also be found on Twitter, his blog, and his podcast.