Don’t miss the Nier: Automata ver1.1a anime’s post-credits teaser

The post-credits scene is an institution in blockbuster movies, now so commonplace that it’s almost more notable when a big franchise film It doesn’t’t have one. What about on television? These are not regular characters, appearing at will, an insult to viewers who tend to move quickly at first glance of the text. Sometimes they’re gags, sometimes they’re teasers for what’s to come, and sometimes — like in the premiere for Nier Automata ver1.1aThis is the anime interpretation of the videogame. Nier: Automata — they’re puppet shows.

Nothing is more important than the premier of Nier: Automata ver1.1a, nor the game that it’s based on, that suggests this is in store. For the most part, the anime’s premiere closely follows the source material, with the first episode roughly corresponding to Nier: Automata’s opening mission. Like the game, the show throws the audience right into things, as a squadron of androids piloting fighter jet mechs launches a strike on a “Goliath-class weapon” that goes rather poorly for all of them, leaving our protagonists in a bind: The taciturn and femme 2B, and the boyish and sweet 9S.

For those who aren’t familiar with the game, there’s not a lot to go on here beyond mood: it’s an oblique en media res opening, one that hints at the bleak and bittersweet nature of the story to come. As such, it’s AbsolutelyWe were astonished to find out that after the credits roll viewers are welcomed with puppet versions 2B and 9S of the videogame adaptation.

It is quite bizarre that this scene has a point. SoHard to distinguish. It’s not just a goof — there is Vital lore here for those in the know (the puppets explain the reasoning behind the androids’ naming conventions) — and there is a layered jab at the video game’s multiple endings that Could You can be funny or serious. CouldLet us know what you think of the show.

Like just about everything involving Nier franchise creator Yoko Taro, the baffling nature of this scene is kind of the point: Much like how he almost always engages with the public from behind an unsettling mask, there’s a level of pro wrestling-esque kayfabe to every game he makes. It’s a joke, or is it sincere. And what’s the difference, really?

You can only find out by watching.