Yoko Taro has proudly said before that his life-altering, world-spinning, 15-year-old action RPG Nier is "pretty much just a retelling of" Neon Genesis Evangelion, and the director is still glad to be – by his account – so unoriginal.
Talking to Nier publisher Square Enix for an anniversary interview posted on its website, the series' director Taro reminds us again that Nier: Automata was "definitely" inspired by Evangelion.
"But then, everything I make is influenced by Evangelion," Taro continues.
He doesn't elaborate on precisely how, but his influence on the brooding, burnt black Nier games and dark fantasy ARPG series Drakengard certainly seems to parallel the gas-leaky anxiety viewers will find in Hideaki Anno's cult-favorite anime.
However, similar to how Evangelion takes place in a fried society after the Second Impact cataclysm completely rearranged it, Taro says that, "when we were working on Nier, we decided to set it in a world where humans have died out, so we were forced to come up with a story that didn't involve humans." Though, when he looks back, Taro wonders if "maybe I shouldn't wipe out humans so easily."
Putting on my wire-rim glasses and settling into my armchair, if you'll allow me – I think that Taro's eagerness to blot out humanity might at least partially stem from "the crushing realisation that I have zero charisma," which Taro tells Square Enix could also be responsible for the fact that "a lot of people quit [Nier]."
There's also the unfortunate fact that, during Nier's production period, Taro says "I learnt that I'm an even sloppier person than I thought I was." Now I'll acknowledge the bottle of deflated Diet Coke sitting on my floor and the 150 Sailor Moon episodes I have queued up and say – anime fans, am I right?
