We’re only two episodes deep into A-1 Pictures’ anime adaptation of Nier: Automata and it’s already got viewers putting on their thinking caps and deciphering secret coded messages.
Since the anime adaptation of Nier Automata, Nier: Automata Ver 1.1a, started airing this month, it’s re-opened old wounds for fans of blindfolded robots with a penchant for nihilism, and has many viewers theorizing about how creator Yoko Taro will distinguish the anime from its source material. Back in September, Taro revealed that the anime’s affix “ver 1.1a” would relate to the show’s storyline deviating from that of the 2017 video game. Apparently, Taro is a man of his word because the anime’s narrative combines the game’s route a and route b, features a new narrative about a botanist machine, and each episode ends on a quirky puppet show where 9S and 2B explain the game’s multiple endings.
Read More: The Nier: Automata Secret Door Hunt Is Over, In The Wildest Possible Way
While some fans theorize that the Nier anime has gone so far as to reference the fan-made secret church door mod in the Copied City in its opening sequence, it turns out the anime has genuinely been sending viewers secret messages in the most unlikely place: the anime’s eye catches.
An eye catch is a short animation that plays before and after a show’s commercial break. Think of the illustrations and music that play in the middle of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood episodes to signal that the show is about to come back on. However, if you pause Nier:Automata Ver1.1a’s eye catches at just the right moment, you’ll see lines of code hidden within the glitchy effects of its title card.
MyAnimeList user exloseur, their friend tyrelipinpon, and r/Nier subredditor Lifedealer999 managed to decipher the messages hidden in the first two episodes’ eye catches by converting the lines of code to text using a hexadecimal converter. After converting the text, the internet sleuths had to translate the results from Japanese to English. Below are the messages in Japanese and English, which we’ll update with each new episode:
Episode 1:or not to [B]e
【報告】
アンドロイドは生と譻を繰り豔す存在である。
【report】
An android is a being that repeats life and death.
【報告】
輪廻の連鎖がもたらすのは、救済か、崩壊か。
【report】
Will the chain of reincarnation bring salvation or collapse?
レジスタンス
resistance
Episode 2: city e[S]cape
【報告】
機械生命体には擬似的な知性が存在している。
【report】
Pseudo-intelligence exists in mechanical life forms.
それ人類の知性と何が違うのだろうか.
“How is it different from human intelligence?
Episode 3: break ti[M]e
【報告】
この閉塞した状況を打破する為には、ある種の危険すら。
【report】
In order to break out of this blockage, even certain dangers
【報告】
私たちにとって福音となりえるのかもしれない。
【report】
It could be gospel for us.
492070726f6d697365206c6f766520
6f662074686520657465726e6974792e
I promise love of the eternity.
Episode 4: a mountain too [H]igh
【報告】
虚飾で得られるものは、意味のない評価。
【report】
What you get by pretense is a meaningless evaluation.
【報告】
そう思いこむ事で、自分の事を偽ってないか？
【report】
By assuming that, aren’t you pretending to be something you’re not?
Episode 5: mave[R]ick
【報告】
旧世界の複製された魔法兵器の残存個体を発見した。
【report】
Remnant units of replicated magical weapons from the old world were found.
【報告】
機能停止間近なこの個体は、幸せなのだろう。
【report】
This individual, who is nearing the end of his function, must be happy.
Episode 6: [L]one wolf
【報告】
本記録は観測放棄されたブランチ（branch）に内在される為、
【report】
This record is inherent in the branch that was abandoned, so the
【報告】
再合流した以降の、口伝による記録となっている。
【report】
The record is based on oral tradition since the rejoining of the two groups.
Together they read:
本記録は観測放棄されたブランチ（branch）に内在される為、再合流した以降の、口伝による記録となっている。
This record is an oral record after the rejoining because it is inherent in the branch that was abandoned for observation.
Episode 7: [Q]uestionable actions
【報告】
興味深いのは、どんな状況下でも組織に似た上下関係が生まれる点にある。
【report】
It is interesting to note that under any circumstances, a hierarchical relationship similar to that of an organization is created.
【報告】
ある一定以上の知性に到達した存在にとって、生存戦略で、業でもある。
【report】
For beings who have reached a certain level of intelligence, it is a survival strategy and a karma.
Episode 7: aji wo [K]utta?
【報告】
観測領域に不確定振動が発生。
【report】
Uncertain oscillations occur in the observation area.
【報告】
原因特定と追跡調査の為、分隊の派遣を要請する。
【report】
Requesting dispatch of a detachment to identify the cause and follow-up.
The secret code within the Nier anime is akin to the prose within the game’s codexes or the philosophical conversation between Pod 042 and Pod 153 at the end of the game. The throughline between the anime’s secret messages is that they question the YoRHa units’ mission to safeguard humanity, which as far as they know, is living it up on the moon while they have to clean up the mess on Earth. While it’s far too early to tell where these hidden messages will go as the anime progresses, I think they might be a device that emphasizes the thematic concerns of both the game and the series, sending messages to the show’s viewers about what it means to be human.
As the series progresses, I expect these messages to increasingly break the fourth wall and clearly address the viewer. I’m banking this on the fact that, in the opening, we see real-world locations like the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building in Shinjuku, so Taro clearly wants viewers to have the haunting awareness that the post-apocalyptic world of the show is the very same world we live in today. Either that or Taro is gonna repeat his “one trick” and delete users’ Crunchyroll accounts once the anime ends.