The recently released Nier: Automata anime apparently references a famous scene from the desert city known as Facade in the prequel game Nier Replicant. The character from Nier: Automata known as 9S can be seen hacking a robot before entering this well known setting in which the player character and Kaine from Nier Replicant make their first contact with the inhabitants of Facade, called the Masked People.“Hello? Hello! Nier Replicant direct reference? 9S hacked a robot and came into this scene from replicant,” the industry insider by the name of Aitaikimochi remarked on the social media platform Twitter. Aitaikimochi is widely known for having the inside track on the biggest anime and video games releases over in Japan.Facade is a location which appears in Nier Replicant, taking the form of a desert city governed by thousands of mostly obscure and apparently pointless rules. This part of the game world is home to the Masked People, ruled by the King of Facade. The location consists of several different levels of buildings connected by a series of walkways under which flows a river of sand, something which can be navigated by a ferry.The anime premiered in Japan back on January 7. According to Square Enix, the show “tells the story of androids 2B, 9S, and A2 and their battle to reclaim the machine-driven dystopia overrun by powerful machines.” The publisher explains that “humanity has been driven from the Earth by mechanical beings from another world. In a final effort to take back the planet, the human resistance sends a force of android soldiers to destroy the invaders. Now, a war between machines and androids rages on... a war that could soon unveil a long-forgotten truth of the world.”
This comes in the wake of news that while the first three episodes of the series have already aired, subsequent episodes of the show have been delayed on account of the impact which the ongoing pandemic has been having on the production schedule. The anime will be airing the first three episodes for a second time starting on January 28, the remainder becoming available to viewers at a later and as of yet unannounced point in time.