YoRHa: Assault on Pearl Harbor. A history of NieR:Automata – Review of the first volume

The first volume of YoRHa: Assault on Pearl Harbormanga inspired by the masterpiece of Yoko Taro NieR:Automatais definitely one of the releases that we were waiting with greater interest.

From great fans of the work of master Taro and of the series NieR in general, moreover, it could not have been otherwise, also because the supervision and direction of the narrative line followed by the work was entrusted directly to its original author. If to this, then, we add the choice of being assisted by a mangaka with great artistic skills such as Megumu Soramichiwhich proved to have a great connection with the work from the very beginning, well, that's it.

For all these reasons, we immediately imagined that the prequel manga, as defined by the authors themselves, of NieR:Automata poetesse follows a much brighter path than the simpler and more plausible one linked to the usual marketing ploys and after reading the first volume we are more and more convinced of this.

Certain, All that glitters is not gold and we certainly liked some things less than we should, but overall it is impossible not to appreciate the good starting premises, with the hope that the next volumes can somehow consolidate the quality level glimpsed in these first 192 pages.

There's a lot of NieR in this NieR

We must be honest: we did not expect such work in terms of credibility and continuity in terms of story and narrative and it was not at all obvious. After all NieR:Automataas well as other masterpieces by Yoko Tarohas a weapon with infinite potential in its narrativebut at the same time complex and full of facets that are difficult to grasp.

For this reason, we found the incipit and the general plot of the story very credible and above all well inserted within the narrative and authorial context of Taro's work. Although somewhat predictable, the opening of the first volume lays excellent foundations for the future, which as usual promises to be a bath of blood, tears and, why not, machine oil.

Several years before the events narrated in NieR:Automataa group of soldiers from the newly formed unit YoRHa was sent to Earth, for several decades now the object of desire of the human race, forced into exile due to the invasion of Biomachineswith the aim of launching a major attack on the hated invader and laying the foundations for an inevitable and necessary revolt.

What awaits the sixteen warriors sent to Earth, however, is apparently a sort of ambush, the origins of which are very obscure. Once they reach their goal, in fact, the warriors are assaulted by a disproportionate number of ruthless Biomachineswho without too much effort dismay a good part of the YoRHa unit, of which only very few units are saved.

The weight of the revolt

The rescue of the young warriors, however, is not accidental, nor divine. Playing a fundamental role in giving the lucky four the chance to reorder their forces and try to reorganize with the base to try to set up a new strategy, are the members of the so-called Resistance, a group of warriors who have been fighting the Biomachines for centuries, remained trapped in a sort of endless war against ruthless oppressors.

After an initial phase of impasse, the two groups therefore decide to collaborate, thanks above all to the will of the new leader of the YoRHa warriors, No.2, who has the appearance of 2B, the protagonist of NieR:Automata but with whom he shares very little else, especially in terms of character and talkativeness.

This detail is yet to be discoveredalso because it could have been the potential future and numerous battles that made the warrior as cold and ruthless as ice as we know her, but at the moment we don't want to go too far into conjectures.

The charm of YoRHa units: A2, 2B, No.2 and then?

As well as for the video game and everything that surrounds the imagery of NieR (and of Drakengard previously) it is clear that even in this manga version it plays a fundamental role, and for now it seems to succeed very well, it's the cast, supported with great strength by a sumptuous character design.

The first pages of YoRHa: Assault on Pearl Harbor they highlighted one obsessive carein this sense, capable of giving an edge to the entire production and demonstrating all the love for NieR:Automata, from which it is inspired. Exploring this aspect is very pleasant, also because, between known and new faces, the artistic direction of the manga seems as usual spectacular and crazy, right from these first lines.

The faces introduced so far have shown that they have excellent potential, which is based on solid foundations: a mysterious and frightening past, the desire for revenge, the lookout, pain. YoRHa: Assault on Pearl Harbor It seems like a very focused production and which, above all, seems to have a lot to say or, at least, has all the potential.

Paradoxically, the one who convinced us the least is the protagonist. Maybe it's because she shares the look (or maybe it's her) of 2B and, therefore, we would have imagined her with different attitudes, but the young new leader of the YoRHa unit seemed to us, at least for now, to be a weak character, too insecure and incapable of facing the gravity of the events surrounding her.

Death is red

What fully convinced us, however, is the pace given to this volume one. In these first 192 pages we felt literally dragged by the events, told with great spectacularity and pride of one's means, in an overall scenario in which clashes and combat seem to be the heart of the work.

In this regard, we were amazed by the author's skill in recreating those same clashes in which we participated in the game or in any case in general in the series NieR. In particular we were struck by the performance of some tables, which were able to fully convey that same feeling of fear and adrenaline generated by the clashes against the Biomachines, with those menacing red spheres of theirs made specifically to disintegrate the splendid bodies of the YoRHa units.

The master's tables Soramichi they were able to convey that same frenzy and spectacularity in the clashes, and at the same time they were also able to enhance the importance of dialogue and the “human” side of war, which in Taro's titles always represent an essential pivot of the entire narrative.

You see the Earth and then… die?

Soramichi-San has generally transmitted the same artistic wisdom to the entire technical system, which proves to be of the highest level. The tables of this first volume of YoRHa: Assault on Pearl Harbor not only are they splendid to look at, but they also manage to be a real homage and a love song to NieR:Automata.

We really appreciated the modeling of the bodies, the very airy color choice, which goes well with the bright colors already seen in the video game SQUARE ENIXjust as we loved the way in which the vegetation and the entire surrounding environment was enhanced, so as to almost represent a sort of additional motivation to fight this war.

Taking back your splendid land, this seems to be the message the mangaka wants to convey with his drawingsand he fully succeeds, also thanks to the excellent choice in stylistic terms in depicting characters very consistent with the original work, whose beauty and precision seems to want to once again underline the continuous dichotomy between good and evil, between light and the darkness that is felt in Automated and that here you can breathe deeply.

Who do we recommend YoRHa: Assault on Pearl Harbor to?

It is impossible not to recommend the work to anyone who loved the video game Yoko Taro and we firmly believe that this series is designed almost exclusively for them. Being able to grasp details and narrative connections for everyone else, meaning all those who have not had the pleasure of playing NieR:Automatait could be very complicated fully enjoy this project, but which, however, objectively defends itself very well regardless of everything and everyone.