To mark the 15th anniversary of the NieR series, Square Enix recently published a special interview with Producer Yosuke Saito and Creative Director Yoko Taro on April 28, 2025, reflecting on their journey with the beloved franchise.
During the conversation, when asked about the source of inspiration for the series, Yoko Taro revealed that Neon Genesis Evangelion has been a major influence not only on NieR:Automata but on nearly everything he has created.
“Definitely Evangelion. But then, everything I make is influenced by Evangelion.”
This is not the first time Yoko Taro has openly credited Evangelion as a major source of inspiration.
“The work I was most inspired by is Neon Genesis Evangelion. I thank you for praising NieR:Automata’s story, but actually it’s pretty much just a retelling of Evangelion, so there’s not much originality to it.“
Nier: Automata is a 2017 action role-playing game developed by PlatinumGames and published by Square Enix. It is a sequel to Nier (2010), itself a spin-off of and sequel to the Drakengard series.
An anime series based on the game, titled Nier: Automata Ver1.1a, aired from Jan 8, 2023 – Sept 27, 2024.
It was directed by Ryoji Masuyama, co-written by Masuyama and Yoko Taro, and composed by music studio Monaca.
A-1 Pictures produced the anime.
Source: Square Enix
