At the start of the month, A-1 Pictures premiered Nier Automata Version 1.1a, an animated adaptation of the popular action-RPG. Only a handful of episodes have come out, and now that’ll be all viewers have for the foreseeable future, as the series is taking a little hiatus.
In a statement released on Twitter, A-1 Pictures laid the blame on COVID-19, which has apparently impacted production. As a result, the show’s fourth episode (which was originally set to air next weekend on January 29) and all subsequent episodes have been indefinitely delayed. “We apologise for any inconvenience and concern this may cause our fans who have been looking forward to our work due to these unforeseen circumstances,” wrote A-1. The studio confirmed that the series’ return would be announced “soon.”
Broadcast postponement due to COVID-19 pic.twitter.com/dGz01S1ywQ
— NieR:Automata – Animation Project (@NieRA_anime_EN) January 21, 2023
Nier Automata wouldn’t be the first show to have its release schedule impacted by the pandemic — that was basically the entire western entertainment industry sans animation — but having its momentum undercut just a few episodes in is definitely a blow. The series was beginning to tease out its differences from the source material, so longtime fans will have to wait a little to see what further divergences there are from the source material. Over the next few weeks in Japan, the show will re-air its first three episodes. At the very least, that will help keep the show’s events events fresh in viewers’ minds until episodes start back up again.
For those not in Japan, you can watch the first three episodes of Nier Automata Version 1.1a over on Crunchryoll.
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