Nier Automata Version 1.1a, an animated adaptation of the famous action RPG, was released by A-1 Pictures at the beginning of the month. Only a few episodes have been released, and that will be all fans get for the foreseeable future as the series is going on a hiatus.
A-1 Pictures blamed Covid-19, which has evidently hindered production, in a statement issued on Twitter. As a result, the show’s fourth episode which was originally scheduled to premiere next weekend on 29 January and all following episodes have been postponed indefinitely. Here’s the statement:
Nier Automata isn’t the first show to have its release schedule disrupted by the pandemic, that was basically the entire Western entertainment industry minus animation, but having its momentum wiped out just a few episodes in is a major setback. Longtime fans will have to wait a little longer to discover what other divergences there are from the source material since the series was beginning to tease out its differences from the source material. The first three episodes of the show will be re-aired in Japan over the following few weeks. At the very least, this will help keep the show’s events fresh in fans’ minds until the episodes resume.
For people outside Japan, the first three episodes of Nier Automata Version 1.1a is available on Crunchyroll.