Nier: Automata Ver1.1a anime adaptation pauses production indefinitely
The anime is suffering from delays due to COVID-19.
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After only airing three episodes, the Nier: Automata anime adaptation has postponed production due to a COVID-19 related issue.
Nier: Automata Ver1.1a only started airing January 7, with the second and third episodes shown the subsequent two Saturdays, but now the official Twitter account for the series has announced that the rest of the season has been postponed. The tweet notes that broadcasts of the upcoming episodes have been paused due to something related to COVID-19, though didn't provide any specific details.
"Thank you for your continued support of the 'Nier: Automata Ver1.1a' TV anime," reads the message. "Due to the impact of COVID-19 on production, we have decided to postpone the broadcast and distribution of episode 4 and all subsequent episodes. Information regarding the broadcast and distribution schedule for episode 4 and beyond will be announced on the official anime website and official Twitter soon."
The post also apologised for any inconvenience it may have caused, as well as for concern fans looking forward to the rest of the show might be experiencing. The post doesn't make it clear if the show has to be paused due to a large number of staff contracting COVID, or if any leads on the team currently have it, but it's obviously serious enough that this action had to be taken.
Nier: Automata Ver1.1a promised to be an animated adaptation of the 2017 JRPG from the eclectic Yoko Taro, following 2B, 9S, and A2 once again. With the anime having so few episodes out, it's unclear how the series might differ from the game, but Taro has previously noted that it will be somewhat different. The game director explained that "Nier: Automata was a story we created to be a game, so copying it as-is wouldn’t make an interesting story for an anime." With this delay, it obviously means it will be a while before we find out what Taro meant by that.