After waiting nearly a year for the NieR: Automata anime to come out, it looks like fans are in for some more waiting time after it was announced the series would come to a sudden halt due to a COVID outbreak affecting the production team.NieR: Automata Ver1.1a premiered three weeks ago on January 8, with the anime adaptation being met with mostly positive reception all the way up to episode three, the last one to be released until the unexpected news. Although it’s been a while since the pandemic forced any production to temporarily shut down, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had indicated COVID-19 will be downgraded to the same category as seasonal flu soon, the NieR: Automata Ver1.1a has seemingly caught the virus.In a tweet posted by the series' official Twitter account for Japan (@NieR_A_ANIME), it was confirmed that episode 4 and all subsequent entries would be put on hold “Due to the impact of COVID-19 on production,” with no estimated date as to when new updates would be shared. The production team kept things quite in tune with NieR: Automata’s world signing off on the news as the “Council of Humanity”, and they did specify that any news concerning the show’s return to Crunchyroll would be posted on Twitter and the anime’s official site.
Franchise creator Yoko Taro also quote tweeted the same post from the Japanese account, so it’s fair to assume NieR: Automata Ver1.1a’s overall scheduling could be set back for at least 2 to 3 weeks, even if no exact health concerns were made public. It bears saying that NieR: Automata’s anime will be 24 episodes long, however, it has been mentioned that the series will feature a cutoff of some sort that could affect both the story and its release window.
The third Nier: Automata Ver1.1a episode, titled "break ti[M]e", sees 2B and 9S head out to the desert after meeting the human settlement where Lily and other survivors reside, but it also showed the anime’s most impressive battle yet, along with the now signature post-credits puppet show used to depict alternate endings. So far, the anime has stuck very close to NieR: Automata's story, only changing the how and viewpoints of certain events or characters rather than introducing massive changes, nevertheless, Taro has warned viewers that the anime will not be a one-to-one recreation of the video game.
NieR: Automata Ver1.1a is currently available on Crunchyroll.
Source: @NieR_A_ANIME | Twitter