In a development that could hardly be considered a prank by Yoko Otaro, the anime adaptation of "Nia" (opens in new tab) has been postponed: The anime "Nia Automata" (opens in new tab) has had its broadcast postponed, despite the fact that three episodes have already been released. The fourth episode, originally scheduled to air on January 29, will now air at an undisclosed later date. In an announcement posted on Twitter on Saturday, A-1 Pictures, which produces the anime, attributed the series' postponement to the disruption caused by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

The tweet does not tell readers much. It is unclear exactly what parts of the program's production and distribution have been affected by Covid and when that disruption will be resolved. All there is is a promise to provide information "soon" on the program's upcoming release schedule on its official website and on Twitter.

With so much of the world trying to get back to normalcy these days, it seems odd to hear that something has been definitively postponed because of Covid. However, Japan is now facing damage (opens in new tab) from the eighth wave (opens in new tab), even as lawmakers plan to move to a policy of "living with the coronavirus" (opens in new tab). production of the Nier.Automata anime seems to have fallen into decline: the anime "Nier Automata" production seems to have been affected by this surge of infections.

This news probably means that fans' efforts to crack the anime's hidden codes (open in new tab) will have to be put on ice until the anime is revived. So far, these codes have revealed little of obvious interest, consisting of lines such as "androids are beings of life and death" and the words "YoRHa" and "resistance" being repeated over and over. Still, one can't help but imagine that they will all add up to something when the series eventually resumes. Unless Yoko Taro is trolling us, it is not unlikely.

If you want to watch the first three episodes during the hiatus, you can do so on Crunchyroll (opens in a new tab).You've read to the end of this article without knowing what the heck Nier.Automata is: Automata is a sad but fashionable It's a video game about robots waging endless war for a doomed cause. If you haven't played it yet, do so on Steam (opens in a new tab).