posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
©竹嶋えく・一迅社／ささやくように恋を唄う製作委員会
ANN has confirmed that the domain name of animation studio Cloud Hearts has expired, with the website now inaccessible. ANN cannot verify when the domain name expired, but Japanese news website IT Media News noted that it was inaccessible since at least Wednesday.
Cloud Hearts is notable for most recently animating and producing the television anime of Eku Takeshima‘s Whisper Me a Love Song (Sasayaku yō ni Koi wo Utau) manga. The anime premiered on April 13, but did not air its remaining 11th and 12th episodes. The anime also suffered a two-week delay of its ninth and 10th episode in June earlier in the anime’s run due to “production issues.”
Further, the anime’s Blu-ray Disc release in Japan is delayed by four months due to “production circumstances.” The anime’s first Blu-ray Disc volume, originally slated for September 13, is now scheduled for January 31 next year. The second volume is delayed from October 11 to February 28. The third volume is delayed from November 8 to March 28. The fourth volume is delayed from December 13 to April 30.
Yokohama Animation Lab, the parent company of Cloud Hearts, still mentioned Cloud Hearts as a partner in productions in the “Other Business” section of its official website as of April 30 earlier this year, but had the Cloud Hearts‘ name and logo removed from the site just one day later on May 1. As of press time, the Cloud Hearts name and logo remains removed on Yokohama Animation Lab‘s website.
Cloud Hearts originated as a separate production unit in Yokohama Animation Lab named Cloud Heart Studio, until Yokohama Animation Lab founded it as a separate subsidiary aside from Whisper Me a Love Song, Cloud Hearts has worked on such anime as Tawawa on Monday Two, Rail Romanesque 2, The Great Cleric, The Iceblade Sorcerer Shall Rule the World, and The New Gate. In all of these productions, Yokohama Animation Lab is either co-credited for animation production, or else credited for animation production supervision.
Sources: IT Media News (松浦立樹), Cloud Hearts website, Wayback Machine by the Internet Archive