The official website for the Tokyo Babylon 2021 TV Anime released a statement today reporting that its production has been cancelled.
After investigations of unauthorized use of materials in characters’ costumes that surfaced late last year, followed by a postponement, the production committee has decided to cancel production altogether with the justification of lack of trust with the current production company.
The statement confirms that there is still a desire to turn Tokyo Babylon into an anime series, with a different production company. CLAMP and the production committee are currently searching for a different production company to take the project on. This tweet from Young Ace magazine says that details will be announced in CLAMP-NET.COM and Kadokawa‘s website in due course.
They apologized to CLAMP and all the Tokyo Babylon readers who were looking forward to this project.
Source: https://tokyobabylon2021.jp
As hard as this may hit some of you who were looking forward to this, I think this was the wisest decision to make. I can completely understand that their trust has been compromised, plus I never thought GoHands was fit for this project to begin with, I am sure many of you agree with me. There is also the fact that CLAMP themselves were not involved on the production and seemingly not very excited for it — at least that’s how it looked like since they acted on their social media as though nothing was happening, which was always really strange to me, considering how Tokyo Babylon is important to them.
Tokyo Babylon has a huge, solid community of devoted fans and it’s a very important work in CLAMP’s catalog. It should be treated with all the respect and decency it deserves.
I hope this will represent an opportunity to deliver a Tokyo Babylon anime series that will do justice to this brilliant CLAMP masterpiece.
8 thoughts on “BREAKING: Tokyo Babylon 2021 TV Anime gets cancelled”
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Chibi Yuuto's CHRoNiCLEs 
Actually, it’s still good to see that Gohands hand over to others and also seem like Clamp intends to draw new covers for new reprints too…
Now seeing that the decision goes for King record, so i search for possible studios, i wish for Bones or Brainbase, its vibe is really suitable….
(I won’t say that how jealous i am as i’m in X fandom……I need reprints too!!)
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Tsubasa Chronicle was an awful adaptation that completely missed the point of TRC, but depending on how severe the plagiarism issues were, Tokyo Babylon 2021 could have damaged CLAMP’s professional reputation. It was a good call for them to cancel it. 😬
I’m hoping the eventual reboot has a more inspired direction that draws from TB’s 80s/90s noir aesthetic. Here’s hoping CLAMP and Kadokawa can get a better studio for it!
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Yes, I agree. I was really worried that this could damage CLAMP’s reputation for the general public. They consistently delivered good quality anime throughout the whole 90s and early 2000s, but after that it kind of went up and down.
I hope all this fuss will bring enough attention to this project and studios will be fighting over as to who will animate it.
I would love it to mimic the 80s/90s aesthetics.
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i am so happy that this was cancelled. here is hoping that a better studio will pick it up next. clamp please give tokyo babylon the treatment it deserves. please don’t settle for less.
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To think that it was supposed to starts in the upcoming few days, in April, if everything went well…
Creating an anime is a big deal, they put in a lot of efforts into it in spite of some fans not liking a few things, this must be a HUGE disappointment for the team who worked on it, probably months, and let’s not talk about the money lost too…
Needless to say, using outfits without authorizations was seriously bad, but I don’t understand why it wasn’t resolved just paying the rights to the doll maker and the idol’s dress brand, whatever brand it is, or simply changing them all together: to be sure, it’s a HUGE issue since it was the main outfits of the main characters, but I didn’t think it would lead to a cancellation.
It’s a great thing and a relied that CLAMP and the production committee are currently searching for a different production company, but there is no way to know if this will work out in the end, and how long it was take, probably not 2021 though, very unlikely.
Let’s hope for the best for Tokyo Babylon and hope the 2nd time will be the charm!!! 😀
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I think it comes down to trust being damaged after this. And maybe there were other things that we don’t know about. I don’t know but I get the feeling not even CLAMP-sensei were that enthusiastic about this so perhaps this only worked as a driving force to end the partnership altogether. Of course, if they really wanted to keep working with the studio, there were other alternatives they could have tried, but I think they felt unsure about it after what happened. I saw some other cases of plagiarism with their other works too, such as K, so I think it’s a little deeper than just Tokyo Babylon.
Sometimes it’s better to be safe than sorry.
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I feel like GoHands completely missed the mark in both the style/aesthetic of Tokyo Babylon as well as the overall feel of the series. The trailer was flashy and bright, but the clothing, atmosphere, and even lines weren’t delivered in the manner that I typically associate with this series. Tokyo Babylon is high-octane glamour and fashion, but also quite gritty and dark. There’s a classy element to the series, but also the feeling like you’re in a Madonna or Prince video from 1991 😛 I just didn’t get any of that from the GoHands teasers so for that reason, I can only see this cancellation as a good thing.
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Yes, I agree 100%!
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