Back in 2016, an animated feature film based on Klonoa: Door to Phantomile, produced by US company Henshin, Inc. was announced, but today manga creator Hitoshi Ariga revealed on Twitter that the project has been cancelled, apologizing for the wait on news. [Thanks, Anime News Network!]
Ariga was the co-producer of the film and the lead character designer. He’s known for his work on Pokémon as well as the manga versions of Mega Man and The Big O.
Here are his messages below:
心苦しいお知らせとなります
クロノアのアニメ企画は中止となりました。クロノアファンの皆さんには期待だけさせてしまい、
申し訳ありませんでした。— ありがひとし/HitoshiAriga (@ariga_megamix) January 5, 2019
“I have a very painful update to make. The Klonoa animated film project has been cancelled. To all the Klonoa fans who had expectations, I would like to apologize deeply.”
“Even if there is good material, and every related party is giving their utmost effort, projects not going smoothly is something that happens a lot in the entertainment industry. It’s hard to pinpoint a specific reason to explain the cancellation.”
“I, and ShiftyLook’s love for Klonoa is strong, so we are deeply disappointed by this. We hope that we’ll be able to show off the story and characters we’ve made up to this point to everyone in some manner in the future.
Regarding questions on this matter, I am not in a position where I can explain things, so please forgive me.”
“Thank you for all the encouragement and support up to this point.”
In another message, he wrote:
クロノアのアニメ企画中止についてのお知らせです
力及ばず、待っていてくれた方々にはごめんなさい。企画が立ち上がり、企画が進行していた事は事実で
クロノアはそういう力を持ったキャラクターです。また彼が新たな冒険ができますように…
応援してくださった皆さまに感謝いたします。 pic.twitter.com/8PXCSGDjVF
— ありがひとし/HitoshiAriga (@ariga_megamix) January 5, 2019
“This is a notification that the Klonoa animated project has been cancelled. There was no choice, and we’d like to apologize to everyone who has waited this long.
Still, it’s the truth that such a project was proposed and worked on. Klonoa is a character who is able to wield that sort of influence.
I hope Klonoa will be able to begin another journey sometime…
Thank you to everyone for your support up to this point.”
He left off with the new drawing of Klonoa above.
News originally came out on Thursday that Henshin was no longer working on the Klonoa project, but whether the project was still active was a mystery. With Ariga’s confirmation, the Klonoa project has now indeed been confirmed cancelled.
The Klonoa animated feature film has been cancelled.
