Game writer Jun Maeda, who participated in visual novels like Clannad and Air and created the 2010 original anime Angel Beats!, will receive palliative care in response to a pharyngeal cancer diagnosis.
According to an announcement made by game company VISUAL ARTS, the 51-year-old made the decision to not receive active treatment after “careful consideration of his condition and the outlook for treatment,” adding that he wanted “to conserve his strength and devote himself to his creative work.”
Maeda, who is currently hospitalized, started experiencing throat discomfort in early spring. His condition worsened in the summer.
An included update for a planned new YouTube music project, which is scaling back the original plans for “newly created songs over the long term” to focus on the current batch of songs, said that Maeda “felt there was little time remaining in which he would be able to continue creating.”
A separate section for the ongoing Heaven Burns Red gacha game stated that while Maeda had completed various material for Chapter 6, including “all the major story elements that will carry the narrative through” the chapter’s end, other scenarios and songs might not have his involvement “depending on the progression of his illness.”
Maeda, a prominent member of the VISUAL ARTS brand Key, has been involved in the planning, writing, and/or music of visual novels like Kanon, AIR, CLANNAD, Tomoyo After ~It’s a Wonderful Life~, Little Busters!, and Summer Pockets, many of which have been adapted into anime. His activities also include creating and penning the P.A.Works original anime Angel Beats!, Charlotte, and The Day I Became a God. Maeda’s work has led to his name being associated with the crafting of moving stories.
Update: A few additional details about Maeda have been added to the last paragraph.
Source: @VisualArtsUSA
