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Pastel Memories Anime Halts Streaming of 1st 2 Episodes, Changes Home Video Release
posted on by Jennifer Sherman
The official website for the television anime of FuRyu's Pastel Memories smartphone game announced on Monday that both the home video and streaming releases of the series will have changes based on the decisions of the anime's production committee. The announcement also apologized for the "trouble."
The three planned Blu-ray Disc and DVD releases for the anime have been cancelled. Instead, the series will receive only a Blu-ray Disc box release on June 5. The release will include all episodes from the 12-episode series except for episode 2.
The current version of episode 1 will stop streaming, and a revised version of the episode will begin streaming on March 26. In addition, episode 2 of the anime will stop streaming by March 26. The anime's staff did not announce a revised release for the episode.
Some online commenters have speculated that the changes may be related to a parody of the Is the order a rabbit? anime that appears in the episodes. The first episode of the Mr. Osomatsu television anime series was similarly removed from home video and streaming releases in 2015.
Japan does not have a parody exception or provision in its copyright law. Therefore, making parodies of copyrighted works may illegally violate a copyright owners' "right to maintain integrity," if performed without the copyright holder's prior consent.
The Pastel Memories anime premiered on January 7. Sentai Filmworks has licensed the anime for streaming and home video, and Crunchyroll is streaming the series.
The "otaku girls" role-playing game takes place "a little bit in the future in 20XX." Akihabara, which was once called "the otaku holy land," is now in decline after otaku culture itself has declined. Players take on the role of a manager of one of the few remaining "otaku shops." The manager helps to "raise" various talented otaku girls, and together, players and the girls battle a "virus" that is infecting the world of various works, while also retrieving people's lost "memories."
Sources: Pastel Memories anime's website and Twitter account via Hachima Kikō, Yaraon!
