We already exist in a world where the academy deems animation as a distraction for children, while companies like Netflix are happy to cancel projects that stand a chance at pushing the medium forward because it must only focus on the most successful and most infantile examples of the craft. There’s a chance a lot of these shows could come back, and I really hope they do, but the fact they can be removed without notice like they’re nothing scares me, and points to a future where animation is taken for a ride more than ever. It’s nonsense, and the real truth is far more bitter and underhanded than any of us could have expected. The same logic can be applied to other shows in the HBO Max library that were apparently removed due to poor viewership. You’ve also got underrated gems like Mao Mao, which could have found a new audience on HBO Max yet now must go without.ĭennis provides evidence that Infinity Train continues to perform incredibly well on digital storefronts, often topping charts and attracting new viewers. It sucks, with shows like Summer Camp Island being removed before episodes are even set to air.

Well - no good reason beyond wiping away debt and helping the company’s bottom line.Īnd here we are, with show runners, artists, actors, and so many others reacting to the news of their hard work being wiped from existence in real time in ways that I can only describe as heartbreaking. This is exactly what happened on HBO Max this past week, with the merger of Warner and Discovery seeing an avalanche of content being removed from the service for seemingly no reason. It shouldn’t have to be this way, but our continued reliance on streaming services as the landscape changes means we are subject to harsh business practices and the sad reality that the things we love can be taken away with little to no explanation.

Lost media used to be a term thrown around for long-since-abandoned shows of the early 20th century, but we’re seeing it happen in real-time, faster than ever before. Media is being wiped from existence like their artistic merit means nothing, giving the public little recourse other than piracy. Idiotic executives and out-of-touch big wigs sitting atop the food chain are happy to cancel shows and make them unavailable to the majority of audiences if it means saving a few pennies. Animation can’t catch a break these days, and neither can the talented creators responsible for bringing our favourite shows and films to life.

Fantasy anime landscape