Kemono Friends director TATSUKI reported on Monday that he is no longer on the Kemono Friends anime project. He said that it was apparently on notification from publishing and production company Kadokawa, and he apologized to fans for the sudden news that he himself also found very disappointing.

Nexon's original Kemono Friends app game launched in early 2016 and ended service on December 14 — before the Kemono Friends anime even aired. The 12-episode television anime then premiered on TV Tokyo and TV Osaka on January 10 and ended on March 28. Crunchyroll streamed the series as it aired.

Nexon announced in February that the original game app would not return despite the anime's popularity, although a spokesperson for Nexon later stated that the return of the smartphone app "is possible." Then, the Kemono Friends Official Guide Book 2 book confirmed in April that at least one new game is in development, since revealed as Kemono Friends Pavilion.

The anime received an unofficial "episode 12.1." Kemono Friends is also getting a new stage play and a "new screen project" (separate from "episode 12.1"). An official guidebook for the anime confirmed in July that a second season is in the works but it "will take some time."

[Via Nijipoi]