Tokyo Babylon 2021, Studio GoHands' planned anime adaptation of the classic manga from CLAMP, has been canceled due to plagiarism.
Allegations of plagiarism in Tokyo Babylon 2021's costume designs emerged Nov. 2020, shortly after the release of the anime's first promotional materials, according to Anime News Network. Certain designs appeared to be almost exact copies of an outfit worn by Yeri from the K-pop group Red Velvet and a costume sold as a Volks doll accessory. Tokyo Babylon 2021 was delayed from its April release date as a result.
An official investigation found additional instances of plagiarism beyond the two identified in November and the GoHands production is now officially canceled. Anime News Network's translation of a statement on the official Tokyo Babylon 2021 website says that the production committee has "lost faith" in the GoHands production because of this plagiarism.
CLAMP and the production committee will pursue the development of a new anime adaptation of the Tokyo Babylon manga as soon as possible. Fans who have waited 25 years for a full anime adaptation of the manga will have to wait a bit longer.
There was already concern from fans surrounding how GoHands would handle the anime, specifically how the studio's specific visual style would clash with the source material's dark tone. Those concerns were not quelled when promo videos for the series confirmed GoHands was approaching the series with its usual artistic style.
The Tokyo Babylon manga is a supernatural-horror shojo series about onmyoji fighting demons in then-contemporary Tokyo. It ran for seven volumes from 1990 to 1993, inspiring a two-episode OVA and a live-action movie. The manga is currently available in English from Dark Horse Comics in two omnibus editions.
Sources: Tokyo Babylon 2021, via Anime News Network
