Jun Maeda, the writer and composer behind Kanon, Air, Clannad and Angel Beats!, has been diagnosed with pharyngeal cancer.

Visual Arts/Key says he chose palliative care over active treatment to save his strength for creative work. He has written Heaven Burns Red's story through the first half of Chapter 6 and mapped out the rest of the chapter, and the songs he's working on will be released on YouTube one by one. Key says he "remains strongly determined to devote himself to creative work through to the very end."