Visual Arts/Key has officially announced that Jun Maeda — the writer and composer behind beloved titles such as Kanon, Air, Clannad, and Angel Beats! — has been diagnosed with pharyngeal cancer. After carefully considering his condition and the prospects for treatment, Maeda has chosen to pursue palliative care.
Maeda is currently hospitalized, but the announcement stated he “remains strongly determined to devote himself to creative work through to the very end.” Visual Arts/Key has opened a mailing address and e-mail channel for fans who wish to send words of encouragement. The staff asked fans to send letters only, and to refrain from sending gifts or other get-well items.
Heaven Burns Red Progress
According to the announcement, Maeda has completed the scenario for all six chapters of Heaven Burns Red currently in the game, including all major story elements leading to the conclusion of Chapter 6. He has also finished the lyrics and compositions for the songs in the first half of Chapter 6. Depending on how his illness progresses, he may be unable to take on further writing or songwriting duties beyond what has already been completed.
Heaven Burns Red launched in February 2022 and is Maeda’s first entirely new game in 13 years. The game’s staff had previously announced in August that the game had entered the final chapter of its main story.
Original Music Project on YouTube
Maeda had been planning a long-term original music project on YouTube. Following his diagnosis, he has decided to focus on completing the songs currently in development as quickly as possible, and those tracks will be released sequentially on YouTube at his request.
Health History and Legacy
This is not Maeda’s first serious health battle. He was hospitalized for five months in 2016 due to idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy, a condition involving unexplained enlargement and weakening of the heart’s left ventricle. He later disclosed that the condition would ultimately require a heart transplant, though he reassured fans at the time that he still had many years ahead and intended to keep writing.
Maeda began his career in visual novels with Tactics/NEXTON on Moon (1997) and ONE (1998). The core team behind those titles later broke away to form the circle Key, where Maeda wrote Kanon, Air, Clannad, and Little Busters! — all of which received anime adaptations. His Key works are widely regarded as cornerstones of the bishojo visual novel genre and are affectionately known as “nakige” (crying games) for their emotionally resonant stories of loss, tragedy, and sacrifice. They remain deeply influential in the medium to this day.
Beyond writing, Maeda composed the music for his own visual novels and oversaw musical production for other Key titles including Kud Wafter, Rewrite, and Prima Doll. He also wrote the story and composed themes for both Angel Beats! and Charlotte, and is credited as original creator and scriptwriter for the anime The Day I Became a God, a collaboration between Key, Aniplex, and P.A. Works.
Maeda provided the original concept for Summer Pockets, which debuted on Windows PC in June 2018 and on iOS and Android in December 2018. The game received a television anime adaptation in June 2025.
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