Fans of adult entertainment have suffered another blow this month. Just weeks after Tumblr implemented a site-wide ban on adult content, the popular Japanese adult entertainment service Hentai Haven (HH) has also closed down.
Fans are shocked
Hentai Haven’s website is not working anymore, and neither is its Twitter handle. The site has been down since Dec. 19. Hentai Haven’s Facebook page is still up, but it’s been purged. The official HH merchandise store page, which was up even after the main site was down, has now been removed. Google has also excluded HH from its index.
So it seems the site has been mostly wiped from the internet. According to the archive of the site’s Twitter account, it had been active since January 2015. Its official website now just carries a message that it is shutting down and gives a vague reason for its end.
“But as a wise man once said, every journey must come to an end – and unfortunately, it ain’t the happy kind this time. There’s plenty of options out there now,” reads the official statement issued on the HentaiHaven.org website.
Fans are in shock over the sudden disappearance of Hentai Haven and have taken to social platforms to express their shock and feelings.
“Today is a dark day for the internet. Hentai haven is gone. You will forever be missed,” one user tweeted.
for so long i had hentaihaven’s website in my bio and now its gone ?
— ELEVATOR GAME (@hxllowfuck) December 21, 2018
RIP Hentai Haven. You will be missed.
— Cytoscourge☣️ (@cytoscourge) December 21, 2018
Speculations about why Hentai Haven closed down
Since earlier this week, users have been speculating about the reason Hentai Haven disappeared so suddenly. Many theories are going around including one involving alleged Russian interference.
According to the website Anime Maru, it might be the work of the Russian government, which want to prevent citizens from accessing the website’s adult content. Pornhub, which is the biggest adult entertainment site, recently revealed that Russia was one of the biggest consumers of content in Hentai. As of now, there have been no comments from Moscow about the development, and we don’t expect any comments either.
Another theory blames the shutdown on tightening laws around pornographic content. According to the hacker group Anonymous, the site kept its servers in Australia, which is now enacting strict laws against pornographic content. This could be why the service had to be shut down.
Legal reasons are also seen as a possible reason for Hentai Haven’s shutdown. In May, the company announced that it lost its “loli” tag due to legal reasons. It is also being reported that Google has recently received several copyright complaints against Hentai Haven.
According to Namebio.com, a similar site named HentaiHaven.net (not .org) was sold on Nov. 21 for $11,573. Currently, HentaiHaven.net is a web portal for adult games. However, the existence of a site with a similar name does not explain why HentaiHaven.org shut down. Additionally, a new Reddit thread claims an “alternative” is in development.
“HH alternative in active development and with top tier video quality,” the Reddit thread says.
Some also claim financial issues could be responsible for the wesbite’s shutdown, but if such was the case, there was no point in closing the site’s Twitter account and Facebook page. The company also would not have hidden this fact from fans, who may have come forward to help in some way.
What’s the real reason?
We may never know the real truth behind the shutdown of Hentai Haven until the founder or founders offers a clarification. Until then, we will have to live with these speculations. Although legal issues appear to be a valid reason, this lacks any official confirmation.
Speculations pointing to tightening laws around adult content being responsible for the shutdown can’t be ignored either. There has been a noticeable increase in censorship for adult-oriented websites recently. For example, Tumblr banned adult content, while Sony and Google are forcing censorship on “fanservice,” which is adult-oriented material.
Earlier this month, Sony Interactive Entertainment Japan President Atsushi Morita clarified the company’s new censorship regulations for PS4 games. He said the regulations ensure that content is of global standards and is not “unpleasant for children.” Morita said there is a need to find the right balance between freedom of expression and “what might be unpleasant for children.”
