Hentai Haven (HH) is not going the Tumblr way. Fans of the popular Japanese adult entertainment service were shocked when it announced that it was shutting down. The company gave no clear explanation at the time. It sparked speculations that the promoters might be in financial trouble or the site might have shut down due to legal problems. Adult content platforms have been under pressure since Tumblr was suddenly pulled out of Apple’s App Store last month. Fortunately for millions of its fans, the Hentai Haven website has sprung back to life just days after being shut down. But it will be available on a new domain name.
Hentai Haven website springs back to life
The Hentai Haven website shut down last week. Its official Twitter handle had disappeared and the Facebook page was purged. Soon after the original announcement, the developers updated the website to inform fans that it had teamed up with Fakku to save itself from going down. It didn’t reveal much, but promised to provide more details soon.
Now the website is back with all its features and capabilities. However, its domain name has changed (via Piunikaweb) from HentaiHaven.org to HentaiHaven.me. The new domain name has already gone live – you can visit it right now. The new website has a top bar notification that reads, “We moved site to Hentaihaven.me. Please bookmark new site. Thank you!”
A few days ago, Reddit user naisu.moe said in a thread that an HH alternative was “in active development and with top tier video quality.” Another similar sounding website named HentaiHaven.net (not .me or .org) was sold on November 21st for a handsome $11,573, but it’s a portal for adult games. It’s unclear whether this portal has any direct relation with HentaiHaven.me.
Why was it shut down?
Hentai Haven fans can take a sigh of relief that the site is back. But the reason it was shut down last week remains a mystery. Some theorists pointed to financial woes while others said it was due to copyright or legal troubles. There were tons of memes on Twitter and other platforms saying the site would come back only after YouTuber PewDiePie reaches 100 million subscribers. By the way, PewDiePie currently has about 78 million subscribers.
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
Some speculate that the service was shut down last week because of the Russian government’s involvement. Pornhub, a major adult entertainment service, recently revealed that Hentai Haven was particularly popular in Russia. Moscow might have forced a shutdown to prevent its people from accessing the website’s adult content. However, it’s still mere speculation – there is no official word from Russia.
Adult content platforms have also been battling legal problems due to tightening laws. In recent months, there has been a significant spike in censorship for adult entertainment websites. Tumblr was removed from the App Store, and managed to come back only after announcing a complete ban on adult content. As a result, millions of content creators and users left Tumblr to join other platforms.
Sony and Google have also forced censorship on adult-oriented “fanservice” material. Recently, Sony Entertainment Japan President Atsushi Morita told media that the company’s new regulations for PlayStation 4 games would ensure that the content is not “unpleasant for children.” Morita emphasized the need to strike balance between freedom of expression and “what might be unpleasant for children.” The Indian government has also implemented a ban on adult sites.
