Fakku, Hentai Haven War Heats Up, Worrying Fans Worldwide

Anime continues to grow more popular with every year, and its reputation only continues to grow [...]

By Megan Peters

Anime continues to grow more popular with every year, and its reputation only continues to grow with even casual TV fanatics. Series like Attack on Titan and My Hero Academia have bolstered the franchise, but shonen isn't the only genre found within anime. Just like any other medium, the genres are aplenty, and hentai has become a booming part of anime's annual gross.

Now, it seems anime porn is in trouble in the U.S., and it is all thanks to an on-going war between two very popular sites.

As of late, the anime community has been swept up in drama concerned two well-known sites, Hentai Haven and Fakku. The two sites have a long and very complicated relationship, but a recent deal saw Fakku take over Hentai Haven after their respective creators signed a deal. But as it turns out, the founder of Hentai Haven is not pleased with the deal's aftermath.

Taking to Hentai Haven, the anonymous founder known only as Papa HH wrote a scathing note to fans about the Fakku deal. "Fakku has completely taken over and booted me out," the creator wrote before saying Fakku played him like a very NSFW violin.

For those confused by the beef, a few steps need to be taken back. Hentai Haven is one of the most popular websites hosting anime pornography in the United States, but it is not an officially licensed source; All of its content was put up illegally and given fan-subs, so none of the hentai series' creators profited from the streams. At the site's peak, more than 2.5 million viewers watched videos on Hentai Haven per day, and it racked up lots of advertisement revenue which sat with Papa HH and a few others. However, with Japan cracking down on fan-subs and illegal streaming services, Hentai Haven's founder grew worried about legal retaliation shortly before Fakku's creator Jacob Grady offered him a way out.

After all, Fakku was an up-and-coming hentai provider several years ago which focused on manga licensing. The official site was put behind a paywall, but this revenue insured the series were officially licensed from the Japanese publishers. With goals of moving into anime, Fakku approached Papa HH after hearing about some legal drama Hentai Haven was about to head into. It was then Grady and Papa HH signed a deal to turn Hentai Haven over to Fakku, but those contract's terms have since soured with the latter.

"Fakku has completely taken over and booted me out," Papa HH wrote on Hentai Haven the other day.

"Hell, they completely stopped talking to me as soon as I handed over the website and social media credentials... When Fakku told me (conveniently) about some legal trouble headed my way and offered to bail me out last year, I was elated. I still am in fact. But had I know that would've cost me my entire website, my baby, I would've f—king gone at it on my own."

Longtime users of Hentai Haven were quick to support Papa HH following the note's release, leaving the Fakku team to endure violent threats from fans. Grady says he reached out to Papa HH not long after this post was put online, but the Fakku founder is admittedly tired of all the drama.

"I think that taking a property like Hentai Haven, like we did with Fakku, and saying, 'Here's an option to support the official creators' is a really good strategy. Or I thought so until yesterday," he told Kotaku.

For now, Hentai Haven is running as usual with zero paywall attached, but the fandom's turmoil is raging on. Currently, Grady hopes to collect more hentai licenses from Japan and bolster legit advertisement revenue moving forward. And as for Papa HH, he is reaching out to fans to warn them of the dangers of piracy-centered hentai.

"I would say this to other piracy sites - look for ways to legitimize your business ASAP," Papa HH warned. "I'm one of the few lucky ones who got out and didn't get sued. But you won't be lucky forever. Japan will be cracking down harder than ever as the months go by. Quit while you still can and invest your money in something legit."

So, what do you make of this on-going controversy? Let me know in the comments below!

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