The opening theme song for The World Ends With You: The Animation has been chan💃ged from "TEENAGE CITY RIOT" by ALI to "Calling - Animation OP Ver. -" by Leah, according to .
The song change comes after Square Enix announced on the Thursday that its opening theme was going through a last-minute change before the show's first airing due ༺to the arrest of ALI drummer Kahadio, whose real name is Kadio Shirai.
Square didn't delve into too many details of the sudden song swap and Shirai's arrest other than saying it was a result of a "sca✨ndal," but according to , the Tokyo Metropolitan Police arrested Shirai as a suspect of communications fraud and theft after, investigators said, he had withdrawn hundreds of thousands of yen in cash from an account linked to a refund scam last month. The victim involved was improperly billed for medical expenses and was tricked into depositing money into the account so that he could get a refund for it.
In response to Shirai's arrest, requested Square Enix to remove all of ALI'sꦬ music from Th🐎e World Ends With You: The Animation and replace "TEENAGE CITY RIOT" with a different song from another artist or group as its opening theme song.
ALI released a statement on its apologizing to fans for any inconvenience they have caused them as a result𒁏 of Shirai's arrest, while noting that thꦉe case is under investigation.
"We deeply apologize for the inconvenience and concern 🌱that we have caused to our fans and other related parties," they said. "While watching the progress of the investigation in the future, we will sincerely respond to all concerned parties who were inconvenienced, and will ta𒆙ke strict measures regarding the treatment of the individual."
The World Ends With You: The Animation hit airwaves Friday, and "Calling" comes on within the first three minutes of the first episode. To be fair, "Calling" is a more appropriate song choice for an opening theme song than "TEENAGE CITY RIOT" because it was pulled straight from the original source material. Besides, an anime adaptation of The World Ends With You is not complete without every element from the original Nintendo DS game, inclu🧸ding the music that defined both the JRPG and the decade it was released in.
The World Ends Wi🍒th You: The Animation is available to stream on .