Wednesday, October 03, 2012

Kick-Heart - help make anime through Kickstarter!

Kickstarter has been quite revolutionary is getting private funded projects off the ground, from video games to hardware, and films, and even anime projects that otherwise might never be!


Top anime studio Production I.G. is looking to fans to fund a 2D animated short! The short will be directed by Masaaki Yuasa, known for his unique surrealist animation style on anime like Mind Game, and has also been involved in many others like Samurai Champloo & Crayon Shin-Chan!

The project is also being backed by none other than Mamoru Oshii of Ghost in the Shell fame who acts as the project consultant, as well and I.G.'s own CEO and founder Mitsuhisa Ishikawa.


Now why would a top anime studio like Production I.G. need you to fund their projects? It seems that issues in Japan nowadays make it very difficult for unique experimental animation to get off the ground and do something other than suit the mainstream or increasingly otaku-oriented demands. So here is an opportunity to find ways for talent even in big studios to get their unique innovative projects off the ground. Anyone who values animation as an art form has a stake in this!

You can check out their Kickstarter page for more details! The short they are making is a wacky story about a pro wrestler and a nun who is secretly a pro-wrestler who meet in the ring and fall in love. A story similar to works like One Pound Gospel for example... You can check out more production material at the Kickstarter link!




Perhaps many aspiring animators out there can also try considering Kickstarter as a way to finance their creativity!