Anime-Centric kickstarters

[Sabin Stargem]

Here is a list of kick-starter projects that have an anime-based style.  I will talk about some of them here.  Keep in mind that I will have to come back in a bit to fill it out a bit more.  If you know of anime-based kickstarters, please mention them in this thread.  I would like to look into funding them.


IN PROGRESS

JRPG Game - Erythia: Shattered Dreams
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1875882614/tentativly-titled-whispers-of-eternity?ref=history
Looks decent.  A fair bit of concept art, voiced character dialogue lines, and screenshots helped with convincing me that this project is viable.  May be based on an RPG Maker engine, judging by the the graphics.

Zelda-styled adventure - Grey: The Lost technology
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2084358841/grey-the-lost-technology?ref=history
I like the idea of an zelda-styled game that is set someplace other than the zelda-verse.  However, the lack of an gameplay video isn't very compelling in my opinion, as that would demonstrate whether or not they actually have anything substantial.  Wait and see over the next 50 or so days to see if they put together a demonstration.

Heart's Hollow
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1743117127/hearts-hollow?ref=history
Am I the only person who feels creeped out by the aesthetic, in that uncanny valley way?

Manga - The Masterless Technique
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/377722317/masterless-technique-0?ref=category
I don't think this one would work out.  There is no lower tier to receive the product in question, and the $35,000 goal is set far too high.  The Trailer is helpful.

Manga - The Dojakai Project
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thedojakaiproject/the-dojakai-project?ref=category


Manga - Fairy Quest
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1803036765/fairy-quest?ref=category
This one is shooting for a rather hefty goal of $60,000.  However, the art and screenshots of the goodies are rather convincing.  I am hoping that this one succeeds, as it reminds me of books like Repunzel's Revenge.

RPG - Kitaru
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bensteele/kitaru?ref=category
This looks like an rather interesting project to me, and the trailer looks quite professional, despite lacking actual gameplay footage.  Cyberpunk dystopia seems to be the theme for this one.

JRPG - Boot Hill Heroes
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/155773634/boot-hill-heroes-wild-west-retro-rpg-with-1-4-play?ref=category
Honestly, this one doesn't have anime-style aesthetics or character.  What it does have, is to be an spiritual knockoff to Earthbound.

SUCCESSFUL

Platformer Game - Valdis Story ($49,574)
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/460275866/valdis-story-abyssal-city
I am rather interested in this title, as it has an nice-looking video demonstration of the game, along with authors stating what they want the money for.  This game is almost certain to yield good fruit in my opinion.

JRPG - Echoes of Eternia ($24,000)
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1465600975/echoes-of-eternia-a-modern-take-on-a-classic-desig?ref=category
With an modest goal of $10,000, this project seemed likely to succeed as it seems to be of decent quality.  What does suprise me is that it is currently at $18,000, while the Tempus Chronicles game stands at $50,000.  I am wondering what caused the difference in donation level.


TBS Game - The Banner Saga  ($723,886)
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/stoic/the-banner-saga?ref=history
I don't know if it would defined as "anime" in style, but there is no question in my mind that this game has a good aesthetic going for it.  If you are fond of Norse mythology, strategy, or enjoyed Valkyrie Profile, this may be worth looking into.  The $50 tier gets all three parts of the game.


Manga - Osamu Tezuka's "Swallowing the Earth" ($8,800)
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/digitalmanga/bring-back-osamu-tezukas-swallowing-the-earth?ref=live
I wish that I was around to fund this kickstarter.  I simply love the works of Osamu Tezuka, the man who created Astro Boy, Dr. Blackjack, and so many other manga that I have enjoyed over the years.

Manga - Osamu Tezuka's "Barbara" ($17,000)
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/digitalmanga/publish-osamu-tezukas-barbara-in-english?ref=live
Just like the above, I wish that I was a part of this one.

The Manga Flute (An adaption of "The Magic Flute", at $12,000)
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/westedgeopera/the-manga-flute?ref=live

DREAM Manga Magazine - Special Issue (At $380)
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/444324855/dream-manga-magazine-special-issue?ref=live

E-Depth Angel Volume 1 (At $1,700)
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mayshing/e-depth-angel-volume-1-color-comic?ref=search

High School Shogun (At $290)
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1832345482/help-get-high-school-shogun-printed?ref=category

Manga - Ponzi
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/396848353/ponzi-volume-1?ref=category

Manga - The Elephant Book
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2040427557/the-elephant-book-graphic-novel?ref=category


FAILED

SNOW Volume 1 (Was pledged $131 dollars out of the $17,500 required)
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/420105880/snow-volume-1-manga-graphic-novel?ref=search
I think this one failed for two reasons.  The first is that there wasn't enough examples of the artwork.  Having three or four pages worth of the manga, plus concept art would have done a lot to secure more funding.  Links to deviant-art pages isn't enough, because that would force people to actually wander onto another website and look around - people want to get a quick impression of what they are dealing with, and a lack of content on the kickstarter page wouldn't help.  The second problem is that the goal is far too high to succeed without significant proof that something could be accomplished.  $17,000 is too ambitious.  Something more moderate, like $5,000 to $10,000 is more reasonable.



JRPG Game - Tempus Chronicles
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/aunim/tempus-chronicle-the-rpg-series-tuesdays-at-6pm
Initially, it looks like an successful project to me.  Then I look at the goal:  $200,000.  In that case, only a quarter of that goal was met at $50,000 bucks.  This project fails, because the goal was far too high, to the point that it can't be realistically met.  Unless they can lower the goal, the people who started this project will lose all of the pledges they received, since a kickstarter fails if the goal isn't met.

Visual Novel - Devil Gene R
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/548215972/devil-gene-r?ref=category
While I am quite fond of Visual Novels like Phoenix Wright and Snatcher, I do not have high hopes for this project.  The problem is that while they do have some screenshots and concept art, the lack of a demo or interesting video makes it hard to be excited.  Furthermore, the $10,000 mark is probably not a good goal for a low-profile game like this.  $5,000 feels more realistic to me. 

Platformer Game - Adventures of Arcadia
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1497344156/the-adventures-of-arcadia?ref=category
Looked like an amateur project that may someday help a grassroots developer to sharpen his or her skills for the future.  There is an problem, however - the demonstration video shows a game that is the very definition of "stutter".  That is not a good sign, and may have done more to harm the project's chances to be funded than anything else.  EDIT:  The video has been fixed.  Good, but the choppy version of it shouldn't have ever made it to the kickstarter page.  First impressions are everything!

JRPG Game - Class of Heroes 2
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1272149684/class-of-heroes-2-deluxe-for-the-psp-system
I am not familiar with this, as I don't own an PSP.  What I do know, is that it was mishandled and looks very likely to fail.

THINGS I WISH WERE KICKSTARTERS
Aquaria II
Fortune Summoners II
Spelunky XBLA to PC port
Ace Attorney Investigations 2 PC...or the entire series brought westside for the PC.  (Capcom offers these games for Japanese PCs)

[SilentCaay]

Valdis Story and Echoes of Eternia are decent examples how how Kickstarter should be used, IMO. The projects are already in development, the quality looks very good so far and the low goals are just to help pad the budget for some extras that would be nice to bring up the production value. It's not "Give us a few hundred K and maybe we'll put out a game". These projects look like they'd be released with or without the extra funding just maybe not with the extras they'd like. I'll have to keep an ear out for these guys.

[decat]

Tempus Chronicles - facebook games and the lower tier pledge reward very unattractive - i assume it will be free with micro transaction when it out on facebook anyway

Adventures of Arcadia - same problem the lower tier reward very bad and you need to pledge $25 to get the game !!!  wont work on unknown dev , even the well known oldies dev (that starting to pop up in kickstarter) give the game at 10-15

[LilithTome]

Fantastic. This sort of thing is very relevant to my interests. I guess to some people it might be seen as advertising, but I'm certainly curious. And it saves me a lot of trouble of searching and sifting myself.

Have none of them failed thus far, really? Or do we just not know of them because they faded from the records of the internet permanently? If not, well, there might just be one on that list in a few days...

Speaking of which, I just put in some money into that Echoes of Eternia Kickstarter recently. Just in case of the heavy likelihood that Class of Heroes II fails, ... which is almost certain at this point. Hey, at least I can play Echoes of Eternia on Steam most likely.

I'll be sure to look into some of the others now that I see them there, too. I sure as heck am broke from all these Kickstarters now, though.

[Corbbox]

Nice Job you have done here.

I've just baked for the first time in my life for  Erythia: Shattered Dream.

That really looks promising.

Keep up the good work and inform us with more of those projects!

[Sabin Stargem]

Your wish is my command, LillithTome.  Presenting for the failed projects is SNOW, an manga that didn't inspire much confidence:

I think this one failed for two reasons.  The first is that there wasn't enough examples of the artwork.  Having three or four pages worth of the manga, plus concept art would have done a lot to secure more funding.  Links to deviant-art pages isn't enough, because that would force people to actually wander onto another website and look around - people want to get a quick impression of what they are dealing with, and a lack of content on the kickstarter page wouldn't help.  The second problem is that the goal is far too high to succeed without significant proof that something could be accomplished.  $17,000 is too ambitious.  Something more moderate, like $5,000 to $10,000 is more reasonable.

[rhemi1]

I'm actually really upset Class of Heroes II isn't going to work out. We only got exposure to the worst entry in the series, and there really aren't enough good first person dungeon crawlers out there these days asides from Wizardry and Etrian Odyssey. I always liked Class of Heroes creation system and its a shame the sequel's Kickstarter was handled the way it was.

I guess I'll have to wait for EO4, then.

[Shadrach]

I'm actually really upset Class of Heroes II isn't going to work out. We only got exposure to the worst entry in the series, and there really aren't enough good first person dungeon crawlers out there these days asides from Wizardry and Etrian Odyssey. I always liked Class of Heroes creation system and its a shame the sequel's Kickstarter was handled the way it was.

I guess I'll have to wait for EO4, then.

Unless I'm mistaken, Class of Heroes II is still going to being localised. The kickstarter was set up to fund a physical release - a digital release was always in the pipeline.

[Sabin Stargem]

As I understand it, that was the reason why it didn't work out:  The kickstarter was to create a physical deluxe edition for an relatively unknown PSP rpg, with the lower tiers not yielding games, be it Class of Heroes I or Class of Heroes II.  Typically, the most populated tier for videogames is the one that would reward someone with the game in question.  The Deluxe edition of Class of Heroes II should have been set for a lower goal, such as $50,000 or below because this project wasn't going to fund the creation of an all-new game, thus less people are interested.

All-new games or translations that haven't been done before are much more likely to get funding in my opinion, since whether or not they get funded would determine if they get made.  So something like Ace Attorney Investigations 2 or Baldur's Gate III would make better candidates.

[LilithTome]

Wow, so there were such projects, they just weren't mentioned yet. I figured as much the likelihood.

I have very mixed feelings about the whole Class of Heroes II thing. It failing, the possibility of it succeeding. How it was handled, and what it stands for.

I hate how this already seems to have sent the message to many people that "a jRPG Kickstarter will not work". I'm almost afraid they've poisoned the well by failing. Which is part of why I wanted them to succeed. I seriously hope they haven't stopped other people from ever considering such a thing. They may not reach their goal, but they are close to $100,000. For such a project, that shows interest/success.

At the same time, if it did succeed, it might send messages toward the gaming industry I don't support. Like that physical distribution is very important and that people want to pay to support something, because they don't support the move to digital distribution. An inevitable direction that not only is dominating the PC, but Sony is making a lot of movement toward. Or that fans care more about a bunch of novelty items than the essential thing, the games themselves.

I could care less about physical distribution anymore. It's going to inevitably go the way of the dodo, but in doing so, it will save publishers and developers money. And create perpetual availability. I get the feeling that many people who also took part in the Kickstarter also weren't in it for "keeping physical distribution alive", either. The whole thing just seems like a mess.

All things considered though, for such a messy and directionless Kickstarter, again, it was pretty successful. Nearly $100,000 is nothing to balk at.

[Sabin Stargem]

It seems to me that the big killer of projects is shooting for too much funding (as a goal not reached means that pledges are lost), and lacking evidence of something worthwhile to donate for.  The third slayer of projects is not having the presentation correctly done when the project starts, such as being clear about what the tiers do, what the funding is for, or an poorly done video.  When it comes to video presentation for games, I think it would be good to have them in two parts:  An exciting trailer, then a developer video that explains why the funding is needed and generally appealing to the better nature in people.  It is easier to trust in someone's abilities when you have just witnessed a polished example of what they can do.

[rhemi1]

I'm actually really upset Class of Heroes II isn't going to work out. We only got exposure to the worst entry in the series, and there really aren't enough good first person dungeon crawlers out there these days asides from Wizardry and Etrian Odyssey. I always liked Class of Heroes creation system and its a shame the sequel's Kickstarter was handled the way it was.

I guess I'll have to wait for EO4, then.

Unless I'm mistaken, Class of Heroes II is still going to being localised. The kickstarter was set up to fund a physical release - a digital release was always in the pipeline.

Huh, thats right. Didn't pay good enough attention.

A physical copy for a PSP game in the west was kinda pushing it, anyway. PSP is all but dead in the west, I'm amazed anyone even took the time to localize this at all.

[Sabin Stargem]

To LillithTome:  I think you might be interested in Wollstonecraft.  Not an anime or manga, but it does seem rather cute in my opinion, and I like the premise of characters based on real people being set in a steam-punkish world.  This books series has already been successfully funded, but it is still accepting donations for the next 11 days.

Wollstonecraft
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/airshipambassador/wollstonecraft?ref=category

[Sabin Stargem]

There is a couple more kickstarters that I think would be of interest to those who are fond of anime.  Of particular interest is Rival Threads, which reminds me of Person 3 and Persona 4, due to how the Marionettes reflect the true personality of their puppeteers.

Rival Threads - Last Class Heroes (game)
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kontrabida/rival-threads-last-class-heroes-the-final-push?ref=users

Princess Lucinda (manga)
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/channelm/the-princess-lucinda-graphic-novel-series?ref=users

[EroBotan]

this is semi-off topic, but what do you guys think about stuff in indiegogo.com? It's similar funding platform like kickstarter.

oh, and how to have a picture as my signature?