Forum - View topicAnswerman - Why Aren't There More Classic Anime Kickstarters?
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Crisha
Moderator
 Posts: 4290 |
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I just wanted to step in and say, Ann, you are so awesome. I love the enthusiasm and effort you put into your projects. When you're at the helm of a project, I feel confident in getting a great quality product. You always put your best foot forward in delivering to fans what they want to the best of your ability. Time of Eve is one of my favorite releases sitting on my shelves, and I'm looking forward to having Skip Beat on there as well.
Also, always appreciate your input into behind-the-scenes stuff. So, thanks. |
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Zalis116
Moderator
 Posts: 6867 Location: Kazune City |
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TheMorry
Posts: 657 |
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Uhm, Love Hina and Higurashi dub are good enough for me. Crest/Banner dubs are horrible. The VA dont sound clear in that if you know what i mean? Like a cheap mic is used or something. The dub for Gundam seed is also unclear but not as bad as crest/banners which made my skin crawl. It just a combination of poor voice acting and bad quality of sound.. My hime/Otome are unclear as well but enjoyable. Love hina and Higurashi are enjoyable enough. But everyone has their own opinion. The reason i think Funimation will most likely start a KS for this is because they have the license like Escaflowne for a few years. Comparing that to their other rescues like Scrapped Princess that gets released quickly. |
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AnimeLordLuis
 Posts: 1626 Location: The Borderlands of Pandora |
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I don't really mind if a distributor does a Kickstarter for an old but pretty popular Anime series after all it gives fans a chance to be apart of what they love and you can't put a price on that.
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Primus
 Posts: 2760 Location: Toronto |
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Yes. Funimation realized that the extended scenes only applied to the first seven episodes, so they printed an additional disc that specifically has the original dub's cut. The rest of the discs have three audio tracks: Japanese, Funimation dub and the original dub.
The talent pool and directors are definitely important. The Wakfu dub is pretty strange. Some of the cast seem based in LA. Others in the UK. I think Ankama (the animation studio) got in over their heads with that Kickstarter. While I'm sure they had outside funding (the show did wind up on Netflix) they wanted to do a lot: dub 52 full length episodes, a series of shorts, a handful of OVAs (including finishing up a completely new one IIRC) and produce their physical goods for a bit over $400k. |
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MadOverlord
Posts: 6 |
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There are basically two situations where crowdfunding makes sense for anime:
1) When you're not sure if there is enough demand for a title, so a traditional release is too risky. 2) When it makes the most sense to skip the traditional distribution channels; typically for a title that will largely sell to a dedicated core fanbase (engaged customers vs. casual/impulse buys) All of AnimEigo's releases (so far!) have been type-2. By going directly to the core fans, instead of getting a 50% or less share of the income, we get ~90% (5% kickstarter, 5% credit card fees; we wrote our own backer management system that makes fulfillment very easy). Typically, we try and spend about 50% of the money received on actual production costs, which means that we can upgrade the contents vs. a traditional release. And we get to tune those contents based on feedback from backers, which is a big plus. It's more work, of course, but it's interesting work. It lets us do fun stuff like this: Buff Sculpt Robert Woodhead, AnimEigo |
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Alan45
 Village Elder Posts: 9836 Location: Virginia |
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@MadOverlord
You were doing something similar to Kickstarter years before there was Kickstarter. I remember because I got in on a couple of those (KOR & UY). I've been happy with all the anime I have gotten from AnimEigo over the years. I'm glad to see you active again. |
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Ouran High School Dropout
 Posts: 440 Location: Somewhere in Massachusetts, USA |
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Hi, Robert! 
Just putting in my .$.02 here...as a backer of all three AnimEigo Kickstarters, I must say I've been very happy with the end product of the two released to date (Bubblegum Crisis; Otaku no Video), and am waiting patiently for Riding Bean. I can't wait to see what AnimEigo cooks up in the future (Oh! My Goddess OVA?!) Justin brought up "fan engagement"; it's one of my two primary reasons for backing particular projects. The old shows that get my money are part of my own otaku past, and it's my way of saying that they deserve to be discovered anew by the next generation of fans. My other big reason for backing (specific) projects is that I'm something of a videophile. I've been collecting anime since the [licensed] days of VHS, and I'll do all I reasonably can to see my old-school faves sourced from a native HD master (hence my decision to back Escaflowne, but only at a high enough level to get me the complete series--the movie just depressed me.) |
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Usagi-kun
 Posts: 877 Location: Nashville, TN |
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@Ann,
I have such a profound appreciation for your business savvy, honesty, and excellent communication skills. It is inspiring that you have managed to cultivate a powerful working relationship amidst the male-dominated Japanese business field to bring us these unlicensed gems stateside. Plus, you are so kind and friendly; I am still happily married since your first campaign. Out of all the Kickstarters I have backed, Time of EVE is still my favorite! 
@MadOverlord/Robert I have backed all three of your AnimEigo Kickstaters, and I am completely in awe as to how far you will go to make your backers needs and demands met. The transparency you show in your campaign offers plenty of updates and easily understood data breakdowns of the project's status and inner-workings. You are also patient with us, even when we make things difficult or inconvenient.
If anyone is curious, this is a list of all of the anime-related Kickstarter projects I have been involved with over the last three years: MECHA-UDE SKIP BEAT! Riding Bean Asterion Chuya-Den Red Ash Otaku No Video Coluboccoro Devil's Legacy URBANCE GO! SAMURAI Under the Dog Patema Inverted Mai Mai Miracle 9DKP Bubblegum Crisis Little Witch Academia 2 Time of EVE Justin's assessment of the risks and headaches involved in running a Kickstarter are real and very evident, even in the most transparent and clearly organized campaigns. Thinking for the long term even after funding is achieved: The difficultly intensifies in the amount of time it takes to cater to a large group of people with varying expectations and demands, possibly prolonged for a mostly undetermined amount of time. If the campaign is then struggling to fill rewards, keeping the peace and insuring motivation and faith does not falter is a fine art. But still, even when things go completely sideways, one thing to remember is that Kickstarter policies could actually be categorized as a form of gambling. It is high-risk in that the deck is stacked against the project creators from the beginning, and from a backer perspective, our money has been taken and our further involvement is now completely within the control of said creators. This relationship is critical, and in exchange, we hope for a return on our investments. Beyond that, I think there are very few positive reasons to resort to Kickstarter, unless your project is speculative and grassroots. Many have tried, and most have failed, but that special thrill is Vegas, baby. |
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Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
Forums Superstar  Posts: 16935 |
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I just wanted to add I have been happy as well. I only participated in the Bubblegum Crisis kickstarter but the product was amazing. The post cards were neat and I LOVE the AD Police keychain. Got my car/house keys on it. |
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 23762 |
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Ann from Pied Piper showed up in this thread!
*swoons* I'll never wash these eyes again! Yes, if you are looking for a model on how to do crowdfunding the right way, look no further than Pied Piper. Skip Beat! turned into the a thrilling experience and I've "met" a lot of great people in the still very active comments section of that campaign. I think Justin is correct about Japanese rights-holders being leery of crowdfunding due to the embarrassment that would attend a campaign that didn't hit its target, but with two successes under her belt, I imagine that will help smooth Ann's next project, whatever it is. At least that's my hope! |
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Kadmos1
 Posts: 13552 Location: In Phoenix but has an 85308 ZIP |
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"Skip Beat" is possibly the best outcome for an anime Kickstarter. One reason may be is that the campaign was being done largely by Ann herself. If the release dates were pushed back or some promised features didn't happen, I think the backers might be more forgiving than those that did the "Escaflowne" pledge because Funi is a licensing giant.
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DangerMouse
Posts: 3982 |
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Completely agree, those have been great, can't wait to get Riding Bean.
Yeah, that was great, as was the Time of Eve one.
I think the Mai Mai Miracle one has also shed some light on how sometimes these things can slow to a crawl on the Japanese side too, especially if those creators are already at work on their "next big thing" so it has seemingly taken the original staff/producers double the time check off on everything.
I, like the post I was agreeing with on it, were talking about how we mostly knew what they were doing and what we were getting as backers and most people pretty much deduced (which maybe it's true we shouldn't have had to) that they'd do it mostly in-house for the new dub. I agree, they should have put out the original dub on at least DVD if they had problems with it on blu-ray for those that want it, though I remember some backer comments where people did want it as a Kickstarter bonus for putting their money where their mouth was as hardcore fans of the series. As has been said, better management of exclusive features for the Kickstarter would have helped as well. As for what they're dubbing with the new simuldubs I don't know if we can really tell anymore. Even as "simuldubs" they still start a few weeks after the shows begin so they probably still have "a little time" to get some quick numbers for shows that they aren't sure whether or not they truly even want to dub, and all-in-all it's not like it's a change for them since they generally have dubbed 99% of everything they license, but yet they've still passed up dubbing stuff that I think they should have like Buddy Complex (another mecha product, not that it's all that similar to the fantasy/mecha Escaflowne) since they don't do much mecha at the moment, over some of the stuff I don't care for that they did dub (and Sentai sadly passed on dubbing Captain Earth at the same time, which admittedly was a rather weak but very pretty show, but would have been more fun with a dub). They do seem to be much more robust at working with new shows than old ones though. |
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