Under the Dog Live on Kickstarter

TOKYO... Under the Dog has announced their Kickstarter project on August 8, 2014 with the goal of developing a pilot episode of a science fiction anime. The anime carries an atmosphere similar to that of older anime titles like Akira and Ghost in the Shell through its setting, storytelling, and characters. By using Kickstarter as their funding platform, Under the Dog's production team will sidestep the traditional method of obtaining funding from production committees and retain full creative control of the anime.

Under the Dog takes place in 2025 in Neo Tokyo, five years after a devastating terrorist attack at the Tokyo Olympics. In the wake of the tragedy, the U.N. formed a covert ops unit dedicated to seeking out, then eliminating those responsible for the attack. Anthea Kallenberg, a girl of Scandinavian descent is a member of this elite group. She has honed her combat abilities and has become a deadly assassin, but must come to terms as to who she really is.

The animated pilot brings together talents from around Japan. Under the Dog's staff includes Jirō Ishii, who wrote the original story and whose extensive experience includes directing video games like the acclaimed visual novel 428: In a Blockaded Shibuya and producing Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors, a puzzle game. The anime will be directed by Masahiro Ando, whose directorial credits include Sword of the Stranger, Hana-Saku Iroha, and Blast of Tempest. He has also worked as an Episode Director on Fullmetal Alchemist, did storyboarding for Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and Wolf's Rain, and was a Key Animator on the original Ghost in the Shell and Neon Genesis Evangelion. The main character designer is Yūsuke Kozaki, who designed the characters in Fire Emblem: Awakening and No More Heroes. Finally, the animation will be by Kinema Citrus, which has worked on anime like Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, Black Bullet, Barakamon, and the Eureka Seven movie and Orange Co. which handles the CGI and has had experience working on titles like Ghost in the Shell Arise, Tiger & Bunny, Infinite Stratos, Last Exile, Macross Frontier, Code Geass, and the Evangelion Rebuild movies.

“I think that Under the Dog is a story and a project that can only be materialized with Kickstarter,” Jirō Ishii, Under the Dog's story writer explains. “Firstly, for a major piece of work, the story tries to find a light in an extremely tragic setting, which is not readily accepted. The other reason is that it is also a challenge for me in getting the staff to produce this story that I have really cherished. Because of this, I would very much like to ask for your backing. I look forward to your kind support.”

The Under the Dog Kickstarter is seeking $580,000 to fund the production and artistic development of the anime. Backers have the opportunity to secure digital and limited edition physical copies of the anime, help choose the actors who will voice the anime's main characters, receive autographed products like shikishi, and even visit Japan to listen in on a voice recording session and meet the staff. Once the funding target has been hit, work will begin on the anime, with an expected release date to be set around late 2015.

About Under the Dog Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1300298569/under-the-dog

Under the Dog is a Kickstarter project looking to fund an independent anime and present it to the world. Founded in Tokyo, Japan in 2013 based on material written in 1994-1995, Under the Dog will be working to bring the science fiction setting to life, releasing it to worldwide audiences by late-2015. Visit www.under-the-dog.com and Facebook: www.facebook.com/Underthedogpr and Twitter: @underthedogpr for more information.

©2014 Creative Intelligence Arts, Inc.
©2014 Jirō Ishii
©2014 Yūsuke Kozaki
©2014 Hiroaki Yura