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AnimEigo's Riding Bean Kickstarter Funded in 50 Minutes (Updated)
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
North American anime distributor AnimEigo's Kickstarter campaign for a "High Octane Edition" Blu-ray Disc release for the Riding Bean OAV has met its US$30,000 goal on Sunday, the same day it launched. As of press time, the campaign has earned US$57,849. AnimEigo founder and CEO Robert J. Woodhead revealed on his official Twitter account that the campaign took 50 minutes to meet its goal.
The campaign's first stretch goal will feature new artwork by Kenichi Sonoda on the case sleeve. This stretch goal has been met. Other stretch goals include a new four-page manga mini-story drawn by Sonoda for the insert and artbook at US$60,000, and a Japanese commentary track featuring Sonoda and "1-2 other Japanese commentators" at US$90,000.
Backer rewards include a digital archive of setting materials and the script, the anime on Blu-ray Disc, patches, a 180-page artbook, keychains, production cels, a scale model of Bean's "Buff" car, a personally inscribed sketch by Kenichi Sonoda, and B4-size color illustrations by Sonoda.
AnimEigo plans to release the anime in December.
The 1989 OVA is based on a manga by Kenichi Sonoda (Gunsmith Cats manga, Otaku no Video character design). AnimEigo released Riding Bean in 2002 on a dual-audio DVD, marking the company's first anime release along with MADOX-01.
In the story, Bean Bandit and his partner Rally Vincent are couriers for hire — transporting clients and delivering goods in his custom sports car "Roadbuster" for a hefty price. But when they are hired to escort a kidnapped girl named Chelsea to her home, they don't realize they're being framed for kidnapping as their former clients Semmerling and Carrie plan their escape with Chelsea's father and the ransom money.
AnimeEigo successfully funded a Kickstarter to release Bubblegum Crisis on Blu-ray Disc in 2013, and also funded a similar campaign to release Otaku no Video on Blu-ray Disc last June.
Update: The Kickstarter campaign has met its second stretch goal of US$60,000.
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