It's possible someone else at NG has already made a post about this, but I'm still going to post this myself as it really can't be stated enough...

KICKSTARTER LINK: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/production-i g/masaaki-yuasas-kick-heart

Production IG is trying to fund an original short animated film through Kickstarter since getting anything backed that isn't either (A) a remake/continuation (B) an already popular novel/comic/game or (C) Creepy Moe is pretty much impossible right now.

Why Kickstarter?

During the mid 80's and 90's Japanese animation directors, such as Mamoru Oshii, pioneered a new era of animation. Their films inspired animation fans around the world, including many well known Hollywood film directors.

Recently in Japan, its been very difficult for the next generation of innovators to create more artistically driven projects-- mainly because of the economic situation in Japan. Most of the focus has been put on creating projects that carry less risk-- such as remakes of older animation projects or well-known established properties.

So we had an idea: What if we use Kickstarter as a platform to connect the fans across the globe who want to see cutting-edge animation, with highly skilled anime directors? By using crowdfunding to help support and promote these talented directors, we can enable them to push the boundaries of anime to inspire others to innovate alongside them.

This is a bit of an experiment for us, and we are trying to see if is possible to make these types of artistically driven films with the help of crowd-funding. If this goes well, we would definitely like to pursue more projects like this in the future.

The film seems to be an attempt to retell Romeo and Juliet using what seems to be Mexican Style wrestlers and an art style that would seem more at home in the old "The Tick" animated series than something you would normally expect to see in normal Anime. While the story itself is not necessarily the most compelling (although I assume it will probably be amusingly weird), I would really like to see a departure from the rut that is currently going on in the Anime industry. To that end, I have decided to back this with my own $60 (minimum donation necessary to recieve a Blu-Ray disc of the film when its done).

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CTU-24 MINI UPDATE: Script (100% Done), Custom Sprites (99% Done), Custom Non-Sprite Still Shot Artwork (100% Done), New Preloader (100% Done), Custom Hand Drawn Animated Segment (100% Done... WAIT, HAND DRAWN ANIMATION?!?), Voice Work (0% done, still waiting on people).