Anime goes crowd funding with Under the Dog
Anime goes crowd funding with Under the Dog
Anime goes crowd funding with Under the Dog

Crowd funding has managed to fund some pretty cool stuff, from the Pebble smartwatch to a high-tech cooler and even the Oculus Rift, there’s no end to the stuff you see on places like Kickstarter and Indiegogo. Now, a group of anime industry veterans have taken to Kickstarter to fund an anime project called Under the Dog. The campaign has even managed to attract the attention and endorsement of Hideo Kojima, the VP of Konami and creator of our well loved games like Metal Gear and Zone of the Enders. 

So what is Under the Dog? It’s a anime science fiction action thriller that will explore what it means to live and die well as well as testing the limits of all we hold dear. Sounds pretty interesting and they even have a trailer to go with it. The Kickstarter campaign is to fund the production of a 24 minute episode and if they hit any of their stretch goals, they’ll even do additional episodes or a feature film. As it is though, there’s only three more days left till the campaign ends and they’re still short of their initial target of US$580,000. 

So who exactly are involved in the this campaign? We did mention that anime industry vets are involved and this includes Director Masahiro Ando, who has worked on anime like RahXephon, Zetsuen no Tempest, Fullmetal Alchemist, Wolf’s Rain and Cowboy Bepop. Character design is by Yusuke Kozaki, who’s work you’ll have seen in No More Heroes and Fire Emblem: Awakening. As for the story, its the work of Canaan scribe and creator (originally known as 428: In a Blockaded Shibuya) Jiro Ishii.

So what do you get if Under the Dog is successfully funded. There’s the 24 minute episode as promised but there’s also going to be professional Japanese voice overs with English and German subtitles. For backers who’ve fund US$20 or more, you will be able to download the episode and any future Under the Dog animation which they do plan to do. If they do meet their stretch goals of US$1.16 million onwards there’ll be two or three more episodes and if they ultimately hit the US$5.1 million stretch goal, instead of a couple of episodes, they’ll instead work on a full length 90 to 120 minute feature length movie.

If you’re interested in funding the anime, just head over to their Kickstarter page here. You can also check out their official home page here. Better do it fast though, as there’s only three more days left and they’re still short. We do hope this gets funded as the animation quality does look pretty top notch and hey, we’d just love another dystopian, action packed, Sci-Fi anime to come out.

Source: Kickstarter