Under the Dog - Kickstarter Campaign

[EnigmaticWarrior]

Under the Dog Sci-Fi Anime Kickstarter Launches

Creative Intelligence Arts announced a Kickstarter on Friday for an original 24-minute anime titled Under the Dog. The project is seeking to raise US$580,000 by September 7.

The project aims to carry the tradition of older sci-fi anime titles such as Akira and Ghost in the Shell, and the material was written between 1994 and 1995. The production team is using Kickstarter in order to avoid the process of funding from production committees and therefore retain creative control of the anime. If the Kickstarter is successful, the team hopes to expand with more projects in the Under the Dog universe.

Masahiro Ando (Hana-Saku Iroha, Blast of Tempest) will direct the series based on a story by Jirō Ishii (428: In a Blockaded Shibuya, producer on Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors). Yuusuke Kozaki (Fire Emblem: Awakening) is designing the characters, Kinema Citrus is in charge of animation, and Orange Co. (Ghost in the Shell Arise) is in charge of 3D CGI. Creative Intelligence Arts founder Hiroaki Yura is producing. Keiichi Momose (Steamboy, Stand By Me Doraemon) is serving as Audio director, Kevin Penkin is composing the original score, and John Kurlander is serving as the mixing and recording engineer.

Ishii, Kozaki, and Yura are all guests at Otakon this weekend.

Creative Intelligence Arts describes the story:

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 dedicating to seeking out, then eliminating those responsible for the attack. Anthea Kallenberg, a girl of Swedish descent is a member of this elite group who has honed her combat abilities and has become a deadly assassin, but must come to terms as to who she really is.

If funded, the finished product will be in Japanese with English subtitles, and also include the original soundtrack and behind-the-scenes diaries and interviews.

An anime science fiction action thriller that will explore what it means to live and die well, testing the limits of all we hold dear



Coming at you from Japanese anime veterans...

Responsible for manifesting this project is a wicked awesome team who are taking this opportunity to meld their creative juices together into something extraordinary... and you're all invited! =D

We need your help in order to bring this project to fruition. We cannot do this without you, the backers!

Here are the main players:











un•der the dog

ˈəndər T͟Hə dôg

phrase

1. when one is in a situation so disagreeable that they would wish to rather be "under the dog," a place of dishonor, misery, and filth, in order to escape their current state of affairs

noun

1. (underdog) a competitor thought to have little chance of winning a fight or contest

2. one born under the sign of the dog (Canis Major - Sirius) embodying loyalty, speed, the hunt, and watchfulness



From Ishii-san:

“If your parents, family, or classmates are taken hostage and if you die, your family will die too. If you fail, your family will die. If you run away, your family will die. In such a situation where you are driven into a corner [...] and must kill [your] fellow compatriots.” What would you do? How would you live out your life? Your death? “[...] if you have only the choice of dying, how will you die, how can that death help the world that you have left behind?” This is what it is to be “Under the Dog.”



Our enemy is the light of Humanity

The year is 2025 in the city of New Tokyo, five years following the devastation wrought by a specially enhanced groups of terrorists at the 2020 Summer Olympics. Out of the ashes of that desolation, the UN formed a special covert branch headquartered in Tokyo Bay solely purposed with searching out and eliminating the forces responsible for the attack along with anyone even bearing a remote resemblance to them.



As a cover, the International School for Boys and Girls was established for the ongoing covert operation of discovering and recruiting gifted high school students, each with their own special abilities, and to coerce them in the service of an elite death squad. These troops are tasked with ferreting out and exterminating all individuals with powers like their own.



There is no choosing sides for these recruits and failure is not an option. Failure on the field assures not only their own, but also their loved ones' deaths. In order to assure compliance, each agent’s dearest loved ones have been secretly outfitted with a micro cranial bomb and all agent's actions and speech are closely monitored and recorded through a battle chip embedded in their brain. In the event the UN commanding officer determines an agent falls out of protocol, their loved ones immediately suffer the consequences.





Anthea Kallenberg - Number 03 - Special Operations



Anthea, a Swedish girl, is the team's infiltrator and assassin who was personally raised by Colonel Amagata. She prides herself in her abilities in combat and for good reason. Because of her skill, Anthea is often given point on special operations, usually to get the other agents out of a jam.

Sayuri Hyuga - Number 08 - Espionage

Sayuri is a Japanese girl from Sapporo who was forced into service during middle school. As a young, intelligent girl, the art of espionage is her specialty. She is frequently paired together with Estella for missions to lure out otherwise hard to acquire targets.

Estella - Number 02 - Sniper



Estella is the veteran of the team having been recruited at age eight. She is a Spanish American girl skilled in long range combat, especially the sniper rifle. On missions, she is often paired with Sayuri. Although typically sarcastic, she can surprise with her warm hearted whims.

Hana Tougetsu - Number 06 - Op Support



Hana is the main character of Episode 1. Although not remarkably skilled in combat, her stereotypical Japanese high schooler exterior belies her unique gift to shift people's' moods and mental states. Using her talent, she often gives much needed stability and catharsis to the team, helping shield them from their tremendous burdens. An all around nice girl with strong family ties, she lives with her family and brother.

Colonel (Junichi) Amagata - UN Commander



Amagata came to command the covert branch of the UN shortly after his discovery and subsequent rescue of Anthea from a human trafficking cell during a top secret mission in Scandinavia. A now former NATO soldier, Amagata poses as staff for the international school while he dictates and supervises the various missions and objectives for the team.

Trike Design








(will update as we meet stretch goals)

● A professionally executed 24 minute anime episode full of awesome

● Top notch Japanese Voice-Over

● English subtitles

● Behind the scenes development diaries and interviews

● An original soundtrack

We hope to have everything (rewards included) done and delivered by Late-2015.



Producing a standout soundtrack and stellar sound design usually breaks the bank and makes the budgeters cry but we are getting a steal with our audio legends:







We chose Kickstarter for a number of reasons:

1. The team and plan we have assembled together provide a unique vision and a quality of animation we, and you, can be proud of. We want to blow you away and it is increasingly difficult to attain that level of excellence with traditional partnerships, especially for a brand new IP.

2. This will allow us to retain creative independence, creative rights, and thereby the confidence our vision is being represented as it should be and you will reap the benefits.

3. If this project is successfully funded it will possibly pave the way for us to pursue other projects to further the “Under the Dog” universe and even to work on additional series!

4. We know you, as fans of great anime, have interest and would love to see something like this happen, and we love the idea that you guys will be involved and given the opportunity to help it along the way!

[Show spoiler]

We can talk stretch goals more in depth once we actually hit our initial target but ultimately we would love to produce more 24 minute episodes (let's get more episodes or potentially a feature film!), add on more languages, or any other ideas we can come up with. We want to fully develop the world and characters of “Under the Dog” on an ongoing basis!

Initial ideas from the team:

[Show spoiler]

We are working with top talent to create, produce, and fully realize this AAA project. We have the experience and the know-how and now we just need the support! =D

The next ranking challenge is producing the rewards and getting them shipped out to all y'all. We will be coordinating with our 3rd parties to ensure both quality of production and timely shipments.



All that said, unforeseen issues can occur and while we will provide updates on our various productions as they get underway, the hope is for the grace and patience of our backers that should accompany any artistic endeavor. Thank you!



With a budget of $580,000 some may speculate that this endeavor will not succeed so we want to be proactive in being fairly transparent when it comes to our budget and how we hope to spend our KS funds. This section is an attempt to break it all down in a summarized fashion. Keep a few things in mind as you consider backing our project:

1.We are professionals with the resumes to back up our claims. We have each put out quality works that have been well reviewed by critics and fans alike.

2.This cost will not go up! Because of our experience and knowledge of the industry, our goal is the honest amount of what this project will require. We have been doing this for a while and we know what we can do with a given amount of funding for an anime production!

3. We will create a level of quality and something unique not often seen in the anime world which is simply not attainable through traditional funding and support.

4.Costs include hiring Kinema Citrus for the animation, Japanese voice actors, English subtitles, fees, backer rewards(!), shipping, hosting, and our general operational expenses.

In order to hit our goal we would need ~5800 people to support at the $100 level. That considered, we have done our utmost to make sure the vital reward of simply owning the episode be at an affordable tier and we hope you will agree. Tell your family. Tell your friends. The more supporters we get the less of a burden for any one individual!

Additionally, we have seen other, smaller anime projects reach near this goal with a much smaller initial budget and we know the interest is out there for a sci-fi, action packed, quality anime with a kick-ass story! =D

In closing, we will say it again and again... We want to be able to work on something that sparks our passion and have the end result be something we and you can be proud of. We are coming to Kickstarter because we believe in the benefits it can offer over our traditional avenues of funding and it gives our fans the unique opportunity to be involved and take part of something special.

In Japan, it is very difficult to obtain independent funding since the anime industry heavily relies on what is known as "seisaku iinkai" or "production committees." This committee requires buy-in from multiple major corporations that combine their efforts to help carry the load of the production costs and thereby minimize the financial risk for each individual company. One company could take on animation, another music, another advertising, another distribution, and so on. It can also drive down the costs of production due to companies willing to take an initial loss with the hopes of turning a profit over the course of several years as the anime and any licensing deals run their course (music, toys, manga, etc.).

These committees are usually composed of people with an investor's mindset who look to profit first and then to creative awesomeness, if at all. This can often lead to projects stalled or mired in bureaucracy, indecision, and conflicts of interest. Production committees also generally require intellectual property buyouts in which the creatives involved essentially sacrifice all rights to their work just so they can see their dreams come to fruition in any form at all. Kickstarter will allow our artists to retain their rights and control as well as maintain their passion and investment for the lifetime of the series and any spin-offs. We also have less "cooks in the kitchen," so to speak, so that creative direction will be decisive. No marketing or advertising based creative decisions or delays here!

Additional info:

This article at Anime News Network from 2012 has some great info on what it takes to make an anime as of 2012: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/feature/2012-03-05

This Crunchy Roll article from 2010 also has some great information on the whole process: http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-new...e-cost-to-make
All trademarks referenced herein are the properties of their respective owners.

©2014 Creative Intelligence Arts, Inc.
©2014 Jiro Ishii©2014 Yusuke Kozaki©2014 Hiroaki YuraAll rights reserved.