Pied Piper, Inc. Relaunches US Release of Skip Beat on Kickstarter!

[Nostalgic Twilight]

ANN Article

Pied Piper, Inc. announces its acquisition of the North American home video license for the anime series Skip Beat! with a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign in March to produce the release. In the 25-episode shojo series, 16-year-old Kyoko Mogami is devastated to learn that her long-time crush Sho Fuwa has been using her as a servant while he waltzes to stardom. She vows to beat him at his own game and joins a rival talent agency, and in the process transforms from a docile people-pleaser to ingenious creative talent. The anime’s riveting story arcs include Kyoko’s discovery of friendship with fellow actress Kanae (“Moko”) Kotonami and her tumultuous relationship with romance-challenged star Ren Tsuruga, who slowly leads her away from revenge and returns her to the path of love.

The Kickstarter campaign will run from March 17th through April 16th.

The English dub will have Mela Lee (Rin Tohsaka in Fate/Stay: Night, Yuuki Cross in Vampire Knight, Shinku in Rozen Maiden) acting as executive producer along with Cristina Vee (Sailor Mars in Sailor Moon, Homura Akemi in Madoka Magica, Mio Akiyama in K-ON!) and Jason Charles Miller (Avatar: The Last Airbender, Final Fantasy XIV, World of Warcraft, Hellsing, and owner of Central Command Studios).

The $100 and $150 tiers were upgraded to DVD/Blu-ray combo sets after reaching the $185K stretch goal to produce the Blu-ray.

Links:
Kickstarter page:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...erican-release

https://twitter.com/piedinc
https://www.facebook.com/piedinc
https://www.instagram.com/piedinc/
https://www.pinterest.jp/piedinc/
http://piedpiperinc.tumblr.com/

[Nostalgic Twilight]

Hmm, the ANN article seems to indicate that they would also be trying to finance the production of the discs themselves, yet the press release appears to state that they are strictly trying to add a dub to the release.

[Naiera]

Pied Piper? The company from the HBO series Silicon Valley?

[neoz]

Originally Posted by Naiera

Pied Piper? The company from the HBO series Silicon Valley?

Same company that did Time of Eve.

[Naiera]

I see.

In any case, I WANT THIS SHOW

[neoz]

Originally Posted by Naiera

I see.

In any case, I WANT THIS SHOW

Ditto

I swear last time they used KS. Now I have to make another account for Indiegogo.

[Oniros]

I hope this is not a flexible funding campaign. Otherwise, I'm not interested.

[pikagreg]

Aw man I loved this show. Unfinished and forced to read the manga but it is still a fun ride while it lasts.

[Nostalgic Twilight]

Well, I just found out that the dub has to be funded if we want it to be released. According to Ann from Pied Piper, this was a licensing stipulation from TV Tokyo.

EDIT: I decided to quote Ann's post for future reference.

Hope it is OK to jump in... This is Ann from Pied Piper (I'm showing up as Directions b/c I used to be part of Directions, the producers of Time of EVE.) "Why not release it as sub only?" Because TV Tokyo, the licensor, has always believed that Skip Beat! needs to reach the widest audience possible, and so the dub is the condition of the license. No dub, no license. I commend TV Tokyo for taking a stand on the series. It wasn't an easy decision, but I love this series, and I believe in the fan base. So I decided to step up to the plate and take on the license. And, TV Tokyo decided to trust me to take this title directly to fans through crowdfunding.

[neoz]

Originally Posted by Nostalgic Twilight

Well, I just found out that the dub has to be funded if we want it to be released. According to Ann from Pied Piper, this was a licensing stipulation from TV Tokyo.

Hmm I wonder what they overall cost will be to get this done...
I'm willing to back this as I missed out on the first PP one but, then they just released it to everywhere.

Not sure if one should wait and see if they do that again. Or risk not backing it and miss out all together you know.

[Nostalgic Twilight]

Yeah, I don't want take any chances, so I'll definitely be participating in the crowdfunding. I just hope that they'll wind up adding the discs as one of the rewards because I feel that it will be very difficult to reach the goal without them in the mix.

[neoz]

Originally Posted by Nostalgic Twilight

Yeah, I don't want take any chances, so I'll definitely be participating in the crowdfunding. I just hope that they'll wind up adding the discs as one of the rewards because I feel that it will be very difficult to reach the goal without them in the mix.

Really hope that they do BD's as DVD only would suck. Actually I hope they do something as there is no mention at all if it will digital only or disc based.

[Nostalgic Twilight]

According to the press release, discs are definitely in the pipeline:

San Francisco, CA – February 16, 2016 – Pied Piper, Inc. announces its acquisition of the North America DVD and Blu-ray license for the anime series Skip Beat! with an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign in March to enhance the release.

[neoz]

Originally Posted by Nostalgic Twilight

According to the press release, discs are definitely in the pipeline:

Ahh phew I was worried there for a second lol.

[bobawesome]

This is great news! I started watching Skip Beat on Crunchyroll a few months ago and just couldn't believe there wasn't a domestic release available.

[Nostalgic Twilight]

Just saw the blueprint and the discs are part of the rewards! Yay! Based on current offerings, I'm likely to go with the $150 tier.

[neoz]

Originally Posted by Oniros

I hope this is not a flexible funding campaign. Otherwise, I'm not interested.

It appears that it is.

I like the Patron - Platinum tier but since it is only the blueprint it might change.

[bobawesome]

Originally Posted by Nostalgic Twilight

Just saw the blueprint and the discs are part of the rewards! Yay! Based on current offerings, I'm likely to go with the $150 tier.

Where did you see the blueprint, if you don't mind me asking?

[Nostalgic Twilight]

It can be found here.

[bobawesome]

Thank you for the link.

I'm definitely in for at least the $85 tier.