A group of anime industry veterans, including Sword of the Stranger's Masahiro Ando have launched a Kickstarter campaign to crowdfund production of 24 minute original sci-fi action anime Under the Dog. With three days to go, it's $430,000 towards its $580,000 goal. Going into those final days, the project has some new preview pics, as well as an endorsement from Metal Gear's Hideo Kojima.
From the announcement of Kojima's endorsement
Hideo Kojima announced today his very moving and humbling endorsement of the Under the Dog anime Kickstarter project. We are honored to receive such words.
“Coming with the permeation of the internet [in our daily lives], “creating” and a production’s “financing” structure have changed significantly.
Now, new methods of “creating” are being put to the test, where direct communication between the creator and the global user has become the norm and the creator is not bound by the former traditional investor or clientele. In such circumstances right now, a writer with remarkable talent, Jiro Ishii, who brought to the world numerous renowned adventure games during his “salary man” days, has now taken up the torch in order to challenge the traditions and establish this new future of “creating.” This is “Under the Dog,” the crowdfunding effort for an indie anime based on Jiro Ishii’s original story.
One cannot help but pay close attention to this project. One cannot help but cheer on this project. In particular, how can this creator who garners cult-like popularity catalyze a new chemical reaction [in the industry] by putting an emphasis on “creating,” which stands apart from the typical commercial oriented projects? One cannot help but look forward to this succeeding.
Jiro Ishii’s indie challenge will not only change the path for “creating,” but at the same time declare the answer for the question: Can game designers be accepted by the world as storytellers in [other mediums] as well?”
These kind words from Kojima-san come on the heels of UTD announcing late last week that it would be allowing backers who pledge at the $20 tier or higher will not only have access to the digital version of the first OVA but also digital access to any future Under the Dog animations. If the UTD meets its goal at any point of producing a trilogy of films, backers who pledged $20 or more will have them.
A new add-on list has also been announced
- $30 Blu-ray/DVD
- $30 Original Soundtrack CD
- $10 Challenge Coin
- $55 Art Book
- $30 t-shirt
- $15 Poster
- $25 Storyboard
- $25 Music Score
- $25 Script
- $200 Anthea 1/8 Figurine
- $100 Foldable Utility Box
And, Yukinori Kitajima has joined the team
Yukinori Kitajima
"I have worked with Ishii-san on various games. I will also be joining the Under the Dog team working on the screenplay. For this film, I plan to depict a tragic story that both thrills and excites your emotions. Please give us your support so that this golden team can be brought together once again."
Scenario Writing company, Synthese Co.,Ltd - Managing Director Writer
Anime:
Brynhildr in the Darkness – Scenario writer for the series and project organizer
Hamatora – Project organizer
Manga:
Hamatora – Scenario writing
428: Fuusa Sareta Shibuya de – Game scenario
Senran Kagura – Series
Chaos Rings – Series
Time Travelers
Gyakuten Saiban 5
Medarot 8
The "wicked awesome team" attached to the anime also includes...
New visuals include
Anthea and Her Power Suit
Anthea’s helmet is pretty standard fair… if you leave out the sleek modern design with red on black and the retracting visor along with integrated HUD and targeting systems.
The HUD links directly with Anthea’s power suit to feed her information on all vitals and surroundings as well as connecting to the trike and its controls.
Pistol
Anthea’s pistol is roughly based on the H&K USP (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heckler_%26_Koch_USP) in .45 ACP with a few modifications.
nthea’s Rifle
Here are Kozaki-san’s notes on the rifle:
Modes
Assault Rifle
In this mode the rifle has three firing modes; single shot, three burst, and full auto. Essentially a rail gun, the rifle as a whole usually needs to be handled by someone using a power suit or, someone of great strength, due to its heavy construction which is meant to keep recoil down from the very forceful rounds. Of course, firing at full auto remains quite difficult to handle.
Sniper Rifle
The rifle can extend the barrel to accommodate long range targets. While in sniper mode, the rifle can be fired without a power suit but the recoil is still something of which to be wary.
Laser sight
In either mode there is a laser sight available to help pinpoint targets as well as attachment rails for a scope or other peripherals.
Ammo
The bullets are tungsten anti-armor shells which project at 3,000 m/s. For comparison, the Barret 50 cal. has a muzzle velocity of 990 m/s. That is approximately 3xs the speed. The initial velocity of the rounds is generated by super-heated plasma gas and then continued through using the rail magnets.
Given the high velocity of the rounds, meant for armor piercing and long distance capabilities, if fired into more squishy targets, the rounds would do little damage. Enter the smart-charge. The smart-charge in each bullet detects the impact target’s material consistency and if a squishy target is encountered then it triggers the explosive charge.
Magazine
The magazine is where most of the action occurs for this creation. The bullets are fired with the plasma charge and then the magazine uses its own energy cell to power the rail magnets for the hyper-acceleration of the projectile. The mag also houses the liquid coolant for the plasma which becomes a gas discharge upon firing rounds.
「Under the Dog」キネマシトラス代表小笠原さん作「プロの本気」GIF動画です。色付け前のレアもの！http://t.co/EtI9HT1K6a via @kickstarter #underthedog http://t.co/eAxDsuDFAy
— Under the Dog (@UndertheDogJP) September 3, 2014 
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Scott Green is editor and reporter for anime and manga at geek entertainment site Ain't It Cool News. Follow him on Twitter at @aicnanime.
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