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Chika Chika Idol Kickstarter Campaign Falls Short of Goal
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
The Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign for Symphonium's Chika Chika Idol CG anime project fell short of its goal on Wednesday. The campaign only earned US$22,934, falling short of its US$130,000 goal.
The project's parallel crowdfunding campaign on the Japanese crowdfunding service Makuake has only six days to go before its March 30 deadline. As of press time, that campaign has earned 3,827,600 yen (about US$33,900) of its 15 million yen (US$127,900) goal.
Had the Kickstarter campaign succeeded, Symphonium would have released a 15-minute episode of the anime in Japanese with English subtitles in November, with stretch goals to extend the length of the anime and add more subtitle languages. Symphonium had hoped to turn the project into a series if it was successful.
The story of Chika Chika Idol follows the everyday lives of Pâtithree, a group of "underground idols." The anime would use a "cell look" style of 3D CG animation that aims to replicate traditional cel animation. The project's Kickstarter page provides a behind-the-scenes look at the anime's production.
The official YouTube channel of the project posted an English-subtitled version of the promotional video for the crowdfunding project on February 13.
In addition to the planned anime, the project's official website features a free four-panel manga in English.
The cast of the planned anime includes:
- Marika Kōno as Tenka Akasaki
- Yūki Kuwahara as Sumi Yuki
- Rika Tachibana as Abigail "Abbey" Williams
- Ayane Sakura as Hisame Nagasawa
- Yuri Yamaoka as Yataro
Yasutake Honjo created the concept for the anime and would also serve as producer. Hiroshi Nishikiori (A Certain Magical Index, Azumanga Daioh) would direct the anime, and Wataru Osakabe is in charge of design. Mochiko Kagamino created the character designs, and also draws the manga for the anime's official website. Studio Mouse is handling the anime's voice production management, and F-Sik is behind the 3D CG production.
[Via Yaraon!]
