Tag Archives: Kickstarter

Sunday Spotlight: Skip Beat! Kickstarter

Sunday Spotlight Chic Pixel

For this week’s Sunday Spotlight, I wanted to do something different and highlight a Kickstarter that needs your help! Pied Piper, Inc. is passionate about bringing the classic shoujo anime Skip Beat! to a wider audience with an official North American DVD release, and after a rocky start as an Indiegogo campaign, the Kickstarter now has a little over $16,000 left to reach its goal with 6 days left before the campaign closes.

Skip Beat anime

Skip Beat follows Kyoko Mogami who, after being snubbed by her childhood friend and pop star crush Sho, decides to get revenge by entering the show biz herself. If you’re looking for a series with a lot of heart and a strong heroine, this is it! Ann of Pied Piper, Inc. is adamant that without this Kickstarter, Skip Beat! would remain locked in TV Tokyo’s back catalog with no official North American DVD release, which would be a crying shame. The Kickstarter seeks to provide the best DVD release possible, with all-new subtitles and a star-studded English voice actor cast including Vic Mignogna, Robbie Daymond, Grant George, and Erica Lindbeck.

I spoke with Ann about the possibility of other shoujo anime Kickstarters in the future, and she was confident that “if this campaign is successful, we will have demonstrated that fans will rally together to create a high-quality release. There are other shoujo titles in need of rescue. I’m not at liberty to gives names, but I do have my eye on a few titles.” So, if you want shoujo anime like Skip Beat! to see more recognition, be sure to help make the Skip Beat! North American DVD release a reality!

Skip Beat! is currently available to stream on Crunchyroll.

Help BL Game Seiyuu Danshi on Kickstarter!

Seiyuu Danshi logo art

Kickstarter has seen a lot of visual novels, and even a few otome games, but BL games have not seen a lot of activity in the crowdfunding department. Luckily for fans of the genre, there’s a new indie BL game in town, Seiyuu Danshi, and they have already met their first Kickstarter goal! But that doesn’t mean they can’t use more help, which is why the developer, Meyaoi Games, asked me to share it with you today.

What I love about Seiyuu Danshi is that it’s a a BL visual novel/dating sim that actually puts the “sim” in dating simulation! You control an up-and-coming voice actor and have the ability to choose what training he goes to, what he should do in his spare time, and even what he wears on dates. These mechanics are very reminiscent of one of my favorite otome game series, Tokimeki Memorial Girl’s Side, but as far as I know have never been coupled with an 18+ BL game (it even has a system called “foreplay mode”). You can check out a demo of the first two weeks of the game, but take it from me, the production quality of Seiyuu Danshi is top notch!

Seiyuu Danshi demo screenshot

Even if you’re prepared to back Seiyuu Danshi on the premise alone, I highly recommend playing the demo for amusing tidbits like the screenshot above. Meyaoi Games is just a team of two sisters, but the care they put into the current build of the game and the special Kickstarter demo really shows! By bringing the game to Kickstarter, however, they will be able to hire additional team members to assist with updating the art, music, and more.

As mentioned previously, the Kickstarter has already reached a number of its goals, including a stretch goal for voice acting, but there are a lot of interesting stretch goals that it still has room to reach in the remaining month. You can get a digital copy of the game for just $20, so if you need more BL in your life, go check out the demo and show them your support!

New Otome Game Kickstarter Coming from Otomate and Gloczus, Inc.

Otomate game coming to KickstarterExciting news for otome game fans! Otomate World announced today on their Facebook page that they are teaming up with Gloczus, Inc. for an upcoming Kickstarter to localize one of their otome games into English. Though the title is still a secret, it will be “a hugely popular otome title which was previously released exclusively in Japan.” So, what could it be? It’s time to get speculating!

Previously, Gloczus, Inc. has been in charge of English iOS/Android versions of Hakuoki and Amnesia: Memories, while Aksys Games and Idea Factory International were in charge of the original English Vita releases. Following this logic, it would make sense that the Kickstarter would be for the English localization of an Otomate game currently available or slated to release on mobile platforms.

Looking at Otomate’s Japanese mobile game portal, there have been numerous ports of Amnesia and Hakuoki titles, but given their official statement, I would be very surprised if the Kickstarter were for a fan disc for a series already available in English. Similarly, though Norn9: Var Commons has an iOS/Android port, we’ve already seen the game come out in English for the Vita. Hiiro no Kakera has already been released in English on iOS/Android as part of NTT Solmare’s Shall We Date? series, under the title Scarlet Fate. [Update: The English Scarlet Fate is Hiiro no Kakera 4. Thanks Aunna for the clarification!] That leaves us with…

Moujuutsukai iOS and Android port

Moujuutsukai to Oujisama ~Flower and Snow~! This is the only title in Otomate’s current mobile game lineup that fits the “never released before in English” bill. On top of that, the Japanese iOS/Android release was only just announced for this winter, so it would make a lot of sense for Glozcus, Inc. to do a corresponding English Kickstarter. If I were a betting woman, I’d put my money on Moujuutsukai! Of course, if Glozcus, Inc. is actually planning a Vita release or an all new mobile port for the Kickstarter, than all bets are off (though it’ll probably be the immensely popular Diabolic Lovers, if that’s the case!).

Keep an eye on the Otomate World Facebook page for the Kickstarter launch in the next few days, and we’ll see if my guess is correct! [Update: I was right! The Beastmaster and Prince – Flower and Snow – Kickstarter is now live, though it will be a PC release instead of mobile. Go check it out for all the details!]

BL Game Kickstarter Witch Boy Magical Piece Needs Your Help!

Witch Boy Magical Piece

It’s amazing to see how Kickstarter and other crowdfunding platforms are enabling games such as visual novels to go directly to their audience for funding! The latest in exciting Kickstarters is the boys’ love (BL) visual novel Witch Boy Magical Piece from Sekai Project, which is looking to fund the game’s localization through crowdfunding. With only 10 days left on the clock and still a ways to go to reach its $57,000 goal, I’m going to tell you why this game is awesome and deserves more support!

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Charmixy: Witch Academy is the cutest Kickstarter game I’ve seen yet

 

Charmixy: Witch Academy logo

I’m so glad Tess Young, creator of Charmixy: Witch Academy, approached me about covering the game’s Kickstarter campaign, because otherwise I might’ve missed out on this adorable mobile title! Charmixy is a puzzle action game for mobile phones that the developers plan on releasing completely for free if development is funded in order to reach as wide an audience as possible. It even has some romance game elements and a Puyo Puyo vibe… Totally awesome, right?

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