In the world today, KickStarter is kind of a thing. It’s the biggest, most popular crowd-funding site on the web. Over 6.6 million backers have contributed over $1 billion across over 65,000 projects.
No matter how you spin that, it’s impressive.
In the anime world, we’ve begun to see an increasing number of small creators, companies, and organizations turn to KickStarter to realize their collective goals. Some are grand spectacles, like AnimEigo’s drive to put out the definitive release of Bubblegum Crisis, Harmony Gold’s attempt to get more mileage from the Robotech Brand, or Production I.G.’s drive to create a brand new anime title. Most of them, though, are personal, intimate works of passion of adoration. Beneath the World End Economicas and the Kick-Hearts, we begin to see so many hard-working, ardent folks, who are trying to realize their dreams.
These people could be anybody. It might be a duo trying to finish up an anime-themed bar in Thailand. It could be a pair of artists that want to bring their life’s work to the printed page. Or, frankly, it could be a group of people who want to make goofy stickers. They’re all linked, though, by a drive to make something amazing happen.
I’d like to be brutally honest for a moment. When I started KickColle in June, I wasn’t sure where things would go, or which direction it would go. What I did know was that:
- Most KickStarter projects don’t get seen by the larger market
- There are a lot of promising projects that simply go unfunded
- KickStarter’s search functions, to be blunt, kind of suck. They feel like they’re designed to discourage users from looking for specific items
Since launch, though, I’ve been thinking of what more we could do with KickColle. I’ve been asking the question of what else KickColle cound (and should) become. And, with each update and each addition, arose a new story, and a new dream. There are so many tales to tell out there, and so many interesting projects that seem to be overlooked on a daily basis.
So, starting today, we’ll be launching KickColle profiles. Basically, we’ll be highlighting KickStarter drives that stand out – projects that have great potential (or are just plain cool), and reaching out to the creators about their goals for the drive.
The first feature will go live tonight, so I hope you look forward to it!
