Funimation’s taking fans on a new trip to Gaea!
Earlier today, Funimation’s Kickstarter campaign to produce a new dub for The Vision of Escaflowne reached its $150,000 funding goal. As of press time, a total of $150,168 has been raised from 978 backers, with an average contribution of $153.55.
With the campaign funded, Funimation will release Vision of Escaflowne on DVD and Blu-Ray in both standard and collector’s editions. In addition, the dub will stream on Funimation’s digital platform.
The project still has three stretch goals, which begin at $200,000 total funding:
- $200,000: Production of “behind the scenes” featurettes and cast interviews
- $250,000: A pair of Kickstarter Edition upgrades: The included art-cards will be upgraded to an art booklet, and the chipboard art box will receive a foil printing.
- $500,000: Series director Kazuki Akane will attend a major US anime convention, a special “Backers Only” party will be held at the event.
The Kickstarter campaign first launched on February 27. In an interview with Anime News Network’s Zac Bertschy, Funimation brand manager Jennifer Fu explained the need for a new dub on the series:
So basically there was the original dub that came out and it’s based on SD materials that, as you’re aware, the director’s cut, the HD Japanese version that was released on Bluray more recently, has scenes that were not in the original materials that the original English dub was based on. So because of that it’s not possible for us to put the subtitled HD material which is what we’ve just received from Japan, on the same disc as the original dub, because otherwise it doesn’t line up correctly and there are some points where the dub just won’t have any dialogue or anything in it and it’d just be kind of strange.
Fu also noted that the $150,000 goal wouldn’t cover the full cost of a new English adaptation.
Had the Kickstarter not been successful, Escaflowne would have received a Blu-Ray release, albeit as a subtitled-only set.
Bandai Entertainment originally released The Vision of Escaflowne in 2000. Funimation announced that they acquired the domestic rights to the series in 2013, as well as several other Bandai Entertainment titles that include Outlaw Star and My-HiME.
Source: Kickstarter
