News Reporting

Tokyo Otaku Mode Hosts English “Kud Wafter” Crowdfunding Campaign


Key’s wafting away from Campfire as they try to fund this feature in the west.

Earlier today, retailer Tokyo Otaku Mode launched an official western crowdfunding campaign for the Kud Wafter OVA project. The campaign seeks ¥3,000,000 ($26,404.50 USD), which will be used to fund the English translation of the feature, as well as pay for backer rewards.

Funding will run through December 14. A ¥15,000,000 stretch goal is in-place, which would extend the feature’s length to 60 minutes.

As of press time, the campaign has raised ¥1,318,660 ($11,606.46 USD) across 50 backers, with an average contribution of ¥26,373.20 per backer.

Key released a trailer for the project, which you can check out below.

The current reward tiers include:

  • ¥3,800 ($33.39 USD): Soundtrack CD and companion booklet
  • ¥4,480 ($39.37 USD): Official Kud Wafter Tapestry
  • ¥5,060 ($44.46 USD): Official backer T-Shirt
  • ¥8,800 ($77.33 USD): Official Kud Wafter Beach Towel
  • ¥18,000 ($158.17 USD): Official tapestry, backer T-shirt, and beach towel
  • ¥7,400 ($65.02 USD): Soundtrack CD, Companion Booklet, Kud Wafter Blu-Ray
  • ¥14,200 ($124.78 USD): Soundtrack CD, Companion Booklet, Kud Wafter Blu-Ray, “Fan Appreciation Version Deluxe Package”, Art Booklet
  • ¥35,600 ($312.82 USD): Special numbered art box, Limited Edition print, name in credits (small), plus all rewards at ¥14,200 tier
  • ¥64,800 ($569.40 USD): Name in credits (medium), Production cast & crew message, plus all rewards at ¥35,600 tier
  • ¥200,000 ($1,757.41 USD): Signed Script, Name in credits (large), plus all rewards at ¥64,800 tier (Limited 25)
  • ¥420,000 ($3,690.56 USD): Invite to advanced screening, Invite to “Secret Party”, Invite to Wrap Party, plus all rewards at ¥200,000 tier (Limited 10)

Kud Wafter completed a crowdfunding campaign on Japanese site Campfire in September. The drive raised ¥78,047,044 ($686,931.04 USD) across 3,934 backers, with an average contribution of ¥19,839 per backer. This was enough to ensure that a 40-50 minute theatrical feature would be produced, which is on track for a Fall 2019 release.

The Kud Wafter film will be directed by Yoshiki Yamakawa (Little Busters!, Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?) at J.C. Staff, with Haruko Iizuka (Little Busters!, School-Live!) providing character designs. Sakigake from Key will write the feature’s script.

Other confirmed crew members include:

  • Original work: Key
  • Screenwriter: Sakigake (VisualArts/Key)
  • Producer: Yoshiyuki Nogami
  • Assistant Producer: Youhei Suzuki
  • Storyboard: Yoshiki Yamakawa
  • Chief Animation Director: Masayuki Onji
  • Cinematography Director: Masayuki Onji/Takamitsu Satou/Miki Matsumoto
  • Key Animators: Chikara Sakurai/Hitoshi Miyajima/Hiroyasu Oda/Tatsunori Ozawa/Shiori Tanaka/Nobuyuki Mitani/Masahiro Sekino/Takamitsu Satou
  • Second Key Animators: Tsutomu Hashizume/Yurika Sako/TripleA/China Annick
  • Animation Inspectors: Ryo Naitou/Sayako Matsuzaki/Haruka Tsubata/Sayoko Shinohara
  • In-Betweeners: Yoshimasa Shinkai/Kanae Fukumoto/Mone Yokoyama/Natsumi Ōmae/Fumenjiri Ozawa/Sayaka Kashiwagi/Yuki Goto/Hikaru Saiki/Yuki Jinbo/
  • Nana Nakayama/Manaka Hatakeyama/Rina Miura/Mako Yamashita/Ryota Yamane/Mayu Yamamoto
  • TripleA/A-Real/Shinryū/Jumondo/reboot
  • Digital Animation Inspectors: Kouji Ukawa/Souki Okada
  • Digital Animators: Hiroki Okamoto/Sugita Yuka
  • Color Designer: Kyousuke Ishikawa
  • Color Coordinator/Inspector: Kyousuke Ishikawa
  • Digital Painters: Mayumi Tanahashi/Miyuki Ishida/Miho Kimura/Mai Nakamura/Ayaka Ichihara/Keishi Okada/Tomomi Shishido/Yuu Kubota/Yuka Tanimoto/Masaki Tagawa/Chiori Ikushima/Sato Mirai
  • TripleA/A-Real/Shinryū/Jumondo/reboot
  • 3DCGI: Yuki Murakami/Yamada Kenya
  • Art Director: Yasuhiro Okumura
  • Backgrounds: Moon Flower/Eri Yamanashi/Chika Ishida/Ken Okada/Kin Teiren (金廷連)/Yuriko Satou
  • Cinematography: Hidenori Manaka/Yuki Hirose/Yoshihiro Togo
  • Special Effects/2D Design: Yoshihide Mukai
  • Editor: Shigeru Nishiyama
  • Assistant Editor: Michi Takigawa
  • Sound Director: Satoshi Motoyama
  • Sound Effects: Tsutomu Ueno
  • Audio Recording: Shuuji Imai
  • Sound Production: Magic Capsule
  • Sound Producer: Rie Tanaka
  • Animation Producer: Yuji Matsukura
  • Project Producer: Takaya Hinano (VisualArts/Key)
  • Executive Producer: Takahiro Baba (VisualArts/Key)
  • Animation Production Supervisor: Hikaru Matsuo
  • Animation Production Manager: Yui Sato

The confirmed voice cast for the project includes:

  • Kudryavka Noumi: Naomi Wakabayashi
  • Riki Naoe: Yui Horie
  • Rin Natsume: Tomoe Tamiyasu
  • Kyosuke Natsume: Hikaru Midorikawa
  • Masato Inohara: Nobutoshi Canna
  • Komari Kamikita: Natsumi Yanase
  • A-chan Senpai: Riko Hirai

Theme song Light a Way will be performed by Suzuyu.

Kud Wafter is developer Key’s eighth adults-only visual novel. The title hit Japanese PCs on June 25, 2010. Developer Prototype ported the title to Sony’s PSP and Vita handhelds, with both versions hitting stores in 2013.

Key also produced a manga adaptation with illustrator Bakutendō, which ran in ASCII Media Works’ Dengeki G’s Magazine, The series ran from May 2010 through February 2014, and spanned six collected volumes.

Kud Wafter is a spinoff of 2007 visual novel Little Busters!, which revolves around character Kudryavka “Kud” Noumi. The title is set shortly after the original Little Busters!, and focuses on the budding romantic relationship between Kudryavka “Kud” Noumi and Little Busters! protagonist Riki Naoe.

Key released several promotional stills to promote the Kud Wafter campaign, which you can check out below:

Source: Tokyo Otaku Mode (Email Communication)

About the author

Samantha Ferreira

Samantha Ferreira is Anime Herald’s founder and editor-in-chief. A Rhode Island native, Samantha has been an anime fan since 1992, and an active member of the anime press since 2002, when she began working as a reviewer for Anime Dream. She launched Anime Herald in 2010, and continues to oversee its operations to this day. Outside of journalism, Samantha actively studies the history of the North American anime fandom and industry, with a particular focus on the 2000s anime boom and bust. She’s a huge fan of all things Sakura Wars, and maintains series fansite Combat Revue Review when she has free time available. When not in the Anime Herald Discord, Samantha can typically be found on Bluesky.

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