One of the worst-kept secrets in the anime industry is the horrid working conditions, which means that animators must work for rock bottom rates that they can’t even survive on. There are many reasons for this, none of which I’m going to get into here because that’s a conversation best left for another article, but the fact remains that something has to change or else the anime that we all know and love is going to become less and less until it vanishes forever. Luckily for us, someone out there is up to the challenge.
A brand new crowdfunding site to be solely dedicated to anime is set to launch on Tuesday, November 3rd. The site is aptly named Anime Fund, and it aims to be a prime destination for anime productions that want to raise funds organically which, as we can see by the many successful projects launched on Kickstarter, can work. The site will also provide productions to post promotional material and live updates.
Like other crowdfunding sites, Anime Fund will also allow productions to give out rewards to backers such as having their names in the credits, artwork, or whatever else the companies and studios can think up.
If you speak Japanese, you can check out their introduction video below:
The company that runs the site is based in Chiba and so it is unknown as of this writing on if the site will allow overseas fans to contribute to campaigns run on the site, but I certainly hope so!
I personally think this is a great and long overdue idea that could allow fans to see a wider variety of titles being made and released, so I’ll be keeping my eyes on this site come November 3rd to see which titles decide to launch there first!
Source: Anime News Network