From the Press Release
Leading international online game, anime and comic book publisher Ankama today announced the launch of its first ever Kickstarter campaign for an animated series. The goal of the campaign is to create a dubbed English-language version of the award-winning WAKFU animated TV Series for a Blu-Ray and Video On Demand (VOD) release. Ankama has chosen Kickstarter in order to intimately involve fans in making its dream a reality, and to ensure it delivers the highest production quality possible.
The WAKFU animated series was first shown on French national TV channel France 3 in 2008, with 52 episodes broadcast to date and a further three special episodes currently in production. The series and its creators have won numerous awards including International Studio of the Year at the 2010 Cartoons on the Bay awards in Italy. In addition, season two was named best non-Japanese animated series of 2011 by the readers of French magazine Animeland. WAKFU is also an online MMORPG and a series of comic books.
“The trans-media approach is in Ankama’s DNA, but so far we have only been able to deliver the full immersive WAKFU anime and game experience in French speaking countries. We very much want to offer the same opportunity to our English speaking community,” said Olivier Comte, Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer at Ankama. “A high quality English adaptation needs a big commitment, so we’re asking anime fans everywhere to support the Kickstarter campaign to make it happen. With your help, the English dubbed version can reach the level of quality every fan deserves.”
The WAKFU Kickstarter campaign starts today, with a range of reward packages available to backers, including one ultimate package which offers fans the unique opportunity to voice one of the characters in the anime. Stretch goals include subtitles in English and Spanish, dubbing of special episodes, dubbing of the entire second season, and more. All the details can be found here: www.kickstarter.com/projects/1836563008/wakfu-the-animated-series
WAKFU’s adventure begins in Emelka, a small village lost in the woods. Yugo, a 12 year old boy, lives in the village inn run by his adoptive father, Alibert. One day, Yugo discovers he has mysterious powers, an unexpected event that marks the beginning of a new life for him. Alibert tells him that he isn’t his real father and that he must leave on a quest to find his true family. Accompanied by his loyal companions, Yugo begins an epic adventure, during which he and his friends will discover that the fate of the entire World of Twelve rests on their shoulders. Ankama’s goal is to deliver trans-media entertainment of the highest possible quality to its community.
For more information about WAKFU please visit www.wakfu.com/en/series, and for Ankama, visit www.ankama-group.com.