October 5, 2012

Production I.G and director Masaaki Yuasa are running a Kickstarter fundraising program to produce Kick-Heart, a 2D animated short film of approximately 10 minutes that will be directed by Yuasa and produced by Production I.G. Mamoru Oshii has been attached as project consultant.

The deadline to contribute to the project is October 31, 2012 at 12:00 a.m. EDT.

Check the Kickstarter campaign page for more info:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/production-ig/masaaki-yuasas-kick-heart

Synopsys
A love story between two people
who each have a secret to hide.
One a pro-wrestler, the other a nun.
Losing never felt so good.

Kick-Heart is a love story between Romeo, a successful pro-wrestler, and Juliet, a nun who lives a secret double-life as a female pro-wrestler. Romeo's secret is that he enjoys taking a beating in the ring, while Juliet feels invigorated when facing her opponents as a wrestler. When the two meet in the ring, the fireworks fly. Their story is set in the colorful backdrop of the professional wrestling world. Will Juliet reveal her true identity to the one she loves? Will Romeo be able to share his secret to the world?

Staff
Director, Animator: Masaaki Yuasa
Project Consultant: Mamoru Oshii
Character Designer, Animator: Michio Mihara
Color Coordinator, Animator: Eunyoung Choi
Background Artist: Kevin Aymeric
Animation Production: Production I.G

About Masaaki Yuasa
Born in Fukuoka Prefecture on March 16, 1965, Yuasa is one of the most unique creators in the panorama of Japanese animation. He has been involved as an animator in many notable projects such as Crayon Shin-chan, Hakkenden, My Neighbors the Yamadas and Samurai Champloo, leading up to his directorial debut with the feature film Mind Game (2004), that won Best Film, Best Director and Best Script awards, as well as the Audience for the Best Animation Film awards at the 2005 Fantasia Film Festival. He also directed two TV series, namely Kaiba (2008) and The Tatami Galaxy (2010), awarded with the Excellence Prize and Grand Prize respectively at the Japan Media Arts Festival. He contributed character designs for Noximilien l'Horloger, a special episode from the French series Wakfu, produced by Ankama. Yuasa's drawings have a distinctive unrefined look, that becomes very dynamic and expressive when they are are brought to life using hand-drawn animation. This unique style of animation, combined with stories that play with themes of slapstick comedy and human drama, have earned him fans from all over the world.

© 2012 Production I.G