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Kenji Studio Cancels Kickstarter for English Release of Santa Company Anime Film
posted on by Adriana Hazra
KENJI STUDIO posted a statement regarding the cancellation on January 14, but the statement is locked to backers only.
Kickstarter suspended KENJI STUDIO's Kickstarter campaign for the English-dubbed and English-subtitled version of the Santa Company: Midsummer Merry Christmas (Santa Company: Manatsu no Merry Christmas) anime film after 27 backers had pledged US$1,103 to the campaign. Kickstarter also suspended the studio's campaign to release the Santa Company color manga in English. Kickstarter's policy states that project suspensions are permanent and cannot be reversed.
KENJI STUDIO launched the campaigns on December 19. All three campaigns were originally scheduled to run until January 18.
Itoso held a Kickstarter campaign in 2013 to fund the first Santa Company film, which met its US$50,000 goal. The original anime debuted at the Tokyo International Film Festival in October 2014. Santa Company: Secret of Christmas, an extended film version of the film, opened theatrically in Japan in November 2019. The new version commemorated 100 years of diplomatic relations between Japan and Finland.
Santa Company: Midsummer Merry Christmas debuted worldwide online through MyAnimeList in January 2021. ORENDA and Umi no Magnet Education Committee worked with KENJI STUDIO to release the film. The film aims to raise awareness of marine waste, and is part of the "CHANGE FOR THE BLUE" initiative by the Nippon Foundation's Umi to Nippon Project.
Yuzuki Momoi and Chiharu Shinagawa launched the Santa Company color manga on LINE in 2019. The second and third compiled book volumes, which were the final ones, launched in December 2021.
Source: Kickstarter (link 2, link 3)
