Key Documentary Kickstarter Cancelled

[Flutterz]

So the Key Documentary Kickstarter got cancelled...

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ibhmc/key15th-a-visual-documentary/posts/644311#comments

 

I actually finally got around to backing it yesterday... 4 hours later it got cancelled. xD

[メルP]

Of course it is. This project was laughed on yesterday. By everyone, including executive director of the Visual Arts :DD
This is started from VisualArts' director tweet where he said "ナニこれ。私は聞いてない。ということは、新しい詐欺なの？"
 

[hotsauce2000]

I guess that means no free vacation for the Clannad Man after all.

[Mevvrynne]

I guess that means no free vacation for the Clannad Man after all.

I wouldn't have put it that way, but from a business point of view, it does seem sketchy to be basically paying for one/a few guys trip to Japan to make the letter project even better.  I'm not surprised it was stopped, but I'm not heartless I am disappointed that it didn't go that far.

[メルP]

I wouldn't have put it that way, but from a business point of view, it does seem sketchy to be basically paying for one/a few guys trip to Japan to make the letter project even better. I'm not surprised it was stopped, but I'm not heartless I am disappointed that it didn't go that far.

That wasn't part of the letter project... letter was already finished for quite some time. This is his personal initiative...

Bakatsuki even stated that from now on they won't work with/support Doki fansubs anymore

[shcboomer]

There was quite a lot of commotion about it yesterday. The tweet from Vava was the beginning of the end.

[Nosebleed]

I didn't know this existed and i can't quite grasp it. Can anyone explain to me what was this documentary suppose to feature or what was the project suppose to achieve?

[nohman]

I didn't know this existed and i can't quite grasp it. Can anyone explain to me what was this documentary suppose to feature or what was the project suppose to achieve?

 

Taken from the Kickstarter page:

 

"Greetings, anime and visual novel fans!  The money raised from this Kickstarter will go towards funding a documentary which will explore the real-life locations found in works from KEY / Visual Art's.  Key is the studio responsible for productions such as Clannad, Kanon, AIR, Little Busters!, Angel Beats!, and Rewrite.  Specifically, it will allow three team members (Clannad Man as host, a professional videographer, and a guide/translator) to travel to Japan for 17 days to seek out Key-centric landmarks and describe the history and significance of these areas.  This project is an extension of the Key15th Initiative, a fan-organized effort to unite Key fans from around the world while encouraging the studio to officially localize their visual novel productions."

 

More here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ibhmc/key15th-a-visual-documentary

[Nosebleed]

Taken from the Kickstarter page:

 

"Greetings, anime and visual novel fans!  The money raised from this Kickstarter will go towards funding a documentary which will explore the real-life locations found in works from KEY / Visual Art's.  Key is the studio responsible for productions such as Clannad, Kanon, AIR, Little Busters!, Angel Beats!, and Rewrite.  Specifically, it will allow three team members (Clannad Man as host, a professional videographer, and a guide/translator) to travel to Japan for 17 days to seek out Key-centric landmarks and describe the history and significance of these areas.  This project is an extension of the Key15th Initiative, a fan-organized effort to unite Key fans from around the world while encouraging the studio to officially localize their visual novel productions."

 

More here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ibhmc/key15th-a-visual-documentary

Thanks for the quick sum up.

It seems like an ambitious project but it's rather understandable why it was shut down, if you just look at it objectively it was just a guy and his friends asking for 20,000$ to travel to Japan and film some stuff, no actual guarantee of anything or any confirmation from Key itself, I'm not saying it's a bad idea but i think they approached it in a bad way though all in all it's Key's decision in the end wether they let these guys film them or not.

I would actually like to see this documentary but i hope they change their methods a little. I guess this fan got a bit too over his head.

[Flutterz]

Thanks for the quick sum up.

It seems like an ambitious project but it's rather understandable why it was shut down, if you just look at it objectively it was just a guy and his friends asking for 20,000$ to travel to Japan and film some stuff, no actual guarantee of anything or any confirmation from Key itself, I'm not saying it's a bad idea but i think they approached it in a bad way though all in all it's Key's decision in the end wether they let these guys film them or not.

I would actually like to see this documentary but i hope they change their methods a little. I guess this fan got a bit too over his head.

To be fair though, all Kickstarters are very much a risk for the backers, without much of a guarantee that anything will come of it.

[Nosebleed]

To be fair though, all Kickstarters are very much a risk for the backers, without much of a guarantee that anything will come of it.

Indeed that's a fair point but to sort of balance this, projects should have sources and other material to prove they're legitimate, in this case i think they should have Key's confirmation before just randomly asking for money. It would be very helpful to both backers and the project.

[nohman]

That's just the nature of the site, for better or worse. Some are more reliable and professional than others, though.

[Flutterz]

Indeed that's a fair point but to sort of balance this, projects should have sources and other material to prove they're legitimate, in this case i think they should have Key's confirmation before just randomly asking for money. It would be very helpful to both backers and the project.

Not really, if people want to throw their money at someone who provides no proof of legitimacy it's their choice. I do agree that it would have been better for everyone if they had contacted Key first, however.

[Nosebleed]

Not really, if people want to throw their money at someone who provides no proof of legitimacy it's their choice. I do agree that it would have been better for everyone if they had contacted Key first, however.

I guess so, i'm not financially able to support this kind of stuff but ironically i can see myself backing this project though now we can see how it went down in the end. Well it's no use crying over spilled milk, I don't know what Key intends to do but it's not likely they'll just let a random fan film their workplace and other stuff, we can only wait though.

[meru]

Taken from the Kickstarter page:

 

"Greetings, anime and visual novel fans!  The money raised from this Kickstarter will go towards funding a documentary which will explore the real-life locations found in works from KEY / Visual Art's.  Key is the studio responsible for productions such as Clannad, Kanon, AIR, Little Busters!, Angel Beats!, and Rewrite.  Specifically, it will allow three team members (Clannad Man as host, a professional videographer, and a guide/translator) to travel to Japan for 17 days to seek out Key-centric landmarks and describe the history and significance of these areas.  This project is an extension of the Key15th Initiative, a fan-organized effort to unite Key fans from around the world while encouraging the studio to officially localize their visual novel productions."

 

More here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ibhmc/key15th-a-visual-documentary

 

So basically a guy and his friends want to go on holiday to Japan.

 

I see Japan-related projects like this from time to time, e.g. "I'm a photographer who will go to Japan and create a photography book". Of course people can ask for funding for whatever they like, but I would never donate to what is essentially a personal holiday fund. Get to Japan with your own initiative, and then maybe I'll think about supporting your project.

[zhurai]

Indeed that's a fair point but to sort of balance this, projects should have sources and other material to prove they're legitimate, in this case i think they should have Key's confirmation before just randomly asking for money. It would be very helpful to both backers and the project.

Just saying, good luck at ever getting Key and almost any publisher or developer in japan's confirmation about anything outside of japan, unless something seriously changes in their attitude (I mean the only developer I see doing that is doing their own kickstarter (non-vn))

 

(That said they did need to prove their legitimacy, and probably they should have have still asked Key to do this... lol.. but I'm just saying it's really hard to actually get most japanese developer/publishing companies to actually let you do anything EVEN if you are legit)

 

Also notes about Clannad_Man (the person who organized this): 

- http://doki.co/staff/

- http://doki.co/author/clannad-man/

[Nosebleed]

Just saying, good luck at ever getting Key and almost any publisher or developer in japan's confirmation about anything outside of japan, unless something seriously changes in their attitude (I mean the only developer I see doing that is doing their own kickstarter (non-vn))

That is exactly my point, this project wasn't likely to go anywhere from the start. Key doesn't even have to bother replying to them wether they accept or not and nothing will happen and they'll move on with their lives. This is if they actually get to contact Key in the first place. I still would like to see this documentary but to Key this is just a little joke. But for this project to be taken seriously it's only if Key decides they're in a very good and generous mood and give them confirmation, as unlikely as it is of course, that is the only way i see for this project to succeed.

[RusAnon]

Just saying, good luck at ever getting Key and almost any publisher or developer in japan's confirmation about anything outside of japan

 

Umm, even in this case Baba actually said that "writing book is okay, just don't misuse our assets/merch".

Also, filming Key itself was never planned, CM wanted to film "Key places", locations which were mentioned/used in their games.

[メルP]

Also technically Key haven't shut down anything. ClannadMan himself did (probably to save his face, if there anything left that can be saved). I don't think he actually violated any of the Key rights or even theoretically could by simply filming some locations in Japan (haven't looked at the prises he offers though). But the whole stuff of "I wanna go to Japan, gimme money" is still a fraud. Go there, film everything - then feel free to sell your video and return the money.

[RusAnon]

I don't think he actually violated any of the Key rights

 

He was giving out Key and other company merchandise as rewards, and thats KS TOS violation (and probably copyright violation as well).

[メルP]

He was giving out Key and other company merchandise as rewards, and thats KS TOS violation (and probably copyright violation as well).

Right. Then it's his own fault.

[nohman]

But the whole stuff of "I wanna go to Japan, gimme money" is still a fraud. Go there, film everything - then feel free to sell your video and return the money.

 

Was that truly the case, though? You might be able to get that from reading between the lines, but he explicitely stated the parameters of the project. It doesn't sound fraudulent to me. Questionable perhaps, but fraud is a pretty serious accusation.

[メルP]

Was that truly the case, though? You might be able to get that from reading between the lines, but he explicitely stated the parameters of the project. It doesn't sound fraudulent to me. Questionable perhaps, but fraud is a pretty serious accusation.

I don't mean that he wasn't going to do what he claimed but rather "regardless of what he claimed such activity should not be tolerated"

I used that word not as an accusation but as an insult. As I said, I didn't thought he really violated anything. Except what RusAnon just pointed out.

[Steve]

Oh some drama in VN community

So I read more about it and reached my conclusion:

 

The project itself would have been fine if he didn't give away random anime merchandise that has nothing to do with the project itself at all (and is original work of someone else as well).

And actually nobody from Key even could have stopped it (It was just that the Key director didn't understand English so he didn't understand the project) - there was no mention about visiting Key studio or anything in the project description so they didn't need any permission.

If the places they were going to film were publicly accessible, they can film it however they want. (Well it actually would have been a problem if they were going to film the school, those are super protected in Japan and if they saw you filming it they would probably arrest you, so they would probably need permission from the director of the school to film it).

 

Now don't take me wrong, I didn't agree with the project, I am just saying that it would have been legal just fine if he chose to just give away some art he has right to or promise some normal rewards related to the project.

 

If the project is worth is different matter entirely and as long as there are people who are willing to fund it, he can make it. People who read it knew the risks and many probably understood that it is more like a trip to Japan to film some stuff than a documentary about places from Key games.

As I mentioned in the original topic, it has been more than 10+ years for most of the Key games, the places will not look anything like they did in the game, but nevertheless some people would like to see the change and comparison and I have to admit that it actually is lot of work to find them and visit them and then cut the videos, so asking for $20k seems about right for what he was planning to do (lot of KS make a mistake of asking too low and then run out of funds and cancel the project).

I personally didn't see any value in the project so I didn't fund it, but I can see why people would support it, they have disposable income and they would like to see how it looks today and let someone else to do the job so they can just enjoy the video - classic legit kickstarter.

 

Whether he would do it or not after he got the money is also different matter, there is no insurance for your invested money in KS and people who use KS must know it and understand it. If you think you want to support someone and you trust him with your money, fund it. If you don't trust him with your money then just wait for when it releases and let other people fund it, that's how kickstarter works, its about building trust in your project.

 

So again, if he didn't offer the merch that doesn't belong to him as a reward, it would have been fine.

I can also just now start a project "In the steps of Frodo" and ask for $20k to go to New Zealand and film the places where Lord of the rings was filmed and I don't need permission from whoever holds the rights to the movies, I would just be filming random places and unless it is someone's private property, I can do it.

 

 

So just like with any other kickstarter, if you don't believe in it, don't fund it (just like I didn't), if you do believe in it, feel free to throw your money at it, it is your decision. There are people kickstarting a mustard sauce - but you don't get Hellman's Ketchup as a reward, you just get the original mustard, maybe with some higher pledges you get the recipe or something.

(this is actually true, there was a KS for a mustard sauce and it was successful, who wouldn't want homemade mustard sauce after all~)

[Steve]

Oh and one more thing, the people who reported it must be really jealous that he already got 10k (half of the fund) for it.

Its like the haters who write comments on youtube like "You don't deserve the money, stop making these videos" - they are so sad that they cannot do the same.

Any normal person would just close the window and not pledge, but its the jelly haters that must do something about it because they are not able to do the same thing he did.

And even if they say "aah he is just using people to fund his trip" - the people have their own intelligence to determine if it is worth it and if they want to pay, they can. And there are much worse kickstarters and crowdfunds, so large that $20k is laughable amount, there are kickstarters that got hundreds of thousands and then didn't deliver what they promised, there was the HEX kickstarter that also used people on kickstarter to get $2,278,255 - he asked for 300k while saying "we already invested $10,000,000 into this project but without YOU this project is impossible" (which means without additional 300k a 10 mil project would not exist - clearly playing people while expecting to get much more but also having insurance to at least get something). That was imo the worst KS I ever saw succeed and I highly disagreed with it - but I didn't try to find holes in his stuff and expose it to the general public or report it to anyone because I just don't care, if people believe him then please they can do so and I can't do anything with it.

And the same thing should have done these people who reported this ClannadMan, just move along and keep their jealousy to themselves.

 

It is obvious that people with some following have more opportunities for these kind of things, I with my famous reputation could probably kickstart an autobiography of Steve and so many people would fund it to better understand the wicked mind that I have xD

(hmm now that I think about it I might actually do it JK)

 

 

 

EDIT: about the HEX, it is the KS video where he says "this literally would'n exist without YOU" (your 300k hehe)

and in one of the interviews (interview with Angry Joe) he said that he already got 10 mil (or some large amount like this) from some publishers or whatever - a fact that he never mentioned on the kickstarter page.