Interest
Moe Characters Raise Awareness for Solar & Wind Power
posted on by Sarah Nelkin
Animation production company LMD and Dream4's We Seed Your Mission (WESYM) crowd-funding project are collaborating to create moe characters that personify renewable energy sources.
Kirara (pictured right) represents solar power, and her name may be interpreted as Japanese onomatopoeia for "sparkling." Fūka (pictured far right) personifies wind power, and her name may be translated as "wind flower." Moshidora character designer Yukiusagi illustrated the moe girls.
The duo were created to raise awareness about renewable energy sources. The characters' WESYM page also lists the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake (Higashi Nihon Daishinsai) disaster as an impetus for promoting solar and wind power. Corporations and organizations with solar and wind power initiatives can also use the characters for free.
Animation and smartphone app producer Shouji Murahama launched the "Moshimo Yukiusagi ga, Taiyōkō Hatsuden ya Fūryoku Hatsuden wo Moe Chara-ka Shitara" (If Yukiusagi Makes Solar and Wind Power into Moe Characters) project's WESYM page. The WESYM website uses “SEEDs" as virtual currency to crowd-fund projects. Supporters can purchase 100 SEEDs via credit card for 100 yen (about US$1.21).
Rewards for supporters of the moe energy characters' project range from an original downloadable image (100 SEEDs) to an autographed paper board illustrated by Yukiusagi with a downloadable message of thanks from Kirara and Fūka's voice actors. With 86 days remaining, nine supporters have donated 61,200 SEEDs of the project's 500,000 SEED goal as of December 1.
Kirara and Fūka character drama CDs and other products are planned.
WESYM launched a Facebook page for the the characters on November 21.
Source: My Navi News via Moe Ota-News Sokuhō
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