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Gakuen Handsome Team Launches Crowdfunding for TV Anime

Game developer Tohoku Penet launched a crowdfunding campaign on the Makuake site on Friday to fund a television anime of its Gakuen Handsome boys-love game. The campaign seeks to raise 2 million yen (about US$18,370). As of press time, the campaign has earned 112,320 yen (about US $1,031). The campaign will end on August 19.

The staff aims to complete the series for airing in October. The team is planning 12 three-minute episodes, with an "episode 12.5" planned for a future DVD release. The project also aims to complete full versions of the opening and ending music.

Team YokkyuFuman and director Toneso Kiashi are returning from the Gakuen Handsome the Animation original video anime (OVA) to animate the planned television series. Kiashi is part of the team that designed the original game. The cast from the original game are returning for the series.

Backer rewards include thank-you letters, pamphlets, illustrations, the series' DVD release with the full version of the opening and ending theme, a visual book, a "special thanks" credit on the series' website or the ending credits of the anime, a copy of the script (signed or unsigned by Kiashi), and an invitation to a preview screening in Tokyo planned for December. The campaign also includes a tier for companies to become sponsors of the program, with options for a 30-second commercial in the middle of an episode.

The original game's "school love story" is set at Baramon High School, a private boys' school for the prefecture's most elite. The protagonist transferred into the school and meets various major players on campus, such as the "outlaw teacher," the soccer captain, and a childhood friend whom the protagonist has not seen in seven years. The school presents opportunities for friendship, love, and conflict. The tagline of the game is, "Whenever you exited the school gates, you were handsome."

The game has already inspired an OVA released last August. Tohoku Penet released a series of animated music videos earlier this year to promote character CDs based on the Gakuen Handsome characters.

The game debuted on PC in 2010, and then Tohoku Penet ported it to iOS and Android devices in December 2013.

[Via Hachima Kikō]