Red Ash -Magicicada- Gets a Boost in Japan

It’s been quite a while since we heard anything regarding Red Ash, the Mega Man Legends successor planned by Comcept and the subject of two Kickstarter campaigns — one successful, and one not. Since the end of those campaigns, Comcept founder Keiji Inafune spoke to USgamer about the ups and downs of the process and a bit about the game back in December, while Studio 4℃ has been largely quiet since opening up their ‘STUDIO4℃FUN&’ initiative.

While Comcept managed to find 11th hour support in the form of a partnership with FUZE Entertainment Co. Ltd., it’s Studio 4℃’s side of the project, Red Ash -Magicicada-, that has the latest news attached.

Inside: For All Gamers, a Japanese website, reveals that (according to Warlock82 of the Penny Arcade Forums) Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs has given Studio 4℃ a grant as part of the “Young Animator Training Program” for 2016, which has studios take on “essentially interns” and teaching them the art of animation. With this added money/support, it seems they may be able to make the film longer as well.

As it stands, according to backer updates, the total length of the production looks to be 120 minutes long, though this could either be as one feature film or divided into six episodes (the first of which is titled “Day of the Locusts”) for television. Had they not been accepted into the program, they would have had to stick with the original plan for a total of 18 minutes, broken into 12 minutes of animation and a six-minute “ending.”

There is something of a catch, albeit a small one: In March 2017, a special screening will be held by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, meaning that a limited number of audiences in Japan will get to see the product before the Kickstarter backers. What’s more, “there’s a possibility that the episode will be combined with other [three] films accepted in the same program and released in other media,” though that possibility remains up in the air as details won’t be confirmed until next year.

Regardless of this, however, the delivery schedule for the finished product remains July 2017, and backers will be the first to receive such promised rewards as “digital data, Blu-ray, Tshirts and other items.”

Does this news affect your opinion on the animation project at all? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

LBD "Nytetrayn"

David Oxford, or “LBD ‘Nytetrayn’,” as he is sometimes also known, is a freelance writer of many varied interests who resides in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. If you’re interested in hiring him, please drop him a line at david.oxford (at) nyteworks.net.

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