After running for two months, the KimiNozo crowdfund has closed. Greatly surpassing the organizers’ expectations, the campaign experienced a substantial boost in funding shortly before its closure. It ultimately closed with a with a grand total of 57,892,199 JPY, almost twice the campaign’s initial goals of 30,000,000 JPY. In doing so, the crowdfund reached four stretch goals:
- 33,000,000 JPY — Adding the Sorrow Flows Like the Wind bonus story
- 36,000,000 JPY — Adding the Muv-Nozo short side story from the Special FanDisk
- 41,000,000 JPY — Distributing Steam keys for Muv-Luv and Muv-Luv Alternative to all backers
- 44,000,000 JPY — Digitally releasing an expanded version of the “OPERATION ZERO” booklet.
Contributors who donated at least 4,400 JPY will receive Steam keys for Muv-Luv, Muv-Luv Alternative, and of course, KimiNozo itself. Those who already own the Muv-Luv trilogy are capable of gifting the keys to friends. aNCHOR plans to release the all-ages version of KimiNozo on Steam in Japanese sometime in Spring 2024. They then aim to release an update with English language support shortly thereafter in Summer 2024. These dates are, of course, subject to change in the event of development delays or other unforeseen circumstances.
Some may be quick to note that the latter two stretch goals were substantially less ambitious than the first two. The campaign staff addressed this on stream, indicating that they underestimated the resource costs of the first two stretch goals. The latter stretch goals were thus their compromise. Considering how some of the Muv-Luv Kickstarter‘s stretch goals have yet to be delivered (such as the promised Muv-Luv trilogy mobile ports), this may have been a wise move. Nevertheless, the first two stretch goals may still potentially delay the game’s launch.
Beyond the port’s Steam release, Yoshimune Kouki and volunteers are working to schedule a KimiNozo live event for early next year. They started planning before the crowdfunding campaign went live but ultimately paused their plans to focus their efforts on the crowdfund. Staff and volunteers have already resumed planning on their Discord server.
The goal of the crowdfunding project was to provide the funding necessary to port an all-ages version of KimiNozo and thereby kickstart the KimiNozo Reboot projects. The KimiNozo Reboot projects ultimately aim to culminate in a KimiNozo 2024 remake, a KimiNozo 2040 sequel, and various adaptations in different mediums, with the fate of these project dependent on the success of current initiatives. The crowdfund campaign, at the very least, may prove beneficial in attracting attention by investors and others interested parties.
This is now the second successful crowdfunding campaign by Yoshimune Kouki and âge. Their first effort was the 2016 Muv-Luv Kickstarter, which raised a record-breaking total of $1,255,444. While the KimiNozo crowdfund raised much less, it has nonetheless still proven to be one of the most successful crowdfunding campaigns for a visual novel in recent memory. Following the campaign’s conclusion, Yoshimune posted a heartfelt message thanking backers for their support.
Released in October 2001, Kimi ga Nozomu Eien (KimiNozo) is a romance utsuge visual novel developed and published by âge. The story follows the daily lives of a group of four friends. But when tragedy strikes, their bonds are tested more than ever before.
KimiNozo remains one of the most influential visual novels of all time. To date, it has sold over 100,000 copies, making it âge’s second most popular IP behind the Muv-Luv series. KimiNozo inspired a 14-episode anime adaptation in 2004 as well as a 4-episode OVA series from 2007-2008. Some of the characters in KimiNozo returned later on in the Muv-Luv series. It has received numerous spin-offs including Sorrow Flows Like the Wind and the Special FanDisk.
