Dude, the dragon king kickstarter has frankly pissed me off. They made all this fanfarre about a "new animated series" -- its literally in the main description -- only to reveal that people aren't actually funding the series, they're funding teasers and such. They're paying for the *promise* of getting all those things IF a streaming platform or network picks up the show. Fr dude, why didn't you lead with THAT?
The callout for the kickstarter is this:
Which, y'know. Suggests they are actually making a series. Their promo stuff? all about a new series.
Heavily implies its a series.
They keep saying things like "the ultimate goal of producing the entire Dragon King arc", which makes you THINK they're actually making one, or at the very least a season of it. Y'know. That the path to the full a new series is the kickstarter campaign.
And then, A DECENT AMOUNT OF SCROLLING PAST PLEDGE TIERS AND STRETCH GOALS, tucked away at the bottom, you finally get THIS information:
So, y'know. Not liars. They do make it... mostly.... clear this isn't a full series, it's to suck up to "Hollywood" so they'll pick them up for an arc 3. Except for all the promo leading you to think they're actually ready to get working on it with kickstarter money.
This is what follows after the picture above, btw.
'We can and will produce a killer show if you fund us." So y'know, they're trying to make you so hyped for a new series that you feel you're contributing to them sitting down and making the show a la other independent studios, except they're not. And there's nothing written on the actual kickstarter about what happens if no network picks up the show. Will they make ANOTHER kickstarter for actual seasons? Will they just fly off into the sunset towards a new show with the $600k+ they got in just 4 days already and go work on something else?
I sure hope people didn't just skim this before pledging, bc y'know what the base goal of $250k being achieved actually gets you? Not a full series, no. It gives you a teaser about two characters that's already deep in development and will be releasing tomorrow (sept 20th, 2025. Kickstarter started on sept 16th). So y'know, they *did* deliver what you paid for!!
Do you wanna know where you actually get all this information clear cut? on a FAQ that wasnt even available the day the KS came out:
^^ THIS is what you're paying for. NOT a new series. So why is almost EVERYTHING in your KS page talking about it in a way that heavily implies you're actually, literally making one?
Oh yea dude, btw, if the series doesnt happen, you just paid $15,000(!!!) for producer credit on... a couple of youtube shorts. Good for you, I guess.
The actual reward tiers not associated with the show happening are abysmal, btw. Enamel pins, a couple stitched badges, some coins, a hat, a hoodie. Want a plushie? You need to back the $500 tier!!! The only decent tiers are the ones that come with a background character or minor voice acting role, which IS pretty standard. That $15,000 tier? Comes with... a trip to the studio. To talk about the shorts and a hypothetical series. But y'know!! IF the show happens, you get producer credit and thus become eligible for Emmys!! If it doesn't, congratulations, here's dinner and a cool producer hoodie to a series that doesn't exist 👍
Idk man, this is not a scam because it's not like they're hiding information or not being transparent. It's that the entire campaign feels DEEPLY misleading in order to get more finantial support. The implication with the KS was that because netflix did not pick up the show to an arc 3 (which frankly, valid, they got SEVEN SEASONS which is SO much more most series get, and stretched their second arc unbearably thin, even as a fan of the show they could have streamlined SO much), they would be going independent. But nope. This is just for proof of concept for a network. You have a dedicated fanbase, why dont you just *tell them* you're looking for support to make an arc 3 happen, and maybe you'll get some cool goodies on the side, instead of making your entire campaign *feel* like you're actually creating a new season of a beloved show when you're not?
I dunno. I really dunno. It doesn't feel right to me.