Series DVD funded; Blu-ray stretch goal set at US$185k

Pied Piper, Inc.'s Kickstarter campaign to release the Skip Beat! anime in North America with an English dub reached its funding goal of US$155,000 on Tuesday. Voice actress and English dub producer Christina Vee announced on Twitter that Caitlin Glass (Ouran High School Host Club's Haruhi, Fullmetal Alchemist's Winry, new Escaflowne dub's Hitomi) will play the main character Kyoko Mogami.

The Kickstarter campaign will end on Saturday, April 16. Pied Piper will offer a Blu-ray Disc in addition to the DVD if the campaign meets its stretch goal of US$185,000.

The English cast that has been announced thus far also includes Christina Vee as Erika Koenji, Mela Lee as Maria Takarada, Richard Epcar ( Durarara!! ×2's Sloan, Lupin the Third's Daisuke Jigen) as Lory Takarada, Vic Mignogna (Dragon Ball Z's Broly, Ouran High School Host Club's Tamaki) as Yukihito Yashiro, Robbie Daymond ( Sailor Moon's Tuxedo Mask, The Seven Deadly Sins' Gilthunder) as Ren Tsuruga, Grant George (Fate/Zero's Lancer, Kill la Kill's Uzu Sanageyama) as Sho Fuwa, and Erica Lindbeck (Coppelion's Ibara Naruse, Magi's Gyokuen Ren) as Kanae Kotonami (Moko)

In addition to Vee and Lee, Jason C. Miller will also produce the English dub. Deborah Crane ( Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Crystal , Ikki Tousen: Xtreme Xecutor ) will handle the ADR scripts.

Pied Piper had originally launched an Indiegogo campaign for the franchise on March 1, but then relaunched the campaign on Kickstarter on March 17. The Indiegogo campaign had a goal of US$210,000, including a Blu-ray release. The Kickstarter campaign's base goal no longer includes a Blu-ray Disc release.

Pied Piper acquired the license from TV Tokyo, and TV Tokyo is requiring the English dub as a condition of release. The company will not be able to release the series on a subtitle-only format. The license covers the United States and Canada only.

The television version of Yoshiki Nakamura's Skip Beat! shōjo manga premiered in Japan in October 2008. The series is available streaming on Crunchyroll. Viz Media publishes the original manga in North America.

Thanks to Nina Davis, Peter J. LaPrade, ravegrl, and Jerry Ross for the news tip.