Okay,
what’s this about?
Gundeath Carnival (血液爆発超暴力!ガンデスカーニバル ~Oblivion
Nightmare Megakill Fantasia XXIII~ lit. BLOOD
EXPLOSION ULTRA VIOLENCE! GUNDEATH CARNIVAL ~Oblivion Nightmare Megakill
Fantasia XXIII~) is an action web manga about the virtual reality first
person shooter (VRFPS) Gundeath Carnival, a game that, in the year 2027, ended
all armed conflict all over the globe and turned all international territorial
and resource conflicts into the world’s biggest E-Sport.
I intend for the manga to be a biweekly serial released on Batoto,
Tapastic and MangaMagazine, with 20-30 pages every fortnight. The reason for me
not considering a weekly schedule is because I am also a Computer Science
major in university, and the weekly mangaka schedule (according to current
working conditions) is too hectic to allow more than one day without work. As
for “why not monthly,” I’d like to
remain motivated enough to consistently put out good stuff, and a monthly
schedule would force me into a ridiculously slow working pace that could potentially
lead to a loss of interest and motivation. I don’t like that. That’s bad.
What’s with the
ridiculously over-the-top title?
The alternate version of the title is an affectionate parody of ridiculously
long Japanese visual culture titles such as “The Society for the Study of Modern Visual Culture”, “This Is the Police Station in Front of Kameari
Park in Katsushika Ward”, and “No Matter How I Look at It, It's You Guys' Fault
I'm Not Popular!”. Following in the footsteps of over-the-top anime and manga
series such as “Heaven-Piercing Gurren-Lagann”, “Mobile Fighter G Gundam” and
“Kill La Kill”, Gundeath Carnival aims to be as ridiculously over-the-top as over-the-top can be,
while retaining its serious undertones and relevant themes.
Do you promote violence or something?
The manga does not, in any
way, promote or glorify violence - as a matter of fact, I aim to drive the
following points: WAR IS BAD, INTERNATIONAL CONFLICTS ARE VERY BAD, and SPORTS
IS THE BEST WAY TO UNITE THE WORLD. By doing away with the concept of armed
international conflicts and providing a viable alternative, the ‘world
government’ aims to establish unity and peace throughout the world. Of course,
such an ideal solution reaching its best conclusion would be unrealistic; this
web manga aims to tackle, among others, the following issues:
Violence (specifically gun violence)
Corruption
Sportsmanship and unity
Gamer culture (and a subset, the ‘bro culture’)
Virtual reality and its implications
This may seem like a lot to tackle, but I’m
hopeful that I will be able to carry my points across through this story. Being
a gamer myself, a lot of the themes of this manga are a product of my
experiences playing first person shooters, real-time strategy games and
massively multiplayer online games, so there’s definitely a lot of things that
hit close to home.
So what do you
need the money for?
In order to resume my work on the comics, and to improve my workflow by
mixing digital and traditional elements, I will need to gather $1500 to upgrade my current desktop computer and purchase a new graphics tablet. I'll also be using the money to obtain comic paper, pen nibs and inks.
Should the funding break through the initial goal, I
will be using the extra money for MORE traditional art materials, so I can send Gundeath Carnival artworks straight to
you!
A sample page of GUNDEATH CARNIVAL. Isn't it cool!?STRETCH GOALS
$2000: Gundeath
Carnival Original Sketch Extravaganza Super Deluxe Turbo
Everyone who donated $50 or more gets a signed original Gundeath
Carnival character sketch on high quality IC manga drafting paper! Estimated Delivery: February 2014
$3000: Greetings
from Japan: Gundeath Carnival Uncle Samurai Edition HD Remix
LOCKED! Revealed when Stretch Goal 1 is achieved
$6000: Final
Strike! Gundeath Carnival Ultimania Murderkill Edition
LOCKED! Revealed when Stretch Goal 2 is achieved.