Anime Ltd. has been experimenting with crowdfunding for a while now, and has launched several Kickstarter campaigns to get releases financed. For Patema Inverted, the company tried something different: it announced in May they had bought the rights of the film and the artbook, and stated their intent to release the film (and maybe the book) barebones regardless of any crowdfunding. The Patema Inverted Kickstarter campaign was there with only one goal: to create a kick-ass special edition too, with as many bells and whistles as could be gotten.
The campaign was very successful, raising a whopping 240% of its 16,000 GBP goal (link). This meant the release got the artwork book, exclusive cover artwork, the short light novel, and an upgrade in size (it's now as big as Anime Ltd.'s Gurren Lagann Ultimate Edition, seen here).
And, as an eleventh-hour extra, the soundtrack got added on CD. Wowzers!
This was the first Kickstarter campaign I personally invested in, and the result you can see below. A review will follow later, but in the meantime, feast your eyes on the pretty packaging, as here is a gallery of shots.
And here it is: an oversized package with a slipcase.
Click on the edge of the pictures to scroll through them, or at the center of one to see a bigger version.
The slipcase removed reveals a thicker box with the same artwork, albeit unblemished by titles and BBFC-ratings.
The contents removed. There is the digi-pack, the book, and a coded message: a replica of the film's "Letter from Lagos", which makes sense when you know the source material.
All contents opened, except the book.
A closer look at the book. Initially this was meant to be a 136-page design booklet, but the Kickstarter campaign allowed for some additions, and a larger pagesize. It is now a great 160-plus page book.
A closer look at some of the character designs.
Some of the background art paintings in the film look fantastic, and many of them can be found in the book.
Some of the scenes were story-boarded from different perspectives, seeing as how the two protagonists spend a lot of time 180 degrees inverted. Some of those storyboards are in here as well.
All in all this book is a great, great addition to the film, and it makes the whole package one of my favorites of this year!