MECHA-UDE is a purposed anime conceptualized by Sae Okamoto and her small team. They’re looking to Kickstarter for funding in order to bring on more experienced team members and make their vision a reality.
MECHA-UDE is the story of a young Japanese high schooler named Hero. His life takes an interesting new turn when he encounters a sentient mechanical arm that takes up residency in his hoodie. This mechanical arm is a Mecha-ude that the project is named after.
Hero meets some new friends who have their own Mecha-ude’s, as well as some less friendly people who want to get ahold of his hand companion.
Based on the project’s pitch video it sounds like a major theme in MECHA-UDE is the personal growth of its young protagonist. This is hardly new ground for anime, but it’s something many viewers can relate to.
Sae Okamoto is a young, up-and-coming animator who grew up watching anime. She was inspired by other animators like Yosuhiro Yoshiura (Pale Cacoon, Time of Eve) and Makoto Shinkai. (Voices of a Distant Star, The Garden of Words) She may be a newcomer to the scene, but she does have some experience. She has worked professionally as an animator and even created her own short you can watch here:
Okamoto is also working with a small, but experienced team all of which have worked on other projects such as Sushi Police and many more. You can check out the full list of their credentials on the Kickstarter page.
So if you think this looks like an interesting concept, maybe consider throwing a few bucks at the project. Looks pretty neat to me. Here’s some concept art taken off the project page:
