Kakao Entertainment announced on the 27th that the webtoon "Beyond Dimensions: Isekai Idol (Chasedol)," featuring the virtual idol Isekai Idol (Isedol) from Parable Entertainment, along with its physical book and merchandise crowdfunding, has successfully closed at 8.8 billion KRW.
The company stated that this amount is the highest ever in crowdfunding history. Kakao Entertainment plans to continue strengthening its intellectual property (IP) fandom business.
The Chasedol crowdfunding was conducted through the crowdfunding platform Tumblbug from 6 PM on the 23rd of last month until midnight on the 22nd of this month. Various merchandise such as the webtoon physical book, special photo book, figures, and keyboards were sold. The funded physical books and merchandise will be produced in collaboration with D&C Media, which has over 20 years of publishing expertise, and delivered to fans.
A total of over 35,000 supporters participated, with an average contribution of about 250,000 KRW per person, gaining popularity and exceeding the initial target amount of 20 million KRW by approximately 44,000%. There were about 30,000 pre-alarms, and the funding surpassed 6.4 billion KRW within six hours of starting. As a result, Kakao Entertainment's IP secured the first and second highest domestic crowdfunding amounts in history.
The webtoon "Magical Girl Isekai Idol (Masedol)," which shares the same universe as Chasedol and Isedol, is a collaborative project planned and produced with investment by Kakao Entertainment, YouTuber and streamer 'Uwakkud' who has 1.72 million subscribers, and Parable Entertainment. It features the six-member virtual idol group Isedol formed by Uwakkud, and attracted over 500 applicants during the open call for webtoon artists.
Since its launch on June 21, the Masedol webtoon achieved the number one sales record within one hour on both KakaoPage and Kakao Webtoon. The Chasedol webtoon also quickly rose to popularity, ranking first in daily sales within two hours of its launch on KakaoPage on July 20, and topping overall sales on Kakao Webtoon on the launch day.
The project's popularity, expanded through emoticons, OSTs, and crowdfunding, also gained traction. The OST "LOCKDOWN," produced to commemorate the release of the Masedol webtoon, surpassed one million streams within 24 hours and set a record as the first virtual artist to be inducted into the "Melon Hall of Fame." Kakao emoticons created to coincide with the webtoon release also ranked number one immediately upon launch.
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