Bang Zoom! Entertainment launches an audio-anime story via a 10-episode mini-podcast; players ultimately enter Sumomo City website where the adventure begins.
From Bang Zoom! Entertainment and hosted by Gather.town comes Korokoro, a 10-episode audio “mini podcast” anime drama that plays out online in an interactive Easter egg hunt fashion. It starts out with a social media “clue” that leads the participant to call a number that then guides them to a website… from there the user will enter Sumomo City, and the adventure begins.
Korokoro is a custom free-to-play metaverse world that has been built to tell the story of Takeshi and his lost dog Koro. By exploring the world, players will participate in an interactive adventure to find Koro and return him to his owner. The player will explore the town, a cafe, a Japanese ramen shop, a private screening room, and an alien spacecraft in outer space in a funny and endearing experience.
To assist in the world build, Bang Zoom! partnered with Sunweaver Creative, a leader in interactive narrative development.
“We have enjoyed collaborating on this new way of storytelling,” shared Sunweaver Creative founder Shawn Strider. “We are excited for everyone to get the chance to explore this amazing adventure.”
With the support of the Gather.town team, it’s estimated that Korokoro will capture around 200,000 unique daily viewers.
“As the owner of Bang Zoom! Studios, I went to my roots as a writer and director to create an original work called Korokoro,” stated Eric ‘Herman’ Sherman. “This experiment of anime and audio had an unexpected result: Audio-Anime. These are easily digestible episodes, each around 30 seconds long. The entire series is 10 episodes, so as you can see, it’s not much of a time commitment!”
At the end of the series users can download a free gift and are encouraged to help support animal rescue. A high-resolution poster of the show was designed by Tokyo-based anime studio D’Art Shtajio, an American owned 2D animation studio run by Arthell Isom.
The cast is comprised of both veteran and new voice talent, including two voice actors (known as seiyuu) who lent their voices from Japan: Nana Mizuki (Naruto) and Ayumi Ito (best known for Swallowtaile Butterfly).
Korokoro was created by Bang Zoom! Studios in Burbank, whose credits include anime titles such as Demon Slayer, One-Punch Man, Sword Art Online and Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure.
Korokoro’s supporting friends are:
- Pumpkin (Pumpkin.care): An insurance provider, founded to help ensure pets live their longest and healthiest lives.
- Hera The Dog (Hera the Dog Vodka.com): Founded to help create a sustainable funding resource for grassroots animal rescues all over the world by donating a portion of proceeds from every bottle of Hera sold.
- Gentle Barn (GentleBarn.org): The organization stands up for the innocent, helping animals and children alike remember that they matter.
Source: Bang Zoom! Entertainment
Debbie Diamond Sarto is assistant news editor at Animation World Network.