Riku Rose wrote: I’ve seen many Kickstarters where the physical copies have not be sent for weeks and sometimes months after they’re in stores. Based on Awesome Japan’s track record I don’t see this being any different, hope they prove me wrong.
They already mentioned during the KS that rewards will be fulfilled by FanGamer. They're usually pretty good when it comes to shipping, so I don't think we have to worry about Awesome Japan on that front. However...
Every video game kickstarter I've participated in released digital copies before physical. And there are are plenty of examples of non-game ones where people could buy a product in stores before KS backers had even gotten their physical rewards. (I wear a Pebble Smartwatch that came from kickstarter and those ended up at Best Buy before most backers had gotten them)
I can't think of an example where they've ever managed to do physical and digital releases simultaneously coming from Kickstarter. I honestly won't be surprised if they send physical backers a digital code so they can play the game at release and then ship afterwards. On the other hand, it sounds like some of the physical rewards are already ready, since they showed Yu Suzuki signing the autographed backer posters in an update 2 years ago. Either way I'm not concerned, I don't think they'll leave backers empty handed at launch.