KEY POINTS
Azuki is minting the first episode, “The Waiting Man,” of its anime series as a non-fungible token (NFT).
Minted on Arbitrum via Zora, the NFT episode includes the 8-minute episode released at the end of last month on YouTube, along with a signed poster.
The episode narrates the story of Haru and T.K., two characters designed by Kinu Nishimura, drawing inspiration from two NFTs of the Azuki collection.
The first episode follows Haru, a free-spirited skater who has always felt like a misfit in a world where “she’s constantly told how to behave.” One day, Haru meets T.K., a mysterious man sitting next to a vending machine, waiting for someone to appear.
The NFT episode is priced at 0.006 ETH, roughly $20, with 1,293 already minted at the time of writing. Meanwhile, the poster, priced at 0.003 ETH (approximately $9), has already garnered 1,085 mints.
The sale of both NFTs, which started on April 30 — the episode’s release date — will end at the end of the month.
In parallel with this minting, there’s also Arbzuki #723, featuring custom Arbitrum traits designed by Steamboy, co-creator of Azuki. The Lightning Azuki represents the speed and performance of Arbitrum technology.
At the time of writing, there are already 84,249 mints for this NFT, with the sale running until May 25.
All Arbzuki mint proceeds go directly to the Arbitrum DAO, while all Enter The Garden mint proceeds go to the Japanese studios that worked on the production of the series.
As of the current moment, Arbzuki minting has generated 37 ETH, equivalent to over $111,000. Meanwhile, the NFT episode has earned 7.8 ETH, over $23,000, and the poster 3.3 ETH, surpassing $9,900, showcasing how NFTs can be a means for in-real-life projects to raise funds.
This contributes to the sales the release of the first episode generated last month, amassing $1 million in NFT sales within 24 hours for the Azuki NFT collection.
These drops come after Arbitrum teamed up with AnimeCoin in March to introduce “AnimeChain” — a Web3 project focused on anime — with Azuki as the inaugural partner, promising decentralized growth for anime IP.
