Dentsu Partners With Azuki to Create Three-Part Anime Series

Dentsu Inc. and Chiru Labs, the company behind the globally-popular NFT project Azuki™, have teamed up to plan, create and produce an anime anthology series, Enter The Garden, utilizing the Azuki IP. This three-part anime series is produced by anime legend Goro Taniguchi, creator of "One Piece Film Red" and the "Code Geass" series and is set to launch over the course of this year.

The trailer for Episode 1 of the trilogy, entitled The Waiting Man, is available for viewing today. The full episode is set to premiere on Tuesday, April 30, 2024, exclusively on Azuki.com and Azuki’s YouTube channel, with the following instalments released in the coming months. 

Azuki is a popular NFT collection that features characters inspired by anime-style art and streetwear. This anthology series is a new kind of collaboration between NFTs and animation, including cameo appearances by NFT characters owned by the community.

The Waiting Man episode features the participation of: Junichi Yamamoto, who oversaw the animation sections of blockbuster console game The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom; Kinu Nishimura, who was in charge of the character design of the famed Street Fighter Series; and Akari Kito (Demon Slayer) and Tomokazu Sugita (Gintama, Demon Slayer, Shuffle!) as voice actors. 

A unique characteristic of the project is that community members who own Azuki & BEANZ NFTs, also have commercial rights to that NFT/IP. Community members often start their own businesses and build their own products with this IP. Some of these businesses will be featured in Episode 1. This form of product placement goes beyond traditional advertising, providing a platform for entrepreneurs within the Azuki ecosystem to showcase their brands in a contextually rich and narratively relevant way.

“Japanese anime has become a global phenomenon. Dentsu has been actively investing and producing refined anime content while also promoting anime culture worldwide for many years,” commented Yusuke Nii, head of anime operation, dentsu. “Moving forward, we will continue to evolve our approach to anime production and distribution in response to the changing needs of viewers and the media scene. This exceptional and outstanding collaboration with Chiru Labs portrays our ambition, and we will continue to pursue this partnership even further.”

“We're thrilled to partner with the best in the industry and work with creatives who are excited to experiment with new, community-driven IP. Through our collaboration with dentsu, Goro Taniguchi and the entire creative team, we are honored to present this incredible anthology to anime fans worldwide, and this is only the beginning,” stated Zagabond, Founder and CEO of Azuki/Chiru Labs.

Dentsu will continue to expand the potential of entertainment content through the use and integration of new technologies, contributing to the creation of rich customer experiences.

Enter The Garden is produced by Azuki, Dentsu, Qzil.la and IMAGICA Infos.