Bored Apes, Pudgy Penguins, Cool Cats – this NFT collection debuted far later than all of them, but in the space of two years, it has grown to become a major player in one of the world’s largest entertainment industries.
This NFT collection is Azuki.
Starting with landmark debut mint, Azuki has been met with a few controversies, but stands proudly today as a new force to shake-up the anime industry. What is Azuki, what should you know about the collection, and why should it be on your radar?
Here’s our complete 2024 guide to Azuki.
What is Azuki?
Azuki is a collection of 10,000 anime-style avatar NFTs, inspired by modern manga and Japanese streetwear. Each NFT features a unique mix of traits, including hairstyles, clothing, accessories and more, giving each Azuki a one-of-a-kind look.
Created by Chiru Labs – a team of LA-based artists and developers – the collection is led by the pseudonymous originator known as ZAGABOND. With a team that holds vast experience in crypto, technology, and gaming, Chiru wanted to build an NFT collection that took a unique look at the anime industry.
Holders of Azuki NFTs are granted an array of benefits. These include membership to online collective “The Garden”, access to exclusive asset drops and unique collaborations, entry to holder-only in-person events, and much more.
There are long-established rumours of Chiru Labs looking at developing a native token for the Azuki ecosystem, but as of writing, this has yet to come to fruition.
The history of Azuki
The Azuki collection was minted on January 12, 2022 using a Dutch auction format – where prices start high and decline over time. The initial price was set at a hefty 1 ETH, but that didn’t stop the collection from selling out within 3 minutes, raising an incredible 8,700 ETH – worth over $29 million USD at the time.
Following this landmark launch, Azuki NFTs surged on secondary markets, seeing over $300 million USD in trading volume – boosting the floor price into double-digit ETH.
In April 2022, Azuki debuted Beanz – a 20,000-piece companion collection. These NFTs were airdropped to existing Azuki holders, giving them access to exclusive Discord channels and merchandise releases. Beanz have become a low-cost entry point to the Azuki ecosystem, and are regularly traded volumes to this day.
The start of 2023 saw the introduction of Hilumia, an online experience in the Azuki universe. Open to the public, but with only Azuki and Beanz holders able to interact, Hilumia hosted branded games, activities and online content, giving fans a deeper look into the world of Azuki.
April 2023 saw Azuki partner with IPX, the company behind Line Friends, for a branded collaboration with the Beanz collection, resulting in exclusive co-branded merchandise and real-world activations.
During their “Follow The Rabbit” event in June 2023, Azuki announced their second companion collection: Azuki Elementals. The collection minted out in 15 minutes on June 27, but controversy arose over the lack of minting limits, and the similarity of the art to the main Azuki collection.
In response to the backlash, Azuki revealed that an anime anthology series was in production. Its official announcement came in January 2024, with global advertising firm Dentsu announcing their involvement in April 2024, helping to assemble an all-star team of anime veterans to work on the project.
This anime series, titled Enter The Garden, premiered in late April 2024 with the first episode, titled The Waiting Man. The episode was met with rave reviews for its writing, voice acting, and overall quality – especially as a free-to-air series hosted on YouTube.
In June 2024, ZAGABOND revealed Azuki’s long-term goal – to create what he termed “anime 2.0”, powered by AnimeCoin. September 2024 saw the reveal of Anime.com – including new Azuki mascots Ayame and Decky – alongside a public waitlist, and the private launch of AnimeChain.
It hasn’t all been sunshine and roses. It came to light in May 2022 that ZAGABOND had been involved in several abandoned NFT projects, such as Tendies, CryptoZunks, and CryptoPhunks. There were widespread fears that Azuki could become a rug pull, causing a sharp decline in floor prices – but after an apology from ZAGABOND, and the commitment shown to Azuki to date, any fears have largely disappeared.
As mentioned earlier, the Azuki Elementals mint in June 2023 fell short of expectations. With no minting limits, all of the Elementals were minted solely by Azuki and Beanz holders, meaning there was zero public access. Due to how similar the Elementals looked to the original Azuki collection, the prices of both Azuki and Beanz fell dramatically – although both stabilised in due course.
What’s next for Azuki?
The goal of Azuki is clear – to shake up the anime industry, and to improve the experience of being an anime fan.
Episode 2 of Enter The Garden is set to premiere very soon, and Azuki continues to grow across its animations, merchandise, behind the scenes content and more.
Though we are yet to discover the exact purpose of Anime.com, AnimeCoin and AnimeChain, there are high expectations for each of these initiatives – especially given the expertise, commitment and quality demonstrated into their flagship Enter The Garden series.
Chiru Labs continue to put their holders – and the wider anime community – at the heart of Azuki, and they’re taking this community-driven approach from web3 into a mainstream environment.
In just two years, Azuki have had a groundbreaking impact on web3. In 2025 and beyond, they could have a revolutionary impact on the anime industry.
