The world of NFTs moves at such an unbelievably fast rate that it is so easy to get swept by the current only to end up feeling burnt out. Isekai Meta is an up-and-coming NFT project that aims to create a place where its community can slow down and breathe.
Isekai, a Japanese phrase that translates to “different world” or “otherworld”, is a subgenre of fantasy wherein the main character is pulled from their world and into an unfamiliar one. It is a perfect way to encapsulate how NFTs are. By minting an Isekai Meta, we are summoned away from our WEB2 lives and into this new, mystical, and ever-expanding space called WEB3. They aim to be a story and community driven project that wants to create a world that is a fantastical reflection of the NFT space.
The current NFT landscape is one that is driven by hype and the incessant need to grind for that next allowlist spot. Hundreds of new projects are seemingly popping up every single day. Discords are mostly flooded with a deluge of forced conversations and fake engagement. People grind to the point of exhaustion, jumping from server to server, diving into a torrent of messages, just to get into that coveted allowlist. The team behind Isekai aims to go against this meta.
They want to be a pocket in this space where you can just fall into and chill. The team continuously reminds their community, a group built through genuine interactions, that it is perfectly okay to slow down in this fast moving space.
To further convey the expression of “slowing down”, Isekai Meta closes their discord for 24 hours, once a week, as a reminder to their community to spend time away from NFTs. They see the value in being disconnected from the NFT space and being with family, friends, and/or loved ones.
Isekai Meta is driven by three core values:
- The passion to create high quality artwork and storytelling to match their highly innovative ideas that, they are hoping, will drive the space forward.
- To create a community whose culture goes against the fast paced norm of NFTs — one that is not driven by hype, but by empathy and the ethos of slowing down. A peek into their discord shows a community that has gelled well together having bonded over genuine interactions with each other.
- Appreciation for the projects that came before and the projects that will come after. Isekai Meta believes that the success of one project is the success of the space as a whole.
The Art
The collection is heavily inspired by the Studio Ghibli art style which invokes that feeling of nostalgia. The whimsical art of Isekai Meta perfectly aligns with their vision of transporting the community away to another world. They want to manifest that childlike wonder from their holders.
The characters from their sneak peeks feel like they were plucked out of a Ghibli movie, but at the same time unique in their own right.
The NFTs will be randomly summoned from a pool of varying traits, each having its own rarity. They intend to illustrate every single Isekai NFT to be the main character of their own stories, as they journey through the world of WEB3.
The team
Isekai Meta is composed of eleven individuals spearheaded by its three founders: Sayres (operations and creative director, chief marketing officer), Waps (finance and management), and Frankied (head developer).
Bringing this world to life is their art team led by Chev. He is a freelance character designer, storyboard artist, and layout artist from the Philippines. His impressive resume involves working for Dreamworks, Disney, and Warner Bros.
Some of the notable shows he’s had a hand in are The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder, Where’s Waldo?, and The Mighty Ones.
Assisting Chev in the art department are Spacetuna (logo, branding, and graphics) and Nona (background illustrations).
Llige is their marketing consultant who works with Sayres to spread the magic of Isekai Meta to the metaverse.
The dev team is made up of Frankied, Kairu, and Kevin. They will be the ones responsible for summoning us to the world of Isekai Meta.
Keeping this “other world” safe is their community team made up of Titoo, Nova, and Oni.
But what truly separates the Isekai Meta team from your average generative PFP project is the services of Klaus — a pianist and composer based in Buenos Aires, Argentina — who will be creating an original soundtrack to be used for the project. Klaus’s pieces are reminiscent of Studio Ghibli movies and pairs really well with Chev’s artwork.
Let’s get spirited away
The world of NFTs can be cold and unforgiving. Driven by hype and money, it is easy to lose ourselves by jumping from project to project. Isekai Meta aims to inject magic and warmth into this wonderful, new world by reminding us to slow down.
They make it a point to apply this ethos into everything they do —from their community, to the beautiful art, to how they operate the project as a whole.
Experiencing art is not a race. Koo and the rest of the gang want to summon us to join them in this amazing journey.