#154: Get your hands on limited edition NFTs of the 3 Tohoku Sisters! A world’s first project that lets NFT owners watch special bonus footage in the ‘Metaverse Theater’
This new project from the Otaku Coin Association will be the world’s first fusion of NFTs and the Metaverse!
This proof-of-concept experiment involves the sale and lottery gifting of NFTs based on the 3 Tohoku Sisters: Zunko, Itako, and Kiritan. Owners of these NFTs will have special access to watching previously unseen bonus footage through the ‘Metaverse Theater’ by using an entirely new and unique way to use NFTs!
As far as we know, this is the first NFT with a system that will allow access to viewing bonus footage in the Metaverse.
This project is a collaborative effort between four different groups: the Otaku Coin Association (our company), SSS LLC. (owner of Tohoku Zunko), CryptoGames Inc. (blockchain developer), and BeyondConcept Inc. (owner of Conata).
Details on how to enter the lottery starting today can be found in this article. It may be a long article, but please keep reading until the end!
‘Metaverse Theater’ Preview Tour Video: https://youtu.be/VEyjegxo7cQ
*Only those that own an NFT through first hand purchase or distribution will be able to access the Metaverse Theater. (Access is tentatively scheduled to be available until the end of June 2021).
‘Metaverse Theater’ details: https://conata.world/theater
*Bonus footage will be streamed in Japanese with English subtitles.
The purpose of this particular project is to create an NFT based on digital data inspired by anime, manga, games, VTubers, etc, while also finding a method to attach other features like priority pre-screenings, sequels, side stories, director/voice cast interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, music events, live streams, and other such content that owners can access after purchasing such an NFT.
In addition to the mainstream digital and visual works by creators and studios, they can now extend their user experience further through these NFTs. NFT owners will be able to view streams and other content that is only accessible in the Metaverse Theater, offering fans a richer and more unique digital experience.
Otaku Coin Association continues to follow its mission of contributing to the preservation and growth of anime culture around the world using blockchain technology. In this project, the Otaku Coin Association has taken the initiative in utilizing the newest NFT technology. The project aims to experiment and prove to the world that NFT can be smoothly incorporated into the industry and community by identifying the possible risks, costs, concerns, merits, and demerits involved.
By releasing the knowledge and experience gained from this experiment to the anime industry, creators, and fans on the Otaku Coin Official blog, we hope to support the development of the industry by creating more awareness of anime culture around the world.
‘Tohoku Zunko and Friends Special Limited Edition NFT’ Example
※ The image above is a sample and may differ from the actual design after release.
■ ‘Tohoku Zunko and Friends Special Limited Edition NFT’ Release Schedule
Beginning on April 22nd, 2021 at 10:00 (JST), these NFTs will be made available for purchase on the NFT marketplace, Rarible (https://rarible.com/zunko?tab=collectibles), and will be sold on a first-come-first-served basis. NFTs that include characters with the same pose, outfit, and expression will only be made once and have their own unique serial number. This will be the only chance you have to purchase these specific NFTs.
Available at:
https://rarible.com/zunko?tab=collectibles
■ NFT Sales and Lottery Gift Details:
1: Limited Edition NFT Special Cards with Serial Numbers (#001-#100) 100 units x 1 type = 100 NFTs.
2: Limited Edition NFT Special Videos with Serial Numbers (S001-S004) 4 units x 1 type = 4 NFTs.
NFT Introduction Video: https://youtu.be/aIcZBmLfPBs
As of today, a lottery promotion has commenced and will give 3 participants the chance to receive 1 NFT each. These 3 NFTs will be #098, #099, and #100 from the ‘Limited Edition NFT Special Cards with Serial Numbers’ set. Those interested in participating can find details via the Otaku Coin Official App (which can be downloaded at the following link: https://otaku-coin.com/).
■ Sale Schedule (Tentative):
Release Date and Time / Price (Unit — Currency Amount) — Reference
Part 1: April 22nd (Thu) at 10:00 (JST) / 0.1 ETH / #031-#097
Part 2: April 26th (Mon) at 10:00 (JST) / 0.3 ETH / #011-#030 + Premium Auction
Part 3: April 29th (Thu) at 10:00 (JST) / 0.5 ETH / #001-#010 + Premium Auction
*Sales period will end on May 6th (Thu) at 23:59:50 (JST)
■ Premium Auction Details:
During the 2nd and 3rd part of the distribution, 4 separate limited edition NFTs will be sold in an auction-style format. These premium auctions will last until May 6th (Thu) at 23:59:59 (JST) and will be sold to the highest bidder.
Beginning at the same time as Part 2 on April 26th (Mon) at 10:00 (JST), two of the Limited NFT Special Video with Serial Number NFTs will be put up for auction with a starting price of 0.5 ETH each. These auctions will be live until May 6th (Thu) at 23:59:59 and go to the highest bidder.
S001 Tohoku Zunko Limited Edition NFT Special Video with Serial Number
S002 Tohoku Itako Limited Edition NFT Special Video with Serial Number
Beginning at the same time as Part 3 on April 29th (Thu) at 10:00 (JST), two of the Limited NFT Special Video with Serial Number NFTs will be put up for auction with a starting price of 0.5 ETH each. These auctions will be live until May 6th (Thu) at 23:59:59 and go to the highest bidder.
S003 Tohoku Kiritan Limited Edition NFT Special Video with Serial Number
S004 Kansai Shinobi Limited Edition NFT Special Video with Serial Number
■ Points When Purchasing (Please confirm and acknowledge these points beforehand):
・The release dates are tentative. The dates and times may differ depending on the deployment of the release.
・5% royalty for secondary distribution. (An additional 2.5% fee when using the marketplace).
・The copyright and trademark of the characters belong to SSS LLC. Rights for creating derivative works and merchandising are permitted by following set guidelines.
・Owners have digital ownership and rights to publish on social media. (As long as they adhere to basic public moral standards).
・* Transaction fees are applied even in the case of bidding and not purchasing, so please be aware of this before making a purchase. (Although rare, there are cases where this can happen after reaching the purchase completed screen.)
・* Although this platform uses ETH, there may be rare cases when it automatically changes to WETH, which has the same value as ETH.
・* The ‘Metaverse Theater’ is currently planned to be available until the end of June 2021.
■ Who is Tohoku Zunko and the 3 Tohoku Sisters?
Many people reading this article are likely hearing about Tohoku Zunko for the first time. As such, we will take some time to describe all of the appealing aspects of Zunko and her sisters.
To begin, let’s start by mentioning that Tohoku Zunko became one of the PR ambassadors for the Otaku Coin Association in 2019.
Tohoku Zunko was originally a character that was created to help raise awareness and support the Tohoku region after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake. Businesses in the Tohoku region could use Zunko for commercial uses like advertisements, merchandise, and websites for free. Since this was the first time fans and businesses could use such a character so freely, Zunko became quite a hot topic at the time.
Tohoku Zunko herself (the character on the left) is a cute girl with a design that is inspired by zunda-mochi, a specialty that is eaten all across the Tohoku region. Her finishing move, ‘Zunda Arrow’, lets her shoot a mochi-tipped arrow that can turn whatever it hits into zunda-mochi.
Furthermore, there is Tohoku Itako (the character on the right), who represents Aomori prefecture and is Zunko’s older sister. Tohoku Kiritan (the character in the middle) represents Akita prefecture and is Zunko’s younger sister. Together, these characters are the 3 Tohoku Sisters and have gained considerable popularity.
Just how popular are they, you ask? If you look into it, you might be surprised!
Please take a look at this image. This is a list of various projects based on Zunko that were created in the infancy of crowdfunding and many of them quickly reached their goals. Altogether, these crowdfunding projects have raised approximately 100,000,000 Japanese yen. Many new and innovative projects were made possible through the funds gained from this crowdfunding.
For example, a piece of software that allows digital voicebanks to speak naturally called the ‘Tohoku Zunko Voiceroid’ was developed in 2012. The actress that provided the voice was Sato Satomi, who is from Miyagi prefecture and played Tainaka Ritsu in Kyoto Animation’s famous anime series, ‘K-On!’. She is a famous voice actress that any fan of anime will recognize.
Tohoku Itako and Tohoku Kiritan were also later made into Voiceroids as well. Although they can speak very naturally, their voices were carefully developed to sound particularly cute and use the highest possible levels of natural fluidity. The ‘Simple NFT Buying Basics’ video that can be found on Nico Nico Douga and YouTube was also made using this Voiceroid software. Surely that gives you an idea about these girls’ unique charm.
Here is a sample of Zunko’s adorable voice on their official website:
Official Tohoku Zunko Website Home Page
Furthermore, as a character to help aid the recovery of the Tohoku region, a unified effort in Shiraishi, Miyagi prefecture used Tohoku Zunko to create a stamp collecting event in an attempt to revitalize the area with ‘moé’. Methods to sell derivative works as official merchandise was also implemented, further adding to the list of new opportunities this project provided for the region.
Later in 2017, an anime project named ‘Zunda Horizon’ involving the 3 Tohoku Sisters was announced at the Japan Agency for Cultural Affairs’ ‘Anime Tamago 2017’ event. It was the world’s first musical to use vocal synthesizers and was a sign of just how popular the 3 Tohoku Sisters had become.
Their popularity has only grown with time.
In February 2020, a singing program that utilized A.I. named ‘A.I. Tohoku Kiritan’ was released. The natural singing voice it can produce went against what many thought was possible and it shocked many fans in the Vocaloid community.
Please take a listen and see how natural her voice sounds for yourself. Creators using A.I. Tohoku Kiritan have utilized the program to upload videos on their Nico Nico Douga and YouTube daily and have currently posted over 5,000 songs. If you would like to get a better idea of how much of an impact it has had, perhaps take a look at this article:
All in all, the 3 Tohoku Sisters have always paved the way for new, cutting-edge technologies and services like crowdfunding, Voiceroid, A.I., blockchain, and more.
Now, in April 2021, their bedazzling charm is once again on show with the creation of NFTs that let only their owners access content with the 3 Tohoku Sisters in the Metaverse Theater. Currently, the entire world has its eyes on NFTs, so by getting one of these limited 3 Tohoku Sister NFTs, you just might be witnessing a part of history!
NFT Sales: Start on April 22nd (Thu) at 10:00 (JST)
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