If we look at previous projects, it’s clear that there is an inherent demand for anime related projects, in particular mechas.
Mekaverse has been by the far the most hyped project we’ve seen so far, sustaining 5–10 eth floor pre-reveal before it came tumbling down after the reveal and fraud allegations.
Having a first mover’s advantage in this space hasn’t shown to be too helpful. We can see this with what’s happened with Azuki’s predecessor, 0N1 force. Heck, even Cryptopunks, which are known for their historical value aren’t the first NFT project on Eth, but instead the most successful of the first collections.
Cryptopunks, BAYC have made their cultural mark. Azuki is in the process of doing this in the anime market, if they haven’t solidified their mark already. What’s clear though, is that there’s been a hype cycle involving anime related projects. To quote Su Zhu, very rarely do people people get hyped or excited about something that doesn’t eventuate. In markets and technology, this is almost always true.
With the predecessor anime projects, the hype was not validated for a variety of different factors. Allegations, botched technical implementations, art not resonating with target group, etc.
Mekaverse, for example was inspired by the Gundam series and showed that there was a huge demand for mecha related projects.
At a glance when we’re comparing the aesthetics between the end result and the inspiration, they are just too different. Mekaverse is too friendly and light, geared towards more mainstream appeal, whereas the Gundam series is quite dark, grungy, sprinkled on top with the 90’s anime aesthetic. This makes sense as the Gundam series is heavily geared towards war.
The mecha genre, especially Gundam, is by itself its own cultural phenomenon. So much so, that there are even Gundam museums and life-sized Gundam models. They’re even developing life-sized moving Gundams.
Enter Everai
Everai’s team is being developed by ScreenshotLabs who has been around since April 2021, with an existing project under their belt. Undoubtedly, they would have observed what’s transpired with Mekaverse and learnt from their mistakes. Their team members also consist of individuals who have worked on One Piece, My Hero Academia, Jujutsu Kaisen, all cultural animes in their own right.
Typically during the reveal period, the floor price of a project drops significantly. This wasn’t the case for Everai, whose reveal was around April 2–3. The fact that the floor price increased, signals to me (hopium), that they did in fact create a collection where the majority of the artwork resonated with their target audience, essentially validating the previous hype cycle.
The trailer below also shows that they’ve totally nailed down the aesthetic and time will tell if they will become the first cultural defining mecha project in the NFT ecosystem.