MyAnimeList, Animoca Brands Japan, San FranTokyo to be Launch Partners of Anime Foundation; Mocaverse's Realm Network Will Onboard Anime Fans
28 May 2024 - Animoca Brands, Animoca Brands Japan, San FranTokyo, and MyAnimeList announced today that they are launch partners of Anime Foundation, a community-owned cultural protocol for anime and manga spanning both Web2 and Web3. This partnership will create new opportunities and experiences for fans, creators, studios, IP holders, and anime and manga inspired projects and brands worldwide. The strategic collaboration follows Animoca Brands Japan's JPY¥300 million strategic investment into MyAnimeList, the world's largest anime and manga community site and database, with 16 million registered members.
In conjunction, Anime Foundation will form a strategic alliance with Mocaverse, the marquee growth network featuring an interoperable infrastructure layer of Account, Identity, Reputation, and PointFi systems seeded by Animoca Brands. The strategic alliance will leverage Mocaverse's recently announced Realm Network interoperable SDK to launch Anime ID, a decentralized identifier (DID) and reputation layer to facilitate onboarding to the Web3 ecosystem.
Anime Foundation will serve as a bridge between traditional anime and manga industry and Web3-native communities, with the goals to enhance fan experiences and empower global anime and manga culture. Anime ID will be central to Anime Foundation's work to provide new monetization models and community building initiatives based on blockchain technology.
The vision behind Anime Foundation is a future where anime and manga creators have more opportunities to create and be rewarded for content, distribution is more effective, and fans have greater access to exclusive content and ownership opportunities in a thriving global anime and manga community. The four strategic launch partners are uniquely positioned to contribute to this vision: MyAnimeList and Animoca Brands Japan will leverage their strong industry networks and deep community engagement to attract talent and expertises from the traditional anime and manga industry; Animoca Brands and San FranTokyo will leverage their broad Web3 ecosystems and blockchain technologies and infrastructure to unlock new opportunities for fan engagement.
Working with Mocaverse, Anime Foundation will launch Anime ID to enable fans to claim their unique on-chain Anime IDs, which will allow them to explore, contribute, and curate their anime profiles and reputation, with more functionalities to be added over time. Thanks to the interoperable infrastructure SDK of the Account system behind Mocaverse's Realm Network, Anime ID will share the same single login as other Realm IDs, such as Moca ID, allowing community members to customize their unique digital identity domain names (example: david.anime).
Anime ID users will be able to access various Web3 experiences including GameFi, SocialFi, IP content, and more, all powered by the Moca Network, which includes Mocaverse partners as well as Animoca Brands and various Web3 projects from its large portfolio of investments. Anime ID users can also earn Realm Points, the semi-permissionless loyalty points of Moca ID, as they engage and contribute.
Management commentary
Yat Siu, the co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, commented: “We are thrilled to be a launch partner of Anime Foundation, which we envision as the spearhead to champion anime culture globally. Anime Foundation has strong potential to establish itself as a major universal network of on-chain identity, experiences and economies. Rather than focusing on just a few IPs or brands, the foundation will spur the development of a comprehensive and inclusive anime-verse, a Web3 powered ecosystem for on-chain anime and manga culture based on powerful network effects and digital property rights.”
Daisuke Iwase, the CEO of Animoca Brands Japan, commented: “We are excited to be a launch partner of Anime Foundation and support it from both a Web2 and Web3 angle via our industry networks. Animoca Brands Japan uses Web3 technology to enable better fan experiences for Japanese IPs and content, and our collaboration with Anime Foundation seeks to enrich the global anime community. Together, we look forward to creating remarkable anime content and fostering deeper connections with fans around the world.”
Atsushi Mizoguchi, the CEO of MyAnimeList, commented: “We are delighted to be one of the launch partners for Anime Foundation. The objectives of this project are manifold, but we are confident that all of them will support the future of Japanese content. Through the collaboration with Anime Foundation, MyAnimeList aims to distribute more manga titles worldwide and discover the next high-potential anime hits. We believe that this project will help to foster existing as well as new original works. We look forward to sharing more details with our community.”
David Taing, the CEO of San FranTokyo, commented: “Anime Foundation looks beyond the horizon of Web3. Our vision is to foster a vibrant ecosystem that transcends technological boundaries and empowers anime and manga culture worldwide. We also recognize the immense value of the traditional landscape – from the passionate creators who bring these stories to life, to the established publishers and distributors who facilitate global distribution, and to the fan community who show tremendous support for their favourite titles. Today, anime culture transcends the medium itself - our affinity for titles, characters, storytelling and the synergistic brands are what shape our identities.”
Kenneth Shek, Mocaverse Lead, commented: “We are excited to co-launch Anime ID with Anime Foundation as the first Realm Network partner. I believe Anime Foundation stands the best chance to onboard millions of Anime fans all over the world. Easy onboarding for anime fans and interoperability via Realm Network will supercharge the cross-pollination of users, culture and utility across the entire Moca Network. In the near future, Anime ID users can explore the world of gaming, sports, and more, while Moca ID users can be exposed to a vast network of anime applications and IPs.”
