Ghost in the Shell is canon in the cyberpunk universe, a story that has fascinated and intrigued fans for decades. Now, it is coming to Web3 with its first official non-fungible token collection — and one that contains interesting burn dynamics and a narrative element.
Called “Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex,” the collection will feature 4,000 NFTs that will be sold between December 12th and December 15th. The allowlist price for the sale is 0.05 ETH or around $110 at current prices, with the public sale price not announced yet. 3rd Gear, a Web3 company based in Tokyo, is shepherding the collection with the blessing of Ghost in the Shell’s official production company.
Users who own an NFT from the collection can burn it for one of two NFTs: a Copy Cat NFT or a Ghost SBT. A Copy Cat NFT is part of a generative art collection that features characters from the series, along with quotes. A Ghost SBT has the famous quote from Motoko Kusanagi, the protagonist from Ghost in the Shell, “Just a whisper. I hear it in my ghost.”
Users can choose which type of NFT they want, and the choice is significant: 3rd Gear has a planned Discord game in which holding a Copy Cat NFT or a Ghost SBT will lead to different experiences. The company is billing this game as “The Laughing Man Incident,” based on an event that occurred in the Stand Alone Complex story. The game will debut on February 1st, 2024.
In the preview for the collection, the company writes that because this incident “occurs” in February, the incidents in the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex world are being brought into the present.
NFT Projects Draw Inspiration from Japan
Given that much of the NFT space focuses on art, and anime is a very popular form of art throughout much of the world, it may come as no surprise that NFT projects draw inspiration from anime and, on a broader scale, Japan. Here are three stories involving this connection, all from the past five months.
First, seven days ago, Dokyo, an NFT project in the Avalanche ecosystem, surged, with its trading volume rising 117% in one week. According to statistics from CryptoSlam, over 5,000 tokens changed hands with a near equal number of buyers and sellers. Dokyo focuses on disrupting boring businesses, with plans to take on the instant noodle industry first.
Next, four weeks ago, Cool Cats announced a partnership with Animoca Brands Japan and San FranTokyo to boost the collection’s brand-recognition throughout Japan and Asia. The partnership will see San FranTokyo, supporting narrative developments of Cool Cats characters like Chugs, Ardi, and Jo.
Lastly, five months ago, Azuki, a collection that has anime-inspired artwork, was set to launch its “Elementals” collection. The 20,000 token collection featured art from some of the top digital artists and was divided into four tiers: Earth, Lightning, Fire, and Water. There also was a bit of rarity involved.
As these stories show, Japan is a well-spring of inspiration for NFT projects, with them often drawing art and ideas from the island-nation. Rarity Sniper will pay attention for any developments in today’s story and update this article if needed.