Animoca Brands Japan, San FranTokyo by KLKTN, and Cool Cats Group LLC have teamed up to deepen their collaborative efforts to accelerate Cool Cats’ expansion into the Japanese and anime market.
Further to the strategic partnership, Animoca Brands Japan has purchased equity shares of Cool Cats Group LLC and SanFranTokyo has purchased non-fungible tokens (NFTs) of all three of Cool Cats collections from the secondary market, the trio said in a statement on Tuesday.
“This partnership is more than just about business growth. It’s about cultural exchange, understanding, and tapping into the essence of what makes Japan’s digital and artistic realm so globally appealing,
“Animoca Brands Japan together with San FranTokyo are excited to create more opportunities for the Cool Cats IP to grow,” said Daisuke Iwase, the Chief Executive Officer of Animoca Brands Japan.
The partnership highlights the global recognition and potential of Cool Cats. Some of the strategic initiatives set to launch under this collaboration are Cool Cats Manga, collection acquisition, brand expansion and integration with San FranTokyo.
Venturing into the heart of Japanese culture, the trio will collaboratively produce a Cool Cats manga one-shot or yomikiri (読み切り), merging the world of Cool Cats with Japan’s storied manga tradition, to be written an illustrated by a Japanese manga artist.
Meanwhile, San FranTokyo has acquired a number of Cool Cats, Shadow Wolves and SideKX NFTs for its treasury.
Along with building IP around Cool Cats’ main characters Blue, Chugs, Ardi, and Jo, these new additions provide important material to ensure any new stories told will honour the original source IP.
It is noted that efforts from Animoca Japan and San FranTokyo will focus on growing Cool Cats IP through various channels in Japan.
Furthermore, Animoca Brands Japan and San FranTokyo will help forge new relationships for Cool Cats with some of Japan’s most prominent organizations in entertainment and IP.
This will include pursuing initiatives ranging from traditional merchandising and licensing opportunities to collaborations with other officially licensed IPs, to creating Vtuber content with Cool Cats IP.
The trio also see exciting prospects lie ahead with plans to potentially weave the Cool Cats IP narrative into the city of San FranTokyo.
Initiatives encompass interactive efigurine drops, aligning marketing efforts with iconic Japanese IPs, and more.
“We are so excited for the new collaborative partnership to develop strategic new ways for Cool Cats to engage with and inspire new audiences in Japan and beyond,
“Community is in everything Cool Cats represents, so we want to be inclusive and welcoming to new fans all around the world,” said Cool Cats founder Clon.
David Taing (DT), Co-Founder of San FranTokyo and Co-Chief Operating Officer of KLKTN, said that the partnership with Cool Cats and Animoca Brands Japan is more than strategic, and it’s visionary.
“We’re converging worlds, styles, ideas, industries and technology to bring forth new levels of collaboration much needed in Web3,
“Our dedication to both Japanese and Web3 IP is unwavering, and together with Animoca Brands Japan, we’re forging a path that will continue to work tirelessly to move the needle forward for Web3,” he said.
According to the statement, Animoca Brands Japan, San FranTokyo, and Cool Cats view the strategic partnership as a fusion of cultures, ideas, and visions aiming to captivate and cater to both global and local audiences.
Founded in 2021, Animoca Brands Japan is the strategic subsidiary in Japan of Animoca Brands Corporation Limited, a global Web3 company.
Animoca Brands Japan was established to support the global Web3 strategies of Japanese intellectual property and content holders such as major publishers, brands, education, sports teams, athletes, artists, and game companies.
Animoca Brands Japan provides a platform that combines IPs with blockchain technology, and supports IP holders to build their own ecosystem through a full stack of Web3 services, providing a bridge between Japanese IPs and global fans.
Cool Cats is a global character brand built around its beloved lead character “Blue Cat”, created by artist Colin Egan in 2013.
Today, Cool Cats boasts a rich universe filled with captivating characters, comics, games, merchandise, and animations that are designed to deliver inclusive, impactful, and community-driven stories.
Recently, the company also announced a strategic investment from web3 giant Animoca Brands, as well as a strategic partnership with metaverse infrastructure and content company Futureverse.
San FranTokyo represents a decentralized city built on brand storytelling with key focus on licensed anime and Web3 IP.
Led by KLKTN, an Animoca Brands subsidiary, anime fans are joining the journey to build and experience how Web3 will redefine digi-physical collectibles, media, gaming, fashion as well as their own identities within anime culture.
In August 2023, San FranTokyo instantly minted out 2,000 unrevealed Genesis Passes. Opting for an application gated process, they received over 14,000 submissions.
The team manually reviewed all applications and the responses to anime related questions including MyAnimeList profiles requested as part of the process.
Because of this, San FranTokyo have built an incredibly strong foundation of true anime and manga fans within Web3 and with their upcoming VISIONS PFP collection.