Azuki teases new anime series and artwork after failing with Elementals Mint.

Following the negative reception of Tuesday’s “Elementals” non-fungible token (NFT) mint, prominent NFT brand Azuki has acknowledged its mistakes and outlined its plans to revive its NFT ecosystem.

This week, Azuki released its latest NFT collection titled “Elementals” with a limited edition of 20,000, which sold out in just 15 minutes and generated $38 million in revenue. However, there was immediate backlash from collectors who encountered technical issues and a shortened minting window, preventing them from minting the NFTs. Shortly after, Azuki released artwork for the collection that was deemed virtually identical to the original collection, fueling rumors of dilution through increased supply. As a result, the floor price of the original Azuki collection dropped by 44% within hours.

Pseudonymous Azuki holder Arcanic shared details on Twitter about a private call between the Azuki team and its community. According to Arcanic, Azuki’s pseudonymous co-founder Zagabond and other core team members provided clarity on the next steps of the project.

“The team wanted to recreate the same feeling people experienced when browsing through the original Azuki collection. ‘Give them more of what they love.’ That was their intention, but they missed the mark here,” Arcanic wrote in a tweet.

• Lacoste expands NFT ecosystem with new rewards.
• The Azuki ‘Elementals’ Mint Mishap exposes the NFT market’s fragility.
• Free-to-Mint Soulbound NFT tracks Web3 work history.

The Azuki team announced plans to update the artwork of the Elementals collection to differentiate it further from the original collection. Arcanic also shared leaked artwork by Arnold Tsang, the co-creator of Azuki, featuring different backgrounds.

Azuki had previously hinted at working on an anime series featuring its character universe. During the community call, the Azuki team expanded on these plans, stating that the show would consist of self-funded animated shorts incorporating Web3 technologies. The team mentioned that the recently airdropped Green Bean tokens would also play a role in the series.

“Imagine watching an anime, and afterwards you can interact with an NPC in the anime, whether through Twitter or a web app, and the NPC can issue you tokens with which you can interact,” said Zagabond during the call.

Azuki is also exploring other ways to reward its holders, including recognizing “collector status” for long-term holders and those who own tokens with rare traits, according to Arcanic.

Arcanic expressed frustration with the Elementals mint and artwork reveal but remains optimistic about Azuki’s future and its ability to learn from its mistakes.

“The team has proven to be extremely competent and passionate,” said Arcanic. “As long as they continue to prioritize their core community, I believe they can regain the trust of the broader community.”

As of now, the floor price of Azuki Elementals stands at 1.29 ETH, approximately $2,480, with a trading volume of around 11,930 ETH, or just under $23 million, according to OpenSea. The floor price of Azuki is currently around 8.19 ETH, approximately $15,775, with a trading volume of over 596,900 ETH, or over $1.1 billion.