Azuki Anime’s Spring Debut! First Episode of “Azuki: Enter The Garden” Premieres on YouTube
The renowned Japanese-style NFT project Azuki, which once enjoyed great success during the previous bull market, is now attempting to break through the crypto sphere and officially venture into the anime industry after weathering the ups and downs.
The first episode of the Azuki anime series, “Azuki: Enter The Garden,” titled “The Waiting Man,” was officially released on May 1st on YouTube and the official website. Although it’s only about 8 minutes long, the excellent animation team has delivered a quite satisfactory overall experience, even for those unfamiliar with the Azuki project background.
Extended Reading:
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Plot Summary of the First Azuki Anime Episode
Since the first episode of “Azuki: Enter The Garden” is not provided with Chinese subtitles (only Japanese audio and English subtitles), Crypto City will briefly introduce the plot and highlight the Easter eggs discovered by viewers.
The following content contains spoilers, so viewers with the ability are advised to watch the episode first before reading further.
There are two worlds in this world – “The Alley,” where we currently live, and “The Garden.” However, many people are unaware of the existence of The Garden, and only a select few chosen ones can enter it.
On a rainy night, a mysterious man named T.K. (voiced by Tomokazu Sugita) stands motionless next to a vending machine. After the rain clears, the camera showcases a cyberpunk-esque street scene with signs in various languages, including Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. In the bustling morning, workers in reflective uniforms approach the vending machine, which scans their irises and recommends an energy drink to replenish their energy.
Seeing the mysterious man by the vending machine, the worker curiously asks, “What are you doing here?” T.K. simply replies, “I’m waiting…”
After a while, the female protagonist HARU (voiced by Airi Ōtsu), with her twin pigtails, arrives on a skateboard and approaches the vending machine, intending to buy a drink. However, her coins accidentally roll into the sewer. T.K. then uses a mysterious fishing rod to retrieve the coins, with a fake frog on the line transforming into a real frog to grab the coins.
HARU tries to engage T.K. in conversation, but he remains elusive, still saying he is “waiting for someone.” Eventually, HARU hurries off to avoid being late.
Later, a serious traffic accident occurs on the street near the vending machine. The police, while searching for eyewitnesses, spot T.K. and try to question him, but he refuses to provide any personal information. The police scan his face, but the system shows no records for T.K.
After the police leave, HARU returns to the vending machine to buy a drink. She complains about being fired again from her job and dislikes the company’s strict rules, such as requiring her to wear a uniform properly, not have twin pigtails, and not ride a skateboard. The machine scans her iris and recommends an energy drink, but this time, she angrily punches the machine, and a red bean (Azuki) falls out instead of a drink.
Seeing the red bean, T.K.’s eyes light up, and he urges HARU to eat it. HARU hesitates, but just then, two police officers approach, mistaking her as an accomplice of T.K. Under pressure from the police, HARU listens to T.K. and eats the red bean. After doing so, her eyes suddenly turn red, and T.K. tells her he will take her to leave this world.
T.K. then summons a skateboard with his fishing rod, and he and HARU ride it, evading the police. The fire hydrants nearby suddenly burst, spraying water, and the two ride the waves into a torii gate-like portal, entering another world – “The Garden.”
T.K. then tells HARU that this is another world, and HARU responds, “Let’s go!”
The end credits reveal that the story concept for this episode was handled by Satoru Noda, the director of the One Piece film “One Piece Film: Red,” and the script was written by Taku Kishimoto, who was the series composition writer for Haikyuu!! Season 2. The episode director is Junichi Yamamoto, who was responsible for the storyboards of the openings and endings of Re:Zero Season 2.
Azuki Anime Episode 1 Easter Eggs
From the plot summary, it’s clear that the first episode of the Azuki anime mainly focuses on establishing the world-building, with the story not yet fully unfolding. However, diligent viewers have already discovered some Easter eggs, such as the appearance of Azuki NFT images and characters, as well as the logo of the “The Espresso Shot” brand on one of the vending machine drinks.
Additionally, the red bean (Azuki) that appears in the episode not only symbolizes the Azuki brand itself, but its appearance also suggests a connection to the Azuki extended project, BEANZ. Furthermore, HARU’s final line, “Let’s go!” corresponds to the Azuki community’s catchphrase, “IKZ.”
The Azuki team has revealed that the second episode, as well as subsequent episodes, are currently in production, but the release date for the second episode has not been disclosed. The team has previously shared that the “Azuki: Enter The Garden” anime series is planned to have a total of three episodes.
Moreover, the Azuki team has turned the first episode’s content and key visual poster into NFTs, which have been listed on the Zora platform. The episode NFT is priced at 0.006 ETH, while the poster NFT is priced at 0.003 ETH, and both have been minted by over 1,000 users so far.
This article is authorized for reprint from Crypto City.