I went through all the balanced, logical @azuki takes on the timeline and read every reply Z made across those threads. Most people skim the discourse and stay confined to their own assumptions. But, if you take the time to understand where Z’s head is at, the vision is clear. > Azuki is doubling down on its core strengths: art, storytelling, technology, world building, manga and the TCG. > Team isn’t ignoring collectors or the community. The reality is that resources are finite and with a national TCG launch approaching, execution on that front has to take priority right now. > There are still resources dedicated to Web3, community support, collector groups, and ongoing conversations with holders. The challenge isn’t caring it’s balancing priorities and accepting that not everything can be done at a high level simultaneously. > Not every Web3 project needs the same playbook. Different projects have different paths to winning. > The goal is to reach the masses, and also serve existing NFT collectors. Sustainably. > Manga and TCG are being prioritized because they’re scalable consumer products that can introduce millions of people to the brand. > Azuki was early on collector culture, but late on building IP formats that mainstream audiences can easily consume. So that’s where the work is going on. > NFTs alone are not a sustainable business model. The market is simply too small. > Royalties and NFT sales cannot support a large and long term IP company. > Even with enforced royalties, you still have low volume. No serious team can scale a real project on that as the primary biz model. > Comparing Azuki to luxury brands misses the point. Luxury brands sell desirable physical products repeatedly. NFTs are a niche market. > Azuki’s mission is to build a durable entertainment and IP company, all while optimising for short term, sustainably. > Community initiatives still matter, but resources have to be allocated based on current priorities. Z is active in every single Azuki GC for ~5 years now. > Collector focused initiatives aren’t being ignored forever, but right now manga and TCG take precedence. > Z openly acknowledges areas where Azuki is lacking and is comfortable making those tradeoffs because lacking areas will be also be developed in time. Per the priority. > Feedback is welcomed, but not every request can be executed immediately. (I feel @BobuBeanFarmer RFPs can come in here) > The long term vision is a decentralized brand that can survive beyond any NFT market cycles. > Success looks like people falling in love with the story and universe first, then discovering the NFTs and community later. The biggest takeaway for me: Z no longer thinks like the founder of a crypto project. He thinks like the founder of an IP company. Whether you agree with every decision or not, the vision is coherent, the priorities are clear and they’re building for a prosperous future. I know, I sometimes even I wish Azuki was operating with infinite resources, outside capital and unsustainable marketing budgets because they put out such great work. Part of me also wants to see that work come out everyday like light speed haha. But it’s not sustainable. Reality is Azuki is 100% community funded with no outside capital, has serious industry merit and is deeply product focussed with growing verticals TCG, Upcoming Manga, Studio Azuki and Anime.com. Pretty much ahead of 99.9% of the brands in terms of broader visibility, sustainable capital allocation via products, collabs and approach. and that is a very special thing in a space where initiatives die out daily. I know we will see Azuki on top again soon. Matter of time. TLDR: IKZ. TTP.

Presale boxes are arriving! Time to light up the timeline. Post your boxes and pulls on X and r/AzukiTCG and tag @azuki_tcg on Instagram.

UPDATE: Next week's Garden Gathering will feature a very special guest... You won't want to miss this.⛩️

Few things are better than watching someone discover the Garden for the first time. This week, I got to experience that with the owner of my local game store. He’d seen our community having a great time, but hadn’t played himself yet, so I asked him to run a few games at closing time. By the end of the first game, he said unprompted how fun it was, how easy it was to learn, and how it reminded him of Riftbound, OP, and Gundam, but without the frustrating parts. Then he mentioned he had a fashion background, so I told him about 424, PFW, Moser, Satoshi, and AMBUSH, and he was speechless. We took a break talked about the art, the animations, the dope shit and just how much of this world has been built and experienced by all of us over the years, and how it all connects through the game. As we kept playing, I started pointing out different pieces of the lore, the community, and the artists featured in the cards, and how our beloved characters’ stories are reflected in their abilities. Two games later, a card store owner who didn’t know Azuki had committed to running a weekly tournament, purchased half a dozen cases, and we started texting to talk more about Azuki. There’s a whole world of people ready to join us and love our story. Yesterday reminded me of that in a very real way. Thanks to the crew at Kaleido for the games, and s/o @SteveG60117 for pushing me to share this.

For those of you receiving your Gates Awakened presale orders, check out the comments from the r/ATCG subreddit. TL;DR: 10 iterations to get the cards just right.

Fire 🔥 Which element calls to you?

NYC Local, tomorrow at 6pm ET We're expecting a strong field, several new faces, and the first IRL matchups between Los Angeles and NYC rivals. Come learn. Come play. All are welcome. Register in the Azuki App.

Join the Azuki TCG subreddit: reddit.com/r/AzukiTCG

The Anime.​com Shop is live! 🛍️ Discover officially licensed merch from hundreds of anime. No more endless searching for authentic products. Find licensed figures, apparel, plushies, and collectibles all in one place, all shipping in the US. → anime.com/shop

We're putting real support behind the stores that run Azuki TCG. Here's what your shop can get. 🧵

Our friends @jfwong, @XellTweets, and @MINHxDYNASTY crack open their first box of Azuki TCG together! Thanks @ProjectCCG for hosting us. Watch the full video below!

My LGS is ready for launch day. If you want to see Gates Awakened at your local shop, now's the time to let them know. tcg.azuki.com/wholesale

Amazing timelapse

The next Garden Gathering is here. Wednesday, June 17 2:30 PM PT / 5:30 PM ET / 11:30 PM CET Join @dgtlemissions and @cornd0w0g, Head of Production for Azuki TCG, for the latest on the AZK-01 Gates Awakened U.S. launch on June 26, plus an AMA on TCG production, market trends, and bringing a card game to market.

Around here, everyone knows his name. Meet Zero.

Honored to create the victory artwork for Team Raizoku! ⛩ My first Azuki event artwork in a while. Thanks for the opportunity. Drawing 28 Azukis in one piece was a challenge, but I did my best to make everyone look cool. I'd love to draw more Azuki art in the future. ⚡

Passion drove me to draw her!⛩️❤️

everytime i open twitter: drama over anything and everything yall just gotta be happy and live ur best lives; stop fuming over things that 1 dont impact u and 2 u cant change hope yall have a good and happy weekend!!!

Azuki keeps shipping across every vertical, no matter the market cycle. Up, down, sideways. Whatever the case. At some point, you just have to respect it. Few.

I’ve never seen anything like this before. It’s more than just a card. it’s the love that Azuki wants to share with us. I love it. I love Azuki. ❤️ @Azuki @AzukiTCG @Zagabond @steamboy33