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Origin Story
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The Little Devils
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Treading outside The Realm
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Escaping confinement with Nifty Slabs
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Exploring the Capsule Collection
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Capsule Collection Gallery & Behind the scenes
Origin Story - Let’s go back in time
In a distant universe, we witness a brave species called Yokai - folk known around the universe for their skills in battle, loyalty to the shogun, and their brothers and sisters in arms. The vibrant realm attracts plenty of travelers, merchants, and fortune seekers.
Around the end of September 2021, the idea of Akuma was created by Mateo and Bernard also known by the alias of the Gatekeeper.
The very first Yokai was born back in September 2021. The first sketch brought these brave warriors into this world. It created the baseline of where we are today. Every single Yokai is created by Mateo, artist, and co-founder of Akuma Origins. Being an art-based project, it is important to zoom in on the artwork that is featured in this collection - and truly appreciate the design, details, and story behind every character.
Each trait featured in our collection is designed by hand and carefully generated by a custom algorithm to make sure every single Yokai is completely unique. Mateo has been an artist for the biggest part of his life. This collection reflects his artistic career from origin up till now. Many traits reference his old work, taking great inspiration from pop culture, music, anime, and many of his peers!
Design is a crucial aspect of any creative project. It's the bridge that connects the idea in the mind of the creator to the physical world. In the case of Akuma Origins, the evolution of the designs was a fascinating journey that involved a lot of creativity and hard work.
These sketches served as the foundation for their larger project, Akuma Origins. The initial sketches were rough and lacked detail, but they provided us with a basic idea of what we wanted to create.
As the project progressed, the designs evolved quickly from sketch to concept. We began to refine and add details to the original sketches, creating more concrete and detailed designs. Then we experimented with different elements such as colors, shapes, and textures to give each character a unique look and feel.
A red line started to form in the development of the characters. This red line was a key theme that ran through each character, connecting them all in a cohesive manner, The Yokai were born. It gave the characters a common element that made them instantly recognizable as part of the Akuma Origins universe.
Ultimately, The Realm and its inhabitants were born and formed the baseline for the continuation of the project. Akuma World Wide Capsule collection is entirely based on The Yokai, The Little Devils, The Realm and ultimately Akuma’s Origin story.
The Little Devils - Feisty little creatures
The Little Devils are a feisty bunch of Yokai companions, who were airdropped across the Ethereum blockchain, to wreak havoc in The Realm. A tiny but fierce army of 6666 Devils were summoned by Dovah Priest to fight the corruption that spread in the place our Yokai call home. The majority of these Devils, being 5555, were be assigned to their respective Yokai - to aid them in battle. The remainder of the army, 1111 Devils to be precise, were be distributed amongst our partnering communities.
The Little Devils are an integral part of the Akuma Origins NFT universe, adding a unique and playful element to the overall story. These Yokai companions were created with a specific purpose in mind - to assist their respective Yokai in battling the corruption that had taken over The Realm. Despite some mixed reception during their initial release, The Little Devils remain a beloved addition to the Akuma Origins collection.
However, The Little Devils were met with a mixed reception. Launching this collection in the midst of a bear-market was not the best strategy. However, we learned from this release and moved on to the next part of our roadmap - Physicals.
Treading outside The Realm
Nifty Slabs
Our Yokai and Little Devils made their first steps outside the confinements of The Realm in the form of trading cards. With the help of Nifty Slabs we brought the Yokai and Little Devils alive. Nifty Slabs helped us physicalise Akuma’s digital collectibles into the real world. Bring your Yokai and Little Devil into the real world, with a 1-of-1 limited edition physical collectible. Print signature and card design by co-founder and artist, Mateo Almonte.
The recent release of custom Akuma Origins cards, in collaboration with Nifty Slabs was a huge success. The first 200 cards were claimed within 12 hours. We were thrilled to see how well it was received by our community. The level of engagement and enthusiasm we saw from the community was truly inspirational and it was rewarding to see our Yokai and Little Devils leave the confinements of The Realm for the first time.
A lot of effort was put into creating a card design that was visually appealing, and that captured the essence of the characters and themes they were based on. This is one of the things that we believe contributed to the success of our trading cards, the level of detail and care that went into the design. We also made sure to include a variety of different cards to appeal to sub-groups within our community.
Akuma Worldwide Capsule Collection
As talked about extensively above, in September 2021, the idea for Akuma Origins NFT was born from the minds of Mateo and Bernard, also known as the Gatekeeper. They created a Yokai NFT sketch, which served as the baseline for their larger project. This project, later to be named Akuma Origins, is now the foundation of the upcoming Akuma Worldwide Capsule Collection.
The Yokai are brought to life with a very complex algorithm combining well over 800 different traits, infusing each one with its own unique story and personality. The importance of design and details cannot be overstated, as these elements play a critical role in creating a visually appealing and cohesive collection and baseline for future endeavors.
However, the physical aspect of the brand was not without its challenges. While facing legal issues, discussed in this previous article, Mateo and the rest of the team were hard at work creating The Little Devils and building the foundation for the development of the physical items.
Our team quickly jumped into contacting suppliers overseas in the US and Asia to start sampling these designs and bring them to life. We chose foreign manufacturers for a plethora of reasons, but mainly because most of our community resides in the USA and Asia. Our journey started with an excess of motivation and drive to go from a concept to finished product.
However, we were quickly woken up from our dreams. The creation of clothing and physical items did not go without its challenges. Communications with suppliers overseas did not go as we expected. With multiple setbacks along the way, we finally got our first samples in, and we were extremely excited when we opened the box full of goodies.
The quality of the garments, prints, and embroidery was subpar, to say the least. After a long search, we thought we finally found the perfect supplier. This was not the case and our search continued. Luckily, the sneakers and skateboard samples were pretty good to start off with. Albeit, we shifted our focus and decided to search locally, instead of overseas. Our team has proud Belgian roots and we decided to search for the perfect clothing studio in Belgium. This appeared to be the right decision!
On our journey, we linked up with a young local entrepreneur, who gained tremendous experience in the last three years, creating his own clothing brand called Buchan. We shared our ideas and quickly aligned our vision. Together with Buchan we designed the Akuma Skate Sneakers and some of the clothing pieces. With our combined effort, the Akuma Worldwide Capsule Collection became reality.
Today, we are beyond excited to be nearing the finish line. The machines are nearly finished with creating the items of the capsule collection, getting ready to be distributed to all the members of the community - Inside and outside The Realm!
We are happy to announce that Akuma Worldwide will be launching 8 very limited-edition items:
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Devils Long Sleeve -
Devil T-Shirt -
Akuma OG T-Shirt -
Akuma Pyro Pulse Hoodie -
Pyro T-Shirt -
Pyro Sweatshirt -
Devil Skate Sneakers -
Pyro Skateboard
All items are designed and made in Belgium (excluding the sneakers, designed in Belgium, and made in China). Each item in the collection has been carefully crafted with the highest quality materials and attention to detail, ensuring that you'll love wearing them for years to come.
We aim to release the capsule collection around mid-April, with items ready to ship. We are thrilled to announce that holding one or more Yokai will entitle Akuma Origins holders to receive benefits and first access to the capsule collection. More information about these benefits and how to claim them will be communicated right before the website goes live.
I’m beyond excited to share some behind-the-scenes footage with you today!
Behind The Scenes - Garments
When it comes to creating physical items, such as clothing and sneakers, the sampling process can be a lengthy and iterative one. It involved multiple rounds of revisions and adjustments, with each iteration getting closer to the final product.
The sampling process was very time consuming, but an essential part of ensuring that the final product is of the highest quality. During the process, we worked closely with Buchan and our partnering manufacturers to test and refine the design, materials, and overall construction.
Please find some behind-the-scenes footage below:
Behind The Scenes - Akuma Devil Sneaker
The Devil Sneakers combine style and function for skateboarders and sneaker enthusiasts alike. These lightweight sneakers feature a comfortable fit thanks to the extra padding and suede upper with leather panels.
A tongue zipper reveals a hidden pocket to stash away your contraband, while the set of three laces offers further personalization.
Akuma Rugged :)
If you made it this far, thank you so much for sticking with us and reading this article about the Akuma Worldwide Capsule Collection. We have something special, we’ve been teasing it for a long time.
A very very limited amount of Akuma Origins hand-made tufted rugs will be available for our holders!
Thank you for reading!
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