Capsule House - the ‘Web3 Studio Ghibli’
Welcome to the Web3 Studio Ghibli. Capsule House is one of the most authentic projects out there with true artistry, long-term vision and brand value. Let’s go deep.
What is Capsule House?
Capsule House is an NFT project launched in September 2021.
The Capsule House umbrella includes a 10k profile picture collection, as well as lofi music NFTs and world class 1/1 art.
Go to Capsule House website.
View the collection on OpenSea.
Here’s a quick attempt to map the overall brand before we dive deeper.
In a break from the usual format, I'm going to start with the team.
After recent events in the NFT ecosystem, it's becoming increasingly important to establish credibility in the core team, so who's involved with Capsule House?
The Capsule House Team
To start with, it's probably the best and most authentic art team in the space.
Seerlight - artist
Kaejunni - artist
Oksami - music producer and developer
Lisa Pilette - CMO
Seerlight
Seerlight is the 7th biggest-selling artist on SuperRare with several six-figure sales.
Personally this is my favourite art in the entire NFT space. I could get lost in it for days.
He is one of the most established and authentic artists out there.
Kaejunni
Kaejunni is another established artist on Foundation and SuperRare.
The detail and intricacy of the Capsule House characters is way beyond most PFP projects.
Together Seerlight and Kaejunni are probably the best art team in NFTs.
As for the rest of the team, Oksami is a music producer and developer who also worked on Lives of Asuna.
Lisa Pilette is the chief marketing office. She was previously SVP Marketing at Lacoste, CMO at Casper and held exec positions at Ralph Lauren.
With the team established, let's take a closer look at the project itself.
The Capsule House NFT Collection
Species
At the highest level, every character belongs to one of four species.
Human (3,150)
Demi-human (3,040)
Post-human (2,520)
Yokai (1,290)
Humans
Humans are the most common. The traits are based on human hobbies or fictional characters such as:
Boxer
Student
Model
Cat Cosplayer
Axe Warden
Hammer Paladin
Demi-humans
Demi-humans have hybrid characteristics with animals such as:
Crab
Shark
Ape
Bear
Cow
Snake
Wait, why the capsules?
Some species are still in capsules while others have ‘hatched’.
Why?
Seerlight and Kaejunni are hand-drawing every character… and that takes a long time.
Each species is hatching slowly so they can get it right.
It’s a refreshing approach in a space obsessed with fast growth-hacks.
Post humans
Post-humans have transformed themselves with technology or spirituality. The traits are based on sci-fi and cyber punk such as:
Hacker
Cthylla
Fire spirit
Ethereum cyborg
Sentinel
Yokai
The Yokai are the rarest. According to the lore, they were pushed into reclusion by the humans. The traits are based on Japanese monsters and folklore.
Kitsune
Oni
Onryo
Yuki-Onna
Tengu
Wanyudo
Other traits?
Purity - Some characters are ‘natural’ with cleaner illustrations while others are ‘augmented’ with lots of intricate traits and features.
Look for ‘mythic’ traits. These have animated features like halos, Kitsune masks and Nyen cats.
Zodiac Capsules
There’s also a separate collection of 10,000 Zodiac capsules that unlock new features.
Burn one Zodiac capsule and you can unlock six different backgrounds.
Burn a full set of 12 Zodiacs and you unlock an animated background.
What's next?
Hatching.
The demi-humans and post-humans will begin hatching this summer.
Check out this tweet about how Seerlight and Kaejunni are hand-drawing each one.
Capsule House District
The team is working on an entire Capsule House district in the Open Metaverse.
If you haven't heard about the Open Metaverse yet, you can check my tweet about it here.
Can you imagine 3D buildings and backdrops in the Seerlight style??
This is going to be incredible.
Secret Garden
The team is also working on generative music NFTs through the Secret Garden project.
You should check this out.
There’s a beat player on the website. Create your own lofi beat, own it as an NFT.
I can see this becoming a big part of the Capsule House lofi aesthetic.
1/1 Artwork
Capsule House regularly raffles 1/1 vintage Seerlight artwork to holders.
If you hold a Capsule House for 30 days, you’re eligible. Here's one of the recent ones.
Community curated collections
A core part of the Capsule House brand is supporting other artists and showcasing their work.
The curated collections allow Capsule House holders to mint amazing artwork by others.
The latest was this piece by Pondering.
More to come...
The team is also working on more initiatives:
A launch event at NYC NFT
Merchandise
Brand partnerships
Any downsides?
As always, I try to be objective and give a rounded analysis of every project.
Slow moving - Capsule House isn’t growth hacking its way to the top of the OpenSea charts like many others. It’s a long-term, thoughtful brand. You're playing the long game with this project.
Complexity - The traits, world-building and the artwork are rich and detailed. However, the market has favored simplicity in recent months.
These are not necessarily bad things. In fact, I think they are positives for long-term investors. Capsule House doesn't rely on hype, heavy trading volume or pumps.
It has a deep, long-term brand which is why I'm particularly interested in it.
Final thoughts
There are a small handful of artists that define web3 culture: XCopy, DeekayMotion, Tyler Hobbs, AlphaCenturai, Dangiuz.
... and Seerlight.
I believe the work by these artists will hold incredible value and cultural significance in the future. Capsule House offers a way to get exposure to Seerlight's artwork as well as the deeper Capsule House brand.
More importantly... we are at an inflection point in the crypto / NFT markets right now. It's not a good idea to buy hyped-up NFT collections with empty projects.
I am personally looking for high-quality art, dedicated teams, authenticity and long-term visions. Capsule House ticks most of the boxes, although I am fully prepared to play the (very) long game with this one.
Thanks for reading!
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