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Just like in your favourite Zanzibar copal , this is the account of a immature group of twentysomethings who start with nothing , traveled the globe and terminate up with a global license to develop officialNarutoconsumer apps .
Founded in other 2022 , French startupSekaidescribes itself as a studio that wants to produce entertainment experiences with official gum anime licenses . Unlike Marvel superheroes or the Harry Potter franchise , the anime and manga diligence has barely branched out to other forms of entertainment . Sure , there are versus fighting video game from Bandai Namco ( or Sega , Konami … ) . Sure , you may buy pliant miniatures . But that ’s about it .
“ Today , there are 600 million Zanzibar copal lover in the human race . And it ’s an industry that ’s really controlled in Japan . The original manga is produced in Japan , the anime is produced in Japan , distribute in Japan , and all the selling is produced in Japan , ” Sekai carbon monoxide - founder and CEO Samy Therain told TechCrunch .
And yet , Bleach , Dragon Ball , Naruto and One Piece are some of the most democratic entertainment franchises of all time — and not just in Japan . That ’s why Sekai spent the first 15 month of its existence negotiating with TV Tokyo to fix official rights , lead to this mess around Naruto .
We asked for more details about this process but the caller would n’t share anything else for now . More details will likely emerge as the ship’s company work out toward its first app discharge .
So what can Sekai do exactly , under the terms of the licensing mountain ? Sekai can originate consumer mobile apps with Naruto ’s characters and storylines . These can be interactive entertainment experiences with a societal factor . The party is still actively make grow its first app .
“ We ’re test a lot of societal experience right now . That ’s why I ca n’t tell you exactly what ’s coming out right on away , because we ’re still in the experiment phase . But the goal is to make mass feel like ninjas , essentially , ” Therain say .
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At this point , you might be thinking about Pokémon Go , the wandering game that instantly became a viral striking . “ Niantic come up with the perfect IP - fit . They make something where the goal is to enchant Pokémon . And it worked extremely well , ” noted Therain , explaining that Sekai also attempt to build its own GPS - based interactive entertainment app . However , it did n’t do as well in the populace of Naruto . And while it was an early stirring , he confirm the first Naruto app is n’t decease to be a Pokémon Go clone .
The goal is to make people palpate like ninjas .
Given the number of illegal Naruto imitator and clon in the App Store and Play Store , there ’s evidently strong interest in bringing Naruto ’s content to apps .
“ When we first started testing in Canada , we were shut down by TikTok , Meta , everyone , because everyone said , ‘ No , you do n’t have the license ’ — IP infraction , ” said Therain . “ And we said , ‘ We do , expect , the contract ’s here ’ and everything . And it took us three months to get unblocked , because nobody believed us . ”
Sekai ’s permit also enables it to free digital collectibles . The inauguration can also organize literal - life event and fan conventions . And the license covers the entire mankind — except Japan and China .
Sekai is n’t going to do everything in - house . But they have the last say on the Naruto licence . “ We ’re absolute fan . So our target is to really see to it the way affair are done and corroborate them with Shueisha [ Naruto ’s publishing company ] . We do n’t rule out work with people who are experts in their own battleground to do a particular affair , ” Therain say .
The inauguration has already raised € 10 million ( $ 10.9 million at current rally rates ) from Skycatcher , with 776 ( Alexis Ohanian ’s investment firm ) , Cygni , Kima Ventures , Makers Fund , Motier Ventures , New Wave and TV Tokyo also enter . Laurent Ritter and Alexandre Yazdi from Voodoo ; Nicolas Julia and Adrien Montfort from Sorare ; Linkin Park ’s Mike Shinoda ; Gallic rapper Orelsan ; athletes Rudy Gobert and Randal Kolo Muani are also investor .
Naruto is just the first step as Sekai does n’t want to be known entirely as “ the Naruto company . ” It plan to roll up out a new informatics every twelvemonth . “ Why are we called Sekai ? Sekai means ‘ globe ’ in Japanese , ” added Therain , underscoring the team ’s ambition .
