HARVEST HALLCURATING AND SELLING “ON” CHAIN ARTDATE: AUGUST 30 - SEPTEMBER 15

Kaniza is known for her unique works resembling Showa-era anime, but she has no experience in the anime industry. She started posting her short-form anime on Instagram around two years ago; behind this move was her sharp insight into social media trends.

"As part of my work, I work behind the scenes for YouTube, so I studied videos posted on social media. During the process, I became interested in short videos and began wanting to post my own short videos as an experiment to test the knowledge I had gained."

While performing or speaking in front of people wasn't her forte, her art school background equipped her with drawing skills. She landed on creating videos with her illustrations in the form of short-form anime to utilize her knowledge. One can discern the influence of Ghibli in Kaniza's works, which she attributes to her inquisitive spirit in studying Ghibli films.

"I wanted to study how Ghibli captures the hearts of so many people. So, I first started posting Ghibli fan art in the form of short-form anime. They have so many scenes made with so much time, effort, and attention to detail. I was drawn to their commitment, so I studied animation by specializing in Ghibli."

Kaniza intentionally incorporates elements unique to anime from the era of cel animation.

"I try to emulate anime from the days of cel animation. Back then, cel animation was made by drawing on a transparent cel sheet and painting from the back. I hope I can create that effect with my work, even if it's just a bit, in the digital era."

As her words suggest, although she works in a digital environment—an illustration app on an iPad—she produces an analog atmosphere by recreating the slightly uneven lines characteristic of cel animation. Further, Kaniza says she does her best to avoid gradients that depict light and shadows, which are widely used in anime today, and instead creates a texture that represents cel animation-era paint that's been painted all over. She cultivated this technique by studying Ghibli, a key attribute of her animation process.

The catalyst for Kaniza to step into the world of “ON” CHAIN ART was her encounter with Harvest Hall.

Many NFT projects based on Japanese animation have recently gained popularity abroad. However, Japanese creators are seldom involved. Considering this situation, “ON” CHAIN ART was born from the strong desire to show the world bonafide creators of anime and illustration, of which Japan is a leader.

This is precisely why Kaniza's distinct style fits perfectly with this project's philosophy. Additionally, Kaniza had previously considered selling her work through “ON” CHAIN ART.

The number of NFTs Kaniza is selling for this drop has no limit, and they're sold in an open edition format, allowing each NFT to be sold at a relatively low price so that fans can purchase one easily.

"This work is based on five girl characters. There are shots from the chest up of each character, and the sequence has an effect where it's like you're swiping the screen. They transform along with various emojis. I tried not to make the viewer grow bored by making each character transform differently. One unique thing about this work is that the holder can use it freely. For example, they can take a screenshot of their favorite scene and use it as their profile photo on social media. One benefit is that because there are five characters, the holder can have five different ways to use this work."

In the world of “ON” CHAIN ART, artists and fans work together to create works by soliciting fan opinions and implementing a voting system within the online community. Kaniza focused on this way of creating, which is unique to “ON” CHAIN ART. She decided on one of the five characters based on the results of a survey she put out to her followers. Another unique part of this work is how she incorporated functions unique to “ON” CHAIN ARTs to create it.

Kaniza wants to use the profits from this project to continue creating anime. She says, "If I could monetize it, I want to hire staff and make a short anime film." She has her sights set on making anime on a bigger scale. Kaniza also wants to continue further pursuing the possibilities of “ON” CHAIN ART.

"If it's anime, I heard it's possible to sell each cut as “ON” CHAIN ART, like cel animation. It's appealing that there are many ways to sell your work."

It seems like Kaniza, who harnesses a new form of expression in the digital age, will only grow in popularity further. We at Harvest Hall will continue sharing forward-thinking experiences and a new cultural value of art with talented artists in Japan through the “ON” CHAIN ART project.