It’s not uncommon for a company to tease at an upcoming announcement in an attempt to hype us up before the big reveal. Shonen Jump did so yesterday in preparation for some sort of announcement today, promising something exciting on the horizon.
Soon you’ll be able to show your Shonen Jump love in a whole new way. Exciting announcement tomorrow! pic.twitter.com/bXKwJwDqtk
— Shonen Jump (@shonenjump) January 18, 2022
If this were any other timeline, fans would be speculating if it were One Piece related since the picture they used is of Luffy. One Piece did just celebrate its 1,000th episode last year, so it wouldn’t be too farfetched to think that this new way to show your love toward Shonen Jump would enlist the help of the Straw Hat Pirates.
Or maybe they just used Luffy because he’s popular and the announcement would be related to Shonen Jump itself.
Surprisingly (not really, because I had the same thought as everyone else) most of the assumptions about the announcement were sour because everyone jumped straight into thinking that Shonen Jump was gonna start releasing NFTs.
It’s gonna be NFTs isn’t it pic.twitter.com/0mVGgynIte
— Frick! (@HeroOfFricks) January 18, 2022
Don’t do you dare do NFTs pic.twitter.com/bRwdHYtzbv
— MENCHITO (@MenchTheUnknown) January 18, 2022
If this is NFTs I am cancelling my subscription.
— Jesse Betteridge (@jbetteridge) January 18, 2022
it’s gonna be a T-shirt or something right guys??
r-right? hahaha?? pic.twitter.com/mCKUROZcst
— 🌸 yazy (@bestgirlyazy) January 18, 2022
Just so you know if this is anything OTHER than NFTs that would be a brilliant marketing move
— Geoff Thew (@G0ffThew) January 18, 2022
Is it NFTs?
No.
It’s not NFTs 🙂
— Shonen Jump (@shonenjump) January 18, 2022
That response came a few hours after the initial post and, as we can see, it has a lot more likes than the announcement of the upcoming announcement. By over 50,000 – insert gif of Vegeta breaking his scouter.
Anime fans celebrated throughout the digital streets of Twitter. I’m not exaggerating, there were a LOT of sighs of relief, so many that I dare say this “not NFTs” news is gonna trump whatever the actual news is. If I were the Shonen Jump social media manager, I’d callback to this moment when saying what the real news is.
— Blick Winkel⁉️(H. Anthony Israel) (@blockwonkel) January 18, 2022
— Konnichibot (@konnichibot) January 19, 2022
Shonen Jump: “it’s not NFTs”
Everyone: pic.twitter.com/siYHT8kGzp— NegiKitsu | 🇵🇭🇺🇲/ENVtuber Predebut (@NegiKitsu) January 18, 2022
Shonen Jump beating the NFT allegations pic.twitter.com/9CAI53o26j
— Efren (@GsanchezEfren) January 18, 2022
oh
Ok then carry on pic.twitter.com/Ni6480xwqp
— 🌸 yazy (@bestgirlyazy) January 18, 2022
Shonen Jump went on to say how they had no idea why fans would even assume that was the news they’d be sharing (news that should be revealed later on today).
We’re not sure where that idea came from tbh 😂
— Shonen Jump (@shonenjump) January 18, 2022
Why did everyone think it was gonna be NFTs?
Honestly? Because more companies (and people) that hit close to the geek community are coming out in support of them.
At the beginning of the year, for example, Square Enix president Yosuke Matsuda came out in support of NFTs. Kickstarter announced future plans with NFTs back in December, and over the weekend, many voice actors took to social media to distance themselves from NFTs after Troy Baker made this tweet:
I’m partnering with @VoiceverseNFT to explore ways where together we might bring new tools to new creators to make new things, and allow everyone a chance to own & invest in the IP’s they create.
We all have a story to tell.
You can hate.
Or you can create.
What’ll it be? pic.twitter.com/cfDGi4q0AZ— Troy Baker (@TroyBakerVA) January 14, 2022
And followed it up with this thread:
I always want to be a part of the conversation, even if sometimes that finds me in the midst of a loud one. Appreciate y’all sharing your thoughts and giving me a lot to think about. I’m just a storyteller out here trying to tell my story to whomever will hear and…
— Troy Baker (@TroyBakerVA) January 14, 2022
This thread came after everyone dragged him for 1) getting into NFTs, 2) that “you can hate or you can create” comment, and 3) it was revealed that the company had stolen voice work it’d been using.
I’ve been informed that the aforementioned NFT vocal synthesis is actively attempting to appropriate my work for their own benefit.
After digging through the log files, I have evidence that some of the voices that they are taking credit for were indeed generated from my own site.— 15 (@fifteenai) January 14, 2022
The company actually admitted to doing it but has since deleted the tweets. However, as we all know, screencaps are forever, and Eurogamer has the whole story right over here.
According to Eurogamer, 15.ai is a popular non-commercial text-to-speech service that’s free to use. If you go to the creator’s Twitter account, their pinned tweet explicitly states that they have no interest in NFTs, so the theft in this case is a double dose of “the audacity.”
I have no interest in incorporating NFTs into any aspect of my work. Please stop asking.
— 15 (@fifteenai) December 13, 2021
I say all of this to explain why fans were so quick to believe that the Shonen Jump announcement would be NFTs. Lately, that is what geek-centric announcements have been from major brands or known names in the industry. The geek community is full of people who, frankly, continue to be harmed by the push of NFTs. While you’ll see many comment on the environmental damage, you’ll see just as many talk about the absurd amount of art theft that goes on with NFTs.
The situation with 15.ai is just one of many stories where creatives talk about their work being stolen and turned into an NFT.
So yeah, that’s why so many (myself included) saw the Shonen Jump tweet and prepared for another Square Enix moment, Kickstarter moment, Konami selling a Castlevania NFT for $26K moment (no, I’m not joking), Stan Lee moment (yes, really), just so many moments that inevitably lead to a collective eye roll of disappointment.
Brands, take note: when you tell us you’re gonna tell us something, be sure to note that it’s not NFT related. We need that extra sense of security right now.
(Image: Tove Jansson/Shonen Jump Twitter screencaps)
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