Foot Locker and ASICS are putting on for all the anime lovers out there, debuting a collaborative “Welcome to the Dojo” pack with help from three influencers: actor Luka Sabbat, political lyricist Princess Nokia and ATL-bred rapper YFN Lucci.
The entire campaign is inspired by the Japanese heritage synonymous with ASICS in general, centered around a story about two dojos. With the rising sun dojo, inspiring fear in the hearts of all who hear its name, and the snake dojo, a special institution where only the most deserving samurai trains for the prestigious title, we are blessed with “The Snake and The Sun” series.
That’s where our three heroes come in.
Luka takes on the role of “Sneaker Samurai,” Princess Nokia becomes the deadly beauty “Kiku” and Lucci takes on the role as the hauntingly fresh “Ghost Samurai.” The five-part miniseries was created by BBDO and the illustration/animation studio Shotopop, and details the story of a samurai hero who, after entering the Dojo and respectfully taking off his ASICS TIGER GEL-LYTE kicks, has them stolen which leads to his journey to get the sneakers back.
As for the sneakers, the pack IRL includes the popular GEL-DIABLO and GEL-LYTE I silhouettes in a black and yellow color theme, which definitely brings to mind The Bride’s steez from Kill Bill and the original Bruce Lee “Dragon Suit” from Game of Death. Even if you don’t consider yourself to be an anime head, this is definitely one fire collection with a super creative rollout.
*Alexa, play “Kitana” off 1992 Deluxe.*
The ASICS “Welcome to the Dojo” set arrives this Thursday (August 24) at Foot Locker, Footaction and Champs Sports. Check out the trailer and episode 1 for the five-part The Sun and The Snake digital series above, and expect new episodes to premiere over the next few weeks on footlocker.com/thesunandthesnake. See the full lookbook below:
