As a Virtual YouTuber, you can be basically anything—from angels to demons, cats to dogs, some even went as far as becoming food—and ideas are still everywhere. A new group from the Philippines, Mito Entertainment, has local mythical creatures in mind when they built their VTuber concept.
Let’s take a look at Mito’s Generation X—four virtual personalities with their own quirks: manananggal Mari Tesu, yaua Ixora Sada, bakunawa Eeya Mahalia and kapre Malik Jugo-Luntian.
Mari is based off the manananggal, a kind of mythical creature akin to a vampire with the ability to separate its upper and lower half of the body. Unlike her clan, she does not like blood and unborn children who are still inside their mothers’ wombs, something that her race eats to survive.
If there’s a distinct feature that Mari has, she’s into video games—probably too much. Despite getting toxic playing games, she’s well-loved by her friends for her airheadedness and childish behavior. Just don’t tease her too much.
In the current context, Mari’s name can be read as Marites, a name associated with ladies who are said to have their ears glued to what’s the talk of the town. Mari though, the way we saw her, is a panicky cinnamon roll who is opening up to her future audience.
Ixora exists as the only living one of her kind: A Yaua. In the Binisaya language, this means “demon,” but Ixora is described as a complete opposite—a gentle being who lives in the tranquility of the forests, giving food to children and playing with them once she gets the chance to do so.
She woke up from a slumber spanning centuries only to realize that her race disappeared. Even so, she lives in the moment, and all she wants is to enjoy life. Checking her Twitter feed, she might be familiar to anyone who spends their weekends at a posh location, sipping bubble tea with her broskis.
Just like Ixora, Eeya is the last of her exquisite, first-class bloodline of Bakunawa in human form. The Bakunawa race is figured as moon-eating serpent-like dragons in Philippine mythology. While she appears as a beautiful noble, commanding awe and respect upon her presence, she’s still a maiden who loves to have fun deep inside.
Just like Mari, she can be chaotic and brash when surrounded by friends and people close to her. Despite her mysterious past, she looks forward to focusing on the beautiful things in sight. The mother figure also loves eating moon(cakes) and can relate to those who treat coffee as water.
Tall, dark and handsome: That’s how Malik is looked up to, but he is remembered by most people as someone who has a fascination for women.
Malik likes charming every girl that captures his attention—ironically, he gets flustered when they flirt back, because as much as he likes teasing them, his experience in romance is sadly limited to initial flings. Aside from his happy-go-lucky personality, his quirky expressions and innate charm are what draws the ladies.
As a CEO of a tobacco company, a role he inherited from his father, the tall Kapre (tree giant) has to manage his business—but outside work, he’s into video games and worshipping thighs, making him a relatable, chill guy. On the other hand, his Twitter feed tells us that he tells jokes only uncles can whip out.
We also talked to the team at Mito to know their journey, just before their first set of talents debut this May.
Out of passion for VTubing and Philippine mythology, founders Buvvles and Pammy set up Mito this year to promote local talent. The group aims to support its talents in creating the type of content they envision and helping them reach their full potential.
AC: Are you catering to family-friendly audiences, or are there any chances that you can also cater to mature audiences?
Mito: Our main content such as live streams and videos will be mostly family-friendly! But maybe we’ll have something in store for mature audiences in the future!
We are also thinking about making a Patreon exclusive only for our audience/fans who want sneak peeks of our upcoming content, mature, and exclusive content; something of a “behind-the-scenes” perk for our supporters who love our talents.
AC: What would Mito’s choice of platform be?
Mito: Twitch for live streaming, Tiktok, and YouTube for shorts, VOD and clips. Our target is to have Mito’s Gen X debut in mid-April with the official dates and time to be announced very soon!
AC: Do you plan to collaborate with companies/brands, pop culture events, and/or other Virtual YouTubers?
Mito: Yes! We are open to collaborations in the near future! Though we would take into account when our talents are already comfortable and can manage collaborating with other VTubers aside from their gen-mates.
AC: Do talents have full autonomy on creativity?
Mito: To a certain degree, yes. As long as their content doesn’t break any rules, they’re pretty much free to do anything they want. Mito is very open and free with their talents; they often ask permission for the smallest things that we’d normally approve of!
AC: What should we look forward to Mito’s debut?
Mito: We do hope that everyone both in the local and international scene looks forward to our talent roster’s colorful personalities and all of the creative content & fun collaborations that will ensue!
Aside from streaming, Mito Entertainment has big plans for other types of projects like music videos, lore series, and maybe soon, short animations! We have a lot of projects planned and we do hope our community looks forward to what we have in store for the coming months.
Thank you to Mito Entertainment for sharing their time and giving us a glimpse of what’s to come. Know more about the group through their Twitter and Facebook pages.
Also read our previous feature stories:
Studio A.X. Plans to Work On and With VTubers in the Philippines
YashinLive Completes Generation Zero Roster
KoMETA Virtual Live Reveals Full VTuber Roster
Source: (Photo handouts) Mito Entertainment