It’s Sunday already, and the VTuber News Round-Up returns with a list of the news that have happened last week. Around 15 weeks into doing this, we’ve seen the increasing quality of VTuber models, as well as the content being produced and churned out.
VShojo’s Veibae has successfully revealed her new model, complete with a model that has around 1,000 layers, 2 outfits, 56 toggles, and wide angles built in around 200 hours, costing US$15,000. This is just the price for the model rigging alone, excluding the model art and the production of her new lore video from Merryweather Media. This is a big-ticket transaction.
We understand that there’s always that challenge of bringing the best looks and content out there every week—and just like IRL YouTubers, some VTubers (plus model artists and riggers alike) are feeling the pressure. We start this week’s Round-Up with this in mind—now let’s get to the stuff we took note of.
Nijisanji EN may have found its success with its male groups, but a conflict is rising between fans, the talents and some of the guys. We first listen to Mysta Rias’ voice tweets about the livers he collaborates with. Mysta points out that some don’t mind him collaborating with Nina Kosaka, but react when it comes to him collaborating with Mika Melatika.
Mysta doesn’t like it when some fans make them feel bad about the fellows they hang out with while streaming. He does point out a miss for himself, as he apologizes for raiding Mika’s channel while his junior Sonny Brisko is having his birthday stream.
Meanwhile, an open letter is posted on Twitter, specifically addressed to Uki Violeta’s moderators. On this thread, the letter points out the issues regarding Uki’s streams, where the mods are said to be overactive in chat, making the chat environment uncomfortable, mods not following the rules set, and so on. Uki himself thanks everyone for the constructive feedback as he works things out internally.
Also, Merryweather reminds those who donate to streams not to do it with any expectation to get attention in direct messages after stream. A common VTuber rule for fans to follow is to not send them direct messages whether on Twitter or Discord.
Capping off, two VTubers have banned viewers who clipped their on-stream oopsies whether showing a non-TOS photo or their face by accident. Another common rule for everyone is to not make the VTuber feel uncomfortable.
When there’s pressure to deliver content, sometimes health concerns rise. Each time a VTuber faces a health concern, it’s either they have to take a rest for a few days, or for a week or two. Hololive’s Houshou Marine and Ookami Mio, plus indie VTuber Reiny test positive for COVID-19. Chef VTuber Onigiri has to take a break for a week to rest her throat. Rosemi Lovelock had to push back on her schedule to the next day. She later updated that her dizziness and nausea is caused by low blood pressure.
If it’s not the VTuber who’s sick, it’s their pets. Such is the case of Bao who didn’t make it to the latest Twitch Rivals stream as she is tending to her pets at the veterinary hospital. Later updates show that she’s back home and her pets are ok.
Here’s other news for this segment:
During the early days, The Asterisk War used Live2D for episode previews. I was so amazed with this because it was a rare sight to see back then. Next to Claudia is Uma Musume’s Gold Ship (and the limited-edition Pecorine—video’s deleted, sadly), who is also a guest for this year’s VTuber Fes Japan. This season, we are introduced to 3D Virtual Eiko from Ya Boy Kongming!
Face tracking technology is also evolving over time, as a new application called VBridger makes good use of iPhone’s ARKit blend shapes for use in Live2D models. A lot of VTubers are using it as you read this.
Meanwhile in Taiwan, there’s already a Tokino Sora bus and a Luca Kaneshiro bus, both prepared for their birthdays. In Hong Kong, Amane Kanata gets her own birthday billboard ad. Speaking of promotions, UPROAR is well-promoted in Shibuya, and Hololive VTubers get their fan sign appearances on All-Elite Wrestling.
Here are the latest stories and links on music, merchandise and events for you to look further:
Back to Hololive, Weiss Schwarz is set to release 7 Trial Decks featuring Hololive talents on April 29, the first in the trading card game’s history. This was announced during the Spring 2022 Bushiroad English Conference posted on YouTube. This is aside from the Bushiroad Online Global Store opening its doors for Hololive-related merch. The partnership between the two brands is going strong.
Hololive has a partnership with Shueisha where its talents recommend their top 3 manga titles. Nanashi Mumei recommended Tokyo Ghoul three times, while Airani Iofifteen recommends Sakamoto Days. Midnight Grand Orchestra of DJ Taku Inoue and Hoshimachi Suisei is soaring high on the lossless FLAC purchase charts at Mora. The duo recently released their first music video SOS under the said brand.
Hololive is also on the racetrack through their brand collaboration with Pacific Racing—Kei Cozzolino drives PACIFIC Hololive NAC Ferrari, car #9 on the 2022 Autobacs Super GT 300 Series. A supercut of the race can be viewed on YouTube.
In other news, the signature petition supporting Japanese VTuber Tojou Linka is marked a success. The petition was set up after the Chiba Prefectural Police removed Linka’s public service announcement video on September 10 last year. Linka’s character design is criticized by the Alliance of Feminist Representatives in a letter sent to the police, leading to the removal of the video.
Going local, Philippine VTubers are safe for now as the SIM Card Registration Bill is vetoed by the President. In a statement, the President noted that the social media inclusion in the bill needs a more thorough study. If the bill was passed, Filipinos VTuber or not will be required to register their personally identifiable information to telco providers. In turn, the telcos will turn over the information logged to a central server accessible by the government to help mitigate SMS scams and fraud.
Here are the other good VTuber news you need to know:
The last part of this week’s VTuber News Round-Up is dedicated to milestones, debut announcements and classified ads. Take a look!
At the end of the day, pressure is temporary. What’s important for all VTubers is to have fun and be assured that they have a place to build themselves, carve their own audience and grow together. Shirakami Fubuki did not hold back on tweeting about Finana Ryugu, which is pleasant to see given the tight competition we got. Moona Hoshinova helps Ouro Kronii improve her Minecraft bunker despite the former’s impressions. All VTubers have their own inspiration, some expressing it through a template spread over Twitter.
These stories tell us that no matter what we are doing, we should not break under pressure. Let’s take things one step at a time and continue to be inspired by our peers in the community. See you in the next week’s recap!
For your feedback and suggestions, email the section editor: jay.agonoy [at] animecorner [dot] me. Follow us on Twitter, @VTuberSection. You can also tag us with any activity you have, and the best ones will be included in the next VTuber News Round-Up. Catch you all next week!
Featured Image: Toujo Linka from VASE / HORI 07 from MyHolo TV / Uki Violeta of Nijisanji EN © ANYCOLOR Inc.
Read Previous News Round-Ups:
Week of April 3, 2022 · Week of March 27, 2022 · Archives