This is the 25th edition of the VTuber News Round-Up, and we start this release by asking you guys: What if you could DATE a Hololive talent? You can’t date any one of them, but here’s a diagnosis tool that gives you a scenario. Here’s a sample:
We’ll do things differently and share curated topics from last week that you need to know the most. At the end of this release, there’s a tweet poll you can vote on. We look forward to your feedback.
What’s On This Week’s VTuber News Round-Up?
- Ugly and Bad: “Colorful Magic” Opens, Then Closes
- Events: Gamers Outreach’s VTuber Summer Slam with 395 Participants
- Merch & Music: Nijisanji Forms Vocal Powerhouse Nornis with Asahina Akane, Machita Chima and Inui Toko
- Interesting VTuber News: “VTuber’s Philosophy” Dissertation at Young Philosophers’ Forum This July
- Good VTuber News: Inugami Korone is Sonic VTuber Ambassador
Ugly and Bad: “Colorful Magic” Opens, Then Closes
There was this agency called Colorful Magic who got lots of attention from a lot of individuals, VTuber or not, on Twitter. Zeroblade understands that the group was recruiting people “for exposure”—22 hours after announcing their opening, they close shop. They then got back online to announce that they’re now going to have the industry’s first “AVTuber,” a claim demonstrated by several VTuber groups such as Emoechi, Pink Punk Pro and even THE Projekt Melody.
They didn’t stop there, as they posted an illustration alongside this announcement, only for the artist to call them out for stealing and using the artwork without permission. This group posted an apology afterwards, and the tweet with the stolen art’s been deleted.
Other Headlines
- Sun Kenji‘s assets are stolen, but the offending party claims he got scammed into using the stolen assets and is working on changing everything. The offending party already has a presence on multiple social media platforms prior to the call-out.
- Mito Entertainment affirms that they strictly abide by Twitch’s Terms of Service as they dismiss any allegation of its talents buying and using bots to gain an audience.
- UWU Media dispels the job postings they are being asked about, such as copywriting, talent management, and promoter roles for a paid-access website.
- Shylily reminds everyone that she is not on VRChat, then points everyone to her official social media links
- Enna Alouette asks fans not to post traced art after being notified.
- Etna Crimson takes a stream break and will return some time around August—but she did announce the opening of her second Twitter account dedicated to her lore, as well as a Tiktok account.
- V&U announced the stream break of twins Helen and Celine Etherna.
Events: Gamers Outreach’s VTuber Summer Slam with 395 Participants
Milestones are being made at this year’s VTuber Summer Slam. For 4 days, VTubers from 395 brands, individual and group, are raising funds for Gamers Outreach’s programs and activities. The for-purpose organization aims to “restore a sense of joy and normalcy in the lives of hospitalized kids.” The fundraising campaign ends tomorrow, June 26.
Ongoing and Upcoming Events
- PRISM Project talents share teasers – Pina Pengin tweets “July 2,” while Shiki Miyoshino and Nia Suzune tweets “June 26.”
- Everyone’s welcome to see VShojo‘s announcements live on their Anime Expo panel and on Twitch. The agency will also have its V-IRL experience scheduled across 4 days of the expo.
- VTubers from Sony Music’s VEE, PRISM Project and VERSE brands gather for a Gartic Phone collab.
Merch & Music: Nijisanji Forms Vocal Powerhouse Nornis with Asahina Akane, Machita Chima and Inui Toko
We were blindsided upon knowing that three of Nijisanji’s powerful vocalists, Asahina Akane of Selene Girls’ Academy Drama Club, Machita Chima who is known for singing Uru’s Freesia 100 times (!), and Sanbaka unit’s Inui Toko, have formed a trio named Nornis. their debut song Abyssal Zone is now up on YouTube with over 860,000 views as of this writing:
In an interview with Natalie, each of the vocalists share their comments: Chima affirms that they will do their best to deliver wonderful songs, Inui wonders what kind of work will be created in the future with this unknown combination, and Akane asks for everyone’s support as she does her best to deliver wonderful songs.
Other Music Releases
- Hakui Koyori‘s first song “WAO!!“
- “Cynical Night Plan” covered by Miori Celesta and Reina Sun
- ROF-MAO interviewed by Eplus website Spice (translated by QooApps)
- Luxiem‘s “Jazz on the Clock“
- Multiverse Monarch‘s Rise of the Monarch now on Spotify
- Touhou Circle Vocaloid Singing Marathon Collab featuring Yuuhei Satellite’s Marsha
- Multiverse Monarch and Calliope Mori‘s “Villain Vibes” MV
VTuber Merch Releases
- Indonesia publisher M&C teases Hololive collaboration
- Hololive’s Anime Expo Merch Lineup
- Calliope Mori‘s solo merch restocked
- Hololive Darts Set courtesy of Sega Sammy’s Darts Live
- Gawr Gura Birthday Merchandise
- Houshou Marine Nendoroid
- Nyatasha Nyanners Nendoroid
- Ironmouse Nendoroid
- Finana Ryugu Birthday Goods & Voice
- Open #PHVTuber Merch Booth at CONQuest
Interesting VTuber News: “VTuber’s Philosophy” Dissertation at Young Philosophers’ Forum This July
A dissertation on “VTuber’s Philosophy” will be presented at the Japan Forum for Young Philosophers on July 23-24. Hiroki Yamano, a PhD student at the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, noted that the social impact of VTubers, as well as talents belonging to Hololive and Nijisanji, has become remarkably large, and their activities have spread to society.
This study uses analytic philosophical methods with the aid of arguments from continental philosophy. The first peer-reviewed philosophy paper on VTubers will be published in Japan this August.
More Interesting VTuber News Stories
- Production Kawaii talents talk about their life in the agency to help prepare applicants for its third generation.
- BlazePose GHUM Holistic model predicts full-body and hand-joint rotations for 3D avatars, to be made available soon at mediapipe.dev.
- Take a look at this detachable Kureiji Ollie doll, demonstrated in action.
Good VTuber News: Inugami Korone is Sonic VTuber Ambassador
Fans of both Inugami Korone and Sonic the Hedgehog are having a field day as the doggo is now an ambassador for the game. Sporting a blue hedgehog makeover, she appeared at the Sonic Station live stream to stream and promote the Sonic Origins game collection, a remastered set of games available for PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox Series X/S and One, Nintendo Switch and the PC (via Steam and Epic Game Store).
It is also reported that Korone is set to dub a role in the Sonic the Hedgehog 2 movie. That’s not all, she will have a joint event with the SEGA Sound Team soon.
Good VTuber News This Week
- Hololive EN’s Myth recently gave us a lot to enjoy, with Gawr Gura and Amelia Watson doing an unarchived Karaoke stream, followed by a Pop Tarts Taste Test collab this time with Gura, Takanashi Kiara and Ninomae Ina’nis. We are just waiting for Calliope Mori to join the rest so that the Myth Off-Collab will be a reality.
- Hana Macchia returns to share stories, such as that time when she drank too much coffee that she got stomachache.
- Araka Luto returns after testing positive for COVID-19, and illustrator Shiina lives on after having a heart attack. Kureiji Ollie had an accident and was sent to the hospital, but she is all good now after getting discharged 2 days after.
Debuts, Milestones and Anniversaries
- Phase/ALiAS (Phase-Connect’s 2nd Generation) Debuts July 9 and 10
- Virtual Talent Academy releases 2nd generation roster
- Millie Parfait (300,000 YouTube subscribers)
- Luca Kaneshiro (600,000 YouTube subscribers)
- Lain Paterson (New Models)
- Yugo Asuma (400,000 Twitter followers)
- Utsugi Uyu (55,555 YouTube subsccribers)
- Selen Tatsuki (400,000 YouTube subscribers)
- Anya Melfissa (500,000 YouTube subscribers)
- Ike Eveland (600,000 YouTube subscribers)
- Kamiko Kana (Birthday)
- Miria (Acquiring quality audio equipment)
- VTubeStudio (2nd year anniversary)
We end this week’s VTuber News Round-Up with Astel Leda’s tribute to illustrator Lilly, who passed away June 11. Anya Melfissa attests to Lilly’s talent: “She was an amazing person to work with – very capable and talented with good work ethics – and I couldn’t ask for a better illustrator for my project.”
Thank you for reading the VTuber News Round-Up, and catch us next week.
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.
Featured Image: Gawr Gura (from her off-collab) © 2016 COVER Corp. / Inui Toko © ANYCOLOR Inc. / Inugami Korone © 2016 COVER Corp. © SEGA
Read the Previous Editions of the VTuber News Round-Up:
Week of May 22, 2022 · Week of May 29, 2022 · Week of June 5, 2022 · Week of June 12, 2022 · Archives
