Welcome back to this week’s VTuber News Round-Up. We’ve gone through a lot of events this past week: In Japan, Golden Week 2022 has concluded—and so is VTuber Fes Japan, a three-day live concert series with a star-studded guest lineup. We also passed Eid’l Fitr, marking the end of Ramadan. Moona Hoshinova greets everyone a happy Eid, and Etna Crimson apologizes on stream, which I understood is a part of this tradition.
Overseas, OffKai Expo has just concluded, bringing a show with another set of all-star personalities in the US VTuber scene. The first part of our coverage from our correspondent Monty is already published. Now let’s get started with VTuber News from the week that was.
Be wary of the content chat sends you—Thai VTuber Xenon from the VTOPIA group had his account terminated by YouTube. Hoku from Polygon Project explains this for the overseas audience:
As VTOPIA is appealing the channel’s termination, Hoku warns all VTubers to be extra careful and keep an eye out for inappropriate messages in the chat during the stream. Hololive’s Takane Lui may be facing a similar challenge as her viewers are automatically timed out on chat. Lui asked for an investigation into this matter and apologized to those affected.
One of Shirayuri Productions’ talents also had a terrible time, as she left the group and eventually Twitter. The agency states that the talent breached their Code of Conduct on two occasions, and they are taking steps to make sure this won’t occur again.
Going back to OffKai: Heads up to those who have been to OffKai Expo’s merch area for longer durations, as exhibitor, freelance artist and VTuber mama Suni tests positive. She’ll be taking a break from work for the rest of the week until she gets better. OffKai Expo echoed the alert in kind, asking attendees to get tested if they are experiencing symptoms or had longer interactions with her.
Speaking of health concerns, Nijisanji’s Ban Hada and MyHolo TV’s Lunaris Urufi had to rest their voices. Luna’s return is not yet decided, but Ban had to rest her throat for three months—her last upload shows she really, really needs that rest: “I’m not speaking like ASMR on purpose.” But still, she did stream for an hour, and is set to release a cover of flos in a few hours. Cheering for the best (and all the strength and rest) for you two.
On Stream Breaks, Siska Leontyne announces a one-month break, though she’ll do guerrilla streams whenever she can. On the opposite side of the world, Nina Kosaka apologizes for her radio silence due to real-life matters. Still in Nijisanji, Yugo Asuma had to replace a stream thumbnail photo as it is said to be traced artwork.
The actual main story in this category is the poor performances of some Live2D artists: Two groups, Xiang Yun Lou Studios (known by their handle @Live2dS) and No.24 Android Studio. Mikazuki Silvi recounts her experience with Xiang Yun Lou in detail, and we have yet to see a response from the latter.
Meanwhile, No.24 Android Studio released a statement on Twitter saying that they will give themselves enough time to improve their service. The majority of quote retweets do tell us they’ll have a difficult time regaining trust.
Also, in Bad VTuber News: CNBC reports that China’s broadcasting regulator set new rules to prohibit minors from tipping live streamers, and the rules also require platforms to prevent viewers from watching live streams after 10pm.
We tracked a few graduation announcements from last week, one of which is Melissa Kinrenka from Nijisanji who will graduate on May 31. In Indonesia, AOI ID’s Millie Adelaide has already graduated May 7.
We have yet to reach the second half of the year but CyberLive Corporation is already moving at a faster pace. Around eight weeks ago, Kaneko Lumi and Amaris Yuri “eloped” from the company to become indie VTubers, eventually finding their way to become Phase Invaders. A week after the talents exited CyberLive, they terminated their head of management for her lack of attention. On June, just a few days from now, the corporate VTuber agency will be rebranding itself as an indie group named Aetheria. Imagine, a whole VTuber company converts itself into an indie group—no one can top that. This has been a challenging year for them, and we understand that this move is made for the benefit of everyone there. We wish for a smooth transition.
At Cosplay Carnival 2022, we saw (and I bought) fan merch and some badge pins with photos of Hololive talents in it. The thing is, Hololive technically does not allow selling of fan merch:
“Please limit your creation of derivative works to a fan or hobby level. Do not use our content for business purposes (including, but not limited to, cases where a business bears the production costs, etc., even if it is under the name of an individual), or for purposes that can be deemed as for-profit.”
An excerpt from Hololive Derivative Works Guidelines (in English)
Does this mean that selling fan works with Hololive talents in it is not allowed? Unfortunately, yes. We also understood that giving fan merch to others complimentarily is OK. Comparing this with Nijisanji’s terms, they will evaluate if the merch is a fan work or a blatant copyright violation (Article 6, Section 2). Does this mean that Nijisanji has a more detailed description for fan works? I believe so—and Hololive may have to define their terms very well for the benefit of Hololive, its fan artists and fans alike.
Back to Hololive, they set up Holonometria, a data archive on the world of Hololive Alternative. It doesn’t include this important piece of data from the Hololive office though: That A-chan is taller than her kouhai Harusaki Nodoka by a few centimeters.
Notable translator and VTuber Kamishiro Taishi shared his translation of notable Live2D artist Kanbutsu Himono’s answer to a question about corporate VTuber models. Here’s an excerpt:
On lead time, it’s only natural that indie VTubers are far more flexible. An indie can go, “I want so-and-so to do my model, and I can wait as long as it takes,” but it would be a problem when an agency plans on releasing new outfits for multiple talents but one single person’s model is behind schedule. It can be said that a high-quality model for an indie is a unique masterpiece made in exchange for lead time and pricing.
An excerpt of Kanbutsu Himono’s answer, translated by Kamishiro Taishi
Here are the other links you should check out from this section:
Catch up on debut announcements and milestones from the VTuber community gathered from last week:
We saw Kaheru appear at the SM Mall of Asia globe on the way home, announcing her May 4 birthday stream. Prior to this, we already saw people during the con dressed up in what happens to be her newest merchandise line. Congratulations and Happy birthday, Kaheru!
Here’s another item that’s selling like hotcakes: ViteRamen’s Yuzu Shoyu in collaboration with Girl_DM. We checked the ViteRamen website and it says that the limited-edition flavor is sold out. As we searched Twitter for leads, we saw this thread from 2019. Another Girl_DM merch is the plush available for pre-order on Makeship, which is 305% funded with 610 plushies sold.
Last on the merch list is Nendoroid Kagura Nana, to be released this August.
In music, Kanae is now signed to Lantis, joining fellow Nijisanji member Kaede Higuchi. He will debut his first mini album “flores” on July 27. In the other side of the world, Ike Eveland sings a cover of Cepheid’s Chronos, which prompted Cepheid himself to comment this: “Slow the f* down / Hold on a minute / Ike Eveland’s singing / My Song Chronos? / POG.”
PlayAsia’s Obake Pam covers MAFIA, and MyHolo TV’s Liliana Vampaia sang 阿肆Super Idol in Bahasa Malaysia. PRISM Project’s Rita Kamishiro will mark Mental Health Awareness month by releasing a second original song (May 13), which will be followed by a charity stream for the benefit of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (May 14).
Nijisanji Fes 2022 now has a date and venue: October 1 to 2, 2022. With over a hundred Nijisanji livers from not only domestic but also overseas branches participating, this is said to be the biggest festival in the project’s history. In line with this, the 4th Anniversary Live concert FANTASIA, supposedly held last January, will now be held as Nijisanji Fes 2022 Night Stage on September 30 and October 1.
Here are the other VTuber News we captured in this segment:
We’re finally on the best part of this week’s VTuber News Round-Up. A major story we’re looking to is the rollout of YouTube’s Live Redirects feature, which is similar to Twitch raids, available to creators that have more than 1,000 subscribers and no Community Guideline strikes. You do need to adjust your settings in your YouTube account to make this happen.
In other Good VTuber News, Hoshino Charlotte is now part of a VTuber project called Duskward, joining Seiryu Komatsu, Shimada Tiger, Winter Sionnach, and Eve Vivig in building unique experiences with a common goal of expanding the VTubing medium.
In closing, we leave you with some moments from Japan’s DayDream 2022 itasha event, which awarded the best itasha to an Audi dressed in Hoshimachi Suisei’s livery. See you next week for another exciting round-up!
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!
Read the Previous Editions of the VTuber News Round-Up:
Week of April 24, 2022 · Week of April 17, 2022 · Week of April 10, 2022 · Week of April 3, 2022 · Archives
Featured Image: Nyatasha Nyanners © VShojo / Kaheru celebrating her birthday / Kanae from Nijisanji © ANYCOLOR, Inc.