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rev-feaw · 9 months

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Vtubers and Their Unique Cycle of Derivative Works (the Mediaception)

an example of vtuber derivative work by.. me! HAHA

It's early 2020. The COVID was starting to emerge in Wuhan. I watched all of them from my flat screens, treated them just like an unknown being from another dimension that'd never break the 4th wall...

They broke it, the 4th wall.

As the virus was getting stronger, another being also started gaining success by diffusing two different worlds and dimensions, a unique phenomenon derived from stars-crossed destiny of the rise of digital life, pandemic, and weeb invasion: The Great Wave of Vtubers.

Vtubers was already gaining their recognition long before the pandemic. But it's not mainstream, they're like, only reachable when you've reached certain high stage on weeb level. I won't explain the history of vtubers here (just watch them on YouTube), I only want to highlight something interesting about their nature: the high dependency of community and derivative works.

Please note for this particular topic I'll only talk about corpo Vtubers (Hololive, Nijisanji, etc) with mostly HoloPro because that's where my rabbit hole is. Streamers that have L2D doesn't count here as they generally have different culture.

Now let's start! First, here's a clip that piqued my interest in this topic:

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It's a very obscure clip, and from Holostars at that, but the topic is very intriguing! I don't understand how this ended up on my recommendations but I'm glad it did, because I've been thinking about this ever since I know vtuber for the first time.

Secondly, here's a quote from Amelia Watson of Hololive EN, another line that gave me the "buzz" in my head.

(Source)

I'll start from her statement. People often said that Amelia Watson is a genius, and I never really look into it until I read her interview. Vtuber is a gray area between a fantastical character and a real person, such a simple yet defining line.

So in this statement, we have two subjects that define vtuber as one: a fantastical character and a real person. These are important because to me, the combination of both is what makes them dependent on their community. A vtuber can have the freedom of setting up their character like an anime protagonist with real-time interaction ability as they're real humans. In short, they're roleplaying, like a puppeteer, with the similar exposure of fictional characters you usually would simp on.

Then, where are the derivative works coming in? This is tied strongly to how vtubers are very dependent to their community. I’ll attach another video and give arguments about this topic based on that.

youtube

The video above was a pretty good intro about vtubers for normies, however it also seems like made by someone who doesn’t watch vtubers especially the first half (I mean come on, Hololive Gen0 =/= first gen!). The second half though, their view was interesting.

They presented a term known in pro-wrestling: “keyfabe”, a fake act to connect wrestler and viewer. They also compared that nature in vtuber community, and said something along “it’s more acceptable because they’re already fictional character and people just willing to accept all fakeness”.

I’d argue on that, maybe to some people including the video maker they feel that way. But to me and maybe some other, it’s an act, not “fake”, they’re not using their real self anyway. And connection between vtuber and viewer is more complex than “just” wrestler’s keyfabe and this is where the derivative works coming in.

To me, derivative works in vtuber community is a form of communication between vtuber and viewer, that can give similar and more impact than things like pro-wrestler’s keyfabe.

1. Vtubers and the hierarchy of media (as a subject or object)

This is how usually a media is consumed:Ok so I went for a mile and trying to deduct on how media works in vtuber community:

And this is where a vtuber character stands in that diagram if we only count their usual gaming/reaction streams:

Basically, a media born from a media, but with different kind of main subject. Well, actually the “vtuber” can fit in any part of the first main media cycle, like making the derivative works or doing reactions from the community but mostly their role is the user/player of the first main media.

Vtuber is an interesting “creature”, because they’re both the user (subject) and producer (object) of a media. I mean if you’re playing a game then you’re the game user, and the game is main media. If you’re making fanfic of your favorite character then that character is the main media and you’re making the derivative works. A vtuber has the ability to BOTH play games as user while their viewers can make fanfic out of them.

“But that’s just how every streamers are!!”

Yes but no, because a vtuber is a people-made character since the start. In corp like Hololive and Nijisanji, they’re already given form, name and lore. It’s up to them how to play that up. And one more specific thing: it’s anime. They’re born from anime culture which has it’s own characteristics. For easier imagery, imagine anime characters taken out from their story and became a streamer. Yes, that’s what’s vtubers are generally.

2. How does a vtuber survive?

I’ll summarize what Astel talked about in this section.

Generally, in that video there are three topics. First, about the vtuber as a person and character. Second, vtuber as a consumable. Third, vtubers as treasure trove.

a. Vtuber as a person and character

Vtubers in companies generally are variety streamers. They are watched by many people NOT because of what they play but because of who they are. Choosing games to play in their case is the same with building their personality, because in this media, games are the most effective way to introduce their self and personality to public.

Astel said there are two types of vtubers. First, the ‘NPC’ character. He said to treat this kind of vtuber as a fantasy being, a fictional character in which case the person behind it had to be less human and stay true in their given lore more. One of popular example about this trope is Hyakumantenbara Salome from Nijisanji. She managed to keep up her “Ojou-sama” image at front for almost every time.

Hyakumantenbara Salome, a sudden hit ever since her debut

Second, the ‘streamer’ kind. Astel said he belonged here with his long streams, thus more ‘humanity’ feelings attached. He said it’s a challenge to keep viewers and add new viewers. Doing Youtube shorts can make better exposures, but they don’t help much in general stream views. So what vtubers need to have is lasting impressions, something unique only to them.

b. Vtubers are consumables

Vtubers, unlike TV shows, can’t just be watched and done. Since they’re practically ‘born’ with lore but no plot, they have to create the plot themselves via their streams. However, they are still strongly attached to their lore especially regarding character design/model and such.

Astel gave an example about Aruran, a fellow Holostars Vtuber. Recently he had done a massive change on his model, from dandy ojiisan to a young man. It tied to his own “multiverse” lore, but some outsiders who didn’t very aware about his lore questioning that decision and some even gave him mean messages. That happened because the lack of “plot”, Astel assumed (well I’m the one who gave the term “plot” here though). The plot that made outsiders understand the lore.

The redesign of Arurandeisu (old left, new right) that sparked controversies

Then, what’s this “plot” he’s talking about? It’s the very derivative works we discussed earlier. The device that can be a good indicator of a vtuber’s success and how much of interaction they have with fans, also the main differentiating point between a vtuber and common streamers. Vtuber as in a corpo or vtubers with similar nature I mean, not a simply streamer with L2D.

Thus why Astel said “vtubers are consumables”, because the fans, especially creators, are “supposed” or “encouraged” to interpret their personalities and interactions with collab mates, resulting a brand new work. Shipping (u know, like, you think this character and that character looks cute together) also falls in this category, because Astel keeps saying “Derivative works are important, especially the ones with implied relationships.” (I think he wants to be shipped LOL).

One of popular example is Nijisanji’s ChroNoiR, consisted of their popular talents: Kuzuha and Kanae. The fan (derivative) works usually convey their bittersweet relationship between long-lived vampire and short-lived human, which was... pretty hard to be actually found on streams? Thanks to that interpretations, the fandom grew bigger and the vtubers gained more attention.

ChroNoiR tag on Pixiv. artwork

c. Vtubers as Treasure Trove

At last, Astel said vtubers are treasure trove. The vtubers work to provide "materials" for the fans, to imagine and to expand their work into more diverse works, to make better impression to even new viewers.

Since I watched a lot of Hololive and Holostars, which are basically “idols”, I can see that they adapted the usual real-life “idol persona” applied in idol/entertainment industry, where a person basically create a mask to show to public. This mask was even more apparent in virtual world, especially in Cover Corp (Hololive & Holostars company), where that person never even show their own face. This very mask is what they want their fans/viewers to interpret and exploit in some way, the treasure trove, the lore. The did gimmicks based on their “masks”, and provide a platform to let fans/viewers show their interpretations. The platform is usually on Twitter and using hastags.

Vtubers community generally encourage derivative works

3. The impact of derivative works

Derivative works are very impactful in vtubers community. Because as I’ve stated earlier, they’re living off of existing media to show their personality. Fanworks (I’ll refer derivative works as this from now) also existing media, if the vtuber still want to stream after a certain fanwork published.

Why I’m emphasizing this very much? Because look at these fanworks we got today:

A very popular derivative work, Holocure, that made its way to the vtubers' streams

Another very successful Hololive fangame that showed up on many streams: Idol Showdown

Yep! The “fanworks” is the “main media” now. Maybe if we take the earlier diagram it’ll look like this:

Notice the newest line on the bottom. They’re no longer just retweeting it like how they do to most fanworks, but able to stream it! Streaming is the main “job” of those vtubers, of course to see yourself interpreted then be able to treat it as equal with your usual media hits different.

This is the “mediaception” I’m talking about in the title. A media that only able to born thanks to derivative works, works of interpretations, of giving plot to existing characters that can be easily be the “main” media. Unlike when you made fanworks of anime, movies, etc which have little chance to affect the main media, unless if you do Fate series because everything is canon.

Those games born because of vtubers’ reactions when they play games and collabs. Then they reacted to their interpreted reactions. Such mediaception.

Of course, it had to start somewhere. As we saw in Ollie’s tweet earlier, “fanworks” that affect “main media” were already there, when the vtuber said they’ll use fanart as thumbnail/schedule picture. Something like this:

Anya Melfissa’s schedule

And stuff like these:

Kobo's reacting to her fandom's various derivative works on her anniversary

We can see the relationship between the Vtubers and fanworks there, but not very interactive, although very entertaining. IMO, those media are still count as fanworks/derivative and I think they’ll never be able to be the main media, because of vtuber’s nature itself. That’s not a bad thing, it just, I think the fangames like HoloCure and Idol Showdown are the last stage of derivative works, because they’re no longer derivative only, they’re really the media that’s played by the vtubers!! Maybe we can explain this like:

Those different kinds of fanworks also usually complete each other, like clips for the animation’s voice over, or text/fanfic as the base for fan art. And at last, in a game a lot of fanworks’ types are covered.

4. Keep it DERIVATIVE

Another section to emphasize why “fanwork” is very important.

You’re on big company, can create your own game if you want to, but why still dependent on fans??

That’s because there are some major differences between FAN works and OFFICIAL works. Well, these are just my own thoughts, so:

You have to pay to create official works

Official works can be altered as much as the company/vtuber pleased

Fanworks are usually made with purely interpretations. If a fanwork became big, maybe that’s how the vtuber actually is. So, the vtuber themselves are able to identify their shown personality better.

“Testing the water”, but for fans. The vtubers are usually able to commission the fanwork’s creator afterwards

Fanworks is there to show love, which is very obvious

Fancreators feel appreciated of their work and strive to make more

Fanworks can imply some relationships (at some length), when officially can’t since it's prone for riot

Lastly, the most important part: fanwork doesn’t have to follow the company’s rules. I’ll explain about this below.

The last part, fanworks are usually works to make fans enjoy. Vtubing can be a difficult thing to handle, as we can see how often graduations (retirements) and stuff happened. If the person behind the avatar did some messed up things, they even can be discharged forever and thus their name will be treated as non-exist by the company.

One of the most apparent case here is an item in HoloCure game that referenced a terminated vtuber: Uruha Rushia. She was terminated from Hololive forever because she broke the NDA some time ago. Her channel and contents and her character are all gone. However, her fans are still there, and they’re pleased to see Rushia is still living as a reference in HoloCure. Well, losing an oshi, especially vtuber is a hard thing, because the persona is gone forever. Here’s a good video about it:

youtube

And here’s the cutting board that took her as reference:

Cutting board, visualized from a certain running gag of Uruha Rushia, who’s already considered never exist in the company. This kind of thing wouldn’t be allowed if HoloCure was an official game. (x)

TL;DR: so fanworks can keep the memory of graduated vtubers alive. They maybe left the mask forever, and the company won’t involve themselves with them anymore, but the lingering memento is still there. This is very unique to vtuber culture, due how they blur the line between “anime” and a person. Maybe similar with when your favorite character is dead, but I think this is more painful and bittersweet.

5. The lighter the light, the darker the shadows

An anime character that can interact with you in real-time? No way! That sounds too good to be true... wait, it's true?? I can talk to my waifu/husbando for real now??

Welcome to the vtuber's worst nightmare: parasocial relationship. Since they're anime that can actually interact with people, while in the previous segment this acted as an advantage, this method also has its flaws... and one of the most popular case is parasocial relationships. I won't say much about this, just watch this video:

youtube

Yea I watched Nousagi’s videos A LOT lol

Then what’s the correlation with fanworks?

I think fanworks contributed something here. It depends on the community though, but maybe fanworks spice up some stuff. I created a comparison between an anime character and a vtuber here:

I think fanworks help to fill things in red box, because I guess if a vtuber given clear plot they’ll become more like a fictional character, as I said before in the beginning: they're roleplaying, like a puppeteer, with the similar exposure of fictional characters you usually would simp on. And when they became more like a NPC, like what Astel said in section 2, people maybe forgot that they’re human too, thus the parasocial happened worse because viewers treat human as the same with fictional character. Well, this is just my speculations. Maybe things are actually different.

So, I think that’s why sometimes vtubers and companies also regulate fanworks including shipping.

6. Conclusion

Derivative works are like symbiotic mutualism between vtubers and their creator fans. Personally I like this kind of interaction, and it’s so fresh. Here’s some pros and cons based on my opinion:

Pros:

Everything I wrote until point 4

Cons:

Can be a trigger for point 5

Very platform dependent. What will we do when twitter completely collapsed?! And don’t let me start with socmeds’ chaotic algorithms.

Sometimes can be demanding for the fans. Need a good understanding for each parties for proportional attention for fanworks and the creators.

In the end, I think this is one of top defining feature of vtuber culture. It helps blurring the line between fictional character and a person. Vtubing is a hard thing to keep it together. You need artist, modeler, hi-spec PC, money to buy games & the permissions, viewers, interactive community, sponsors, and so many more.

Personally I respect the ones who run vtubers company and still get it together, because on how complicated and how it looks “trivial” to many people. I wish a good luck for all vtubers talent out there that deserve it and thanks for reading.

My oshi?

I mostly follow HololiveID, but individually my favorite ones are: Ina and Kobo! Ina was my gateway to today’s vtuber (if we don’t count Kizuna AI), because her papa is a FGO illustrator LOL

7. Personal recommendations

If you’re curious about vtuber cultures and the fan, since it emerged from Japan I think read/watch some stuff about Japanese idols can help to understand more. Personally I understand it from Oshi no Ko (manga) and freaking FGO idol event 😂. There are a lot of media about Korean idols too, I found plenty of them in Webtoons.

Sorry for bad grammar and if there are misinformation. Once again...... thanks!

#damn did i just wrote a writing about vtuber until 00.33?!#is there anyone who read this HAHA #analysis - sort of probably #vtuber #hololive #nijisanji

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uh-e-rinnie · 2 years

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📌

Hi, I'm Rinnie. My preferred pronouns are They/Them but I'm honestly good with anything. FUB free. English / Cebuano / Tagalog is 👌

My art tag is: #rinart

My writing tag is: #rindoc

PLEASE DO NOT REPOST MY ART OR WORKS, even if you plan to give credits. Ask first, let me know.

This blog is dedicated to sanders sides but I may post other things I am interested in, occasionally.

twt: @/e_rinnie (Holostars/V-tubers Only, where I'm most active)

insta: @/an_e_rinnie (Holostars, Sanders Sides + Mixed)

ao3: tentative (separating it from my Holostars Ao3)

I recently rekindled my interest in Sanders Sides, and my fingers had been itching to draw for the series again. So here I am. This isn't my first time in the fandom and I'm relatively caught up with the series. I also plan on writing a bit in the future.

If you intend to follow me, please read below:

Note/s:

📌 I use a lot of sarcasm/sassiness when I speak, and I have a tendency to forget capitalization and punctuation when I'm ranting.

📌 I don't post nsfw here, but I may sometimes create art that have a darker vibe or theme.

📌 My stance on shipping remains the same for every fandom I am part of: I don't mind it, I just don't actively participate in it (I may on occasion), I don't have anything against it. If asked to draw or write for it, I will consider it. I don't like incest, pedophilia, you get the gist.

📌 If you notice me deleting text posts, rants or wips, that is my usual practice and you can observe it in most of my socials. I like to keep my accounts neat and clean so I tend to delete random posts of mine ever so often.

📌 DNI if you promote: Racism, Sexism, Exclusionism, Homophobia or Transphobia all the stuff that goes against basic human rights and decency.

📌 Sometimes I may approach a situation (usually through rants) with a lack of solid knowledge, usually it's just my opinion. I am open to learn and am interested in civil conversation regarding a topic. Anything hateful will be ignored.

📌 When I say no, or refuse something, it's final until I take it back or say otherwise.

#pinned

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xb-squaredx · 3 years

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Rise of the V-Tuber

As a platform, YouTube has gone through a variety of “eras,” wherein a particular trend catches on and defines the website for some time. In the early days, you had funny cat videos, then Let’s Plays of video games became rather popular, and now we seem to be deeply entrenched into a new era that has exploded in popularity as of late. If you’ve frequented the website at all in the past few months, it is almost inescapable. Cutesy, anime-styled avatars that play games, sing, chat with viewers, or even cook! What does it all mean? Where did they come from? Are they here to stay? Most importantly, how does one crawl out of the rabbit hole once they fall into it? All that and more will be revealed as we delve deep into the wacky, wholesome and sometimes worrying world of V-Tubers. (photo credit YuuGiJoou. Check her out on YouTube, Twitter or Twitch!)

THE ORIGIN

To begin properly, let’s define the subject. A “V-Tuber” is a “Virtual YouTuber,” someone who streams on YouTube (or any other streaming platform) using a digital avatar as a proxy. The streamer in question typically uses face-tracking software so that the avatar can emote (or at least attempt to emote) to match their own reactions as they provide entertainment for their audience. While it may seem as if V-Tubers are rather new, in doing research on the topic, you’d be surprised how far back things go.

For starters, the concept of a virtual celebrity has been around for a while, with one of the most notable efforts being Hatsune Miku, a Vocaloid voicebank program. Hatsune Miku is every bit as famous and beloved as a flesh-and-blood singer or entertainer despite being nothing but voice synthesizer software. Vocaloid got its start back in 2000, eventually being reworked into a commercial product in 2004, though it wasn’t until the programs started receiving anthropomorphic character designs that it took off, with Hatsune Miku’s own debut in 2007, and the rest is history.

Many will consider “Virtual Idol” Kizuna Ai as the true pioneer of what we call a V-Tuber today, making her debut in 2016, however one could make an argument that Ami Yamato, a 3D-animated vlogging channel debuting in 2013, beat her to the punch. Honorable mention of course goes to Any Malu, a Brazilian animated YouTube vlogger who debuted in 2015 and eventually gained her own show on Cartoon Network Brazil. While Ai may not be the first, she is undoubtedly considered to be the codifier that many later V-Tubers would follow. Ai’s entire shtick was being an AI program that wanted to connect with humans, playing games, singing or interacting with fans. Following her explosive popularity, it was clear that other companies would follow the model established by Ai, with their own spins on it of course.

Nijisanji, established in 2018, proved that this trend could be incredibly profitable, becoming trailblazers in their own right as they established various “branches” of their company in several countries with their own unique performers that could cater to a wider range of viewers. As of this writing, Nijisanji employs over 164 “Virtual Livers,” most of which come from their Japan branch, alongside their Korean, Chinese, Indian and Indonesian branches. Similarly, there is the Hololive corporation, which saw substantial growth throughout 2020 in particular. Established in 2016 originally as Cover Corporation, at first Hololive was the name of an app meant for use in 3D motion capture, though following Nijisanji’s success, Hololive was rebranded as a V-Tuber competitor and also features a variety of colorful characters spread across many different main branches. There is of course the Japanese branch, as well as Hololive Indonesia, the relatively new (and highly successful) Hololive English, a defunct Chinese branch and an all-male Holostar branch in Japan.

Other, smaller V-Tuber groups have sprung up alongside the corporate powerhouses, such as VOMS Project, established in March of 2020, as an independent trio of streamers, and more recently at the tail-end of 2020 with V-Shojo, featuring a group of Western streamers (who ironically mostly stick to Twitch). Outside of this of course are the countless independent streamers who utilize avatars for one reason or another across many different platforms. Even prominent Twitch streamers seem to be getting in on the act, such as Pokimane, though that one has not come without some backlash. So consider that a rough history of how V-Tubers got started in Japan but how did they gain a more global fanbase? Well, in a word…”memes.”

GOING INTERNATIONAL

I won’t deny there had to be at least SOME overseas fans who enjoyed watching V-Tubers before they became more well-known, but for many Western fans their introductions to V-Tubers in general typically came from viral videos taken from various streams that spread like wildfire, eventually getting people curious enough to check them out. For Kizuna Ai, her playthrough of Resident Evil 7 gained notoriety for her mimicking the cursing of the English-speaking player character, and for Hololive, arguably the first real Western breakthrough for the company came from a now infamous moment from Sakura Miko’s stream of Grand Theft Auto 5.

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Also from Hololive, Inugami Korone in particular had a variety of memes spread about her due to playthroughs from various games that even got acknowledged by the developers themselves. Her playthrough of DOOM 2016 resulted in a short-lived Easter egg implanted into DOOM Eternal, and her video on Banjo-Kazooie (and the animated Eekum Bokum fan video that spawned from that) got the attention of Rare, Xbox and even Grant Kirkhope, the composer for the original game.

Honestly, the real unsung heroes of sorts for V-Tuber popularity might just come from foreign fans that would clip and translate various moments from streams that helped to build an international audience. There are dozens of Twitter handles and YouTube channels that specialize in spreading these clips around and if you factor in the YouTube algorithm, once you see one video your feed will be flooded with similar videos. It is no surprise fans call getting into the fandom “falling into the rabbit hole.” When you look at the more popular members of Hololive, often the ones with various viral clips have the higher subscription counts. In the case of Aki Rosenthal, one of the older members, her sub count exploded after a fan translated a section from a then-recent stream in which she talked candidly about her less-than-stellar growth as well as the difficulties of standing out in general. While at one point having the lowest amount of subscribers (well below 200,000), in the months since that video her sub count has more than doubled going past 400,000. Sometimes the talent needs a little push.

Now, within Hololive itself, I think Kiryu Coco is also partially responsible for expanding the fanbase, being one of the few employed talents with the ability to speak English (likely a native speaker), she gained a large international fanbase as she would work to translate what she or other members were talking about on the fly, and later on established an ongoing series where she would directly engage with fans over websites like Reddit and “rate” the various memes they would send in. Coco also pushed for establishing what would become Hololive English, which has proven to be a gigantic success, each member of that branch blowing past more established talent’s subscriber counts, with Gawr Gura becoming the first Hololive V-Tuber to pass one million subscribers and just recently passed the two million mark. So yeah, V-Tubers are a big deal now but…what is about them that makes people want to watch them in the first place?

THE APPEAL

So, right off the bat, if we’re going to ask why someone would want to watch a V-Tuber I think it’s fair to ask that of virtually ANY internet personality. The reason why someone would watch Game Grumps or Pokimane or Jojo Siwa or whoever else is the same reason they’d watch Kizuna Ai or Inugami Korone or Ironmouse: they’re entertaining. I guess that seems like a bit of a cop-out answer, right? There MUST be a reason why V-Tubers have blown up in popularity over the last few years, so are there things that make these particular Internet entertainers stand out from the crowd?

Undoubtedly, the fact that these streamers are playing a character is a deviation from the norm, though the dedication to staying “in character” seems to vary from person to person, and over time many V-Tubers tend to open up and are far more genuine. At any rate, even the best actor out there can’t possibly make up various daily happenings or childhood stories for their characters on the fly, day after day, stream after stream. Still, I’d imagine the decision to use a proxy as opposed to their real self can be liberating, a mask they can wear to speak more freely or a role they can play up for entertainment. For the most part, I think the persona aspect is mostly harmless fun that makes the streamer seem more distinct; ask yourself which is more eye-catching: some normal human playing a game and occasionally cracking a joke, or a one-eyed pirate girl discussing her raunchy past? Or maybe you’d rather watch the grim reaper practice her raps? Even talent that don’t really play up their character much still often have interesting character designs; we have princesses, dragons, devils, robots and more. A little something for everyone!

youtube

Speaking a bit more personally, I find it interesting to watch streamers from an entirely different culture and how they interact with fans or engage with games. I find it funny when Inugami Korone or Sakura Miko plays more Western-oriented games like the DOOM series or Grand Theft Auto V respectively. Often times they’re blown away by the culture clash, or they view these games through a different lens since it’s so different from what they’re used to. In particular, those two are just genuine goofballs that are funny all on their own. More chat-focused streams are an interesting view into daily life in Japan, such as the stories Houshou Marine tells, though obviously a given V-Tuber’s viewpoint isn’t a metric you can apply to the whole country, but she’s still interesting to listen to. Takanashi Kiara is also notable for her multilingual skills, which has helped her bridge the gap a bit more between the various Hololive members through her Holotalk segments where she interviews other V-Tubers. Outside of Hololive, Amano Pikamee from VOMS Project is just a bundle of energy that’s fun to watch as she rages in Super Mario 64 or Super Mario Sunshine. Her tea-kettle laugh is also just kinda charming. The V-Shojo group stands out for being super vulgar compared to the more corporate V-Tubers and while I don’t watch them all that much, there’s still some fun chaos to be had. Still though, I think there’s one big elephant in the room that would also help explain V-Tubers catching on at this specific point in time: the pandemic. Streaming is one of the few jobs not really affected by the pandemic, and with people stuck inside, they’re more likely to scroll through YouTube or Twitter and find a funny clip and then…well, you know… It’s one bright spot in an otherwise dark time…but I’d be lying if I said it was all sunshine and rainbows.

THE DARK UNDERBELLY

The overall idea behind V-Tubers, at least in Japan, seems to be an extension of Idol Culture…and uh…if you know anything about Idol Culture in Japan, it is all kinds of scummy. Exploitative, filled to the brim with harmful rules and regulations and largely catering to some vary unsavory “fans,” I’ll make it no mystery that I find it incredibly distasteful. Look no further than what happened to Minegishi Minami from the idol group AKB48. To keep a long story short, the obsession with “purity” and being this idealized Japanese beauty means idols are effectively locked into their work, unable to discuss or in many cases partake in romantic relationships, as that would make them less “desirable” to their audience. This unfortunately does at times extend to V-Tubers.

Take Tokoyami Towa, who was suspended for some time and forced to make an apology video for…having some male voices briefly heard over Discord during an Apex Legend stream. She even lost a lot of subscribers and support from Japanese fans following this, though once learning of this, Western fans flocked to her as a show of support. Hololive has also dealt with a variety of issues coming from Chinese fans; though that’s a particular hornet’s nest I don’t want to delve into here too much. To sum it up, fans can get obsessive and toxic, which can lead to the talent being harassed. It is for this reason, it is generally agreed upon by fans to not delve too deep into the personal lives of the V-Tubers, for fear of being doxxed and the illusion being broken. These kinds of issues certainly bring up some interesting questions regarding how talent should be treated moving forward.

Are these V-Tubers characters or just alternate sides of real people? Where does the fantasy end and reality begin? Ultimately, the lines are somewhat blurred. Talent certainly brings some of their own personality into the performance, but they are forced to remain anonymous and as can be seen in the case of Kizuna Ai, they are not always in control of the character they’ve been given. Kizuna Ai’s initial actress was for a time replaced, and “clones” of the character with different voices and personalities started to spring up, likely as an attempt to compete with the likes of Nijisanji and Hololive. In cases where V-Tubers retire from the industry, or “graduate” as some call it, all of their hard work cultivating a fanbase might end up being for nothing as they were forced behind a proxy that isn’t truly themselves and I imagine it can be hard to start over again from square one. Never mind the attempts to step out of the shadow of your older work. Man, Perfect Blue was downright prophetic at times, huh?

I don’t want to dwell on the negatives too much though. It’s worth noting for one thing that Nijisanji seems relatively lax regarding how their talent operates, whereas it seems Hololive is the standout for adhering to the idol ideal, though considering how some of the talent acts (in particular Kiryu Coco), one has to wonder if they’re softening their stances a bit. Many V-Tubers generally talk about the positive aspects of the industry and being given the opportunity to reach people from all over the world. Shortly after Ina’s debut in Hololive English, she was actually brought to tears when told her art streams convinced people to get into (or back into) the hobby, which had been one of her goals for becoming a V-Tuber in the first place. Ironmouse, now a member of V-Shojo, has an immune system disorder that keeps her bedridden and forced to stay inside, so the opportunities afforded by this particular type of streaming has allowed her to reach out to others and as per her own words, has changed her life for the better. While there are definitely “fans” that go too far, corporate practices that are outdated, or harmful and a slew of potential unfortunate implications, ultimately I think most people out there are just looking for quality entertainment, and these digital proxies give these entertainers an outlet to connect with fans in a way that they might not have otherwise.

CONCLUSION

V-Tubers are in a bit of a boom at the moment, though I can’t imagine it’ll last forever. We’re quickly approaching market saturation and after a point, people can only follow so many streamers at once. Hell, as I was editing this up, it seems as if prominent YouTuber Pewdiepie is about to step into the ring, so who knows what kind of shake-up that could bring. The bubble will undoubtedly burst and what becomes of V-Tubers then is still up in the air. Or who knows, maybe V-Tubers will endure and replace all entertainment and we’re just watching the beginning of a cyberpunk dystopia. Stranger things have happened! Considering the world is still reeling from the effects of the pandemic, that should largely have an impact on the popularity of V-Tubers for some time to come, though as we emerge into a “new normal” in the world, it’ll be interesting to see how these entertainers continue to evolve. Now, I suppose there is one question I never quite went over before now, isn’t there? How does one escape the V-Tuber rabbit hole? Well, I’m sorry to say but there is no escape.

Enjoy your new home!

-B

#xb-squaredx #blog #vtuber #v-tuber #hololive #nijisanji #VOMS project #korone #sakura miko #pikamee #kizuna ai #youtube #twitch #v-shojo #ironmouse #houshou marine #eekum bokum

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peppopopopo · 2 years

Text

About the Aristo Pa fic:

> Please do keep in mind that this story is mostly (if not all) self indulgent, I will only update when I feel like it.

The characters here are from a V-tuber branch (Holostars).

> This is set in a world that I built by myself, I will be open to asks and questions, criticism is alright as long as it is polite. It takes the theme where its around the 1800′s along with aristocrats. I will also post small trivia’s about them.

> Topics I touch in said world might not be to your tastes, please do not hesitate to block me if you do not like it.

> There are OC (or OC’s) of mine that I will put there, whether it be one or more.

until_3_am ™ (do not redistribute or copy my work.)

Little trivia: Avian is a Genus where it’s basically just humans with wings (and to some extent, animalistic behaviour)

> I have no official knowledge (i.e research to the best I can do) so feel free to point out my mistakes through asks (kindly please)

Reblogs are very appreciated :D and feel free to drop by and ask me about things relating to this fic, or the world I am currently using as setting

Masterlist

1. Meeting

2 Business

3. Back and Forth

4. Last Batch

5. A Break

#writers on tumblr #writing #3 a.m's rules #Aristocrat AU #i run three accounts from three separate apps #but i am active here so feel free to drop by and ask about things #i hope you enjoy your stay

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miyus-mind · 2 years

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Dear past self

The future of me right now is having a dramatic life. It means that I'm living a life full of stories. For example, how my friends talk about their relationships with their partners or how my relatives ask if or when am I going to have a boyfriend. All I say “It will happen eventually when the time comes.”

The relationship is not the topic I want to talk about but the life I’m having right now is something that no one expected until 2 years ago. There is a virus called “Covid-19” which already happened for almost 2 years. Because of the pandemic, we all have to stay at home to attend our classes and work from home. From that, I learned a lot of things. I will only say 2 things that affect my life in these 2 years.

The first thing that I learn the I first had my Online Learning Classes is that I can’t get inspiration for my assignment. Even though we can get some inspiration from a website, I feel like it’s more effective if I go out and look around and get inspiration easily because I don’t think I can get any inspiration unless I experience them myself. That’s why I had a hard time doing my assignments for staying in a small space since the pandemic started. In order not to let my weakest stop me from continuing my studies, I asked my friends and advisor for some advice during the pandemic. I’m grateful they help me when I having a hard time.

Furthermore, I found something interesting on Youtube which is something called Vtuber as known as Virtual Youtuber. They are using an anime character like a 2D live model as themselves without showing their real face to stream things to entertain people and viewers. I found out it’s really entertaining and fun as if I am having interaction with an idol. The Vtubers I used to watch are Kanae and Kuzuha from Nijisanji and Astel from Holostar. They are all from Japan. Even though I don’t understand what they are talking about the first time I watch them, I start to understand a little by learning Japanese because of them. It’s fun to watch them and I learn a lot from them. Not just those, they also brighten up my mood and give me the strength to do my work and do what I like to do.

From those 2 things that happened during a pandemic, I learned my weakest at the same time strengthened me up mentally. I wonder what will I learn in the future. There is only one thing I want to say to my past self.

“Just enjoy what you want to do and feel like doing because you learn more from experience than just listening and reading. Life is much for fun and adventurous than you think.”

Don't you think so?

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suzdotranslation · 8 days

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[Lyrics Translation] Aragami Oga - Faker Faker

youtube

English Translation:

Words gathering like intertwining vines Trying to strangle me by the neck Looking for a way to sever everything So let's beat em’ all

Even if dark thoughts started crawling in The people-pleasers are still gathering Even crooked looks are a thing of beauty Or was it just someone’s preference

Well now, love-hate, delusion Be sure to savor it as you'd like

As we slowly Falling, Falling Into the deepest darkness of the night It’s like this body was just rotting fruits

A malice that Calls in, Calling Turn itself into ashes inside this hell This is all just one horrible dream after all A Fake rumination

A sweet talk that feels like a lie Quietly amused by the constant switch Deceiving one with such petty tricks Why don't we let it go

Even those piled-up logic of yours It has formed into an absurd fairy-tales Even if happiness is formed by different means Nobody would notice it

Ah, today too is another free-for-all Now that's one splendid idea

It's a rather Noisy, Noisy night As the warning keeps ringing on Not even it could grant you a satisfactory end

That's why we should Take it, Take it And let the masses in No reason to think about it This is a neverending Raid

Crushed by a flawed justice Rowing this ark into the worst possible future

Falling Falling Into the deepest darkness of the night As the backlight slowly disappears Eaten by the void

A malice that Calls in, Calling Turn itself into ashes inside this hell If this is all just one horrible dream We can paint over it as if it’s never there To be a Grey-ish sin and punishment

This reality is just a Fake

Romaji Lyrics:

Karamiau kotoba ha tsuta no you ni Jibun de jibun no kubi wo shimeru Raku ni natte isso araizarai Buchimakeyouze

Dosuguroi shikou ga habikottemo Happoubijin-tachi ha muragaru Ibitsu na katachi ga kireida to Dareka no shumi de

Saa, aizou mousou Go katte ni meshiagare

Sonomama Falling Falling Yoru no soko made ochiteku dake Kono karada mo kusari kaketa kajitsu mitaida

Akui ga Calling Calling Jigoku no naka de hai ni nattate Douse subete ga usuyogoreta yume Hansuushiteru Fake

Odaterareta no ga uso no you ni Kyouzamete tenohira wo kaesu Kozaiku tsukatte damashi damashi Yarisugosouze

Uzutakaku tsumiageta ronri mo Koutoumukei na otogibanashi Shiranai hou ga shiawase dato Dare mo kizukanai

Aa, kyou mo bureikou Gorippa na shisouda ne

Konya ha Noisy Noisy Nariyamu koto nai keikoku sae Shitagattemo roku na saigo ni naranai kara

Aruiha Take it, Take it Uzoumuzou mo torikonde Kangaeru koto mo yameteshimaeba ii Mata kurikaesu Raid

Ikasama no seigi de kowareta Hakobune de saitei na mirai he kogidashite

Falling Falling Yoru no soko made ochiteku dake Kiekaketeta backlight mo Nomikomarete

Akui ga Calling Calling Jigoku no naka de hai ni nattate Douse subete ga usuyogoreta yume nara Mienai you ni nuritsubuseba kitto Tsumi mo batsu mo Grey

Genjitsu dake ga Fake

#type: lyrics #topic: holostars #topic: aragami oga #Youtube

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suzdotranslation · 7 months

Text

[Translation] Holostars Highschool Holography - Vol. 1 and Vol. 2

Requested by anonymous This translation served as means to preview the contents of the CD tracks, if you'd like to give it a listen while reading through the translation you can still buy the CD itself on holoshop (Vol.1 and Vol.2) or any physical animate store! The translation is hosted on my dreamwidth journal due to its massive length, you can find the masterlist link below. Have fun reading and let me know if there are any mistakes or if you'd like to leave feedback!

Highschool Holography Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 Masterlist Post

#topic: holostars #type: drama cd

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suzdotranslation · 3 months

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[Lyrics Translation] Flight!!! - Arurandeisu

Requested by anon

youtube

Revolution at sight.

"Sudden appearance!" No time to bust out a long rhyme Heart n’ soul fix a super flex, flex!!! Aim for one Shangri-la Life is one unpredictable plan d'oh

With my brozza, pizza n' cola We gotta fizz out, the people's envy 1+1 ain't that enormous "Who says I'm all phased out?"

Every sec a new job total chaos!?!? (Chaos) The more you do the more it sticks so scandalous Normie etiquette whazzat Ain't it more fun to do it all eyy!!!!!

I'm no old man, hold up man Passing people one fad oh fadeout With innovative beat surpassin' teens I improvise tis' life o mine real~~~

Sorry for the cringe guys Even armless I'm invincible You said that's impossible How's A and B holding up now!?

No more time to waste, waste! Not even class, age, or caste could hold me down!!!

"Only the optimist gets a spot on top" Welcome to my beat!?!?

Shubidubiduba Come n' gather around I'll take you on a joyful flight you've never seen before

Shubidubiduba But stay steady on Until we find your own flight to embark on

get down…(get down…..)

Just start dancing away and be yourself

get down…(get down…..)

Groove into the nightflyte

Dissociating so bad you went high One unpredictable urge A goal so noble Numerous songs up as one hard work goes by

Passing people like to say Your effort is just as effortless But these lyrics sure transcend language

“I'M MIZHAIS.”

This the start of one strange story Right here So beat it, beat it I'm comin' thru Future unknown! But things sure are funk (get down!)

Welcome to my beat!?!? No way to copycat This ain't a carbon But a legit flow and rhymes 3, 2, 1 to da service Welcome to my beat!?!?

Shubidubiduba Come n' gather around I'll take you on a joyful flight you've never seen before

Shubidubiduba But stay steady on Until we find your own flight to embark on

get down…(get down…..)

Just start dancing away and be yourself

get down…(get down…..)

Groove into our beat！ Welcome to my beat!?!?

Shubidubiduba Come n' gather around I'll take you on a joyful flight you've never seen before

Shubidubiduba But stay steady on Until we find your own flight to embark on

get down…(get down…..)

Just start dancing away and be yourself

get down…(get down…..)

Groove into our beat！

#topic: holostars #type: lyrics #topic: arurandeisu #Youtube

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suzdotranslation · 1 year

Text

[Translation] Kishido Temma 2023 Birthday Special: My Knight is Noisy!

Requested by anon

youtube

Notice:

This translation only covers the in-game texts of the game Temma had created for his birthday project, thus his commentary will be left untranslated. Please refer to the provided timestamp if you'd like to read the translation along with the VOD!

Because the length of this post, I have decided to cross-post it to my old dreamwidth account for easiness in editing. Please let me know if you spot any mistake and such!

Lastly, have fun reading!

Translation list:

Translation post - part I Translation post - part II Translation post - part III Translation post - part IV

#type: long story #topic: holostars #topic: kishido temma

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suzdotranslation · 4 months

Text

[Interview TL] Holostars 3rd Anniversary special long interview with 1st gen - Part Two

Source

The flagship raised together with the fans– What kinds of "future" that Hanasaki Miyabi, Kanade Izuru, Arurandeisu, and Rikka dreamed of? Male VTuber group "Holostars" 3rd-anniversary special interview (Part Two)

-The relationship within Holostars-

——Since everyone from the 1st generation is here, is there something you’d like to say to any Holostars members, especially on this occasion?

Arurandeisu: Ehh–! What should I say!?

Rikka: Something to say for the occasion huh...

Izuru: I do have something. At first, Miyabi was a very delicate and sensitive guy, so whenever I started pointing out something he did wrong he usually replied "I see..." with a bit of a dejected expression on him.

Miyabi: Oh yeah! (lol). It used to bother me a lot whenever someone did that to me.

Izuru: We're not that close at first, so doing that kinda stuff might've put extra pressure instead.

Miyabi: Basically yeah. Nowadays we treat it more like a regular banter though (lol).

Izuru: I often told him to go and lose some weight too nowadays–

Arurandeisu: Get a grip Miyabi-kun! You're going to make our juniors at UPROAR!! worried at this rate (lol).

Miyabi: I’m sorry–!!

Izuru: Nowadays we’re mostly chatting like regular friends easily, I think back then Miyabi once thought something along the lines of "engaging with him is no fun at all" when it comes to me (lol).

Miyabi: Ahahaha (lol).

——Ehh!?

Izuru: During our debut period, it was mostly filled with a drive to just do what we can to make this a success, but oftentimes it felt like we were just circling with no ends in sight. We then learned how to balance things eventually and nowadays, we pretty much have a clear goal in mind.

Rikka: Everyone was forcing themselves a lot that we had to take a step back in the end.

Arurandeisu: Was that (lifestyle) too harsh perhaps? (lol)

Rikka: Not really, but it's more like– you guys shouldn't force yourself that bad! kind of thing.

Izuru: That's right. Back then it was pretty much forced, whether it was someone trying to crack a joke or saying something that could be relatable... But now, we can just chat normally.

Miyabi: Yeah. We finally got to know each other well now.

Izuru: We also understand everyone's limit, just look at how much Aru-san is laughing nowadays compared to then.

Arurandeisu: I heard stuff like that a lot (lol).

Rikka: We didn't have that many group collab back then too and it made me worried about our legality as a "group" on its own. But thanks to the meet-up on that day (December 2022), it made me realize just how important it is to meet everyone else properly before anything else.

Miyabi/Arurandeisu: True that!

Izuru: There's a lot of things you'll find out by meeting them directly after all.

Arurandeisu: Huh? Now that you mentioned it Izuru-kun, you kept saying how you didn't want to go to the interview before, was it?

Izuru: (laughs)

Arurandeisu: While you were eating you kept going like "It's fine if I don't go, right". By the way, I only said this now precisely because it's the only right time for it.

——I guess it is true in a way (lol).

Izuru: It's harder if I have to come up with an excuse after all... Recently I just did most of my work while grumbling at the side too (lol).

Rikka: I understand how that feels though… Going outside feels like a bother sometimes. There's stuff to prepare beforehand and those are just as important so we can't just ignore it.

——I guess that's right. It should be fine if we take precautions, otherwise things could get awry easily. Sometimes it would even kill your motivation.

Arurandeisu: That's true.

Izuru: Now that I recall, recently Miyabi kept saying stuff like "Glad I didn’t quit~" on every occasion he could.

Arurandeisu: Oh yeah! What's up with that?

Miyabi: That's how I truly felt after all. I'm not sure if it's because I was anxious about something though… But everyone has been with me since then anyway, so I think it's time for me to stop saying that (lol).

Izuru: This kind of lifestyle somehow pushes you to do something when you're not resting up I feel. If it wasn’t for weekends and national holidays we wouldn’t even bother taking breaks either. That's why everyone looked like they were always busy during these 3 years, though to be precise– the first 1.5 years was the most crucial of all.

Miyabi: That may be it!

Izuru: That's why I think it is pretty amazing that we could last over 3 years.

——Now that you said it, there is some truth to it.

Arurandeisu: From that alone, it sure is good that we were able to have this kind of talk during our 3rd anniversary I think.

——After hearing everyone talking about their experiences, it seems like things have been in a much better situation now huh...

Izuru: Compared to the early years, I don't think anyone is trying to force themselves as much anymore.

Miyabi: It does feel much easier mentally speaking.

Rikka: Yeah. Having to stream a lot was quite troubling after all.

Izuru: Some streams nearly every day and some others do long-hour streams, having seen it all may have given us the much-needed experience. It almost feels like we've gone through trials and errors just to find "our" own streaming style.

Arurandeisu: After doing that, we managed to present a stream style that reflected each of our personalities.

Rikka: And one thing to note is that everyone moves at a different pace, in a way it makes for a good balance too I think.

Izuru: I also think it's good to have everyone move at a different pace altogether. Now that I remembered, I did tell Aru-san something like "I think it's better to move at a slower pace so don’t force yourself out" as well.

Arurandeisu: I remember that one!

Izuru: Because you’ll eventually tire yourself like that, Aru-san. Nowadays, he has managed to find his own pace thanks to that experience I think.

Arurandeisu: I'm really glad about that as well.

Izuru: In a way, it's nice that the 9 of us don't intervene with each other’s activity as much. We always gather around when we have to anyway, I think that itself sets off a good balance between ourselves.

Arurandeisu: In a way it's like respecting each other's solo activity huh...

Izuru: Not to make a comparison, but this kind of relationship that each Holostars members have toward each other is less common among others, I think.

Arurandeisu: I get what you mean. This is just my own opinion but I do think we're still getting along despite that.

Izuru: As more people join, having a clique formed inside it is mostly unavoidable. But for Holostars, it almost feels like there's no distance between us all.

Rikka: And I feel like everyone also has a soft spot. Like making sure we wouldn't stream over each other and such (lol)

Izuru: And even if we did, most would say stuff like "Sorry!!" and all (lol).

Miyabi: We casually chat with each other using emotes/stickers (on Discord) as well.

Arurandeisu: Though we don't appear as close on-screen, we care about each other a lot off-screen, to be honest.

Izuru: That's the sentiment that applies to everyone right? The same goes for UPROAR!!'s members as well.

-First-hand experience at the 3rd-anniversary event!?-

——Let's move to the last topic of this interview, the 3rd-anniversary event! Regarding the event that will be held on June 26th, can you explain what kind of event would it be?

Rikka: It will mostly feature 3D variety entertainment which will be a different experience compared to our previous events. To be honest, we rarely do this kind of event, to say the least.

Miyabi: You're right, we rarely do something similar.

Izuru: I guess being able to meet everyone in a "venue" almost "directly" would excite most people. Since the situation around has started to lighten up as well, it would be nice if this type of event could become something of a main among others.

Miyabi: It's always nice to be able to meet our fans be it on-site or stream after all.

Rikka: Besides meeting via an in-site venue, I think there's also a different kind of experience you can get through online meet-ups. Not only by watching, but we can also communicate through actions and other things.

Izuru: We'll be having in-site and livestream comment participation as well, so there are various ways to get the audience involved in the event.

Arurandeisu: That's right. Whether you were attending in person or watching through a live stream, all of us will be able to enjoy the events together! In a way, this event will be a joyful one for everyone involved!

Miyabi: Compared to our previous events, it's nice that we were able to have an event where our fans are actively "involved" in it.

Izuru: In a way, it will be our first-hand experience, right!?

——Ohh!

Arurandeisu: I hope everyone will be looking forward to it as much now.

-What does "Holostars" mean for everyone?-

——With the 3rd anniversary getting closer, if there's anyone who has something they like to challenge, a new goal, or perhaps a new dream– please let us know!

Miyabi: Maybe not exactly a "dream", but I’ve been uploading vlog-style videos recently, not a normal type of vlog but one that makes use of my VTuber self. For now, I hope I can keep doing something like this for a while. Also considering that Cover Corp. will surely continue to expand themselves, I'd like to attempt things that aren't done by many VTubers, starting with the 3rd anniversary, I'd like to challenge the limit of VTubers and try out many new things in the future.

——I've watched several of the videos already, and it almost feels like we're being taken on a trip together, it was a satisfying experience.

Miyabi: Thank you so much! I still have some videos to be uploaded soon, so I hope you can look forward to those as well.

Arurandeisu: You did go to a lot of places huh... Trying out new genres of activities is a pretty good dream to have.

Miyabi: I'd like to be the pioneer for a one-of-a-kind genre myself!

——How exciting. We will be looking forward to your future activities! How about Izuru-san?

Izuru: To be honest, I'm in the middle of tidying up some "stuff" right now...

All: Tidying up "stuff"!?

Izuru: It's probably not the kind that everyone initially thought about to be honest (lol).

——Please do elaborate!

Izuru: I was busy taking care of my moving process mostly. Personally, it would be nice if I could make content out of my outdoor activities I guess. Regarding my dream, I'd like to sing in a place where being a VTuber doesn’t matter much. I think it would also help more aspiring VTubers to appear in various media easily. Like doing anime theme songs and such.

Arurandeisu: Oh–!

Izuru: Also we rarely have TV broadcast appearances, so I thought I'd like to try it as well if possible. Lastly, I hope to continue my activity for as long as I can!

Arurandeisu: I share a similar dream with Izuru-kun, but since I like doing 3D streams I'd like to make a TV appearance while utilizing my 3D body. Izuru-kun would be focusing on the music side but as for me, I'd like to use my 3D appearance to go over the limit of the wide web through TV broadcasting. I feel like it would be nice if I could do my activities in a different and much bigger place possible.

——Maybe in the future, you will be the host of your own TV program perhaps...?

Arurandeisu: Talking about the bigger scale already!?

All: (laughs)

Arurandeisu: Though it would be nice if I have something like that in the future, for now, I'd like to focus on what's ahead as I try to broaden my reach and work myself toward that goal.

——It might be interesting to see what 3D Arurandeisu-san will come up with in the future! How about you, Rikka-san?

Rikka: Rather than prefacing myself as a "Vtuber" entity, I'd like to be known as someone who does music as normal people do. "This person makes music huh–", and "So this is what Holostars is about–" are among many comments I'd like to hear from people once Holostars are more known to the public, and I hope it will come to a point where it's more normalized to know about us.

Arurandeisu: How cool~!

Rikka: Once Holostars has spread its popularity, we can look back and go "We really done did it huh," to each other.

Izuru: You're right. It would be nice if Holostars became as popular as a known movie. Being able to be accepted widely for a long years must've been nice.

Rikka: I think everyone had the same thought, that is why we're all doing what we can now.

Miyabi: Yeah!

Arurandeisu: We're gonna get bigger soon surely~!!!

——That makes us excited to cheer for you guys as well...! Our last question is a big one but if it's alright… Please let us know what "Holostars" means for each of you.

Rikka: Wow it's like a contest of passion (lol).

Arurandeisu: So, you guys wanna say it together or–?

Miyabi: Sounds nice~!

Izuru: We'll say it in the count of three then?

Arurandeisu: Let's do that then. 1... 2... "What is Holostars to you?" and 3–!

All: (incomprehensible)!

Arurandeisu: Wait a minute, is everyone saying different things!? What did you say Miyabi?

Miyabi: Club activities!

(Everyone laughed together)

Arurandeisu: But why!?

Miyabi: I mean, it does feel like we're training to try reaching the national-scale competition together...

Izuru: That sure is Miyabi-like.

Rikka: For me, my answer is "family".

Izuru: Me too!

Arurandeisu: I said the same too!

Miyabi/Izuru: Absolutely not! It was "buddies"!

Arurandeisu: Ahhh~~~!

All: (laughs)

Izuru: For now, we have Miyabi with "club activities", me and Rikka's "family" and Arurandeisu's "Buddies".

Rikka: I guess we can sort the other two into "family" in a way.

Arurandeisu: We're like a group of people being bounded by an invisible string of bonds it seems.

——Thank you very much for your time, as a closing remark please tell us your message to everyone looking forward to the 3rd anniversary and those reading this article... Let's start from Hanasaki Miyabi-san!

Miyabi: Holostars will be hitting its 3rd year soon, but this is also where we will continue to grow even further. I believe we were able to do all these thanks to our listener's neverending support, and I hope even more people will check out Holostars from now on as well. Please watch over Holostars in the future too!

——Next, Kanade Izuru-san, please.

Izuru: Personally, this 3rd year also marked the 3rd start of my activity.

Arurandeisu: Whoa! How cool!

Rikka: That sounds nice!

Izuru: I would be happy if everyone continues to support us in the future, and I hope we can have fun together. We'll see you at the 3rd-anniversary event soon!

——And next, Arurandeisu-san if you would.

Arurandeisu: First off, thank you for inviting us to this opportunity.

Izuru: So serious!

Arurandeisu: I always am!

All: (laughs)

Arurandeisu: Everyone has their interpretation about what these 3 years meant for them, as for me– it's something that flashes by quickly. Within those times are numerous moments I've spent with fellow Holostars members, and alongside those who have been watching me over these past years, so it feels like these 3 years are something we all worked on together. I'm very thankful that we were able to hold this anniversary event during such important times. And during these years, I feel like Holostars had evolved much further as well. So to those who only start knowing about us or those who have been supporting us, I'd like to keep them excited for what's to come in the future.

For that, please keep supporting and watching over us from now on too! And to those going to the event, do look forward to it!

——Lastly, Rikka-san, please.

Rikka: Being happy about my fans' support is obvious, but whenever people say something like "I recently started supporting you!" it makes me really happy as well. I always welcome anyone to check us out anytime, and since you can catch us easily through streams or events, it's alright to watch us comfortably and casually as it makes me just as happy. I may say it like it’s an important thing but really, I'm not exaggerating or anything!

Miyabi/Izuru/Arurandeisu: Ahahaha (lol).

Rikka: "So there are streamers like this too huh, maybe I'll check them out", even things like that are just as valid. Trust me. And of course, I'll be doing my best so as not to bore our current fans too, so please look over us in the future too. With that said, let us meet at the 3rd-anniversary event and stream!

——Thank you very much, everyone!

#topic: holostars #type: interviews

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suzdotranslation · 5 months

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[Interview TL] Holostars 3rd Anniversary special long interview with 1st gen - Part One

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Their bond gradually deepens because of "That Reason"!?

A gathering of the 1st gen members: Hanasaki Miyabi, Kanade Izuru, Arurandeisu, and Rikka! Special interview to commemorate Holostars' 3rd anniversary (Part One)

In the first part of this interview, we will be talking about their activities in Holostars thus far, their strength, and their growth.

Enjoy reading this article until the very last, for every "Holostars Fans" and also for new people who want to know more about them!

–The gathering of the 1st generation of Holostars!–

──Since this might be the first time some of our readers hear about you, please introduce yourself as a start!

Miyabi: I'm Hanasaki Miyabi from Holostars' 1st generation! I mainly stream various games and chatting as well. My favorite game genre is MMORPG, I play a lot of online games. My favorite food is hamburger, but because of my diet, I recently started eating more broccoli. I usually do things that I want and like at my own pace, while doing my best in my idol activities!

Izuru: I'm Kanade Izuru from Holostars 1st generation. I like music and nature, as well as myself. For my current activities, my favorite ones are playing guitar and singing stream. Sometimes I played the piano and came up with different variations of the songs I sang. This might be self-proclaim at most, but I think among every VTubers around I have the most variations when it comes to song selection...

Arurandeisu: Is that so!?

Izuru: I think I sang around 600 songs already. Outside of streaming, I often sang whenever I was alone or when I went skinny dipping.

──Skinny dipping!?

Izuru: Yeah. Both of my outdoor and indoor hobbies are quite extreme.

I don't have a lot of friends due to my harsh personality, but after joining Holostars I managed to find people who could accept my personality and since I started enjoying my idol activities as well everyday has been really fun!

Arurandeisu: Whenever Izuru went to the sea, he often sends me some photos through LINE

Izuru: I thought he would understand my boyish impulses best, and since he seemed to be the type who took care of his body well and carries an outdoor aura similar to mine. I can just send him the photos as it is (lol).

Arurandeisu: I guess you're right, you did send a lot of interesting photos (lol)

──By the way, what kind of interesting photos Izuru-san has sent to you so far?

Arurandeisu: There was one where he was about to start diving into the sea, but since the winds were pretty strong it looked like a photo for a movie poster because of how "lively" it felt

Izuru: The one with me carrying a harpoon on my back huh–

Arurandeisu: Yeah! It gave me a "Heading to the war nau" feeling when I received it on LINE.

It was so cool.

Miyabi: What–! I wanna see it!

Arurandeisu: And the person who received such a cool photo is the one and only Arurandeisu, the genuine Italian Man of Holostars 1st generation. I don't go out pretty often but I love training my body so I like doing muscle training, recently I got really into DJing as well.

──Oh— What cool hobbies you have!

Arurandeisu: It feels like I'm able to have a lot of fun with every Holostars fan whenever I play and connect each Holostars song myself, so I think I did find quite a nice hobby.

──Do you also make your own song?

Arurandeisu: I originally liked rap music, But doing all the songwriting by myself is quite difficult to do... I did buy the necessary equipment and challenged myself once but it didn't turn out well (lol). Learning about songwriting from scratch requires a lot of calories as well, so it's quite impossible for me now. As I thought about how to approach rapping and its depth, I decided to become a DJ.

Other than that I also do gaming stream, chatting as well as various things. You would see me streaming over at YouTube pretty often, so some even referred to me as the "Streaming Monster" a lot (lol).

──Thank you very much. Next is Rikka-san, if you would.

Rikka: I'm the "Holoroid" of Holostars 1st generation, Rikka. A holoroid is an android made by Cover Corp. by cultivating various technologies they had. Similarly with Izuru, I often do guitar and singing streams, as well as making songs and doing various music-related projects.

Also, I have a program called "RiTunes Labo" where I invite VTubers and even non-VTubers guests for a chat and a duet session. It's a program that aims to give broader reach through music, so it is mainly aimed to be watched easily even for those who are not familiar with VTubers.

As for games I personally like those "death game" types of stuff, I also occasionally stream games that you can clear repeatedly as a way to pass time.

──This may seem out of nowhere, but there was a time when I participated in Rikka-san's viewer participation tetris stream. Everyone is really, really strong...

Rikka: Right! My viewers are truly strong there... I think the most amazing thing is that there's someone who joined the game and turned out to be one of the players who has reached the world ranking

Arurandeisu: Is that for real!?

Rikka: That sure was a hellish time... Tetris players are truly fearsome people. Anyway, I often do live sessions during my anniversary and do a lot of song covers so I would be happy if you could check me out starting with my music.

–The "real" start of Holostars began after a certain meetup in December 2020!?–

──This year will mark the 3rd year since the start of Holostars, how do you all feel about it?

Miyabi: I feel glad to be able to say this now, finally it has been 3 years since then. Personally, I felt like I've been a Holostars member for a longer period than that, though in reality, it's only been for 3 years instead.

Izuru: Right. I do feel that 3 years is a comparatively long period. At the same time, there's more stuff to do once we pass this 3rd year as well.

Arurandeisu: Now that you mentioned it, 3 years sure passed down rather quickly. I think as long we keep doing things that we enjoy, even a mere 6, 10, or even 15 years wouldn't feel that long for us

Izuru: Something like that yeah.

Arurandeisu: Yep. Just gonna let time pass by itself... (lol)

(Everyone started laughing)

Izuru: Sorry, we're just like this normally (lol).

──It's alright! Feel free to talk about any topics too...!

Arurandeisu: At least write only the good lines please (lol). How about you Rikka-kun?

Rikka: I'm not particularly the type who cares about how long I've been on this road, but I feel like the things I could do from 3D and various lives keep adding on as more time passes. The fact that we're able to hold this anniversary event is proof that we've received even more support this year, so I feel really thankful for it. For that, I'd like to continue doing my best for the next 4, 5th years and more so I wouldn't take this support for granted.

Izuru: How wonderful...!

Arurandeisu: Can you make it like I was the one who said that, please, and thank you.

──(laughs). Let's reminisce about everyone’s activities up until today this time, is there a moment that leave a strong impression so far?

Miyabi: That would be the 1st ACT (concert).

Izuru/Arurandeisu/Rikka: Yeah.

Miyabi: It's the one event where I truly felt I've done "everything" with everyone, from singing, dancing, and training. We've done a lot of solo stuff before but this was the first time that the 9 of us are working together for a big event, so we often practice together as well.

Rikka: It's the moment we feel the most "Idol" I think.

Arurandeisu: It's like doing club activities so it's quite fun. We often make plans like "Going to studio xx for practice this month and day".

Miyabi: Yeah true! After practicing for a few hours, we usually had dinner together as well.

Izuru: Rather than an adolescent complex, this feels more like a "Second Adolescent" moment instead.

Rikka: We don't have that much time to hang out once we reach adulthood after all.

Arurandeisu: That's right. Normally, we wouldn't be able to experience things like this.

Miyabi: Right... There's also a time when we're recording stuff at the studio, every moment is truly important.

Arurandeisu: Looking back, we sure did tons of stuff huh–

Izuru: Even within that one concert, there are lots of things we experienced so it's quite a big deal.

──So that concert must've been quite a special moment for all of you. How about from each of you personally, Are there any that leave a strong impression too?

Miyabi: Personally it was when I had an original song written by my favorite producer, 40mP. When I met him and received guidance directly, it really left a deep impression on me. Both of us were actually quite shy, so during our first meeting both of us were pretty nervous that it created an awkward situation instead (lol).

But even so, when I asked him for a handshake he was really kind and nice until the end. To have my favorite artist compose a song for me is already something I will remember deeply, and at the same time, it remains a precious memory for me.

Arurandeisu: It's been 2 years since then huh... I originally did demon-slaying and my idol activity was merely a side job. I then joined Holostars as a way to challenge myself and it was right when I changed my focus as an idol, that itself might’ve been the biggest turning point in my life so far.

After that, my activities got more varied as time passed, and I started taking singing and dancing lessons for live performances. I believe I managed to do all that because I've started to take myself more seriously as part of Holostars. Because of that turning point, I was able to give my 100% percent in this world, and I think that's how I managed to stand until now.

Izuru: (while sniffling on purpose) ...I see now.

Arurandeisu: Do you really have to put on a fake sobbing now!?

All: (laughs)

Arurandeisu: For me, that turning point itself is something that leaves a deep impression on me.

Rikka: I think it was quite a nice story.

Izuru: This might sound similar to Miyabi's answer, but I guess having a solo original song would really leave a deep impression on anyone. Before I joined Holostars... Right after I graduated middle high, I bought my guitar, and then immediately started doing street live although badly.

I tried conveying all those various memories into lyrics and made a song out of it, but I also asked someone to help with composing it under my supervision.

Once it took a proper shape and people could finally listen to my songs, it became a valuable experience for me and one that left a strong impression on me.

There's also one more thing actually...

──And that is...?

Izuru: It's when every Holostars member gathered together in December 2020 for an offline meetup. That was the first time we saw each other directly and had a proper conversation together. For me, this meetup holds a special meaning in my life as we managed to be acquaintances in such a unique way.

Before that, it felt like everyone was so far away but once we met each other, I feel like we've only gotten closer since then.

Arurandeisu: Oh right, it does feel like we "finally" met after a while.

Izuru: Usually we can just use Discord to work on something, but because of that first contact, I think it started a habit where we would meet up somewhere to discuss something together so everything could run smoothly. All of us seem to like each other equally by now.

Arurandeisu: Yep yep.

Rikka: For me, it would be my 3D debut stream. I'm the first person among all my Holostars peers who received a 3D, but on the debut day, some said how "easy" it must've been for me. Rather than worrying about criticism, I was more nervous and wondered if I could "pull it off well" instead and felt quite afraid at that time.

But in the end, I managed to muster up courage thanks to the feeling I tried to convey in my songs. I think that stream still holds a special place in my memory until now. Other than that, I also thought the December 2020 meetup had a deep impression on me.

Izuru: In a way, everything starts there. If we think about it like that, when Miyabi and myself debuted– around June 2019... It took 1.5 years until Holostars actually started then...?

Miyabi: Ahahaha (lol).

Arurandeisu: Don't crush our start line like that (lol). Before that we were mostly on our own, wasn't it? There was a time when I met up with Rikka-kun to have lunch before meeting with everyone else.

Rikka: Ah right. I think that's the first time we met Roberu too.

Miyabi: You two also collab’ed pretty often too, right?

Arurandeisu: Yeah. I did meet everyone else for a short time as well, but the December 2020 event was the first time where everyone gathered together.

──I see!

Izuru: I can't say what specifically, but I actually prepared a huge surprise for everyone during that meetup

Miyabi/Arurandeisu/Rikka: (laughs)

Izuru: That first contact is where I'm willing to give that much effort.

Arurandeisu: That surprise was the most interesting part but we can't really tell you what is it about (lol).

Rikka: Now that you mentioned it. Honestly, it really was the most interesting part (lol).

Izuru: For real!? I put in a lot of inside jokes so I couldn't really explain it, but I guess I sure did prepare quite a surprise then.

──I'm quite curious about the content myself, but everyone's excitement seems to have explained it well enough.

Rikka: You talked about Ten-chan as well right? At first, he looked quite stern and wasn't sure if he "Would meet everyone else again" but now he had this sense of duty to be involved (lol).

Arurandeisu: It's like he's coming there prepared, that's what I thought.

Izuru: Nowadays he hardly feels like how he used to be, it's almost surprising.

Arurandeisu: That's right! It's already at a point where he would casually stay over at my place. Everyone feels like they slowly change over time.

──Personally, I think Holostars "playful chattery" is one of their strongest charms, so how does everyone decide on a "role" between each banter?

Arurandeisu: I don't think we ever decided on a specific role when it comes to bantering... I think, it just came naturally in each group.

Rikka: But Aru-san always gets the bullied role.

Izuru: (laughs)

Miyabi: Yeah he's the bullied one.

Arurandeisu: I can feel everyone's love from it.

Miyabi: Aru-san is good at natural tsukkomi and he can do boke as well, so he can adjust his reaction depending on the situation I think.

Arurandeisu: Thank you kindly (bashful).

Izuru: Just between us here, Aru-san actually had quite a potty mouth at the back.

Arurandeisu: Hey!

──(laughs)

Izuru: As for someone with an obvious role, I think that would be Rikka-chan and Astel-kun who evoke the feeling of "peace" and "in motion", making them the "driving force" for Holostars members themselves.

Rikka: You might be right, Astel carries a totally different kind of spectrum compared to me.

Izuru: Other than that, there’s Shien who appears as the balancer between both sides. Then there’s Oga with his generosity and multitude of talents. Roberu is always lively and good at talking, and...

Miyabi: How about me?

All: (laughs)

Izuru: You weren't as reliable back then, but recently you've been involving yourself a lot more so I think Miyabi's opinion is also important at some point.

Rikka: He's starting to be more open about voicing his opinion, right?

Izuru: Whenever Temma gets paired with Miyabi-kun, there's a sense of neverending banter in a good way within him.

Miyabi: Not knowing what might happen gives you a bit of excitement don't you think?

Rikka: He might be a genius in a sense.

Izuru: Now that I think about it although I initially thought he often thinks irregularly, It's actually something that makes the most sense. He's also good at keeping everyone's spirit at an all-time high.

Arurandeisu: If you put it like that, he might be the ultimate balancer among us all.

Izuru: He reminds me of a shooting star at some point though (lol).

Miyabi: In a way, it's pretty amazing that each of us has our own "role" within the group even if there's a lot of us now.

Arurandeisu: Everyone seems to be always quick to position themselves whenever we're meeting up.

Rikka: It's like they know what to do right away, and that makes the atmosphere around feel much better.

Izuru: That makes us pretty much capable of doing anything I guess.

Arurandeisu: Everyone is pretty high-spec! It may not look like it, but everyone has been doing a lot of stuff lately.

Izuru: Unexpectedly so. There are times when we are fooling around, but there are times when we're putting in serious effort.

Rikka: Yep. I think everyone could easily be an MC, a host, or basically anything. They're all geniuses.

──Seems like everyone here is pretty attentive toward other members.

Izuru: I think it's also because we trusted each other.

Miyabi: I think so too!

Arurandeisu: Right–, you get a feel like "I can practically say anything towards them without a worry" so it's rather nice, it means we can be quite relaxed toward each other too, and that we can pretty much do anything with them. I think being able to trust each other is also why we don't really predetermine everyone's "role" in the first place.

Rikka: If there's a catcher then one of us would be the pitcher, and by that pattern, there would be someone standing at the batter position already. This place (Holostars) feels pretty similar to this description I think.

Izuru: That's right. Each of us could also influence one another at the same time.

Miyabi: Everyone is always so hyper it's quite contagious in a way too. Arurandeisu: It makes you look forward to what kind of thing that would happen whenever we're meeting up, right?

–Growing up along with the fans–

──Regarding the topic of "Growth" that was mentioned briefly, during these 3 years, have any of you noticed significant changes or growth within yourself? Please let us know.

Izuru: Before joining Holostars I didn't think much about my lifestyle, it's not like I put in my all to graduate high school to enroll in a good university, but it's more because that's the kind of life I've projected upon myself at that time.

Nowadays I pretty much give it my all and think thoroughly about what I want to do, being involved in this kind of activity gave me more time to reflect upon myself more often than any other. From there I can see that I've already grown so much, at the same time I think there's still more room for me to grow further.

Arurandeisu: How earnest~!

Izuru: Leave it to me for this kind of interview!

Arurandeisu: Holostars' interview specialist right here! (lol).

Miyabi: I understand your enthusiasm, but try not to take every single question in okay (lol).

Izuru: I feel like I've managed to re-evaluate myself at the core and grow from there!

──On the contrary, what are some things that you feel are still lacking within yourself?

Izuru: Personally for me, it's the fact that I still couldn't control my emotions well, I think I'm still not mature enough on that front. I don't think it's good to always rely on our feelings when it comes to making important decisions. I'd like to gain more experience and improve myself in a way going forward.

Miyabi: I didn't have that much self-confidence at first, and being the very first to debut under Holostars has been quite rough due to the amount of criticism I've gotten. I took some of them quite personally and there are times when I wondered if I really deserved to be here.

But after 3 years– receiving my 3D and a live concert to boot, as well as collaborating with various people has made me gain a bit more confidence over the years. I've had fans saying "Holostars won't be the same without you, Miyabi-kun!", and that made me more confident in myself.

It makes me want to work even harder, and I think that alone is a nice thing. I think growing up, I've learned to not mind the negative comments as much.

Moving forward, I'd like to turn those negative feelings into positive ones as I grow as an idol.

Izuru: I've been watching over Miyabi-kun from the very first, and his growth is at least quite significant. I don't think there has been anything negative around you recently, right?

Miyabi: Or maybe I made it look that way (lol). I tried not to show my negative side as much these days, and instead focus more on bettering myself.

Arurandeisu: I guess you finally managed to control yourself better then.

Izuru: So you've managed to control your temper much better now.

Miyabi: Ahahaha (lol).

Arurandeisu: So even Miyabi-kun had grown up huh...

Izuru: Yeah, unlike you Aru-san.

Arurandeisu: Well I'm already flawless from the very first... So it'll be hard for me to grow even more beyond this.

Miyabi: ...Aru-san, you've changed.

Arurandeisu: Hey! This is supposed to be the part where you reply as the straight-man!!

All: (laughs)

──So have you felt a certain change within you as well, Arurandeisu-san?

Arurandeisu: Ever since I joined Holostars and became more serious about being an idol, most of my days are spent thinking about streaming and stuff I'm doing at Holostars. Things like how do I make my fans happier– I think there have been more chances for me to think about it... How's this?

Rikka: Are you asking this for real now!?

Miyabi: I think it's a good answer (lol).

Izuru: Rather than being negative-minded, I think he started paying less attention to most criticism lately.

Arurandeisu: I think it's because I've found my comfort zone now.

Izuru: That's probably because you feel burdened by doing basic content, once you started doing things that you like, naturally you would end up wanting to do your best on it. I think that itself is part of your mental support in a way.

Arurandeisu: Back then I was rather insecure no matter what I did... Like I'm not exactly sure what is the right thing to do at that time.

Izuru: And now feeling like you might've found the right answer for yourself, you started to be more comfortable in a way. It feels like you're being more expressive nowadays.

Arurandeisu: Yep yep. I'm just doing things that I like, and to be able to find an audience who enjoyed it as much has made me even happier.

──How about you, Rikka-san?

Rikka: I'm not sure if I have grown significantly, but after streaming for such a long time I think I've managed to learn more about making a good thumbnail as well as other important things. As for deciding on goods and merchandise, I tried researching more into what people would like to have, things like whether they'd like it if I made certain goods and such.

Miyabi: Feels like everyone has improved on that part too.

Rikka: Yeah. Not just singing, but I think everyone's ability to notice that small details is proof that they've indeed grown. Not only do we receive more support nowadays, but I think we have also managed to grow up together as fellow Holostars members

Now that I recall, in our previous Ichioshi Talk session I've met a fan who brought 3 of their friends to the event, and being able to receive a compliment from someone I just met made me really happy. I think it would be nice if we could experience something similar again from now on.

Izuru: It feels like we've fostered a really nice community.

Rikka: Yeah. And most of all, our fans are such warm people. Instead of gatekeeping, they welcome newcomers with a smile and even teach them a lot of things, in a way it's really easy to get into Holostars.

Miyabi: That's right. Everyone is so kind.

Rikka: I think it'll make it easier for people who have just known about us through this interview too.

Arurandeisu: Now then everyone, let's get along together!

Rikka: Scary–! All: (laughs)

#topic: holostars #type: interviews

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