Spotlight on India: Project Starscape

Not many people know that India, now the world's most populous country, has also become a market for anime culture, including VTubers.

The country became part of the World Cosplay Summit starting in 2016. Crunchyroll started to cater to the Indian audience with Hindi subs and dubs in 2022. Between these two events, NIJISANJI did an experiment by bringing VTubing to the country in 2019 (however, this effort did not last long).

In 2021, Project Starscape debuted its VTuber and Cosplay talents. They continue to be active doing these activities. We put the Spotlight on Project Starscape through its head, Venu G. Joshi.

Anticipating a Rising Japanese Culture Audience

"When VTubers were blowing up, I expected Indian VTubers to show up soon as well," Venu told VTuber NewsDrop. "I waited many months for a company or an agency for Indian VTubers to pop up. But when none did I had to do it myself."

Venu got into the VTuber rabbit hole through hololive, citing Houshou Marine and Akai Haato as his inspirations. On top of this, he wanted to see if they could bring this kind of talent to the forefront in India.

"...this new VTuber content industry was being entirely dominated by women, which was a new thing we were seeing in the (usually) male dominated gaming, and gaming content industry.

"It was a breath of fresh air to have these VTuber [generations], who are at the top of their game and are almost entirely composed of women. The fact that something like this wasn't happening or being done in India felt almost unacceptable."

We also took the chance to ask Venu how's the Japanese pop culture scene there: "Japanese culture is growing at a pretty fast rate in India. We are getting more anime movies every year. We're getting more Hindi dubs.

"I believe, in the near future, there will be an inflection point at which the popularity of Japanese/anime inspired content would snowball into the mainstream. That is what we are waiting for, and trying to speed along."

The Creators inside Project Starscape

As we dig deep into Project Starscape - home to 9 VTubers and 4 Cosplay streamer talents - we asked Venu what's their unique trait. "Any advantage that Project Starscape has stems from our incredibly dedicated staff and talents who work round the clock to make VTubing a widely accepted and appreciated form of entertainment in the country."

One of their popular VTuber talents, Szivana Nabila, reaches out to her 11,000 fans on YouTube almost daily. The Apsara VTuber is also helping Make-A-Wish India's Wishmakers Live campaign this month.

Cosplay streamers under Starscape (called Costubers) dress up as their own characters, each with their own lore. Compared to being a VTuber, Costubers don't need 2D/3D models. Saiko Nori and Zen Kismet are some of the talents who are streaming this way.

So how does a journey as a Starscape talent start? Venu tells us that they hold auditions for new generations of VTubers two to three times a year, assessing candidates if they have the passion for anime, the content industry, games and similar interests.

"During these auditions, we look for individuals who can create entertaining content that will resonate with the VTuber community, which is a subset of the larger anime community.

"[...] Skills such as gaming, playing an instrument, and singing are also significant factors in our evaluation. Essentially, we seek individuals who are fun, engaging, and passionate about their interests, as these qualities are crucial for connecting with and entertaining the VTuber audience."

Agency Operations

Venu finds running a streamer talent agency both an enjoyment and a challenge. "The best part of running a streamer talent agency is seeing the audience enjoy the content created by our streamers. It's incredibly rewarding to witness the fun and engagement from the viewers," he said.

"The most challenging part, however, is continually coming up with content that resonates with the audience. Both the management team and the creators need to constantly innovate and seek new ideas for streams and short-form content.

"This continuous search for fresh and engaging content is challenging but also enjoyable, as it involves a lot of research, experimentation, and creativity."

Public Perception

India has many content offerings for the mainstream audience, which makes it already challenging for local producers to serve something unique. We asked how Project Starscape is viewed by their target audience. "The general public's reception of Starscape Talent, particularly its VTubers, has been positive."

"We are observing consistent growth, although it is gradual. This trend aligns with our expectations, as we anticipated a slower pace of growth until we reach a critical mass of audience or achieve mainstream recognition.

"Despite the gradual pace, the growth is steady and spans multiple channels, indicating a growing interest and appreciation from the public."

For Those Who Want to Follow Their Footsteps

To cap off, Venu shares a few words to those who want to follow their footsteps: "Pay close attention to what the audience is communicating, even if it's not directly stated."

He asks everyone to read between the lines of their analysis, as this can provide valuable information on what the audience wants, as well as how they behave. With better understanding of these info comes informed decisions on how to enhance one's content and engagement strategies.

Special thanks to Project Starscape, FreshTea and Celestia Void for their assistance in producing this piece.