Nishi Fest Fall 2022 Event Report

The Fall 2022 edition of Nishi Fest at Esports Stadium Arlington held last November 5 (Saturday CST) brought together several aspects of Anime and Japanese culture in one roof—VTubers included.

Kawa Entertainment participated in this one-day weekend event by bringing in a great lineup of activities—meet and greets, a panel discussion, and of course, lots of merch.

Meet and Greets

One of Kawa's talents, Senniursa, even gets her own standee on display. The notepad she's holding is an eye catch within an eye catch, as it changes from time to time, depending on the meet and greet time scheduled.

Among the VTubers who made their presence both live and on-site are Kawa's Kota Kotonya as well as special guests Pastaroni Ravioli and comic writer Merryweather.

VTubing 101 Panel

Kawa's VTubing 101 Panel with owner Pidge and merchandising expert Muu got a sizable audience ready to listen to pros and cons of VTubing, plus several valuable points to learn:

• Why you should be a VTuber? If you care about your Privacy, Life Balance / Separation, and Personal Identity, then VTubing is for you.
• Why you should not be one? VTubing is not all happiness and sunflowers—confusingly, it's an oversaturated niche where parasocial relationships (especially for those who see VTubers as not an actual person) cause issues in the community. "Just like any other community, the VTubing scene has a lot of baggage."
• Should you spend on an expensive model? Absolutely not, especially when it's actually free to start VTubing through the use of your webcam, OBS, Vroid and VSeeFace.
• Not all platforms work the same. Sharing your content on YouTube is not the same as sharing content on Twitch, Tiktok or even Bilibili.
• Make your content stand out from the rest. Do something different on stream—OniGiri cooks, Lua Lucky programs code, and our own NecroNews tandem of Elle and Booster do game reports and reviews.
• Find your own niche and be consistent. "You cannot be complacent," Pidge stresses. "Focus on the creation of stories with your community."
• When applying to an agency: "Remember that it's a job. Make sure you are really selling yourself, showing that you're interested. This is your time to boast."
• Know when to refuse a contract: Citing TVS' Co-Dee, if there's no contract, RUN.
• Make sure you know your Intellectual Property rights. Muu warns aspiring VTubers to understand the importance of IP, and how poorly it can go if they sign away their IPs.

Even for just one day, Nishi Fest's Fall 2022 edition packed a lot of stuff. Aside from Kawa's active participation, you can also catch up on the VShojo panel featuring Ironmouse, Nyanners and interviewer Domo.