Weekly NewsDrop #21—February 18, 2023

The latest VTuber news this week—plus a major announcement for all NewsDrop readers

This week: We saw Valentine's Day, that big American football game (with lots of lit ads except Snapchat's nightmare fuel), and Masters of Idol World 2023 pass. But first...

Announcement: We are proceeding with a major change inside VTuber NewsDrop. Kindly take time to read our letter:

A Letter to our Readers and Partners

February 18, 2023VTuber NewsDrop started 6 months ago at a time when big events were happening in the worldwide VTuber community. First, it was just VTuber News, then NecroNews' gaming section was added. This was followed by the VTuber music recap MusicDrop. Inspired by the community, we continue to provide relevant news and views up to this day.

As we grow, we need to redefine ourselves as a team so we can continue sharing stories. Starting today, we have a new home online—VTuberNewsDrop.com.

We established this website with Kawa Entertainment, but to ensure NewsDrop's growth, Kawa will continue as a founding partner from hereon, providing support for the website so you can continue reading our stories.

Even with the distant connection, this change is a huge development for NewsDrop as an independent organization.

Aside from this major development, business will continue as usual and we'll still keep you informed in this rabbit hole. We thank you for your continued trust. ---

tl;dr—Kindly refer to us as VTuber NewsDrop. We are being prepared for growth as an independent organization, but Kawa Entertainment will continue supporting our website's hosting. Kawa does not have any say in the way we share stories.

Also important: The website migration has affected our email delivery, so if you are a subscriber but have not received the email, please subscribe again.

All said and done, we now proceed with the latest from this week. Ted takes over this week's NewsDrop.

Latest from NewsDrop

This Week's Biggest VTubing News

Big news at YouTube: long-time CEO Susan Wojcicki is stepping down after nine years in the role, to be replaced with chief product officer Neal Mohan.

  • Over at the VTubing side of things, VTuber news commentator Khyo has been the subject of multiple copyright strikes from Nijisanji. In his latest update, he said that they have submitted counterclaims, and are waiting for Nijisanji to either drop the strikes or respond to it.

After playing the now controversially discussed Hogwarts Legacy, VShojo’s Silvervale breaks down on stream after receiving verbal harassment on chat, saying that she shouldn’t have played the game.

A continuous slew of updates and statements by former talents of VTuber agency WACTOR. Thursday's TVS episode has more details.

In Other News...

  • The intergovernmental organization Interpol has said that it is now working to also police virtual spaces and metaverse amidst rising cases of harassment in virtual spaces (see also our breakdown of research by VTuber researchers Nem and Mila about harassment in the metaverse).
  • Female VTubers from Hololive, Nijisanji, and VSPO! dominate the list of most-watched female streamers on YouTube for the second week of February.
  • Idol Corp has finally revealed the talent behind its Project STAR unit: indie kyOresu joins the lineup as Riro Ron, who debuted on February 16. She has also released her debut original song titled "CYBER", produced by long-time vocaloid producer ATOLS. CEO Aviel Basin has also announced that the second lineup for its idolEN generation has been finalized.
  • The US-based agency EIEN Project is now preparing itself for the debut of its first wave "Museia" on February 25. They are composed of talents Kiki Lockheart, Riifu Evergreen, Kilia Kurayami, and Skye Shinryu. The agency has also reeled in several VTubers such as Kitsui Akira and Ywuria to do a sponsored stream where they will do a watch-along of Museia's debut.
  • There's a new social media kid in town which also caters specifically to VTubers. Meet VTubers.Me, and continues to grow everyday, especially among the indie space.
  • In another debut news, South Korean agency V&U introduces its new wave "Solstice", composed of members Amoria and Amano Serafi.
  • Japanese VTuber and researcher Nemu has won the "Business Book Grand Prize" at the recent "IT Engineer Book Awards 2023" for her book Metaverse Evolution Theory.
  • VShojo's Kson is a finalist to a live hostess audition for the game Yakuza 7 Side Story.
  • Indie VTuber Obkatiekat reveals that the scars on her VTuber model are based on her real-life scars and freckles, explaining that she dons them with pride and saying "it's okay to not be okay".
  • VTubers, beware of another phishing incident. Streamer bbjess reveals that suspicious individuals will tell a streamer's chat that an article was written about them. In reality, the site's script includes a phishing program to steal Twitch login credentials.
  • Chinese VTuber agency AuroraLiveVR has now dropped the requirement of future talents having to speak Chinese and Japanese.
  • PRISM Project talents Aoi Tokimori, Meno Ibuki, and Pina Pengin appeared on the TV program PUMI PUMI VEE on February 17. Said program is hosted by Sony's VEE Project talents.
  • We have another negative update from KoMETA, as its talent Elaine takes a break from music production activities, as she was diagnosed with hearing loss.
  • Indie Fontaine Argalion teases their physical book called "The 4 Signs".
  • Check out this amazing visual effects breakdown by Alancrys for the music video of Let's Get It Started, as covered by several Malaysian VTubers.
  • A fourth-year college student is conducting a VTuber-oriented study titled Motivational Factors for Foreign Language Learning through Virtual YouTubers. You can check out her online form here to be a part of the study.
  • Video editors: do you need that desk-slamming effect for your next VTuber clip? This DaVinci Resolve plug-in is the perfect one for you.
  • Vexoria reveals that she has been recently diagnosed with breast cancer, stating that her treatment will start by March this year. We highly recommend to check out our recent Spotlight article with her, following after raising US$42,069 for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF).
  • Here are some updates to once again to remind everyone to set boundaries: MyHolo TV's Karrot Keromi reminding everyone to not directly message her on Twitter unless for business purposes, and indie Rexulili reminding everyone to be cautious when sharing personal information with anyone.
  • Nijisanji announces a collaboration with PalVerse Pale for limited-edition figures. Their official website also recently had a revamp.
  • The Moonafic Archived fan club has released their third birthday project for Hololive Indonesia's Moona Hoshinova: a music video for an original song called "Senyum Purnama".
  • Project Solaria is teasing a new member of their VTuber roster.
  • Finana Ryugu reveals a new techwear model.
  • Indonesian VTuber agency AOI ID debuting a new wave called "KISEKISEKAI", composed of members Fuyo Mafuyo, Mannequeen Rozeliya, and Cassiere Seiruvie.
  • In media coverage, Anime Trending's Petrit Bailet interviewed Nihmune, and Anime Herald did a deep-dive piece on the behind-the-scenes of VTubing.
  • Some anime convention settings that feature VTubers: Anime IMPULSE (Los Angeles) DoKomi (Germany) and CosCos Suki (Thailand)

Graduations

Birthdays

Milestones

  • Chloe Sakamata (1 million YouTube subscribers)
  • Kazama Iroha (700,000 YouTube subscribers)
  • Milkywayz (100,000 Twitch followers)
  • Sava Safari (17,000 YouTube subscribers)

Job/Audition Listings and Career Tips

Capping off this week's newsletter is an alternate cover featuring Susan Wojcicki who is set to leave YouTube after nearly 25 years of service.

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Banner Photo: Silvervale on YouTube (unlisted)