Weekly NewsDrop #23—March 4, 2023

Everyone, we all need to step back, calm down and understand this week with patience.

• Pikamee Amano has announced her graduation, but it was not made clear at first if this was because she was harassed. This led to confusion and misinformation, fueling more hate and vitriol on Twitter. VOMS Project has spoken in a stream this week, and that will be mentioned on this week's newsletter.

Opinion: We are sure you've had enough of bad actors driving a polarizing discussion about a single game which already had benefitted from the Streisand effect, making it the most-viewed game on Twitch—and for the love of God, please leave the sane, hurt, actual victims out of this mess. We are just making up huge excuses to hurt people.

Also, this week: Meica debuted as an independent VTuber, but she didn't leave her former agency Wactor unscathed, as it exposed her name and Civil ID number.

• Meica was formerly known as the agency's Hina Misora, one of the well-loved VTubers in the Spanish-speaking scene.
• Wactor itself made several announcements ranging from rebrands to legal threats, as well as the departure of Lia Mitsurugi from the agency to become an indie VTuber.

Good News: Gawr Gura and Amelia Watson's 3D showcase streams! Go watch Gura's stream if you haven't—those who are going 30 years old or so should know what's being referenced at 3:43. I had fun skimming through the cutscenes.

• In addition, NexStage Project will be debuting with a 3D concert off the bat—but before that, check out our Spotlight feature with Executive Producer Jake Mandel Popovics.

Latest on NewsDrop

• NecroNews: Valve bans over 40,000 Dota 2 accounts, Ubisoft creates an anti-cheat measure for input spoofers, and Microsoft opens a deal with Nintendo and Nvidia—plus this week's Buried Alive Banger, Caligula Effect: Overdose.
• The Skull reviews We are the Caretakers: "[...] a prime example of experimentation with gaming concepts, and I applaud it for that; but only for that."
• We introduce Twitch stream team DIVA✶S on this week's Spotlight with Ducky.
• Hololive: La+ Darkness denounces death threats, and CEO YAGOO promises more motion capture content.
• V&U's Solstice generation—Amoria and Amano Serafi—debuts this weekend.

Pikamee Graduates—What Is Clear to Us?

If you were at a loss figuring out why Pikamee is graduating, Yura got us covered with translated clips—first is a clip of VOMS Project representative GYARI: "[...] The fact that Pikamee was going to graduate was something that was already decided a long time ago."

Pikamee gave a heads-up to Pomu Rainpuff in advance, though Pomu did not know when her oshi will graduate. Still, the announcement made her cry, but she is "glad that she was able to come to my 3D [showcase stream]."

The latest one is a clip from one of Pikamee's friends, Kson, reacting: "[...] There are now more and more VTubers and I think it's a good thing. But as always, what shouldn't be happening is happening. We should do better. [...]"

Another clipper, PuniPuniClips, helped everyone make clear of the situation further through his clip of Pikamee from yesterday. The VTuber revealed that she originally wants to live-stream the announcement, but she could end up being emotional about it. This is why the announcement was pre-recorded.

Visitors have flocked Marui Department Store in Shinjuku for the VOMS Park event, and from the tweets alone we see that:

• Lots of people went and purchased merchandise, and
• A life-size standee of Pikamee crying tears of joy as she graduates has a message written in it.

In Other News

• Ronsor Labs has published a blog stating the privacy flaws of the popular Live2D software, and how it engages in anticompetitive behavior to control the market for the animation software. NewsDrop has asked Live2D to give their comment on this matter.
• Trigger Warning (Sensitive Content): Indie VTuber Duroppu has opened how she was recently harassed sexually on stream, stating that she is actively seeking help legally, as well as mentally.
• Kizuna Ai, Inc. has announced the consolidation of multiple of its projects under the hello, world banner. The projects include the upcoming Kizuna no Allele anime, the debut of its Alleles XR artist project from the anime, among others. Among the members of Alleles are PathTLive who will debut the anime's opening theme song.
• Two stream return updates from the Nijisanji EN side: Vox Akuma told his Kindred where he's been, and Shu Yamino announces a gradual return from streaming.
• Japan: Propro Production announces changes in its talent lineup, with the new update categorizing them into content-specific units.
• Some positive stories to celebrate the diverse VTubing and streaming scene: Kishin Shinobi thanks everyone who supported their spotlight for Black History Month, while Marina and other women streamers have been invited by Twitch for Women's History Month. Also, an anniversary charity stream by Prism in conjunction with Brain Injury Awareness Month.
• Newly-launched agency Mythic Talent from OTK also signed in VTubers, namely Buffpup, Misu, OKCode, XLice, and I Keep It Taco.
• Hololive has announced a collaboration with the Eminence in Shadow game based on a recently concluded anime series. The agency has also debuted in the popular news app SmartNews, just months before the slated release of its own HoloPlus app.
• Hololive Talents Omaru Polka and Aragami Oga are also joining the cast of the TV series DOGENGERS, and Inugami Korone made a cameo appearance in a recent episode of Yo-Kai Watch.
• In merch collabs, Hololive has teamed up with perfume brand Anideal, while VShojo teamed with plushie maker Makeship.
• Finally: A-Chan membership stream. Well, technically it is, but it's for the membership opening of the official Hololive YouTube channel.
• In another collab, VSPO! collaborates with the Pacific Racing Team as part of this year's Super GT season.
• Hololive suspends operations of its official shop up until April 3 due to inventory work. Moreover, it will also suspend its Hololive Music Twitter account, with all music-related news to resume on the official @hololivetv Twitter account.
• Holostars English's Josuiji Shinri sets the rules for his audience: "Backseating is allowed but only when I ask for it. Unsolicited backseating comments will be ignored or deleted, and trying to evade by other means will result in timeout or more."
• Have you secured your Hololive Super Expo ticket already? Get ready to taste real KFP fried chicken.
• An unexpected brand VTuber? Someone pointed out that American online computer retail company Newegg is using a VTuber model for their TikTok Live streams.
• Speaking about TikTok Live, the service is launching a VTuber distribution support campaign in Japan.
• In another branding initiative, 7-Eleven in Canada has announced its gaming ambassador roster for a limited gaming campaign. Popular indie Girl_dm is part of the ambassador lineup.
• MyHolo TV's Liola Lightbringer has recently concluded her 12-hour charity marathon stream, where she managed to raise US$865 in total for Doctors without Borders. Charity streams were also made by idol's Juna Unagi, with Pochi Wanmaru also planning one.
• We've got some PayPal scuffles: Kenji's account was hacked, with an attempted US$10,000 transfer, and Yupina suddenly not having account access (it was fixed later on).
• Japanese VTuber and researcher Nem calls out newspaper giant Nikkei (not to be confused with the English Nikkei Asia), when it said the metaverses always involve NFTs and cryptocurrencies.
• CodeMiko was temporarily banned from Twitch due to allegedly wearing a shock collar on stream. She has been unbanned since.
• In a statement, idol CEO Aviel Basin has said that it has currently suspended its previously announced loyalty platform HUB, citing continued funding for other endeavors instead...
• These include being the presenting sponsor of the upcoming OffKai Expo 2023 event in Burlingame, CA. Phase-Connect's 'PhaseORIGINS' are also joining the guest roster.
• Going back to more positive news, we have Malaysian VTuber Sushiya was a guest at an evening radio program for KupiKupi FM.
• An exclusive collaboration with VR company PICO XR and Nijisanji will take place on March 18 to 19.
• Japanese creative label Kamitsubaki Studio has teamed up with R&D collective αU research to launch 'prompt αU', merging real-life and virtual talent creatives.
• YouTuber Koefficient has launched the first episode of his new talk show called In The Hole, featuring Phase Connect's Tenma Maemi.
• Production Kawaii will be holding a virtual meet-and-greet in VRChat. Check out the schedule for the meet-up for its talents.
• VTuber and music producer Synthion has written the official theme song for the upcoming MIKU EXPO 2023.
• The post-event report for Palette Project's first-ever two-person live show and Aogiri High School has been released. In other Brave Group news, Riot Music's Yuka Nagase will be debuting her own podcast series on Spotify soon. Speaking on Nagase, here's a recent stream from her that looks like straight of an archived VHS tape.
• Popular Japanese VSinger MaiR is getting a major album debut titled Mikanboshi.
• VHigh announces the debut of two more VTubers: Mayo Inachi and Myorin I-fy.
• On the merge of VTubers and racing, here's a cool itasha design featuring VShojo's Ironmouse. Oh, and Cody Ware is tweeting at Hololive CEO YAGOO for a potential Hololive x NASCAR crossover—will it be possible in the future?
• Flare Nuinui Quest, a fan-made game based on Hololive's Shiranui Flare, has been recently released.
• Interesting: A crowdfunding campaign successfully funded a billboard for Pipkin Pippa's birthday. The billboard is erected somewhere in the state of Tennessee, and we can't help but laugh at how old school the style is.
• Also: Tobyn Jacobs is back with another giant VTuber cutout, featuring Mori Calliope's new 'morning look' costume.
• Check out this cool demo video of a robot screen featuring VTubers as they greet commuters at a mall in Japan. Next weekend, they'll be at the Japan Railway (JR) Takanawa Gateway Station.
• TFMJonny from VT Rainbow sung lyrics generated by ChatGPT live—and the result is just utter perfection.
• We give our respects to the passing of Polish VTuber Blackquill. May he rest in peace.

We cap off this Weekly NewsDrop with the debut of the energetic Megalodon VTuber, and we can't help but giggle at how quirky and cute she is. We look forward to more content!

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