NewsDrop Digest

Weekly NewsDrop #27—April 1, 2023

It's a big news week in VTuberland—aside from the graduation of Pikamee Amano and the retirement of Mirai Akari, we're covering the latest in the Japanese stock market.

Jay Agonoy

• 6 min read

It's a big news week in VTuberland—aside from the graduation of Pikamee Amano and the retirement of Mirai Akari, we're covering the latest in the Japanese stock market.

Of course, we've reached that time again where we have to deeply double-check if we're being bamboozled or not. Welcome to our April Fools' edition.

Latest on NewsDrop

  • Ted has reviewed Lone Alpha's latest release, Virtual Paradise, featuring 12 VTubers...
  • ...and in addition, we get to talk to the composer himself on what led him to collaborate with VTubers.
  • People wonder what's happening inside the English branch of AuroraLiveVR, one of China's biggest VTuber groups—and a representative spoke about this matter in a Reddit thread. Here's what we know.
  • VirtuaReal Link's Karon is harassed by staunch AI supporters over her expression refusing to use AI until relevant laws and copyright are set worldwide.

Biggest VTuber News of the Week

Double-Whammy: Graduation + Retirement

Mirai Akari and Pikamee held their final streams last Friday night, March 31—and if you failed to watch it live, it's too late, as both streams are gone.

  • Akari first streamed at 8pm Japan time, which includes one last VRChat meetup with fans.
  • Pikamee followed suit at 10pm Japan time, where she showcased various models which she had during her career.

Social Media Platforms

  • Twitter CEO Elon Musk announces that only verified accounts will be eligible to be in For You recommendations starting April 15, adding another reason why users need to subscribe to Twitter Blue. The reason? AI bot swarms. Of course, not everyone wants (or has the capacity) to subscribe to the service.
  • Amano Nene and Ophelia Midnight report that at one instance, even if they were live, they're not.
  • Sery_Bot will not be added to Kick, says the developer of the mod bot.
  • Twitch will roll out a Batch Reporting Tool which will help moderators report multiple violators easily.

Kson Comments on Unicorn Fans

On her March 28 stream, Kson comments on how unicorn fans—those who only support ladies who don't collaborate with guys at all (and chastises ladies badly for doing so)—and how they will be endangering the community if they don't get called out: "This is the kind of fan I want to see the least," the VShojo Japan talent said in Japanese.

"I want you to care most about whether the idol/VTuber you love is actually having fun. Not whether they're living up to your ideal. Or whether they're being a good little slave."

* Stream Translation provided by Kamishiro Taishi

New: VTuber Stock Watch

Let's talk Business: We are formally launching our VTuber Stock Watch, monitoring 9 Key Players in Japan's VTubing scene.

The week started with the listing of Cover Corporation (+1.73%) in the Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth Market, and its first day debut was not devoid of the VTuber scuff as trading was suspended in the early hours.

Cover's share price almost slipped below 1,400 yen at the end of Monday's trading. We shall start comparing the results by next week. For now, we encourage everyone to read what we have prepared and share your feedback.

Lighter Side: CEO invites VTuber Newsmen for Games

PlayAsia's CEOTuber Obake Pam has successfully done what seemed impossible: Get VTuber newsmen FalseEyeD and Khyo to collaborate in a game stream. Pam hosted the stream and operated a series of games which tested their knowledge. It was a fun stream, and we recommend you to WATCH IT.

It's almost a year since the two newsmen fought over their methods of delivering the news, but when Anycolor, Inc. (+0.50%) struck both of their channels, they checked on each other. Words attributed to Voltaire narrate last year's developments at best: "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."

Live2D Cubism Editor 5.0 Alpha 1 is Here

Dark theme, support for High DPI displays, automatic facial motion tagging, improved accuracy of automatic mesh generator, enhanced blend shape, and enhanced motion sync (lip sync) are made available in this latest alpha edition, which you can download today.

In Other News

Japan

  • Ibakira TV's Ibara Hiyori, a pioneer VTuber representing Ibaraki prefecture, just had her activities approved by the prefectural council, meaning more content from the VTuber herself.
  • There exists a "restaurant manager" VTuber, and her name's Riri Sakaizumi. Two years ago, she opened European Bar Saketomeshito in Shinbashi. Her next restaurant, Akihabara Idobata Yoshu-ten, was successfully crowdfunded and set to open this May—and we're learning from a KAI-YOU report that the crowdfunding was done in over a minute as it gathered 5 million yen from more than 200 people. Wow.
  • There's also an interview about a KAMITSUBAKI DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) on KAI-YOU Premium where they ask the studio's general producer Piedpiper why there's a need to build such.
  • Kaede Higuchi will sing the opening theme for Classroom for Heroes set to air this July, ANN reports.
  • Hakui Koyori's liquor Science Brothers No. 54 was made available once again—and it got sold out instantly.
  • Shibuya HAL is now part of Red Bull's esports team, making him the first VTuber in the roster.
  • PRISM Project agents will appear at the Niku Fes' VTuber Day on May 2.

Games

Agency Departures / Stream Breaks / Graduations

...and the rest.

  • VT Rainbow's Marina hosted a Charity Event for Trans Lifeline.
  • Airi Gwynevere was doing a watch-along with MUSE Asia when YouTube decided to terminate some of the anime distributor's channels, including the one they're streaming as. The channels are now back, but the watch-along still has yet to be completed with 10 episodes left to be binge-watched.
  • Indonesia: Re:Memories announced changes on the minimum donation amount for its talents.
  • Obkatiekat and Sun Kenji joins Mythic Talent.
  • Amber Glow's Mumu Guru is being harassed by neighbors constantly, limiting her ability to do streams.
  • Enna Alouette greets a happy couple at the wedding reception.
  • Find out how many VTuber groups Indonesia has with this infographic.
  • Maddie is now part of content group 7Seas' Horizon team.
  • Rainhoe joins GG Talent Group.
  • EDM DJ and VTuber Koro successfully concluded his donothon, making him debt-free and keeping the EDMS channel in the process.
  • VTuber Trending's Petrit Baillet wrote a feature story about Ninomae Ina'nis' 3D showcase.
  • Anycolor filed a lawsuit against a Twitter user who posted grotesque and offensive images with hashtags related to the company and its talents. They will not be toletant of any act of vandalism.
  • Nethyr is now a member of nullptr::live.
  • Malaysia: VTuber appearances at Sutera Anime Fest—MyHolo TV talents, several indies and a possible fox detective?
  • Philippines: KamiyaJuu and Kaheru are guests for this year's Otakufest 2023 in Cebu.
  • Of all April Fools' pranks today, the YAGOO figure is the best. He even got his logo made!

Milestones

Careers and Pro Tips

  • Nijisanji EN opens auditions again, and they are specifically asking your height, if you have streaming experience, and if you have a passport ready.
  • MyHoloTV is looking for an assistant manager / VTuber manager.
  • Artists: Get yourself a TOS template.
📆
Thank you for reaching this far. Again, check your calendar—if it's somewhere around April 1st (or 2nd if you live in the Far East of the world, as we cater to Western time zones too), happy April Fools' weekend. We oftentimes can't take a joke, but we'll spare this one.

...and for those who are not looked at this newsletter on the website during that weekend, no, that was not Comic Sans—Comic Neue is the new standard. Email subscribers were spared from this cosmetic trick altogether.

By the way, we are still checking on our founding partner Kawa Entertainment, and they've rolled out their April Fools' collab with Merryweather the Dog, which is our featured image for this edition.

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