Weekly NewsDrop #43—July 23, 2023

This week's Top Story: Mysta Rias announced his graduation from NIJISANJI EN. Here's an excerpt from Ducky's report:

"Staff said you can leave but you signed up for these conventions, do you want to do them? I decided I wanted to complete all my current conventions. I said I was going to complete all of them, and they said I wasn’t going to complete all of them until the end of August, and that’s fine.”

However there are some concessions. There will be no 3D debut, which was meant to come during the Colors AR Live which was binned back in February. He’s also leaving behind his legacy as one of the first NIJISANJI EN members to break one million subscribers.

“Basically guys, I’ve solved all the mysteries and problems in this city, and I’m moving to another one,” he continued.

More details about Mysta's graduation and his social media activity upon leaving the agency can be read on this post.

Before Mysta: Mikeneko has revealed a new model that looks... quite familiar. As if to say there's nothing to hide now.

• The calico cat VTuber started her content creating journey as an utaite, and by popular knowledge is the voice behind then-hololive 4th-gen talent Uruha Rushia.
• Rushia was terminated February last year for leaking sensitive information related to her work as a hololive star to third parties.
• Her new model revealed Saturday Japan time resembles Rushia's pink necromancer look. Long-time viewers easily recognized the resemblance with her previous persona.
• No wonder: Yasuyuki, the same illustrator for Rushia, was commissioned to illustrate Mikeneko's new model.

• Mikeneko has also joined the Voice Ore agency, taking the name of Koito Ria. We are expecting to see this transition coming soon.

Meanwhile, r/Place was a mess in its first few days, with users protesting against its CEO. While that happens, some are trying to place the NIJISANJI logo—only to fail a days after. Currently, it only shows the hololive logo.

In Numbers: Gawr Gura (4.34M YouTube subscribers) who released an original music video for blue horizon!!, is surpassed by a Mexican VTuber named ChuuyMine (4.42M subscribers). They're still a long shot away from CookieSwirlC (20.1M subscribers), who is currently enjoying Roblox.

Latest on NewsDrop

• On the latest Behind the Model: Gaia Goddess.
• Also, we are now sharing updates on BlueSky!

Here is the latest stock market update for select VTuber companies listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange as of July 21, 2023.

• NIJISANJI parent ANYCOLOR Inc. will have its 6th Annual General Meeting of Stockholders set on the morning of Friday, July 28, where they will discuss and resolve the proposals in the company's operations.
• Gree and Square Enix are set to announce their earnings on August 3 and 4 respectively.

In Other News

• Hololive English has posted the teaser shown at the end of the successfully-held Connect the World concert.
• SET News, one of the biggest news channels in Taiwan, came under fire after a VTuber named Nekozaki Aira accused a Japanese artist of plagiarizing her VTuber design and sold it to an online platform named Nizima, which the news channel then bought. The news channel responded by temporarily taking down said VTuber model and doing an investigation with the artist regarding the allegations.
• Japanese online legal consulting site Bengo4 has published a detailed feature on how ANYCOLOR deals with its own legal matters, more specifically handling reports on defamation and internet slander.
• Hololive has announced that is postponing its #holoTEMPUS 1-year anniversary.
• After indie VTuber Meido Mizuki tweeted about looking for potential VTubers who want to join her Japanese lessons, her fanbase grew to over 3,000 subscribers, stating that “she is overwhelmed” by the interest of many.
• Hololive’s Tokoyami Towa is having its first solo live Break your ××× on October 13; and her first album Aster.
• Meanwhile, Hakos Baelz has released her first podcast Brewin’ and Groovin’ with Bae #1, now available on Spotify.
• The PixelStar advertising channel by TSX Entertainment seems to get a lot of attention from VTubers and fans now, with an initiative for NIJISANJI EN’s Uki Violeta birthday making its debut on the digital billboard, as well as promotions from VTubers such as Coni Confetti.
• VTuber group Aviothia has announced its dissolvement, with talents Rius Isonder and Odelle Gan Ceann moving on as independent VTubers, while Miko Mora has ceased her activities due to health-related issues.
• Hololive Indonesia’s Kobo Kanaeru gets too excited after Hugo Pierre Martin, the voice behind Chamber from Valorant, calls her a “princess.”
• Warudo 3D tracking app has been tested by French VTuber and video essayist Ponoki Chan, as well as Belphie.
• Hololive’s Usada Pekora has been named an ambassador for the Fate/Grand Order smartphone game. Meanwhile, VROZ reports that Minato Aqua has been appointed as the ambassador for the Sword Art Online Last Recollection game.
• NIJISANJI EN’s Finana Ryugu is the latest guest of Koefficient’s In The Hole program.
• Hoshii, a French VTuber agency, has teased its first generation of talents namely Okplonk, Lunadere, Miel Crapouille, Mellumine, and Vanex.
• Ironmouse, Usada Pekora and Kuzuha are the top 3 most watched VTubers list for Q2 2023, according to data from Streams Charts.
• The hololive City event collaboration with Tokyo Dome City has been showcased in a video.
• Do you really know which one is Gawr Gura or Nanashi Mumei, based on voice alone? A recently published fan-made game will put you to the test!
• VTuber group Re:HOPE has announced that it has broken ties with member Kazini due to various instances of insubordination.
• Thai VTuber agency Algorhythm Project has teased its fourth generation of VTubers.
• Web3 company PlayMining has teamed up with TV Tokyo for the development of its AI VTubers.

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