Weekly NewsDrop #6—Week 42

Tostify, Delutaya vs Mikeneko, VTubeStudio with RTX ON and more on this edition of the Weekly NewsDrop.

We wonder how we can improve upon the recipe of the Weekly NewsDrop, so we took some inspiration from several news websites.

NewsDrop subscribers, we hope to hear your feedback on this week's edition through the comments section below—by joining us in the comments, we promise to send you this newsletter every week in your inbox.

Now let's go through the news from last week on this sunny PomuTori weekend.

VTubing in the News

The News: The BBC has published an online feature story on VTubers in India, reaching out to VTubers such as JoqniX, Suzuki Zuriko, Virtual Sakura, Mio, Project Starscape's Zucci Agasura and Virtualism's MeowCatMax.

Bloomberg also released a story on VTubing this week—most specifically, Anycolor, the parent of Nijisanji. The article highlights the company's growth, as well as the fact that it produced one of the youngest billionaires in Japan.

Our take: The common trait about these two stories is that it mentions Nijisanji. Both outlets reached out to Anycolor for interview requests for separate purposes, only for their requests to be declined. They do reach out to the press in the form of news releases posted on distribution service PR Times, or through social media, most especially Twitter.

Health Concerns and VTubers

Let's first take a look at two talents from KoMETA Virtual Live, incorporated in 2021 as the Philippines' first VTuber company registered with its government.

First is Elaine, which is announced to take a reduced streaming schedule as she undergoes a medical procedure.

Clean your PCs: Then we have Virgil, who has reported that her stream got cut short due to hardware issues. Later on, it was found out that two years' worth of dust have accumulated in her PC's air intake.

We do not know what's up with Virgil's quarters and why it got to this point, but we do think that she needs to have air filters installed in her headquarters.

In Indonesia: Kobo Kanaeru was craving for some spicy cassava chips, but she just came from having an itchy throat. Will eating those chips hurt her throat? She asked Twitter for advice—and got a reply from the Twitter handle of teleconsulting app Halodoc, which addressed her as "Princess Kobo". Kobo thanked them for the advice.

"[...] if you still have a cough, don't eat fried chips, especially the spicy ones! The irritation gets worse. Even if you're an anime character, you still have to get plenty of rest and don't forget to drink warm water, so your cough quickly gets better!" (Tweet Translations provided by Eddy Hartanto)

In COVID Watch: V&U's Liora Walkyria has contracted COVID-19, and her agency says that "her symptoms are not yet severe, but she will be taking some time off to recover this week."

This Week on NewsDrop

🛍️
Inside Kawa: Get your Tiffany Witcher and Vera Vee merch at the Kawa Shop until November 4. Also, listen to Kota Kotonya's original song "Line of Sight," produced by Cochu; and watch Lilac Snow interview Hunikinn on Twitch (limited time). Lastly, the Kawa-een virtual pumpkin carving contest ends in a few days.

Tostify Has Apologized, but It’s Too Late

The indie scene was not spared of drama as we saw Tostify's VTubing career spiral down, all because he refused to admit that he used AI Art when he criticized its use previously.

The Pandora's box was then opened further by Senz as he confronts the whale VTuber on stream, only to hear contradicting statements about being part of esports organization Cloud9 (debunked by C9's very own Vienna) and using a new Twitter account instead of his previous "verified" account. Following the expose, Tostify's friends burned bridges with him.

Tostify eventually posted a video on his Twitter apologizing for what he has done, followed by posting proof that he didn't buy any accounts or used bots to increase followers.

VTubeStudio v1.22.0 Adds NVIDIA Broadcast Tracker Support

In a game-changing update, VTubeStudio v1.22.0 is finally released. The new update ships the free NVIDIA Broadcast Tracker DLC, providing VTubers who have a GeForce RTX series GPU a performant, high-quality webcam tracking.

What does this mean? If you can't afford the latest iPhone for face tracking, having an NVIDIA GeForce RTX series GPU setup with a good quality webcam and lighting is the next best option. Be wary though, as prices differ from country to country.

For comparison, in the US, an iPhone 14 Pro Max currently sells at US$1,099 while an RTX GPU sells at US$1,799.99. In the Philippines, an iPhone 14 Pro Max sells from Php70,990 while an RTX GPU sells at Php17,390. What a huge difference.

PomuTori VR Stream Collab Highlights

Our Top Story is the much-awaited PomuTori collab, which we get to thankfully watch while spending time playing Minecraft. Here are the highlights of the tow-hour stream:

  • The stream starts with Pomu crying as she won't be able to collaborate with Kiara, but with her froggy alternate Frogiwawa.
  • Pomu and Frogiwawa met, one thing led to another and Pomu shared a kiss in the frog's cheek.
  • Just like in a fairy tale, Frogiwawa turned back to Kiara (or more precisely, turned into smol Kiara—y'know, the one with the Walfie design).
  • The goal of the stream is to tour each other through the Nijisanji Express and the HoloEN VRChat worlds.
  • Kiara gets to experience holding an Elira body pillow and eating desserts at the Nijisanji Express courtesy of Pomu. This is on top of showing her Pomu, Selen, Finana and Rosemi's rooms.
  • Pomu gets to see the different HoloEN worlds including the dressing room that got mistaken for a sauna room—twice, according to world creator Seafoamboy.
  • The last highlight of the collab stream is the singing portion—Pomu sang Kiara's first single Hinotori, while Kiara sang Diamond City Lights. Both did a duet of "Fukashigi no Carte" (Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai) and "Lady Mermaid" (Hello! Project).
  • We saw Hololive motifs (including the golden YAGOO statue) in a Nijisanji stream; and we saw the Nijisanji brand pop up in a Hololive stream.

In Other News

  • Holostars recently concluded their second act ‘Great Voyage to the Universe’.
  • Hoshimachi Suisei recently wrote a game column for Famitsu, detailing her fascination with the game Tetris 99.
  • Nijisanji’s Hyakumentabara Salome recently appeared in a Japanese ad for Nissin’s Kanzen Meal lineup.
  • Aragami Oga of Holostars recently appeared in a broadcast of Nittle VTuber News segment from ‘NTV News Every’.
  • Otaku Lamps announced a brand collaboration with Hololive, released on October 21.
  • Himemori Luna appeared once again in a brand collaboration with Yamaha. She also wrote a column for Dragon Ball, and his insights on its impact and Vegeta.
  • As part of Asahi Shimbun’s ‘Newspaper Advertisement Day’, a campaign was launched to feature two rival entities with each other on a newspaper ad to unite them. Included in the ad was a combined ad of Nijisanji and idol group SKE48.
  • Check out this wonderful fan art collection made by Taiyo, featuring the Hololive Council members in a Pokemon card design with their respective Pokemons.
  • Game developer David Wu has posted new statistics related to what Hololive talents had achieved in the fangame ‘Delivering Hope’. Surprisingly, HoloID’s Kaela Kovalskia is currently leading the leaderboard.
  • Developers at HoloCure had announced that the game’s next update will be much larger but will take more longer due to the approaching holidays.
  • Japanese VTuber illustrator Shigure Ui is featured in the cover of the Yamaha ZG01 user manual.
  • Bao will be a guest (virtually) at the upcoming AniAni Festival in Vietnam.
  • A Change.org petition recently appeared, imploring the higher ups at MangaGamer, to postpone the graduation of VTubers Makoto and Akira Misaki from Go! Go! Nippon! Live With You! According to the petition, they ‘personally believe that the potential and passion from this duo of Virtual YouTubers is something that shouldn't be so hastily snuffed out’. We
  • Following her recent hiatus, AkioAIR’s Athena Nightingale recently came back on stream to talk about what happened to her in her IRL job. Prior to her stream, she tweeted days ago how she felt guilty and helpless after dealing with a family grieving after a crash.
  • Indie VTuber Terumi Koizumi has announced that she will be changing the ‘direction of her content’ to more positive ‘virtual intimacy’ ones.
  • Miminaru expressed her shock after participating in a ‘Smash or Pass’ stream hosted by Twitch streamer Evanit0, only to be met with fatphobic comments from viewers. Evan replied with a word of apology for the experience Miminaru experienced during his stream.
  • Saruei has recently released a new merch update: a full-on mousepad, as well as offering 20% off across her other merch for purchases made within the week.
  • Phase-Connect opens up a merch release for its PhaseALiAS unit.
  • Both sides of the VTuber scene, the larger ones and the smaller ones, have their own flaws (and somewhat stereotypical approach), as told by indie VTuber LOKI.
  • Pixiv announces regulations on uploaded AI work.
  • A podcast hosted by a group of VTubers has recently launched called “Warukovi Podcast”. Some of the participants include Airi Cordelia, Aki Caerula, and Valrius Sinica.
  • This VTuber/rocker scientist did a great job in explaining a rocket launch failure.
  • Remember the Tatsuno Couple from Kiryu Coco’s streams? They recently announced their marriage. Congratulations!

VTuber Hiatuses and Graduations

  • Ayane Hylo announces changes in her streaming schedule, as she will be getting a full-time job and continuing her education.
  • Yuzu announces that she will be taking a break from streaming to focus on her health and recovery.
  • VTuber/voice actor Seikyuu announces his indefinite hiatus, slated for October 23.
  • Chaos, graduated on October 16. His last skit was one hell of an exit, we must say.
  • Indonesian VTuber agency DIMENSTAR announces disbandment of its ‘Gen 0’, with Kai Superbia moving to become CEO of DIMENSTAR, and Argo Hastanta joining its Gen 1.
  • Avaricia Yoku has stated that he will be graduating from her Master’s Degree course in November this year, hence he is still unsure of what to look forward to his VTuber activities.
  • With fellow APEX player Mande retiring from the team, streamer/VTuber Rpr has announced that he is stepping down from competitive playing and focusing on his streams.
  • Sayu Toyofuku aka Sayu Okami has graduated last week, but she left hints of where she's going after a one-month vacation.
  • Indonesian VTuber group ARUKANA has announced the departure of its talents Kurohime Luna and Nefilia Purin, as they move to become indies.
  • MAHA5’s Nana Aruna has announced her graduation, citing her desire to pursue her career as a professional in the gaming industry. Following Nana Aruna’s graduation, MAHA5 is hosting an open audition for a new talent behind Nana Aruna.

VTuber Milestones, Anniversaries and Birthdays

VTuber Debuts

  • Lumi teases an upcoming model come the Halloween season. Turns out, it was a glorified worm costume.
  • LalliaVT has debuted a new VTuber called Wooflia, which will focus on content related to the game Destiny 2
  • Popular J-pop idol group AKB48 will be revealing the identity behind their virtual idol Surry on November 15 at the Tower Records Shibuya Store. Surry was introduced as part of the group’s special unit AKB48 Surreal, and appeared on AKB48’s coupling song Wagamama Metaverse for the 60th single Hisashiburi no Lip Gloss.
  • Project Utora announces the debut of their virtual agent Kuma.
  • Japanese telco NTT DOCOMO has announced the debut of its VTuber Etono Frene as part of their X-MOMENT esports league brand.
  • PRISM Project introduces “PrismTales.Alt”, an ongoing lore project and game that deviates from the main lore of Prism Gen 4.
  • Artemis of the Blue announced a new model as part of her two-year anniversary.
  • Saruei is debuting a new costume this October 22, a sexy nun-inspired one.
  • AKA Virtual is starting to reveal the newest additions to their family, starting with Alona Driad.

Useful Links

  • TikTok LIVE Studio, TikTok's custom stream software, first tested in December 2021, has opened in Beta to select creators.
  • Captain Dandyfloss has offered a tutorial to know when a streamer’s ads appear on stream using OBS.

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