Weekly NewsDrop #7—Week 43

Welcome back to the Weekly NewsDrop. This edition was written after I went to the returning Esports and Gaming Summit (ESGS) in the Philippines. Thailand Comic Con also happened on the same weekend.

• At ESGS, the PHVT Collective, FAAC and 8THiR3AL Projekt (say Ethereal) set up their merch booths, facing a five-figure visitor reach. The PHVT booth sells various merch from several VTubers, while FAAC and 8THiR3AL share one shell.
• We have not yet started writing this newsletter when we were told of the sad news that Vera Vee's merch drop in collaboration with Kawa Entertainment (which also hosts NewsDrop) is cancelled. Kawa announced that the cancellation was "mutually decided," and refunds have already been sent to all affected customers.
• With only two days before the month ends, various VTubers from all sides are celebrating the Halloween season. We have not yet made a tracklist of all activities related to the occasion, but we sure need to have a separate post about it.

The Latest on NewsDrop

• Anime Festival Asia 2022 announces 2nd wave of VTuber guests
• NecroNews covers the latest Bayonetta, Cyberpunk and Sims 4
• Booster talks about another buried treasure: Dragon Fist: VR Kung Fu
• Elle points out what's good about Cyberpunk: Edgerunners
• MyHolo TV and Sony Music's VEE announced the debut of their respective new generations
• We talked to three resource persons regarding the Tostify situation—here's how they reacted to it
• We welcome one of our new writers, Mika, with a piece on GlennMC and why you should be warned

Still here in Manila: Philippine-based group Luxion was left with no manager, no boss, and no Twitter identity, following an incident of poor VTuber relations and handling.

• This led to Luxion's second generation VTubers leaving the group as a whole—days after they debuted under it. Here's what one of the members Aoife Cleon (say Eefa) has to say following their departure:

"We're just going indie—for now—and we're still going to move as a group. We agreed on that, we're not gonna leave each other, we'll be here for each other; but for now, we will be indie VTubers and we do not plan on joining any company, group or agency for now."

• It's not just Astria who's leaving—Tokwa Rokwa from the group's first-generation Etthalia has left as well.
• Capping this matter off, Luxion's manager Yukii left the post apologizing for the mess to parties involved.

Surprisingly: We mentioned earlier that the Kawa x Vera Vee merch drop is cancelled—and around 11 hours after that, Aetheria Project has announced its dissolvement. What was then known as CyberLive is no more.

• Their Twitter, which is now locked, just say these words: "Thank you and goodbye!" With the dissolvement of Aetheria, the talents under it will be VTubing independently.

• First Time: The annual Streamy Awards for YouTubers has included VTubers for this year's nominations, with CodeMiko, VShojo's Ironmouse, Veibae, Nyatasha Nyanners and Zentreya on the list.

The thing is...: Fans have easily noticed the lack of any major agency VTuber from Japan—as our favorite rabbit Pipkin Pippa said best: "Looking at how many nominations are in the other categories, would it not have been possible to add more people to this list?"

Zentreya submits withdrawal: Speaking of Pippa's tweet, Zentreya has submitted her withdrawal from nominations, "so that someone more amazing can get their moment to shine."

Who's actually behind the Streamys: Tubefilter (a trade publication for the creator economy) and Dick Clark Productions (DCP, who also produces the Golden Globe Awards and New Year's Rockin' Eve) are responsible for the annual awards.

• The Hollywood Reporter in August 2022 reports that DCP joined TubeFilter to produce the show.
• Apparently, their second show in 2010 was a mess—so bad that they needed help—which made the third show more professional, according to LA Weekly's Stephanie Carrie.

Last Week's Top Story is from Nijisanji EN. We are treading this story with caution.

Trigger Warning—Cultural insensitivity: Enna Alouette has apologized for her "insensitive and ignorant comment on a certain stereotype."

• Her Nijisanji EN colleague Kyo Kaneko explains the matter to her during and after their recent Clubhouse Games stream.
• She understands she said hurtful words and commits to do better through her actions. She has postponed her scheduled streams for the rest of the week after that.

Mental Wellness Awareness: Vox Akuma revealed his diagnosis on Twitter, and his kindred listened very well when he streamed live.

• A lot of kindred who saw the stream have shared their stories on Twitter, which makes for a worthwhile read. Each of them shares their struggles and welcome Vox into the club.

In Other News...

In the interest of time—especially that we have released this edition out of schedule—here are some of the stories we curated altogether:

Resignations/Retirement/Graduation

• Jia has officially resigned from Tsunderia as staff.
• Daidou Shinove resigns from Holostars after three and a half years. (Translation)
• Heavenrend's Juliet Winters has graduated.
• Idol-HE's Emi Suika is set to graduate on November 11.

Merch and Collaborations

• Manga Planet and Futekiya collaborates with Fulgur Ovid.
• Shirogane Noel collaborates with Gyu-Kaku restaurant.
• Nishizono Chigusa and Petra Gurin's hoodies will become official merch.

Streaming-Related

• Several YouTube live channels are using Alban Knox's name and stream title, which is already frustrating him.
• Will the Opera GX browser push further with their VTuber idea?
• Nem held a talk at the Japan Internet Governance Forum.
• VTubeStudio asks users to make sure both the app and its VSeeFace fix are up to date following a bug that crashes the program or not updating.

Creator Research

• Adobe has released their study regarding "Monetization in the Creator Economy," which shows that content "monetizers across all activities are earning at least 6 times the US minimum wage" ($7.25/hr).
• Patreon also released their study with creators regarding algorithms: "Nearly three quarters of creators (73%) say they don’t like that algorithms affect the work they put out."

VTuber Health

• Just before she gets to meet her overseas fans in-person, Kson contracts COVID-19.
• KoMETA's Miria has contracted COVID-19.
• Millie Parfait reviews the hospital she stayed in: "Nurse care ⭐ (I expected something like anime style, was disappointed)."

Milestones, Events and New Looks

• Programmer VTuber Lina Asahi got credited by Apple for a security report.
• Shylily reaches 900,000 followers on Twitch.
• Hyona Eliatora, Xia Ekavira and Mika Melatika got their Live2D 2.0 brush-ups.
• Oliver Evans debuts his new look.
• OffKai Expo announces date and venue for its second run: June 16 to 18, 2023 at Burlingame, California.

We cap off the newsletter by sending our condolences to Malaysian VTuber supporter Aote Riuki. May she rest in peace.

You have reached the end of this week's NewsDrop. The good news is you can get notified of future releases via email—sign up with your email address below.

By doing so, you also receive information from us (and it won't be spam, we hate spam emails too.)

For news tips, mention @kawa_newsdrop on Twitter or email [email protected].

NewsDrop is produced in collaboration with Kawa Entertainment. The views and opinions written on NewsDrop do not necessarily reflect those of Kawa Entertainment and its talents. Read our Editorial Policy for more details.