The Virtual YouTuber (often written in short form as “Vtuber”) company Hololive recently announced an ambitious new project called “Hololive Alternative.”
While details thus far are scarce, Hololive CEO Motoaki “Yagoo” Tanigo announced in January that the company was seeking to create a “metaverse” for Hololive, where Hololive idols can perform in live events and appear in a hitherto unannounced online game platform. There will also be a Hololive Alternative manga which will be based on an original story that takes place in the project’s world.
But the real news today comes in the form of a new promotional video:
I’ll break down what each of those things mean, but for those that are reading this like “What the heck is a Hololive? Vtuber? Who?”, allow me to (attempt) to explain. Hololive is a virtual idol talent agency based in Japan that employs virtual YouTubers to create entertainment on YouTube, mostly in the form of videogame playthroughs. Instead of streaming their real faces, the Vtubers have animated anime-style avatars that match their movements, including the movement of their eyes and mouths. Just imagine your favorite streamer as a cute anime girl, and you’ve got an idea of what Hololive is like! There are 52 Hololive members to choose from, so pick your favorite flavor.
Hololive has English-speaking members as well, including talents such as Coco, Moona, and Mori Calliope, enabling the Hololive brand to reach an international audience. I personally enjoy watching Usada Pekora (cute, bullies the other Hololive members, and gets bullied in return in her chat), Houshou Marine (utter pervert), and Oozora Subaru (tomboy).
With that out of the way, the Hololive Alternative teaser trailer certainly raises some questions. We see some truly stunning visuals and incredible art direction, as well as quite a few of the Hololive girls in various video game-like settings. The phrase “Have you ever wanted to visit a place that’s a world apart?” appears early on in the video and again very briefly on the cell phone at the 1:33 minute mark.
It appears they are working on creating an online game, perhaps deep within the realms of VR, where the Hololive performers and the fan community can interact in some capacity. The “live events” that I mentioned earlier may also be similar to Hatsune Miku’s own stunning hologram performances in front of live audiences. This is all speculation, of course, as we only have a few cryptic tweets to go off of. One of them is titled “HOLOEARTH CHRONICLES,” and it lays down some of the lore and worldbuilding that this project aims to create, including mentions of a lost civilization and a prosperous city called “Westa.”
Dawn Blue, the song featured in the promo video, is written and sung by none other than Hololive EN’s Mori Calliope. She really has an incredible singing voice! Whatever Hololive has in store for us, it appears to be quite ambitious, and I’m definitely looking forward to what they show us in the future. If I missed any details, definitely holler at me in the comments.
Whether you’re new to the Vtuber craze or have already delved down the Hololive rabbit hole, you’ll probably want to check out this sexy doujinshi featuring the Hololive girls on the store page as well!
Source: Anime News Network
Edits: We’ve corrected Hololive EN’s lineup.
