For fans of Hololive, it has been a turbulent season as uplifting news like Hololive: Alternative has been followed with distressing announcements, such as Kiryu Coco’s graduation (retirement). Recently, Akai Haato (Gen 1) and Shion Murasaki (Gen 2) have both announced they will be taking indefinite hiatuses as well, thus adding an extra layer of anxiety for fans.
Shion’s hiatus announcement wasn’t entirely unexpected by her viewers. Her irregular stream schedule, compounded with health issues pertaining to her throat and tonsils, seems to have affected her ability to create content regularly. Additionally, she cited mental health as another reason for her break, with Coco’s retirement announcement taking a particular toll on her emotional wellbeing.
Haato’s hiatus announcement was less detailed, only saying that she could not disclose the reasoning behind her hiatus. She did say, however, that she will be in attendance at Coco’s graduation on July 1st.
Earlier this month, Coco’s retirement announcement from Hololive caught many fans by surprise, who enjoyed her outspoken, spicy personality and affinity for internet subculture. Her English-speaking fluency acted as an early bridge for English-speakers to discover Hololive, even before the advent of Hololive EN. Coco herself was an early proponent for the creation of an English-speaking chapter. Her retirement announcement sent reverberations throughout Hololive, with many of her fellow VTubers saddened but supportive of her decision.
Kiryu Coco and Akai Haato became embroiled in a controversy in September of 2020, where they revealed their YouTube analytics info on-stream. YouTube broke down the information country by country, which included Taiwan, thus angering proponents of the One-China policy, who believe Taiwan to be a part of China. Coco and Haato kept their streams apolitical, but Cover Corporation issued each of them temporary suspensions afterward. Even after they returned and issued apologies, they were continually harassed by “antis” (haters, basically) and bots in the months that followed. It seems even the wonderful world of Hololive is haunted by the specter of geopolitics.
If you’re concerned about how Hololive: Alternative will proceed without Coco, rest assured that Coco announced in one of her streams that she will continue to be involved as an alum.
It goes without saying, but don’t bully or harass virtual YouTubers, or anyone else for that matter. Behind every kawaii persona, a real person is sitting behind their desk, with real emotions, real anxieties, and real sentiments, trying their utmost to deliver enjoyable content to their viewers. Depression, burnout, anxiety, these are all attributes that longtime YouTubers are familiar with, unfortunately. Without getting too in the weeds on this topic, don’t lash out at Chinese people, either. Coco still has many Chinese fans on bilibili who support her and the Taiwan dilemma but cannot voice their opinions because of the government.
I wish Coco all the best in her future endeavors, and I hope Shion and Haato can take good care of themselves and bounce back.
“I love all the fans all over the world, no matter if they hate me or not.”
–Kiryu Coco
Kill ’em with kindness, Coco.
Source: Anime News Network
