February 10, 2024 – the declaration that this date is The Day of the Altventurer & Cultare, as we finally witness the long-coveted 3D debut of our (kami)oshi, Regis Altare of HOLOSTARS English, Leader of the TEMPUS Guild and Hero of Slime. We can finally add the title idol alongside a leader and a hero.
We’ve witnessed various talents that the Leader possessed long waiting for them to fruition. If you haven’t seen Altare’s 3D debut stream, be sure to watch it!
I’m not going to write a whole review blog post, so it’s the same with my Axel 3D post. Rather, I’m going to do a reflection post based on the showcase.
Altare was the first-ever vTuber that I watched. Going back to my discovery of TEMPUS from the local anime con 2 years ago, he was the one who caught my eye, mainly because of the blue color. If you haven’t known me that long, my favorite color is blue. That’s just how it is, I guess, by first impressions. But, when I first started watching him, I watched the VOD of his debut stream. There was something about his calm demeanor and gentle aura that I find relatable. I have watched the VODs of Dez’s, Axel’s, and Vesper’s debuts after that, of course, but even after watching more VODs, clips, and some live streams in silence in the first two weeks, I eventually ended up watching Altare more.
As he is my kamioshi, this post will be a little longer than Axel’s, so I’ll delve a little further.
Martial Arts Segment
Altare didn’t mention that he did martial arts in his debut stream, but he eventually did in one of his first zatsus. Unfortunately, because of work, I wasn’t able to come watch it live. I did watch it on a clip instead. But if I were there, I would have engaged in that conversation about martial arts. In particular, Taekwondo.
When I learned that he holds a 4th dan (4th degree) black belt in Taekwondo (TKD), one of my guesses in my mind was that he had been an instructor, or that he holds the qualification of becoming an instructor. I don’t think I’ve ever shared this in the fandom before, but I also trained in TKD back in the old college days. Unfortunately, I didn’t reach black belt because I graduated. I was very close though,1 but around the time I earned my red belt, it was also graduation year, and had to focus on my final projects and capstones to complete my degree. I planned on continuing it right after, but when I got my first job, it was distant from home and that there were no TKD schools close to my hometown that had hours where I can be available. Therefore, I just stopped there, but sometimes, I’d keep in touch with my old college friends who did continue. Currently, some of them are now 5th dans. That’s real dedication there.
Watching Altare perform the Koryo and Kumgang,2 it brought me a lot of youthful memories. I’ve seen my old friends done Koryo and Kumgang before during classes and practice, so that was how I got familiar with them. However, seeing Altare perform the Taebek was the first time I’ve actually seen that form. What a beautiful form.
As he stated in past streams, just learning one martial art for practical self-defense purposes isn’t enough. The WT style TKD((World Taekwondo – the style Altare and myself trained under. It used to be called WTF (World Taekwondo Federation), but was changed backin 2017 due to obvious reasons…)) is more intended as a sparring sport. The style we see in the Summer Olympics is WT TKD as well. As he mentioned before in his past streams (and I personally recommend it too), for more practical self-defense, it’s recommended to learn more than one martial art. For example, while I was training in TKD, I started training in Hapkido.3 He also trained in Hapkido, as well as Muay Thai.
Moving on, having this martial art segment also demonstrated us the capabilities of Cover’s mocap4 tracking system. It was so smooth, clean, and very detailed. It even captured the smallest actions made by the fingers. I highly recommend watching his 3D showcase if you’re interested in the intricacy of the mocap tracking.
Mini-Cello Concerto
The purpose of a 3D debut showcase is for the talent to showcase their best talents. This also showcases5 the unique aspects of the talent, and how they differ in 3D compared to who they are on Live2D. Does that make any sense?
One of the most anticipated moments that we Altventurers/Cultare have been looking forward to for his 3D is a mini-concerto of the cello. I know there are a lot of virtual talents who played instruments such as guitar and piano in the past, but has anyone in the vTubing scene ever performed the cello on 3D?
The pieces he chose for the cello are refreshing to listen to, even if you’re not into classical music. From the reactions of chat and even on TwitterXYZ, it seems that the cello segment has become the highlight of his showcase. I agree with them too. As a Cultare of over a year now, I have seen many membership streams where he had been practicing cello for almost two years now. On top of that, he was also self-learning how to play guitar, as one of his dreams is to have a 3D concert with him playing instruments in both the cello and guitar. Now that would be a sight to see and a treat to hear!
As a child, I wanted to learn how to play the piano. However, I quit because of the strict piano teacher. I was still a child, but there’s no excuse to slap my hand with a ruler if I make mistakes. Since then, I’ve never touched the piano again. In middle school, I thought about joining the band and I was interested in the flute. However, I never really mastered the basics in flute. I never was able to produce clean, quality sounds through my breath. I was not able to get used to the “pouting” of my mouth to produce streamlined breath through the instrument. After one year, I gave up and moved on to something else, such as (analog) art and writing.
Still, watching Altare play his cello has inspired the hidden artist in me. I may not pursue a musical instrument from this, but it does inspire me to continue (self-)teaching myself art, especially character art. I feel like I want to do more art. They’re not even fan art, just art altogether. I hope he inspired others the same.
Final Segment: Singing Solo
Altare sang LilyPichu’s Dreamy Night and Yuuri’s Dry Flower. If you’ve been with Altare since his debut, these are the songs that he sang on his first archived karaoke stream. I can attest to all that he has improved in his singing, especially with singing Japanese songs.
There were a few times in the past streams where he did mention that he is not confident in Japanese, and that he would simply just focus on singing English.((and to extent, Korean songs)) To be honest, I feel him. I also feel that he should focus on English when it came to original songs. However, back then, I felt like he wouldn’t even try to break the barrier of his comfort zone when he wasn’t prioritizing learning basic Japanese in comparison to the rest of StarsEN. For me, I was thinking, just try, for a little bit. It doesn’t have to be for the singing. It could be for communicating with his senpais, because one day, he will have his 3D debut, and when he does, he would have to travel to Japan and then work with the Cover staff, who are Japanese and some may not know how to speak English.
Many months later, he is now in Japan for his 3D debut. In every year, we do change our mindsets of what we felt in the past. It’s only natural to make changes to improve ourselves after all. He has now been in Japan for a month now, and according to him, he had been picking up some simple Japanese phrases. Maybe with this experience, he may consider thinking of learning Japanese. Again, not just for singing Japanese songs, but also to communicate with his senpais and even his JP fanbase.
I recalled back in 2022 that I suggested for him to try out a particular song from one of the classic anime series. It was Kenka no Ato de (After the Quarrel) by Kikuta Tomohiko, the first ending theme to the classic shoujo series, Hana Yori Dango (Boys Over Flowers). I remembered he listened to it, liked it because his voice fits the original pitch and the Japanese lyrics is a lot easier to pronounce because of its sad boi ballad vibes. He even thought of trying it out in the future, one day. I never bothered him about that song again because I want him to take time with the Japanese and be comfortable singing in Japanese as time goes.
Perhaps, I should bug him again about that song again?
Conclusion
Man, I’m so hyped! This weekend (2/17) will be the first-ever HQ 3D collab for Shiny Spicy. I look forward to what they’ve been cooking for this showcase and I also look forward to who their guests are going to be. I really do hope that all of the StarsJP boys would be there, but I know that sometimes, it’s impossible.((Example – Rikka on a medical hiatus, Astel also recovering from an illness, etc.))
Lastly, right after, I can’t wait for all the crazy things Altare and Axel would do with their new 3D models. After a year and a half of troubling times, the boys deserve this year as their year of redemption.
Here’s to more blessings, Holostarmins, Starlights, Tempuras, and Armadas~!
