It is the second day of July, 2024. If you have been a Starmin since the beginning of TEMPUS HQ, the month of July became bittersweet. We gained another year to celebrate the 2nd Year of HOLOSTARS EN, but at the same time, this month also reminds us that we also lost two of our pioneer talents that created the foundation of StarsEN: Magni Dezmond and Noir Vesper.
But I’m not going to write about Dez and Ves again after they have been gone from holoPro for almost a year now. For me, we have lost another important figure that shaped what holoPro has become today: our beloved former hololive content director, A-chan. She was the first (I think?) in the vtuber community to have her own live2D and 3D model who isn’t a vTuber. Well, in a way, she was a vTuber, but she became more well-known for the hard work and influence she brought to the community behind the scenes.
Although she mainly focused on hololive — after all, that was her core assignment anyway– but she also made things possible. She supported all the talents including HOLOSTARS. She took her time to study English so she can easily communicate with talents who can’t speak Japanese and the non-Japanese-speaking kaigainiki-neki.1 She not only became one of the core founders of holoPro, but she also became a well-known influential figure to the entire vTuber community, whether you’re an indie talent or a vTuber under other agencies. She was instrumental to everyone, not just with the fans, but to those who was convinced to get into vTubing themselves.
A-chan is very passionate, and everyone could see her passion to her work these last seven years. At the same time, she is also passionate with something non-work-related: family. I have been in this position before, where I would have to choose between taking care of my ailing family member and work. I chose the former. When my father passed away, I took a few days break to be with my family. But, right after my father’s funeral, there were a lot of things needed to be handled, and my mom found herself alone. I decided to be with her until things were ready, so I left my job. About a year later, I went back to the same company I worked for before, but in a different position this time.
Thinking about it, A-chan may return to the vTubing committee. She said that she was going to be on the sidelines, cheering for all the holoPro talents, especially her forever BFF (both virtual and in real life), Tokino Sora, as she continue to be at home to take care of her ailing family. When things settle, maybe she decides to return to holoPro. But if she does, she may be taking a different role with the company, knowing that we will be having a new content director at that time.2
The vTubing Community may not be perfect. There’s still going to be those atrocious haters and creepy delulus out there, but nevertheless, it became a community where we could escape once in awhile from our real world to be entertained by our favorite oshis and meet new talent. But honestly, because of A-chan (and her former new staff kouhai Harusaki Nodoka), it made me appreciate the entire holoPro on its own, as well as its parent company, COVER.
The official hololive channel shared the last two videos with A-chan in them. First is their tribute to A-chan’s 7 years of services with holoPro and the vTubing community altogether:
And finally, A-chan’s final appearance in the hololive short anime series, holograffiti: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-4PiHDX2Mg
I wish A-chan with her future endeavors, whatever that may be. But also, I also wish that we could hear from her again in the future– just any word from her. Lastly, regards to her and her family in this difficult time.
It’s Anime Expo Time!
It’s the first week of July! It’s also the U.S. Independence Day in July 4th too! But also, this means, it’s Anime Expo 2024 time! If only I lived near L.A., I would have gone myself. Sadly, I have work, even in the 4th of July.
hololive news announced that representative talents from all branches, and yes, that includes both StarsJP and StarsEN, will be appearing on this year’s Anime Expo. In a way, it’s a big deal for HOLOSTARS and the Starmin because this would be the first time that we’ll be having both talents from JP and EN to appear there. The past few years have always been the girls (hololive), but finally, it’s time to have seom equal representation by having the boys there too! It’s a big win for us, folks!
It’s a quick piece of news because Anime Expo is in 2 days (from this writing)! For those attending, have fun and be safe!
