Hololive English, a YouTube channel and streaming universe run by VTuber agency Cover Corp, has produced a choose-your-own-adventure series of videos this Valentine's Day in which the user can go on a date with one of the company's streamers from its roster of characters.
This is the best route. My oshi is just the cutest ever.🥰🧡 pic.twitter.com/LJjUywbMtd
— UNKNOWN🐔 (@UNKN0WN_O1) February 14, 2023
In case you're unfamiliar, a VTuber is a streamer who uses an animated avatar instead of their actual body. Hololive is an agency that brings these streamers together, running several different businesses across several different languages and content types (gaming streams, comedy skits, music, etc.).
This series, created especially for Valentine's Day, begins with the VTuber girls noticing the viewer "sitting in a corner" and inviting them over to hang out. The viewer then gets to choose to go off and do some activity with a few of the girls, and then again chooses to have some "one-on-one time" with one of them.
This Valentine's Day visual novel is not explicit, but the visual novel/dating sim genre overall has faced controversy for verging towards pornography in the past.
Following the announcement of this VTuber-centric Valentine's experience yesterday, users on social media have begun posting their experiences and reactions in droves.
teamates !
— 🇫🇷Para🇫🇷 (@_ParaParadise_) February 14, 2023
— Sparrow 🪶 (@Sparrow3582) February 14, 2023
Time for the other routes. pic.twitter.com/Y582RfZN0d
— HololiveEnMemes (KFP Memester) (@HololiveMemes) February 14, 2023
Lowkey the HoloEN visual Novel is about KFP ntring every other fanbase 🤔😂 pic.twitter.com/f0dExi1VhI
— HololiveEnMemes (KFP Memester) (@HololiveMemes) February 14, 2023
The reception by the fanbase seems to be largely enthusiastic, with people praising the production quality on Reddit and Twitter. However, some also joked about the way the streamers characterize their audience of "corner person," choosing to lampshade the very-online nature of their content with a joke about touching grass.
Art, direction, script, voice-acting – perfection! We got all the crumbs – from EN, Chadcast, Snotcast, all the pairings, and we got to spend alone time with oshi of our choice. I'm choosing the best rat route! 😍 pic.twitter.com/jefDyw4i2t
— buluhterbang 🎲 (@buluh_terbang) February 14, 2023
Hololive is a channel where various stars who have their own content and channels collaborate, but it is also a larger enterprise run by a man nicknamed Yagoo, with an extended universe. For example, Hololive maintains a website for a fried chicken chain, KFP (apparently owned by one of the stars) and describes this restaurant as a real place in the Valentine's Day visual novel and other videos.
It's also worth noting that Hololive and VTubers are both very profitable, with millions of fans across several countries and many merchandising schemes. According to reports, the most profitable VTuber in 2021 was HoloFantasy’s Uruha Rushia, who closed the year with more than $1.6 million, followed up by Kiryu Coco at $1.4 million.
#holoTEMPUS Valentine's merch is now available for pre-order!
It includes an acrylic keychain and situation voice!
Who do you want to take?💙💜🧡🖤💜❤️💜🤎
🛒https://t.co/lDdFKiLvgd pic.twitter.com/gaCCpayYda— hololive production (English) (@hololivepro_EN) February 14, 2023
I created the art for the Hololive EN visual novel!✨
Happy Valentine's Day🍫💖#ameliaRT #artsofashes #gawrt #callillust #inART #drawMEI #kronillust #IRySart #FineFaunart #illustrayBAE https://t.co/u18oFJDUlt pic.twitter.com/k7SfCiSKCV— Aneco (@aaanecooo) February 14, 2023
So this Valentine's Day, if you find yourself alone, fans seem to think you could do worse than check out a corner of online culture that you might not be familiar with.
Top Comment
Lone K. (Echoid)
Feb 14, 2023 at 06:42PM EST