Hololive

**Hololive Production** (Japanese: ホロライブプロダクション) is a virtual YouTuber (VTuber) talent agency owned by Japanese tech entertainment company **Cover Corporation**. As of 2021, the agency manages a total of 52 active VTuber talents between its branches, with notable members including Shirakami Fubuki, Usada Pekora, Houshou Marine, Kiryu Coco, Inugami Korone, Minato Aqua, Akai Haato, and Gawr Gura.

Initially, the name **Hololive** was used for Cover's 3D stream distribution app, launched in December 2017, and later its female VTuber agency, whose first generation debuted from May to June 2018. In December 2019, this Hololive branch was merged with Cover's male **Holostars** agency and **INoNaKa** (**INNK**) **Music** label to form a single brand named "Hololive Production". Since 2019, Hololive has debuted three overseas branches: **Hololive China** (since disbanded), **Hololive Indonesia**, and **Hololive English**.

As of September 2020, Hololive-affiliated talents have more than 10 million combined subscribers on both YouTube and Chinese video platform Bilibili.

## History

### 2016–18: Beginnings

Cover Corporation (Japanese: カバー株式会社, Hepburn: *Kabā Kabushiki-gaisha*) was established on 13 June 2016 by Motoaki "Yagoo" Tanigo, an entrepreneur who previously developed video game characters in collaboration with Sanrio at the content company Imagineer and founded various startup companies. Cover originally focused on developing augmented (AR) and virtual reality (VR) software, and obtained funding from incubator firms Tokyo VR Startups and Recruit.

#### 2017

In February 2017, Cover released a VR table tennis game for the HTC Vive headset on Steam.

At the end of March, the company showcased a tech demo for a program enabling real-time avatar motion capture and interactive, two-way live streaming. This would later become the hololive app. According to Tanigo, the idea for a "virtual idol" agency was inspired by existing virtual characters, such as Kizuna AI and Hatsune Miku.

In August 2017, Cover raised approximately 30 million yen (US$280,000) in seed funding from venture capital firms Mizuho Capital and TLM.

Cover debuted Tokino Sora, the first VTuber using the company's capture software, on 7 September 2017. On 21 December, Cover released *hololive*, a smartphone app for iOS and Android enabling users to view 3D virtual character live streams using AR camera technology. The following day, Cover opened auditions for a second Hololive character, Roboco, who would debut on YouTube on 4 March 2018.

#### 2018[edit source]

On 5 April 2018, Cover released an update to the Hololive app that removed its AR functions, but added a feature enabling mapping of a user's facial movements onto animated avatars in real time. This update enabled at-home auditions using the iPhone X, and auditions for five new characters that would become part of the agency's first "generation" opened on 2 May. The first generation of Hololive talents debuted from May to June 2018, and a second generation followed in August and September. On 15 November, Cover debuted AZKi, a non-Hololive VTuber focused on producing music.

In June, Cover raised 200 million yen (US$1.9 million) in a Series A round of funding from GREE Ventures, OLM Ventures, and Mizuho Capital.

On 6 December, Cover unveiled Hololive Gamers, a new group of VTubers specializing in let's plays. Its new talents debuted in December 2018 and April 2019. On 19 December, talents appeared in a video on Hololive's YouTube channel to demonstrate an update to the Hololive app that enabled in-person collaboration. On 25 December, Hololive launched a series of daily anime shorts starring talent Sakura Miko, *Miko no Tsutome!* (みこのつとめっ！). It was well-received, and a second web animated short series, *Holo no Graffiti*, began weekly release on YouTube in May 2019 and is currently ongoing on Hololive's channel.

### 2019: Growth and reorganization[edit source]

On 8 January 2019, Hololive announced that it had signed a contract with the Chinese video platform Bilibili, under which it would open 15 channels on the platform and simultaneously stream there and on YouTube. It would also begin collaborating with Chinese-speaking volunteers to translate Hololive videos, and start releasing original content for the Chinese market. On 17 May, Cover opened permanent talent auditions in China and Japan.

On 19 May, Cover formed an in-house music label, INoNaKa (INNK) Music, from AZKi and independent VTuber Hoshimachi Suisei.

On 27 May, Cover unveiled an all-male VTuber agency named Holostars, whose first generation talents began debuting in June, followed by several more in September and October of the year. A second generation of the branch was announced on 4 December, and its members debuted later in the month. A third generation was revealed on 27 April 2020, and its members debuted in the following month.

Auditions for a 3rd generation of Hololive, "Hololive Fantasy", were held from 13 to 23 June, with three available positions. Members of the generation debuted from July to August. A 1st generation of Hololive China, a new Chinese-speaking branch active on Bilibili, was announced on 27 September, and its talents debuted from September 2019 to January 2020. A second generation was announced on 6 March 2020, and debuted in April 2020.

On 2 December, Cover consolidated its Hololive, INNK Music, and Holostars agencies under a new brand named Hololive Production; the three entities continued to operate under their respective management teams. On the same day, Suisei transferred to Hololive from INNK, leaving AZKi as the label's only member. A 4th generation of Hololive was revealed on 25 December; its members debuted in late December and early January 2020.

### 2020–present: Expansion[edit source]

#### 2020[edit source]

Promotional artwork for the "Nonstop Story" concert, featuring all pre-4th generation Hololive members
On 24 January 2020, Cover held "hololive 1st fes. Nonstop Story", a concert at the Toyosu Pit in Kōtō, Tokyo, with AZKi and all 22 then-current Hololive members. The live event was announced on 4 November 2019, and it was reported on 27 December that tickets had sold out and that Cover would host a pay-per-view live stream on Niconico. It was reported after the concert that it had had the largest cast of any event to date in the VTuber industry.

A new foreign branch, Hololive Indonesia, was revealed on 6 April, after an audition period for Indonesian-speaking talents that opened on 27 December 2019; its members debuted in April 2020. Auditions for a second generation of the branch were held from 3 to 19 July; its members were revealed on 1 December 2020 and debuted in the same month.

In May, Cover raised 700 million yen (US$6.6 million) in funding from various sources, including Hakuhodo DY Ventures and SMBC Venture Capital.

On 5 June, Cover released an apology statement for uploading Nintendo video game content without copyright permission, Cover subsequently began negotiation with Nintendo to gain streaming rights, which it accomplished by 1 August. A separate incident led Cover to release a second apology statement on 30 July as well privating and deleting a large quantity of Hololive archived streams.

A 5th generation of Hololive was revealed on 6 August, and its members debuted in the same month. Shortly after talent Mano Aloe's debut on 15 August, a recording of an earlier stream that she had hosted on the Japanese platform TwitCasting [ja] in which she leaked her Live2D model was widely publicized. She subsequently became a subject of online harassment, and hosted a stream two days later asking fans to stop calling her home phone. On the same day, Cover apologized for the incident and issued her a two-week suspension. On 31 August, the day of Aloe's scheduled return, Cover announced that she had retired from Hololive due to stress. The company released a statement one week later regarding its planned response to future harassment of talents, announcing that it would take legal action against harassers and establish a reporting system to catch future incidents.

As of August 2020, Hololive talent Kiryu Coco had earned approximately 85 million yen (US$810,000) through YouTube's Super Chat donation system, making her the site's all-time top earner according to data collection site Playboard. Four other Hololive members were also among the top ten. As of September 2020, Hololive channels had more than 10 million combined subscribers on YouTube, as well as 10 million additional combined subscribers on Chinese platform Bilibili. By January 2021, Hololive channels had more than 30 million YouTube subscribers and 10 million on Bilibili.

On 9 September, Hololive announced an English-language branch, Hololive English; auditions for English-speaking talents had opened on 23 April. Its members debuted in September. On 22 October, English talent Gawr Gura became the first Hololive talent to reach 1 million YouTube subscribers; on 17 January 2021, she also became the first Hololive talent to reach 2 million subscribers on the platform and the second VTuber to do so, after Kizuna AI.

On 23 October, Cover announced "hololive 2nd fes. Beyond the Stage", a two-day follow-up to "Nonstop Story" and a collaboration with the Japanese entertainment company Bushiroad. It was held as a pay-per-view livestream on 21–22 December. Cover also announced Hololive's first original-only concert titled "Hololive Idol Project 1st Live [Bloom,]" at the end of Beyond the Stage. Bloom was held on 17 February 2021 at Tokyo Garden Theatre, although in-person viewing was cancelled due to increased COVID situation in Japan.

#### 2021

On 17 February, at the end of its Bloom concert, Cover announced its multimedia project titled Hololive Alternative. The project was launched with its own Twitter and homepage. An animated music video sang by Hololive English member Mori Calliope and a manga by doujinshi artist Mizuryu Kei was also announced. Following a dispute between Mizuryu Kei and Hololive management, the announcement of the manga has since been removed from the Hololive Alternative Twitter account. On March 16, Cover officially announced on their twitter the cancelation of the manga and compensation to the artist.

On 8 August 2021, Hololive announced its horror project titled "Hololive ERROR" with a live-action teaser featuring Tokino Sora. The project is revealed to be a horror game featuring Hololive members playing as in-game NPCs.

## Talents

### Hololive

#### Hololive Affiliated Talents – *Generation 0*

This group consist of talents who debuted outside of the "generation" format of Hololive due to their unique circumstances.

* Tokino Sora [ja] (ときのそら) – 7 September 2017 - Debuted to demonstrate the original hololive app.
* Roboco (ロボ子) – 4 March 2018
* Sakura Miko (さくらみこ) – 1 August 2018 - Originally debuted as a non-Hololive VTuber under Cover and was later transferred to hololive on 25 December 2018.
* Hoshimachi Suisei (星街すいせい) – 22 March 2018 - Originally debuted as an independent VTuber, and joined INNK Music on 19 May 2019. Later transferred to Hololive main branch on 1 December 2019.

* Shirakami Fubuki [ja] (白上フブキ)– 1 June 2018 – Also a member of *Hololive Gamers*.
* Natsuiro Matsuri [ja] (夏色まつり) – 1 June 2018
* Aki Rosenthal (アキ・ローゼンタール) – 1 June 2018
* Akai Haato [ja] (赤井はあと) – 2 June 2018
* Hitomi Chris (人見クリス) – 3 June 2018. Contract and account terminated on 26 June 2018.

Generation 2* Minato Aqua [ja] (湊あくあ) – 8 August 2018
* Murasaki Shion (紫咲シオン) – 17 August 2018
* Nakiri Ayame (百鬼あやめ) – 3 September 2018
* Yuzuki Choco (癒月ちょこ) – 4 September 2018
* Oozora Subaru [ja] (大空スバル) – 16 September 2018

Hololive Gamers* Shirakami Fubuki [ja] (白上フブキ) – Also a member of Generation 1.
* Ookami Mio (大神ミオ) – 7 December 2018
* Nekomata Okayu (猫又おかゆ) – 6 April 2019
* Inugami Korone [ja] (戌神ころね) – 13 April 2019
* Uruha Rushia [ja] (潤羽るしあ) – 18 July 2019
* Shiranui Flare (不知火フレア) – 7 August 2019
* Shirogane Noel (白銀ノエル) – 8 August 2019
* Houshou Marine [ja] (宝鐘マリン) – 11 August 2019

Generation 4* Amane Kanata (天音かなた) – 27 December 2019
* Kiryu Coco [ja] (桐生ココ) – 28 December 2019
* Tsunomaki Watame (角巻わため) – 29 December 2019
* Tokoyami Towa (常闇トワ) – 3 January 2020
* Himemori Luna (姫森ルーナ) – 4 January 2020

Generation 5* Yukihana Lamy (雪花ラミィ) – 12 August 2020
* Momosuzu Nene (桃鈴ねね) – 13 August 2020
* Shishiro Botan (獅白ぼたん) – 14 August 2020
* Mano Aloe (魔乃アロエ) – 15 August 2020. Retired on 31 August 2020.
* Omaru Polka (尾丸ポルカ) – 16 August 2020

### INNK Music

* AZKi – 15 November 2018 – formerly co-managed by upd8. Considered part of *0th Gen*.

### Holostars

* Kagami Kira (鏡見キラ) – 9 June 2019. Retired on 30 November 2020 due to health reason.
* Kanade Izuru (奏手イヅル) – 22 June 2019
* Yakushiji Suzaku (薬師寺朱雀) – 7 September 2019. Ended contract on 6 March 2020.
* Arurandeisu (アルランディス) – 8 September 2019
* Rikka (律可) – 20 October 2019

Generation 2 – *Sun Tempo** Astel Leda (アステル・レダ) – 7 December 2019
* Kishido Temma (岸堂天真) – 14 December 2019
* Yukoku Roberu (夕刻ロベル) – 24 December 2019
* Kageyama Shien (影山シエン) – 30 April 2020
* Aragami Oga (荒咬オウガ) – 1 May 2020

### Hololive China (disbanded)

* Civia (希薇娅) – 1 November 2019. Retired on 18 November 2020
* Spade Echo (黑桃影) – 30 January 2020. Retired on 21 November 2020
* Rosalyn (罗莎琳) – 5 April 2020. Retired on 27 December 2020
* Artia (阿媂娅) – 11 April 2020. Retired on 19 November 2020

### Hololive Indonesia

* Moona Hoshinova (ムーナ・ホシノヴァ) – 11 April 2020
* Airani Iofifteen (アイラニ・イオフィフティーン) – 12 April 2020
* Anya Melfissa (アーニャ・メルフィッサ) – 5 December 2020
* Pavolia Reine (パヴォリア・レイネ) – 6 December 2020

### Hololive English

**Hololive Myth**

* Mori Calliope (森美声)
* Takanashi Kiara (小鳥遊キアラ)
* Ninomae Ina'nis (一伊那尓栖)
* Gawr Gura [ja] (がうる・ぐら)
* Watson Amelia (ワトソン・アメリア)

**Hololive Council**

* Tsukumo Sana (九十九佐命)
* Ceres Fauna (セレス・ファウナ)
* Ouro Kronii (オーロ・クロニー)
* Nanashi Mumei (七詩ムメイ)
* Hakos Baelz (ハコス・ベールズ)

## Media

### Selected discography

#### Hololive

All group releases to date have been performed by "Hololive Idol Project", a group consisting of different talents for each release.

##### As lead up to Nonstop Story[edit source]

* "Shiny Smily Story" – 16 September 2019
* "Yumemiru Sora e" (夢見る空へ) – 17 February 2020
* "Kirameki Rider☆" (キラメキライダー☆) – 24 February 2020

##### As lead up to Bloom

* "Blue Clapper" – 24 December 2020
* "Hyakka Ryoran Hanafubuki" (百花繚乱花吹雪) – 31 December 2020
* "Shijoshugi Adtruck" (至上主義アドトラック) – 7 January 2021
* "Candy-Go-Round" – 14 January 2021
* "Daily Diary" (でいり〜だいあり〜！) – 21 January 2021
* "Suspect" – 28 January 2021
* "Stardust Song" – 4 February 2021
* "Dreaming Days" – 11 February 2021
* "AsuiroClearSky" (あすいろClearSky) – 19 February 2021

##### Others

* "Halloween Night, Tonight!" (今宵はHalloween Night!) – 23 October 2020

### Concerts and events

* Hololive 1st fes. Nonstop Story (24 January 2020) – AZKi and all pre-Gen 4 Hololive JP members; held at the Toyosu Pit in Kōtō, Tokyo
* Minato Aqua Anniversary Live 2020 "Aqua Color Super☆Dream♪" (21 August 2020) – Minato Aqua; pay-per-view live stream on Niconico
* Hololive 2nd fes. Beyond the Stage (21–22 December 2020) – AZKi and all pre-Gen 5 Hololive JP members; pay-per-view live stream on Niconico and SPWN sponsored by Bushiroad
* Hololive Idol Project 1st Live "Bloom," (17 February 2021) – 22 selected JP members; held at Tokyo Garden Theatre in Ariake with simultaneous paid live stream on Niconico and SPWN, in-person viewing was cancelled due to COVID-19