COVER Corporation, the parent company of hololive production, has continued to push the boundaries of the VTuber industry. Actively taking on new challenges to expand the influence of its VTuber culture, this year it has overseen the launch of COVER USA, a collaboration with the Los Angeles Dodgers, hololive STAGE World Tour, and the debut of hololive English -Justice-.
This weekend, Kings Theatre in New York City was overrun by passionate fans who were there to celebrate hololive’s 2nd english concert, -Breaking Dimensions-.
Anime Trending had the exclusive opportunity to interview COVER Corp. CEO Motoaki Tanigo, affectionately known as “YAGOO,” about the VTuber industry and hololive’s latest mixed media projects.
This year, you opened COVER USA. Since then, we’ve had the hololive night at Dodger Stadium, hololive English 2nd Concert -Breaking Dimensions- at Kings Theatre in NYC, and hopefully many new and interesting collaborations on the way! What advantages have come with the advent of a US branch? How has it changed your capabilities for collaborations and events overseas?
Our U.S. branch has just recently opened, and we’re thrilled with the progress we’ve made so far.
Hosting the first-ever VTuber night at Dodger Stadium was history in the making, and the rapid sell-out of the Kings Theatre confirms that we’re on the right track by providing fans with immersive experiences beyond talent’s streams. With the U.S. branch now operational, we look forward to further educating audiences about how VTubers represent the new wave of content creators and exploring new collaborations that will help us reach our goals.
Following the hololive night at Dodger Stadium, there were plenty of social media videos circulating of baseball fans experiencing VTubers the very first time when Gawr Gura performed “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” on the jumbotron. Some even say the performance gave the Dodgers the luck they needed to turn the game around! How do you feel about this new avenue of exposure and discovery for hololive?
We were initially concerned about how Dodgers fans would respond to hololive production’s VTubers. However, it turned out that they welcomed us warmly. It was a fantastic opportunity to introduce baseball fans to the vibrant world of VTubers, especially those who had never been exposed to this unique culture before.
Baseball cards are some of the longest running and well recognised collectables in history. What inspired you to combine the prestige of baseball cards with hololive’s IP to combine the strengths of both
Collectible cards and card games have become a significant part of hololive production’s merchandising and licensed products. So, the decision to blend baseball cards with hololive in this exciting collaboration was a perfect match.
In many ways, hololive night and the Dodger Stadium was at the crossroads of Japanese and American culture. An American team with two star Japanese players — Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto — for a sport loved by both countries. What allowed you to identify such a potent opportunity? How do you plan to capture the magic of this collaboration again?
VTubers represent a relatively new culture, which made it challenging for some to fully grasp. However, after persistently explaining the impact of the fandom, we successfully brought this collaboration to life. We believe the collaboration was a great success and would be thrilled to see it happen again in the future.
On top of everything that has happened in the last two months, you also debuted “hololive English -Justice-” with little warning! What inspired this strategy?
During the COVID-19 pandemic, we were unable to provide the level of support our existing talents needed, which led us to hold off on debuting new talents. With the pandemic now behind us and our ability to support our current talents more effectively, we are looking forward to debuting new talents in response to our fans’ needs.
COVER recently announced the first hololive World Tour, which will feature concerts at several ACG events. How did you decide this was the year? What inspired the talent line up and the venues?
We would like to offer the same live concert experience to our fans overseas as we do in Japan. However, it is difficult to find venues overseas to hold a single live concert. Therefore, we have decided to conduct a tour while utilizing venues for anime events.
hololive has continued its venture into anime with the launch of the “Magical Girl holoWitches!” multimedia project. Alongside some of hololive’s talents were voice acting stars Rie Takahashi and Aoi Yuki, who both played mascot characters. How does it feel to capture such an opportunity? What benefit do you see for both fanbases when introduced to new interests?
Having popular voice actors join the project has allowed us to deliver higher-quality work. We also believe that fans will enjoy the unique synergy created by the collaboration between VTubers and voice actors.
Mori Calliope has been involved with Suicide Squad ISEKEI by performing the ending theme “Go-Getters,” appearing in press, and even accompanying Warner Bros. Japan at Anime Expo. What capabilities does COVER have to facilitate such a wide involvement in the anime industry for its talents?
Managing the opening and ending themes for TV anime is quite challenging, but we’ve been able to accomplish it with the support of the music labels associated with each talent. Moving forward, we aim to achieve this independently.
hololive DEV_IS was introduced in 2023 as a new branch that focuses on music. What do you see as the driving force of hololive DEV_IS and ReGloss? How would you describe them to new viewers?
hololive DEV_IS is not a group focused solely on music, but rather a group that aims to explore new frontiers. We hope fans will support their journey as they take on these new challenges. Previously, hololive’s music efforts have centered around solo artists like Hoshimachi Suisei and Mori Calliope. With ReGLOSS, we plan to expand into a new dimension by focusing on music as a unit.
hololive continues to have a strong relationship with its fans. Many of the creatives behind user generated content have now been involved in official hololive media. Lojiura Logic-san has written and composed Tokino Sora-san’s “Hanadoki no Sora” and its predecessor “Konomedoki no Sora.” Video creator Kanaura has been involved in official MVs while continuing to create fan content. You also established the game brand holo Indie, which publishes games developed by fans. What distinguishes hololive that facilitates this level of fan activity and interaction? How much further can you take it?
Our goal is to create a society where everyone can thrive as a creator. We aim to support individuals in taking their first steps as creators through activities such as fan art and indie game development within the hololive community. Moving forward, we hope to cultivate a growing number of creators who will continue to develop their talents professionally.
COVER is developing multiple gaming-related businesses, with the creation of holo Indie, the continuous development of HOLOEARTH, and the prospect of original games licensed out with your IP. What are your hopes for these initiatives?
One of the most crucial activities for hololive talents is live game streaming. By having our talents play games developed through various projects, we aim to generate a synergistic effect that enhances both the games and the viewing experience. We’re excited to bring fresh and engaging experiences to our audience through these streams.
Motoaki Tanigo can be found on X (formerly Twitter). For further information, you can check out the official website for COVER Corporation and hololive production. Anime Trending conducted this interview via email.
Petrit Baillet, Melvyn Tan, and Alexis Kavouras contributed questions to this interview.