February 29 is the birthday of Hakos Baelz, the red-headed rat Virtual Youtuber. Because it falls on a leap year, 2024 is technically her first “official” birthday, and so Bae has turned this past month into an all-out celebration dubbed “Febaerary.” In the spirit of the occasion, I’ve decided to wax poetic about why she’s one of my favorite VTubers and just great in general.

Who is Hakos Baelz?

Hakos Baelz is an English VTuber who debuted in 2021 with the largest VTuber agency, hololive. According to her official backstory, she is the literal embodiment of primordial chaos in the form of a rat girl. On stream, among the things she’s known for are her Australian accent, her outstanding dancing ability, and her strong foreign language skills. Currently, she is a member of the English generation “hololive Promise,” along with four other VTubers.

The Talent of Hard Work

I think the best way to start talking about what makes Bae special is to describe a recent event in her life: She is the first member of hololive English to move to Japan after joining the company. While there are other members who live or have lived in Japan, they were there prior to starting in hololive. But Bae actually made the decision to move away from her caring family and venture out on her own after establishing herself. It’s a hell of a thing for anyone to do, and one that speaks to how serious she is about her VTuber career.

Bae has a ridiculously strong work ethic (to a somewhat concerning degree), and the sheer number of things she can do well often leaves me in awe. She’s an amazing dancer, easily top 3 or higher in all of hololive, with a level of dynamic, yet subtle body control that is literally the best in the company. When I watch her perform, it’s like she moves muscles most others don’t even know exist. 

In response to the prospect of Bae joining Hoshimatic Project—a hololive feature that follows a number of talents as they train for some big group routines—its founder (Hoshimachi Suisei) teased that Bae is “too good” and might be overqualified. Given that a few of the members who participated in Hoshimatic Project are generally considered some of hololive’s strongest dancers, this is high praise.

Bae’s singing, while not the very best in hololive, is still magnetic, and one of her original songs, “Psycho” is among my favorites. And when she brings song and dance together on stage, Bae is just captivating. Her 3D debut onstage at hololive 4th fes was a turning point for her popularity and visibility, as everyone (myself included) got to see her conquer the stage, and things have only increasingly looked up since. Between Bae’s 3D Showcase and numerous other virtual performances, she’s always one of the top highlights of hololive’s concerts.

Bae is also multilingual, being remarkably fluent in Japanese (she’s JLPT N1 and able to converse and banter with Japanese talents), good at Korean through study, and conversational in Cantonese thanks to her family’s background. If that’s not enough, she can even play guitar—and all this at a relatively young age! Multi-talented doesn’t adequately describe Hakos Baelz, and that’s partly because many of those “talents” are clearly born from hard work. 

While Bae doesn’t know any martial arts, I can’t help but think about the actual original meaning of kung fu, which is basically “continuous and sustained effort.” It fits her well.

Developing Her Approach

When it comes to finding the right on-screen persona, it can often take time for a VTuber to figure out what works best for them. In the case of Bae, she started off trying to lean into her lore as the embodiment of chaos by acting as frenetic as possible, but eventually mellowed out into a different and more sustainable approach. The early “character” has receded, and the result is a kind of subdued chaos with peaks and valleys. You never know when her relaxed Aussie accent will transition into a tense ramble or a thrilled squeal, and it makes those moments of excitement that much more special. She also used to hide her Cantonese background, but has more recently been more open about it, and that’s something I appreciate.

Bae is at her most dazzling performing in concerts, but she shines almost as brightly when collaborating with others. This is especially the case when it comes to her fellow Promise members, and doubly so with IRyS, with whom she jokingly goes through a constant cycle of marriage and divorce—a symbol of their close friendship and competitive rivalry. I once described their interactions as combining coffee and soda together, not only because those are Bae and IRyS’s favorite beverages respectively, but because watching and listening to them is akin to just piling on caffeine highs and crashes. 

This is why adding Calliope Mori to the mix to tone them down works so well for their three-person streams, the CHaDcast. Beyond those two, Bae’s banter with Kureiji Ollie (her “mom” due to their similar appearances), Yukoku Roberu (of holostars), and Miori Celesta (her non-hololive VTuber friend) are also memorable and hilarious.

For all her efforts to increase the spotlight on herself, she’ll put in just as much effort to draw attention to her fellow hololive members. After winning 1 million yen through a special hololive raffle, she put all that money towards commissioning the very first all–hololive EN cover song; that includes not only the music itself but also the accompanying artwork. 

Being a Fan

When I watch Bae, I feel a funny combination of admiration, envy, and desire to support. Her accomplishments and her goals make me want to better myself and also see what heights she will reach next. Bae makes her supporters feel like we’re all on a major voyage with her, and as she plants her roots in Japan, I hope we can see her grow and find happiness in her journey. 

Happy “thirteenth” birthday. Looking forward to your 3D Live.