Category Archives: virtual youtubers

FUWAMOCO, Momoi Haruko, and the Genshiken DVD that Changed Their Lives

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The twin VTubers of hololive, Fuwawa and Mococo, have talked before about their fondness for Genshiken. Last month, they revealed another connection to Kio Shimoku’s beloved story about a college anime and manga club.

FUWAMOCO dedicated an entire karaoke session to the otaku icon, voice actor, and moe singer Momoi Haruko. At the beginning of the stream, they explained that not only is Momoi their kami oshi—essentially their all-time favorite—but that she was the very person who introduced them to the idea of Japanese idols and the Akihabara subculture of the 2000s. 

FUWAMOCO then kicked off their setlist with the opening to “Kujibiki Unbalance,” and afterwards revealed that they learned about Momoi and idol culture thanks to bonus footage on a Genshiken DVD, in which she (as part of the band Under17) performed the Kujibiki Unbalance opening! It was their first time seeing a crowd cheering together with glow sticks, and upon learning more about Momoi, connected to the fact that she was an anime fan who felt like she didn’t fit in. Essentially, she’s their idol in more than one sense of the word.

The twins proceeded further down Akiba memory lane with songs like “Mouse Chu Mouse,” “Tenbatsu Angel Rabbie,” and “Ai no Medicine.” That last one was the opening to Nurse-Witch Komugi-chan: Magikarte, a Soul Taker spin-off in which Momoi played the main heroine. FUWAMOCO even covered “NANIKA”—one of Momoi’s newest songs, for which the twins themselves contributed to the chorus!

Partway through, Momoi herself actually sent a superchat to FUWAMOCO, making this one of the most memorable karaoke streams ever. Seeing them thanked by the actual woman who inspired them to take this path, it felt like a true full-circle moment for the twin demon guard dogs of hololive. And to think: It was all because of Genshiken.

Chalk up another win for my favorite series.

Let’s Throw the Whole Year Away: Ogiue Maniax Status Update for December 2025

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Are we seriously at the end of the year? This means I have to think about who my favorite characters of the year are going to be. In the meantime, I’m also feeling the pain of denying personal purchases due to import tariffs. Will I ever get that Soul of Chogokin Shinkalion?

Of course, that’s small potatoes compared to the hardships other people have had to face in this economy, and I feel very lucky I can even complain like this in the first place. I hope that on top of people having enough to eat and roofs over their heads, that the arts can provide comfort and joy in tough times. To all artists, writers, and other creative types: Don’t underestimate yourself.

Thank you to my patreon members. May you enjoy the holidays, no matter where you are.

General:

Ko Ransom

Diogo Prado

Alex

Dsy

Sue Hopkins fans:

Serxeid

Hato Kenjirou fans:

Elizabeth

Yajima Mirei fans:

Machi-Kurada

Blog Highlights from November

Trying to Reconcile a Western Super Robot Wars Crossover Universe

I put way too much thought into imagining the plot of a Super Robot Wars game based on Western(-ish) properties.

I Went to “Chronicles of hololive Nexus Gate: Act 1” and Then Ate Mall Curry

hololive?? At the mall???

A Story of Pin Pals (?): Turkey! Time to Strike

I enjoyed this “bowling” anime.

Kio Shimoku

Kio Shimoku Twitter Highlights November 2025

A short month of tweets, not counting RTs.

The End of Rakuen: Le Paradis

The magazine that publishes Spotted Flower is ending!

Closing

Ogiue Maniax celebrated its 18th anniversary this year. Can you believe it? I’m having trouble myself.

Fandroid 18: Ogiue Maniax Eighteenth Anniversary

I Went to “Chronicles of hololive Nexus Gate: Act 1” and Then Ate Mall Curry

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I didn’t know what to expect from “Chronicles of hololive Nexus Gate: Act 1.” Sure I’ve been to booths and events centered around hololive, but this seemed…different.  It wasn’t a cross-promotion with a restaurant or anything. It was held at the American Dream Mall in New Jersey, the second largest mall in the United States after the Mall of America. And from what I heard, it was supposed to be in some ways similar to the online hololive role-playing event series ENigmatic Recollection.

The description was bizarre enough that I wasn’t sure I would make the trip in the first place, but I went just to see what the deal was. What I got was a multipurpose pop-up booth that provided five different forms of interaction. 

First, it was a shop where you could buy both general hololive merch and stuff directly related to this whole Nexus Gate thing. I bought a little Nexus Gate–themed passport-style stamp booklet.

Second, it was an exhibition of fan works (art, cosplay), as well as a place to leave a record by adding a sticky note to a wall.

Third, it featured a series of brain-teasing puzzles that netted a prize in the form of a hololive STAGE ‘25 card for the hololive TCG. 

Fourth, it was a gallery of the Nexus Gate concept, which was about the girls of hololive English entering a mysterious and mostly barren world.

And fifth, it was also a screening of a drama that played out like a series of visual novel chapters, all exploring how each EN member approached the element most core to their beings. Also, because I went on the last two days, we also got to see an Episode 0 that showed how everyone ended up there.

The main drama, titled “Act 1: The Portal Awakens,” consisted of script readings not unlike the audio dramas they sometimes sell on their online store, it didn’t quite have the off-the-cuff feel of something like ENReco. It was likely another alternate world where facets of them remain, blending kayfabe lore with aspects of the EN girls’ personalities established through their streams. This lasted a lot longer than I anticipated, but it was probably the highlight of the trip. I do have to say that the special miniature lawn (?) chairs set up for viewing were comfortable at first, but being on them too long was not entirely pleasant for my crotch area.

Perhaps the most interesting things were the way this other world seemed to be connected to three girls in particular: Baelz Hakos and Ouro Kronii of the old hololive Council generation, as well as Koseki Bijou. The former two seemed to recognize the world beyond the gate as being either in some primordial state of creation or nearing the end of its life. Bae and Kronii’s lines gave a lot of hints that both the rest of Council departing over the years and everyone’s desire to step back from essentially godhood would affect things significantly. As for Biboo, she seemed to hear something he others couldn’t, perhaps tying into her backstory as a sentient jewel who has a strong connection to emotions.

The biggest question to me about Nexus Gate is that if this was Act 1, where and what will Act 2 be? Are booths going to show up all over the US and perhaps the world, all situated in malls? How many will there be? What is the ultimate purpose of all this? I found it all to be pretty cool, but I can’t help but wonder what the overall goal is.

As for the curry, it was definitely Japanese curry from a mall food court

Practically Perfect Play—Chrono Gear: Warden of Time

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Chrono Gear: Warden of Time combines two of my favorite things: action platformers and hololive. As implied by its title, the game centers around the sardonic and leggy Ouro Kronii from the English 2nd generation, Promise. Her official backstory positions her as an overseer of time itself, and her role in Chrono Gear sees her recovering the stolen pieces of a temporal device of her own making through sword slashes, time manipulation, and other techniques. 

While using the popular VTuber company as a basis doesn’t guarantee quality, I found Chrono Gear immensely satisfying to play. The basic controls can be kind of clunky at first, but it doesn’t take long for Kronii to control smoothly and comfortably in multiple scenarios and gameplay modes. And unlike a lot of platformers that basically demand precision from its players, Chrono Gear is fair and lenient even in the hardest difficulty without feeling like handholding. The stages are creative and meant to have multiple paths without being focused on exploration, similar to 2D Sonic the Hedgehog games. And as a fan of good boss fights, I’m happy this one has them in spades. It doesn’t hurt that La+ and the girls of holoX are among them.

I’m never a fan of games that make you use all four shoulder buttons, but I know that’s just common these days.

Much like the bullet heaven game HoloCure, Chrono Gear doesn’t waste its use of popular source material. It’s clearly made by fans who love hololive, and they incorporate its lore and history in creative ways that often add to the gameplay instead of just being there for flavor and fanservice. Other hololive members (notably the rest of the full hololive Promise roster) make appearances—and whether they’re friend or foe, their personalities come through in dialogue, animations, and actions. One of my favorite examples is how the time-traveling Amelia Watson (a mere human among supernatural beings and cosmic deities) has four smaller health bars instead of a single big one. There’s just a great fusion of various elements with a lot of care put into the whole package.

The funniest thing about this game is that it’s basically an extremely intricate and interactive piece of TimeRyS fanfiction, pairing Kronii with her genmate IRyS in not-so-subtle ways. But even if you don’t care about this ship or shipping in general, there’s more than enough to make playing Chrono Gear a worthwhile experience. It doesn’t demand your attention, yet it’s easy to sink in more and more hours—to beat the game, relive your favorite parts, improve your stage times/scores, or even just bask in its beautiful world.

Ironmouse’s “Music Box of Fate” Opens Up the World

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One of the biggest names in streaming and VTubing is Ironmouse. She has a large and loyal fanbase while also having humble beginnings as a creator, and she released a new song a few months ago called “Music Box of Fate.” While she’s put out other music before, this one feels particularly special, not just because it sounds incredible, but because it feels like a real high point of her journey as an artist and entertainer.

Ironmouse has Chronic Variable Immune Deficiency, an autoimmune condition that severely limits her ability to leave her home. Her success as a streamer has greatly increased her quality of life, including improving her ability to speak and even sing. That last part is especially noteworthy because Ironmouse was at one point training to become an opera singer before that career goal was derailed by her illness.

Over the years, Ironmouse has occasionally sung for her audience and showcased her abilities, but it is taxing on her body. Perhaps because of this, she has generally gone a more pop route when doing original music. However, this all changed with “Music Box of Fate”: a song created by WUNDER RiKU and StarlightDaryl to put Ironmouse’s operatic skills on full display. 

“Music Box of Fate” and Ironmouse’s performance have garnered praise from professionals, and its music video has surpassed one million views. I myself believe it’s her best yet, and I feel that it will be seen as her most defining song, not unlike Gawr Gura with “Ash Again.” It’s simply beautiful, and I’ve found myself listening to it on repeat.

But what really amazes me about “Music Box of Fate” are the circumstances that got us to this song. If Ironmouse never had CVID, there’s a good chance she would’ve gone on to become a successful coloratura soprano like she had originally intended. However, opera is generally considered an elite pursuit, with minimal overlap with more standard or mainstream tastes. In other words, no matter how big Ironmouse would have gotten in opera, it’s very likely that most of her current fans would have never heard her sing.

Now, I want to make it clear that this is not presenting Ironmouse or her health issues as inspiration or tragedy porn. Instead, what I want to highlight is how Ironmouse’s specific circumstances and her decision to try to reach out to the world through a virtual guise (in a time when such a thing is even possible) resulted in something wonderful. Her efforts earned her a wider audience that is now exposing itself to a form of music they might not have engaged with otherwise. Ironmouse has created an avenue for many more people to enjoy and appreciate opera, as opposed to perceiving it as too strange or high-brow for them. In traveling along this path, Ironmouse has helped make the unfamiliar less daunting, brightening the world in the process.

Another Go Around: Ogiue Maniax Status Update for November 2025

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It’s anniversary month for the blog again! I’m mentioning it here in the hopes that I don’t forget to write a milestone post in time (like I did a few times in recent years).

I’ve also been enjoying the new anime season. I feel conflicted about Tojima Tonzaburo Wants to Be a Kamen Rider, though. Great show so far, but as a big fan of Shibata Yokusaru’s previous work 81 Diver, the anime art isn’t ugly enough to capture his full power. I’ll still probably keep watching it, though.

As for the Patreon, here are my sponsors for the month. Many thanks to them all.

General:

Ko Ransom

Diogo Prado

Alex

Dsy

Sue Hopkins fans:

Serxeid

Hato Kenjirou fans:

Elizabeth

Yajima Mirei fans:

Machi-Kurada

Blog Highlights from October

[Anime Central 2025] An Interview with Pili, the Puppet Studio Behind Thunderbolt Fantasy

At long last, my Thunderbolt Fantasy staff interview!!

Going Unsteady: Call of the Night Full Review

This vampire manga finished, so here are some final thoughts on it.

Baelz Hakos and the Hundun: Creatures of Chaos

Thinking about Bae and her chaos lore.

Kio Shimoku

Kio Shimoku Twitter Highlights October 2025

A more, let’s say mature, adaptation of Kio’s work is out.

VTuber Mono Monet Likes Genshiken

Also, V4Mirai’s DJing, retro game–loving VTuber turns out to be a Genshiken fan. Check the video!

Closing

I have been considering doing Patreon-exclusive or at least early previews/rough drafts of posts on Patreon. Is that something readers would be interested in?

PS: People shouldn’t go hungry because the powerful want to escape accountability.

To Be a Quiet Fan

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In July this year, I attended the Dokibird birthday concert at Anime Expo—the same one that was just uploaded to her YouTube. It had a lively atmosphere, and a group of fans had assembled in front of a screen to do their wotagei performances. Others shouted with excitement. But next to me was a guy who remained silent throughout. It was clear he was a fan. He just wasn’t expressing it loudly. 

The contrast had me thinking about how there are challenges to being a quiet fan. So much of how we “show” fandom these days is through very visible and very vocal gestures. Online, we have react videos and social media platforms that thrive on “virality.” Offline, we have enthusiastic crowds drawing the cameras to them. It makes sense that they would get so much attention, much in the same way that cosplayers are the most photographed element at conventions. But it can create this notion that this is the way fans “should” be, when that’s not true.

I think it’s important to remember that being quiet doesn’t make you less of a fan. You might not get all the positive affirmation or even the attention that more vocal fans do, but that doesn’t mean the passion inside you is somehow not as vibrant. I’m not a terribly expressive person myself, and it’s probably part of why I started blogging—I’m full of thoughts and emotions, but they just don’t necessarily come out through pronounced physical actions.

At the same time, the fans who do go out there and make their presence known are expressing themselves in their own way. Unless they’re disruptive to the point of ruining the experience entirely for others, it shouldn’t be an issue. Everyone is their own person. There’s no specific “right” way to be a fan, and I salute my fellow quiet types because I know the passion is there. 

VTuber Mono Monet Likes Genshiken

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Mono Monet, a VTuber from the agency V4Mirai, recently revealed herself to be a Genshiken fan. 

What’s more, I was directly involved in this reveal! During a chat about a different topic, I was specifically called out by Mono for having “Ogiue” in my name. It spurred her on to start talking about the series, and the possibility of doing a Genshiken watchalong at some point.

This is the second time I’ve seen a VTuber explicitly express a fondness for Kio Shimoku’s title. (The first was when FUWAMOCO from hololive sang “Kujibiki Unbalance.”)

The above clip is over 20 minutes long because Mono talks about not just her love of Genshiken itself, but also Evangelion and what she looks for in fiction. It’s quite interesting overall, and Mono is just full of good takes, particularly when it comes to the appeal of flawed and messy characters.

Baelz Hakos and the Hundun: Creatures of Chaos

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Baelz Hakos, a red rat VTuber, pointing forward while standing behind a microphone.

When Baelz Hakos of hololive made a promotional video for a convention appearance in Hong Kong earlier this year, she gave an abbreviated version of her standard self-introduction. Naturally, it was subtitled in Cantonese, and the word used for “chaos” was wandeon—or hundun in Mandarin Chinese.

English: I am Chaos, the End of Ends.

Cantonese: 我喺混沌、萬物終結。

Cantonese Jyutping: Ngo hai Wandeon, Maan Mat Zung Git.

Literal translation: I am Chaos/Hundun, the Termination of All Creation 

Hundun (混沌) refers to primordial chaos, but it can also be the name of a legendary creature from Chinese mythology that existed before the universe was created. It’s typically depicted as a faceless beast with many wings and feet. Incidentally, I became aware of it myself through the anime Lazarus, where it’s a plot point for a certain character. 

An old drawing of a creature on burnt paper. This Hundun consists of many strips of paper piled together to form a creature that walks on six legs. It also has a tail and four wings, but no head or face.

The Hundun from Lazarus

Bae is Cantonese, and the fact that her original lore also describes her as Chaos itself makes the similarities between Bae and the Hundun more striking—both are “chaos” as concept as well as being. So I got to thinking: What if in the lore of hololive, Baelz Hakos is the Hundun under a different guise? 

The backstories of Bae and her fellow members of hololive EN Promise updated a couple years ago to be simpler. All of them are essentially about how these representatives of primal forces (chaos, time, hope, etc.) have integrated more thoroughly into the human world, with Bae in particular focusing on her desire to perform on new and different stages.

Playing off this, I could see some kind of written piece about how Baelz Hakos is what the Hundun became out of a desire to interact more directly with the mortal realm. Dance (Bae’s specialty) is also a creative art that feels both controlled and chaotic, and perhaps her multiple wings and feet could manifest through her amazing dance moves.

This has just been some random fanfic-tier speculation on my part. I’m looking forward to the Promise 2nd year 3D concert in a few hours:

Media Mayhem: Ogiue Maniax Status Update for October 2025

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I need to say it: I’ve been worried about the world. We’re seeing government silencing of creative expression, bullying and pressure to silence video games and other artistic projects by credit card companies and payment processors, and a media engine that seems obsessed with trying to convince everyone that red is blue and up is down. It reminds me of every time an overblown hype machine tries to convince us that NFTs or generative AI are the future, except it’s targeting big organizations and regular people who haven’t been paying attention for the past 15 years to a fascist propaganda machine.

I feel some relief that people managed to push back against the attempts to censorship, but also some disgust over the way organizations and companies with real money and power are so ready to capitulate. Having so much influence should make you geared to fight back, not bend the knee.

A new anime season is starting this month, and I hope I can enjoy it.

As for the Patreon, here are my sponsors for the month. Many thanks to them all.

General:

Ko Ransom

Diogo Prado

Alex

Dsy

Sue Hopkins fans:

Serxeid

Hato Kenjirou fans:

Elizabeth

Yajima Mirei fans:

Machi-Kurada

Blog Highlights from September

Ever Brighter Lights: hololive EN All for One

I attended the third hololive English concert! Spoilers: It was incredible.

The Voices Called for Me: Anime NYC 2025

My Anime NYC con report. I attended the hololive World Tour and saw the voice of Kaiba from Yu-Gi-Oh!

You’ve Already Led: Final Thoughts on “Fist of the North Star Side Story: The Genius Amiba’s Otherworld Conqueror Legend”

My review of the complete Amiba Isekai spin-off! What a fantastic series.

Kio Shimoku

Kio Shimoku Twitter Highlights September 2025

A new volume of Spotted Flower is out!

Closing

This month, I’m going to be doing a lot of fun things not necessarily related to anime and manga. I’m thinking about whether to write about them for the blog, but leaning heavily towards “yes.”