Tag Archives: dooby3d

Independence Concert Hall: Found Futures and Doki Doki Rewind Time

Posted on by

The dream of the 3D concert is a unique aspect of VTuber culture, and I’m glad that there exist organizations that help make the goal feasible for creators who aren’t part of big companies. One such group is Fantastic Reality, and this past July 4 weekend, they helped produce two in-person concerts: Found Futures and Doki Doki Rewind Time. 

Found Futures

Taking place on July 2, Found Futures was an eclectic mix of indies who ranged from decently well known to top names in the scene, with a welcome diversity of music genres. There was even a bit of opera!

Among the participants were former members of the now-defunct Vshojo: kson, Henya, Matara Kan, and Zentreya. All of them might be better known for their charming banter than their singing ability but clearly strived to put on a good show (with the notable exception of Zentreya, who uses text-to-speech and doesn’t really sing, per se). Matara was also joined for one song by Densetsu.exe (albeit not using their main 3D models).

LilyPichu (whose fame predates VTubing by a number of years), performed three original songs with her signature gentle voice and a quiet confidence that elevated both her and the other talents. I recall first learning about her as an amateur voice actor gaining notoriety, and now she’s a veteran of her space! What a world we live in.

But personally speaking, the most notable acts of the night were Emiliya Fell (along with her half-IRL, half-VTuber band Virtual Signal) and Kou Mariya. Emiliya is one of the organizers of Fantastic Reality, and I admire the initiative she has taken to create this platform. I also have to shout out her song choice of “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” from Tears for Fears, because there’s a tendency in VTubing for covers and karaoke choices to be post-2000s fare or stuff that has gotten popular online in recent years.

As for Mariya, she is literally another identity of Emiliya Fell—a fact she herself revealed last year, and I am inclined to believe was referenced when Emiliya sang a refrain of “Maaariya” in one of her songs. She had previously talked about having issues with retaining the rights to Mariya after V4Mirai, but things have since been resolved, and now she is simultaneously both personas. In other words, in another parallel with the world of pro wrestling, VTubing now has its own version of the time Mankind, Cactus Jack, and Dude Love all fought in the same Royal Rumble.

Doki Doki Rewind Time

In contrast to Found Futures, Doki Doki Rewind Time had a much clearer identity upfront: a “retro music” concert helmed by the two Dokis, Dokibird and Chibidoki, the former of whom was also celebrating her birthday. The two marquee names are not exactly renowned for their singing skills, so the concert was mostly about good vibes with cool people and just enjoying these “older” sounds. 

The fact that songs I perceive as relatively new were part of a nostalgic throwback did make me feel quite old: “Sk8r Boy,” “Pen Pineapple Apple Pen,” “A Thousand Miles,” “Caramell Dansen,” etc. Despite my now acute awareness of the passage of time, I can forgive it for being a great experience overall.

Among the guests were some of the biggest Indie names, many of whom had legacies that went well past their current identities. If I were to look at things objectively, the most significant appearance was that of Shachi: an artist and singer who had never been featured in a live concert as we currently know her. 

While technically not a VTuber, she was at least given a visual presence in the form of a punk-rock orca with a spiked collar. Shachi sang two duets with Dokibird, with her vocals on “Thnks fr th Mmrs” being especially moving to listen to. She and Dokibird have both talked about being long-time friends, and I think it’s wonderful that they finally got to perform together.

If we’re going by my personal biases, however, I was most excited to see Doki and Dooby perform together! While they had already been on stage together at Fantome Thief’s Revenge, this felt extra special as a duet. Their cover of “99 Red Balloons” was a nice choice, and fit their voices well. 

When the concert reached its encore, Doki appeared on stage with Dooby, Shachi, and the rest of the Sloppy Sisters (Mint Fantôme, Snuffy, Limealicious). Seeing all of them in one place felt special in a way that’s hard to fully describe, but it felt like both a reunion and the sign of a newer age. I only wish that Nimi Nightmare, who was part of the pre-show, could have joined them here as well.   

Miscellaneous

What follows are some other thoughts and observations:

Apparently, there was a pre-show for Found Futures that wasn’t streamed. As a fan of Michi Mochievee, I wish I could have seen it.

I don’t know if something happened, but the models seemed to be missing some of the typical shading/rendering one usually sees from these models, and that’s something I’ve only ever seen happen at hololive Gen 5’s Twinkle 4 You concert a few years back. The one who seemed to end up looking best under these circumstances was Dooby, and I have to wonder if she just took a different approach compared to everyone else when designing her 3D model.

The mix of live and virtual for the band accompaniment was cool to behold, and it gave a lot of positive energy to both concerts. I already knew about Starlight Daryl from her work composing songs, but to hear her shred on the guitar was really awesome too. I heard she had some serious health scares not long after, so I wish her well in healing as well as continuing to bridge this gap between 2D and 3D.

See You Again

Both concerts are still up until this Friday, so anyone interested has a couple more days to check them out.

Also, a lot of the talents in the Fantastic Reality concerts are set to be part of a number of upcoming concerts, including Skyline Serenade in August in New York City. I look forward to what they have in store.

New Lives, New Faces: Virtual Vacation 2025

Posted on by

VTubing has been an unpredictable space for the past year, to say the least. Talents have been debuting, leaving, and even re-emerging in different forms to such a degree that it feels like a decade has passed. Among those making big waves have been indie creators Dooby3D and Nimi Nightmare, who quickly grew into top names due to implied prior experiences.

So when the two announced a few months ago that they would be doing a concert in July, I knew I had to try for a ticket, especially as a big fan of Dooby. The creativity they both possess and the positive energy they exude are things I’ve experienced before in a live setting, and I wanted to support this venture of theirs.

Virtual Vacation 2025 was held on July 5 at the United Theater on Broadway in Los Angeles. Joining Dooby and Nimi were a couple other indie VTubers, Ashton Marten and Hyuni. While the latter two aren’t as well known, they each added their own unique flair. Ashton is a self-described retro roller rodent race queen, and she literally performed a song while on skates; that’s something I feel you need a lot of confidence to pull off as well as she did. Hyuni I felt had the most inherently “idol” energy and the best singing, but those more orthodox elements stood out against the other oddballs.

While neither Dooby nor Nimi are powerhouses on the stage, they still made a great impression. Seeing Dooby come out to “God knows…” wearing an outfit reminiscent of Suzumiya Haruhi’s bunny girl costume was magical. Watching her skanking on stage also brought back good memories. Nimi debuted her own idol outfit and sang one of her karaoke mainstays, “Lovefool” by the Cardigans, and her cover of “Ride on Time” keeps replaying in my head because of her dance that was somehow both cutely awkward and gracefully cool. Ever since ex-hololive member Gawr Gura sang the famous Yamashita Tatsuro song during her debut, it’s been a kind of anthem for VTubing, and hearing it from Nimi was really special in an indie event taking place after some real tumultuous months.

That wasn’t the only oblique reference towards hololive as a precedent either. While Ashton was teaching Nimi to roller skate, the latter likened herself to a newborn giraffe (kirin in Japanese). Later, Dooby sang “Magic Ways,” another Yamashita Tatsuro number. Right before the song began, Dooby encouraged everyone to turn their penlights blue “like the ocean,” and minutes into the performance came a familiar voice in the backing vocals that I suspected was the recently debuted yet familiar-sounding Sameko Saba. My hunch was later confirmed by Dooby and Saba themselves, the latter of whom was also the announcer at the start of the concert.

To top it all off, the encore was “Ochame Kinou,” an unofficial anthem that’s kind of a rite of passage for hololive talent. The choice felt to me like a deliberate connection between past, present, and future, and the reminder that this is something of a new age. It’s also interesting to compare with last year’s Fantôme Thief’s Revenge concert, where the callbacks included “Last Cup of Coffee,” and the encore was “Thanks for the Sex.” Truly, it was a contrast.

Speaking of Dokibird and Mint, the two appeared for a single song at Virtual Vacation not as full 3D models but as models made to look like stuffed dolls. Dooby showed up at Fantôme Thief’s Revenge, so this came across as a nice bit of reciprocation and fanservice. Speaking of fanservice, the antics among all the ladies had the crowd eating out of their hands. Perhaps most noteworthy was a moment where Nimi pantomimed giving Dooby CPR.

The overall presentation was quite professional, and I have no major complaints about OshiSpark and their approach. The United Theater itself has an art nouveau feel similar to the King’s Theater in Brooklyn, giving a sense of class to all us sweaty nerds. The viewing was typical of live VTuber fare, with a flat screen on stage, CG backgrounds that help to create the illusion of depth, and a couple other vertical screens for close-ups. The graphics used during the songs, especially the times when the main lyrics of a song displayed on the screen, had a nice summery feel that I enjoyed. One issue that did arise is that there was some conflicting information about when the concert was supposed to start, and it ended up kicking off at 845pm. 

So I indeed went to a concert headlined by two VTubers not particularly known for their singing or dancing. That’s missing the point, though. What’s wonderful about stuff like this is that the fans can meet the talents where they are and bask in a shared moment. Having Ashton and Hyuni on board also gave those smaller fanbases an opportunity to gather in one spot and perhaps even add to their numbers. One of the things I really enjoy about the big hololive concerts is that exposure to talents you might not be familiar with, and this is the same idea on a smaller scale.

But I would be remiss to deny the progress that Dooby and Nimi have made as performers. Their improvement is noticeable and lovely to see, and I enjoy seeing them grow regardless of any specific adherence to the “idol journey.” I find that there’s happiness in seeing them just enjoy themselves more and more through song and dance, and it kind of makes me want to embrace a more theatrical side as well.

PS: Congratulations to Nimi on her marriage announcement!