VShojo CEO claims Japan expansion will \u201cbreak down barriers\u201d in VTubing Twitter: VShojoVShojo has made its first big expansion in two years, bridging into the spiritual home of VTubing, Japan, with Kson and Amemiya Nazuna. It\u2019s more than just two new talents to CEO Justin \u2018theGunrun\u2019 Ignacio, with the aim to \u201cbreak down barriers\u201d across the fandom. Among all the top VTuber agencies, VShojo has been an anomaly. The company hasn\u2019t opted to expand with new waves every few months, rather focusing on a \u201ctalent first\u201d approach to enable a small group of creators at a bigger level. When they announced their first expansion into the Japanese market after two years in the business, it was made all the sweeter due to this scarcity. However, the debuts of Kson and Amemiya Nazuna were a success even beyond the wildest dreams VShojo had. From the moment Kson stepped on stage cosplaying herself at Anime Expo, hype has been swirling around two of the biggest pickups in VTubing across 2022. The former broke 30,000 viewers on their first Twitch broadcast under the American agency, while the latter cracked 50,000 as fans from all backgrounds \u2014 not just those based in Japan \u2014 watched on. It was a monumental moment for the agency, CEO theGunrun told Dexerto, but it reinforces some core values behind the agency that sets it apart from others. \u201cDebuting Kson and Nazuna to the world has been a fever dream,\u201d he said. \u201cWe never imagined Anime Expo would provide us such a large stage to pull off Kson\u2019s debut in person \u2014 and in full cosplay \u2014 to share with the world that she was now part of our organization. We could never have imagined the incredible whirlwind of reactions and support for Nazuna\u2019s reveal either. \u201cOur partnering with Japanese-speaking VTubers reflects our core value of Talent First. Talent deserves freedom of expression regardless of borders, which is what we offer all our creators.\u201d The \u201ctalent first\u201d approach might seem like a buzzword. Upon hearing it, you\u2019d think every VTuber agency is about the talent \u2014 those who bolster the brand to make it what it is. VShojo puts the philosophy to action to an unseen degree though. There\u2019s big things, like giving talents creative control which ended up being a big reason why Kson decided to hop on board despite an insistence to remain independent. The small stuff matters too \u2014 even just simple things like forgoing generations have special meaning. That\u2019s not to say the rest of the industry is wrong for going in different directions, but there\u2019s a noted difference between the approach VShojo takes versus others. \u201cBy expanding VShojo through signing Kson and Nazuna, we are staying true to our company philosophy of focusing on talent first by building and growing each individual instead of launching multiple generations. Kson and Nazuna are now part of the same generation as the rest of VShojo. We will continue to support as we onboard new talent.\u201d Bridging the gap between virtual and reality With VTubing exploding worldwide, there\u2019s something to be said about bridging a gap in audiences. Hololive and NIJISANJI have explored this with collaborations across various waves regardless of language barrier or location. VShojo took it a step further with their Japanese expansion. Subtitles and live translation was included on Nazuna\u2019s debut stream, which allowed English-speaking viewers to watch on in real-time rather than waiting for fan-subbed clips. \u201cWe are breaking down the location and language barriers between VTubers and their ability to interact with the world like non-VTuber creators,\u201d Gunrun continued. \u201cAs testament, we introduced our live translation subtitles tech through Nazuna\u2019s debut stream, and aim to bridge the gap between the Japanese and English VTuber communities.\u201d They\u2019re also bringing the virtual into reality. Their fan meetups at Anime Expo, including the little segway rolling across the showfloor with star idols propped up onto a tablet, made VTubing feel tangible. The reaction it received from both sides was overwhelmingly positive: \u201cBeing able to see the fans\u2019 reactions as they got to meet their favorite VTubers is a surreal experience. In the future, we will continue to find new and innovative ways to bring VTubers and the fans together.\u201d However, all of this wouldn\u2019t be possible without the fans and creators that make VShojo the VTubing powerhouse that it is. The support doesn\u2019t fall on deaf ears, and it\u2019s pushing the company to continue advancing the industry beyond what people dreamed of just six years ago when it was truly in its infancy. \u201cTo see and hear everyone\u2019s support, especially after how supportive the fans maintained throughout Kson and Nazuna\u2019s announcements and debuts, has been tremendously humbling,\u201d Gunrun said. \u201cIt is the fans\u2019 talent and support that drives all of us to do our best and keep pushing on and upwards.\u201d And, truth be told, it\u2019s a two-way street between star creators and fans: \u201cBeing able to see our VTubers be so impacted by meeting their fans through our VIRL [virtual IRL] tech has been humbling. \u201cWe are now even more driven to keep innovating and iterating to bring more of these experiences to future events and more polished systems.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
VShojo CEO claims Japan expansion will \u201cbreak down barriers\u201d in VTubing Twitter: VShojoVShojo has made its first big expansion in two years, bridging into the spiritual home of VTubing, Japan, with Kson and Amemiya Nazuna. It\u2019s more than just two new talents to CEO Justin \u2018theGunrun\u2019 Ignacio, with the aim to \u201cbreak down barriers\u201d across […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63627\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}