Would you pay 40 bucks to meet an anime girl?
Hololive is looking to cash in on custom meet-and-greets with its stable of virtual personalities, which are created by the company and piloted by real, hired talent.
The Tokyo-based production agency is offering ¥6,600 (~$40) virtual meet-and-greets during itsReGLOSS 3rd Anniversary Oshaberi Festival this September.
Meet-and-greets include one VTuber, will last 60 seconds, and have strict rules.
For example, fans aren’t allowed to give VTubers any virtual gifts or letters, and are not allowed to record any part of the interaction. (<a href="https://www.dexerto.com/entertainment/hololive-is-selling-one-minute-chats-with-vtubers-for-40-with-photos-costing-extra-3387562/” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank”>Per Dexerto, Hololive has threatened legal action against any fans who break the latter rule.) Fans who do want to memorialize the moment will have to pay an extra ¥3,500 (~$22) for a “Chat Memory” add-on where Hololive will record the meet-and-greet from its side and send the resulting video afterward.
A separate ¥2,500 (~$15) add-on will let the fan take a virtual photo with their chosen VTuber before the meet-and-greet starts.
Anyone who wants to meet more than one VTuber will have to purchase a separate ticket for each talent.
This offer from Hololive caught our eye because it’s unusual for the content creator space. Though, that being said, Hololive itself is unusual in the content creator space. Folks familiar with YouTubers, TikTokers, and even U.S.-based VTubers will know that most of them are their own person: The Markiplier you see on YouTube is Markiplier himself, Mark Fischbach, creating his own videos.
But Hololive operates on a model similar to the J-pop and K-pop industries. It creates virtual characters–often in themed groups or “seasons”/”waves” of newbies–and then hires people to fill those roles with no attribution or ownership for themselves. Creators who work for Hololive never reveal who they are behind the scenes, and if they decide to leave the agency, they have to leave their public VTuber persona, social media accounts, and success behind, because none of that belongs to them–it’s all Hololive’s IP.
With that in mind, it makes sense that Hololive would look for revenue in a similar place as J-pop/K-pop agencies. Those too charge fans to meet “idols,” and strictly control what can happen during meet-and-greets.
This happens in the U.S. as well, but not typically with content creators. Instead it’s traditional entertainment entities. For example, Creation Entertainment, the company that runs major fan conventions for hit franchises like Star Trek and Supernatural, charges steep prices for brief IRL chats and photos with stars. Just like with Hololive, recording those moments without permission is a big no-no.
You generally won’t see this kind of thing at your VidCon or TwitchCon. Instead, fans pay a ticket price to enter the con, and that often comes with a guaranteed number of meet-and-greets where slots fill on a first-come-first-served basis.
Does Hololive’s move mean your average American content creator will start charging to meet them? Probably not. The veil between Hololive’s VTubers and their fans is thick by design, and encourages scarcity. It’s rare that fans will get personal attention from any of the agency’s stars.
But for most content creators, including independent VTubers, things are much, much thinner. A fan can get a shout-out from a Twitch streamer for following, or get a response to a thoughtful YouTube comment. The only person controlling fans’ access is the creator themself.
What we’re most curious about here is if Hololive’s talent will get a cut of the meet-and-greet revenue–or if that belongs to Hololive, too.
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