Hololive Production

 is a virtual YouTuber (VTuber) talent agency owned by Japanese tech entertainment company Cover Corporation. As of 2021, the agency manages a total of 52 VTuber talents between its branches; notable members include Usada Pekora, Houshou Marine, Shirakami Fubuki, Kiryu Coco, Inugami Korone, Minato Aqua, Akai Haato, and Gawr Gura.
Initially, the name Hololive was used for Cover's 3D stream distribution app, launched in December 2017, and later its female VTuber agency, whose first generation debuted from May to June 2018. In December 2019, this Hololive branch was merged with Cover's male Holostars agency and INoNaKa (INNK) Music label to form a single brand named "Hololive Production". Since 2019, Hololive has debuted three overseas branches: Hololive China (since disbanded), Hololive Indonesia, and Hololive English.
, Hololive-affiliated talents have more than 40 million combined subscribers on YouTube.
History.
2016–18: Beginnings.
 was established on 13 June 2016 by an entrepreneur who previously developed video game characters in collaboration with Sanrio at the content company Imagineer and founded various startup companies. Cover originally focused on developing augmented (AR) and virtual reality (VR) software, and obtained funding from incubator firms Tokyo VR Startups and Recruit.
2017.
In February 2017, Cover released a VR table tennis game for the HTC Vive headset on Steam.
At the end of March, the company showcased a tech demo for a program enabling real-time avatar motion capture and interactive, two-way live streaming. This would later become the Hololive app. According to Tanigo, the idea for a "virtual idol" agency was inspired by existing virtual characters, such as Kizuna AI and Hatsune Miku.
In August 2017, Cover raised approximately 30 million yen (US$280,000) in seed funding from venture capital firms Mizuho Capital and TLM.
Cover debuted Tokino Sora, the first VTuber using the company's capture software, on 7 September 2017. On 21 December, Cover released "hololive", a smartphone app for iOS and Android enabling users to view 3D virtual character live streams using AR camera technology. The following day, Cover opened auditions for a second Hololive character, Roboco, who would debut on YouTube on 4 March 2018.
2018.
On 5 April 2018, Cover released an update to the Hololive app that removed its AR functions, but added a feature enabling mapping of a user's facial movements onto animated avatars in real time. This update enabled at-home auditions using the iPhone X, and auditions for five new characters that would become part of the agency's first "generation" opened on 2 May. The first generation of Hololive talents debuted from May to June 2018, and a second generation followed in August and September. On 15 November, Cover debuted AZKi, a non-Hololive VTuber focused on producing music.
In June, Cover raised 200 million yen (US$1.9 million) in a Series A round of funding from GREE Ventures, OLM Ventures, and Mizuho Capital.
On 6 December, Cover unveiled Hololive Gamers, a new group of VTubers specializing in let's plays. Its new talents debuted in December 2018 and April 2019. On 19 December, talents appeared in a video on Hololive's YouTube channel to demonstrate an update to the Hololive app that enabled in-person collaboration. On 25 December, Hololive launched a series of daily anime shorts starring talent Sakura Miko, . It was well-received, and a second web animated short series, "Holo no Graffiti", began weekly release on YouTube in May 2019 and is currently ongoing on Hololive's channel.
2019: Growth and reorganization.
On 8 January 2019, Hololive announced that it had signed a contract with the Chinese video platform Bilibili, under which it would open 15 channels on the platform and simultaneously stream there and on YouTube. It would also begin collaborating with Chinese-speaking volunteers to translate Hololive videos, and start releasing original content for the Chinese market. On 17 May, Cover opened permanent talent auditions in China and Japan.
On 19 May, Cover formed an in-house music label, INoNaKa (INNK) Music, from AZKi and independent VTuber Hoshimachi Suisei.
On 27 May, Cover unveiled an all-male VTuber agency named Holostars, whose first generation talents began debuting in June, followed by several more in September and October of the year. A second generation of the branch was announced on 4 December, and its members debuted later in the month. A third generation was revealed on 27 April 2020, and its members debuted in the following month.
Auditions for a 3rd generation of Hololive, "Hololive Fantasy", were held from 13 to 23 June, with three available positions. Members of the generation debuted from July to August. A 1st generation of Hololive China, a new Chinese-speaking branch active on Bilibili, was announced on 27 September, and its talents debuted from September 2019 to January 2020. A second generation was announced on 6 March 2020, and debuted in April 2020.
On 2 December, Cover consolidated its Hololive, INNK Music, and Holostars agencies under a new brand named Hololive Production; the three entities continued to operate under their respective management teams. On the same day, Suisei transferred to Hololive from INNK, leaving AZKi as the label's only member. A 4th generation of Hololive was revealed on 25 December; its members debuted in late December and early January 2020.
2020–present: Expansion.
2020.
On 24 January 2020, Cover held "hololive 1st fes. Nonstop Story", a concert at the Toyosu Pit in Kōtō, Tokyo, with AZKi and all 22 then-current Hololive members. The live event was announced on 4 November 2019, and it was reported on 27 December that tickets had sold out and that Cover would host a pay-per-view live stream on Niconico. It was reported after the concert that it had had the largest cast of any event to date in the VTuber industry.
A new foreign branch, Hololive Indonesia, was revealed on 6 April, after an audition period for Indonesian-speaking talents that opened on 27 December 2019; its members debuted in April 2020. Auditions for a second generation of the branch were held from 3 to 19 July; its members were revealed on 1 December 2020 and debuted in the same month.
In May, Cover raised 700 million yen (US$6.6 million) in funding from various sources, including Hakuhodo DY Ventures and SMBC Venture Capital.
On 5 June, Cover released an apology statement for uploading Nintendo video game content without copyright permission, Cover subsequently began negotiation with Nintendo to gain streaming rights, which it accomplished by 1 August. A separate incident led Cover to release a second apology statement on 30 July as well privating and deleting a large quantity of Hololive archived streams.
A 5th generation of Hololive was revealed on 6 August, and its members debuted in the same month. Shortly after talent Mano Aloe's debut on 15 August, a recording of an earlier stream that she had hosted on the Japanese platform in which she leaked her Live2D model was widely publicized. She subsequently became a subject of online harassment, and hosted a stream two days later asking fans to stop calling her home phone. On the same day, Cover apologized for the incident and issued her a two-week suspension. On 31 August, the day of Aloe's scheduled return, Cover announced that she had retired from Hololive due to stress. The company released a statement one week later regarding its planned response to future harassment of talents, announcing that it would take legal action against harassers and establish a reporting system to catch future incidents.
As of August 2020, Hololive talent Kiryu Coco had earned approximately 85 million yen (US$810,000) through YouTube's Super Chat donation system, making her the site's all-time top earner according to data collection site Playboard. Four other Hololive members were also among the top ten. , Hololive channels had more than 10 million combined subscribers on YouTube, as well as 10 million additional combined subscribers on Chinese platform Bilibili. By May 2021, Hololive channels had more than 40 million combined YouTube subscribers.
On 9 September, Hololive announced an English-language branch, Hololive English; auditions for English-speaking talents had opened on 23 April. Its members debuted in September. On 22 October, English talent Gawr Gura became the first Hololive talent to reach 1 million YouTube subscribers; on 17 January 2021, she also became the first Hololive talent to reach 2 million subscribers on the platform and the second VTuber to do so, after Kizuna AI.
On 23 October, Cover announced "hololive 2nd fes. Beyond the Stage", a two-day follow-up to "Nonstop Story" and a collaboration with the Japanese entertainment company Bushiroad. It was held as a pay-per-view livestream on 21–22 December. Cover also announced Hololive's first original-only concert titled "Hololive Idol Project 1st Live 『Bloom,』" at the end of Beyond the Stage. 『Bloom,』 was held on 17 February 2021 at Tokyo Garden Theatre, although in-person viewing was cancelled due to increased COVID situation in Japan.
2021.
Second auditions for the next generation of Hololive English were opened on 12 February 2021.
On 17 February, at the end of its 『Bloom,』 concert, Cover announced its multimedia project titled Hololive Alternative. The project was launched with its own Twitter and homepage. An animated music video sung by Hololive English member Mori Calliope and a manga by doujinshi artist Mizuryu Kei was also announced. Following a dispute between Mizuryu Kei and Hololive management, the announcement of the manga has since been removed from the Hololive Alternative Twitter account. On March 16, Cover officially announced on their twitter the cancelation of the manga and compensation to the artist.
Taiwan controversy and suspensions.
In late September 2020, Kiryu Coco and Akai Haato each mentioned Taiwan on stream while discussing their YouTube channel analytics, which list Taiwan as a country. Their comments sparked outrage among viewers in mainland China, and were followed by an official statement from Cover in Japanese, English, and Chinese on 27 September. In it, Cover faulted the talents for "making statements insensitive to certain nationalities" and for "divulging confidential YouTube channel analytics information". Each received a three-week suspension from all activities.
In a separate Chinese-only statement posted earlier on Bilibili, Cover had stated that Coco and Haato's comments did not reflect its policy in China, and reaffirmed its support for the One-China policy and its commitment to doing business in the country. Three days later, the company released another statement addressing the discrepancies between the messages, stating that the Bilibili statement was released "due to the desire to adapt it to the needs of the audience". Cover apologized for any confusion it caused, and announced changes in its procedure for releasing regional statements and the formation of a committee to prevent similar incidents. On 19 October, both talents resumed their streaming activities as scheduled.
On 12 November, Cover announced that five of the six members of Hololive China (Yogiri, Civia, Doris, Artia and Rosalyn) would graduate (retire) on different dates before the end of 2020. The graduation of the remaining member, Spade Echo, was confirmed in an announcement on 16 November.
Talents.
Hololive.
Hololive Affiliated Talents – "Generation 0".
This group consist of talents who debuted outside of the "generation" format of Hololive due to their unique circumstances.
Media.
Selected discography.
Hololive.
All group releases to date have been performed by "Hololive Idol Project", a group consisting of different talents for each release.