[Hikari's Tavern Diary] Becoming SODAART's Resident Janitor? 2023/5/28

Just this past month, I started a brand-new chapter in my VTuber career: I became a member of SODAART!

It all started on April Fool's Day. SODAART and REEF extended an olive branch, asking if I'd be interested in joining the team. My very first reaction? "REEF! You know it's April Fool's today, right?" Once I confirmed they weren't just messing with me, I felt incredibly grateful for the invitation. More than that, I found myself looking back on my journey over the past nine months since my debut. It honestly felt like all my hard work was finally being recognized. Still, I knew that being an indie VTuber and joining an agency are two entirely different beasts. There was a ton to consider. After a lot of internal back-and-forth, I ultimately decided to join SODAART. I can't wait to see what kind of sparks the team and I will create together.

If we haven't met yet, please allow me to reintroduce myself. My name is Atama Hikari, and you can call me Hikari. A lot of my friends in the community call me Bro Hikari. I'm a bald tavern owner with an absolute obsession with Dongquan chili sauce. My bar is called Hikari's Tavern. I originally thought that by opening this place, I could just kick back, rake in the cash, and escape the corporate grind. Who knew it would end up burning through both my time and my wallet? I couldn't escape the rat race after all, which is why I started moonlighting as a VTuber... Wait, no, now I have *another* job! And that's being the resident janitor for this agency full of cute anime girls.

My first month with the team is already drawing to a close, and I'm honestly still adjusting to a lot of things. May was definitely a whirlwind—there were some amazing moments, but also some pretty exhausting ones. But no matter what, every experience just serves as food for growth. Just like how some wine gets better with age, the more we go through, the more diverse the content we can create as VTubers!

(Illustration by Liuyu)

On the first day of May, I released my very first cover song as a VTuber: KING. I originally wanted to use this "VTuber national anthem" to prove that I could draw in a new audience through music. So, I gathered an illustrator, an animator, a recording studio, and a mixing engineer I knew to bring this project to life. I thought it would take maybe three months to wrap up, but it ended up dragging on for over half a year. I definitely learned the hard way just how mentally draining it is to produce a cover song from scratch.

But having that experience also helped me realize my own shortcomings. What's done is done, and all I can do is improve moving forward! For instance, the first version I uploaded actually had quite a few typos in the Japanese subtitles. I had to remind myself not to get attached to the view count it had already racked up. I took it down and re-uploaded the corrected version. To be completely honest, the audience response was a little underwhelming, but I'm incredibly proud of the final product. If you liked it, I'd love it if you gave it a few more listens!

(Gifts and greeting cards sent by viewers)

This month, I also celebrated my first birthday as a VTuber: the 8th day of the 4th lunar month (Buddha's Birthday). I probably don't need to explain why my birthday falls on that exact day, right? (Presses hands together in prayer) Originally, I hadn't planned on accepting gifts from viewers. But during one of my streams, I put up a poll, and so many of you said you wanted to send something, so I finally decided to accept gifts.

Truth be told, I was pretty worried. Wouldn't it be super awkward if nobody actually sent anything? We also had a little hiccup where the post office wouldn't let me receive packages anonymously, and I almost thought the birthday stream was going to fall through. But the end result? So many gifts! So many letters! So many birthday wishes and fan art on Twitter! The heartfelt messages, in particular, warmed my heart with every single word. Seeing all this support and encouragement... even though everyone tells me not to work too hard, I'm more motivated than ever. I'm not just doing this for myself; I want to give back to all of you who support me! I'm going to keep pushing forward! 10k subs? How will I know if I can do it if I don't try? I never set any limits for myself when I first stepped into the VTuber scene, so I'm just going to go all out.

Thank you for sticking by my side. You've filled my streams—and my life—with so much warmth and joy.