<\/p>\n
\n\tTakanashi Kiara, a virtual YouTuber belonging to the English division of Japan\u2019s VTuber agency hololive production, dropped her first album Point of View<\/em> last month. Her debut set displays the various faces of the English-speaking VTuber, with songs ranging from the lead track \u201cPineapple,\u201d a tropical summer song accompanied by a music video featuring the VTuber dancing brightly by the poolside, to tracks such as \u201cThe Great Wanderer\u201d and \u201cRetrospective\u201d that highlights her inner conflicts, sadness and negative emotions.<\/p>\n \n\tTakanashi \u2014 her name is in Japanese order, surname first \u2014 debuted in 2020 as a member of the early hololive English group called Hololive English -Myth-, and made her 3-D debut in February of this year. The pioneering English-language VTuber talks about her passion for music and the ways she infuses it with feelings for her fans in this new interview.<\/p>\n \n\tCould you tell us some of the things that were going through your mind around the time you kicked off your career as an English-speaking VTuber?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tI never thought it would be such a success. Japanese hololive VTubers were well-known at the time, but not so much outside of Japan yet. As a comparison, Japanese anime is popular everywhere now, and many people prefer watching it in the original Japanese instead of English dubs. Hololive English -Myth-inking at the time was, if people enjoy watching anime in Japanese, then VTubers who speak English might come across as odd.<\/p>\n \n\tWhich VTubers do you admire or draw inspiration from?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tI first discovered hololive through Shirakami Fubuki. I was intrigued by the concept of VTubers and was hooked from the moment I checked her out. That was when I was living in Japan on a one-year visa, then the pandemic broke out. I was watching UsadaPekora\u2019s videos to cheer myself up during that time and then the hololive English auditions began. It felt like destiny to me and I applied.<\/p>\n \n\tWhat kind of music did you grow up on?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tI started listening to the Black Eyed Peas because of my parents. I also listened to Paramore and Kelly Clarkson. Like, mainstream artists on the radio that everyone knows. Paramore was one of my inspirations for the song \u201cRetrospective\u201d on this album. Right now I\u2019ve been hooked on K-pop artists like TWICE and NewJeans. Today\u2019s K-pop is influenced by American music but still has its own unique flavor. I wanted my songs to be like that.<\/p>\n \n\tWhat\u2019s the concept of your debut album, <\/strong>Point of View<\/em><\/strong>?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tMy previous singles \u201cHINOTORI\u201d and \u201cHeart Challenger\u201d were Japanese-language tracks in the vein of J-POP, anime songs, and idol songs. I personally love that kind of music, too. But since we\u2019re hololive English, some fans preferred that I sing in English. Also, there were many other hololive VTubers singing similar stuff, so I decided to try making songs that were different from that kind of music and also suited me. I tried to include elements such as my gratitude for my past history and activities and tried to create a collection of songs from Kiara\u2019s various \u201cpoints of view.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tI\u2019d like to ask you about some of the songs off your new album. First, \u201cLove Rush,\u201d the second track on the set. It has a really positive mood.<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tThe lyrics express my gratitude to all my listeners. I\u2019m moved by it when I sing it, and it has a really profound meaning to me. Kai Gojo, who is also the songwriter for \u201cHINOTORI\u201d and \u201cHeart Challenger\u201d, wrote it for me, and he\u2019s someone I can completely rely on because he can write both cool and cute numbers. I told him I wanted to try my hand at a cute song like \u201cHeart Challenger\u201d again for this project. But I also wanted a different vibe, so I asked him to include some elements reminiscent of the J-pop group fh\u00e1na, like sounds of a violin.<\/p>\n \n\tThe next song, \u201cThe Great Wanderer,\u201d has a different, more serious tone.<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tWhen I first heard the instrumental, I felt a touch of loneliness, so I decided to have the lyrics written about such feelings. We all have moments in our lives when we feel lonely or sad, so I thought the song would resonate with people. There\u2019s actually another angle to this song. VTubers are virtual beings so we can\u2019t meet our fans in real life. It\u2019s pretty sad, you know? Of course, the fact that you can only interact with them online is one of the good things about VTubers, but sometimes I want to break down that barrier. I tried to express such dilemmas specific to VTubers in this song.<\/p>\n \n\tYou mentioned Paramore as an inspiration for the next song, \u201cRetrospective.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\t\u201cRetrospective\u201d is the song that contains the most of my negativity on this album. There\u2019s no positive ending, only my hang-ups about failures in the past that I want to redo but can\u2019t, or the things I lack and so on. But I think those kinds of songs are good to have once in a while. When I\u2019m sad, sometimes I just want to listen to a song that makes me wallow in my sadness, not one that cheers me up.<\/p>\n \n\tIncidentally, the melody of the song was originally completely different, but I wanted something more Western-sounding so I could sing it more naturally in English. So I asked monii, who wrote the lyrics, to come up with a new melody. It ended up being really Evanescence-like and dramatic. When we were recording the song, even the expression on my face looked like I was in pain and I enjoyed singing with so much emotion.<\/p>\n \n\tMusic might be a unique way of detoxing because negative emotions and experiences can be expressed as they are instead of having to convert them into positivity.<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tYes, exactly. It\u2019s a way of letting it all out. I think VTubers exist to give people comfort, but I figured this album was a good opportunity to show my real self, so I went ahead and tried it. I\u2019m the type of person who wears my emotions on my sleeve, but it\u2019s still hard to show these feelings. But people seem to like songs like \u201cRetrospective\u201d and I realized that it\u2019s okay to talk about such feelings in music, so I hope I can keep expressing my personal story in the future.<\/p>\n \n\tThe fourth track, \u201cSleep Talking,\u201d is completely different in that it\u2019s a song where you can let the sound wash over you without thinking too hard about it.<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tAfter releasing \u201cDO U\u201d on my second anniversary, I asked my team of creators if I could sing something with more of a K-pop feel, and they sent me several demos. One of them was \u201cSleep Talking.\u201d I was like, \u201cWhoa, I really like this one!\u201d and asked to sing it as the keystone of this album. The album leads with \u201cPineapple,\u201d but I consider \u201cSleep Talking\u201d as another leading track in a way, and we plan to release a music video for it as well.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cPineapple\u201d is the first song of the album, a really fun pop number.<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tIt\u2019s a summer party song, the kind you\u2019d want to listen to at the beach. The music video is also based on the theme of a beach party, and for the dance scene, I went to the U.S. to shoot motions at the studio of my colleague, Watson Amelia. The choreography was pretty hard and I had a lot of trouble with it. I shared a short video of the chorus dance for YouTube Shorts, so I hope people enjoy it.<\/p>\n \n\tWe\u2019re also looking forward to your live performances.<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tI would really like to do solo live performances in real life and not just on YouTube. All my songs are choreographed and I\u2019m ready to perform any time, so I\u2019ll keep doing what I can to stand on stage someday. But first, I want everyone to listen to the album, even those who aren\u2019t really into VTubers. I hope I can reach as many people in the world as possible.<\/p>\n