WACTOR



WACTOR Production (ワクタープロダクション Wakuta Purodakushon), also known as WACTOR for short, is a Japan-based agency of VTubers managed by the company of the same name.

Since 2019, WACTOR has expanded towards Chinese streaming on bilibili. On January 2021, WACTOR's talents presented themselves to Spanish-speaking audiences.

Background
WACTOR Production first announced auditions on 25 April, 2018.

The first two members were Hizuki Miu and Irisu Mia, who debuted on 21 October 2018. The third member, Otogi Lilu, debuted on 23 February  2019. However, their affiliations and relationship remained undisclosed at the time.

On 2 March 2019, the VTuber unit "Mirais" managed by WACTOR was formed, with Miu, Mia and Lilu as its first three members, and a Staff twitter account was set up in May.

2019
On July 2019, 株式会社WACTOR was formally established as a company.

On 3 October, WACTOR's Twitter account announced auditions for two new members for Mirais unit (みらいず Miraizu) and four new members for a sister unit (姉妹ユニット Shimai yunitto).

On 25 October, Otogi Lilu announced her retirement via Twitter. She graduated on 16 November.

Eventually, the members of Sister Unit debuted: Komori Aina debuts on 28 October, Mashiro Yuyu on 7 November, Mihana Rio on 9 November, and Tsukito Hana on 11 November. Later, the new members of Mirais debuted: Kogure Piyoko debuts on 20 November, and Mitsurugi Lia on 15 December.

On 12 December, Mihana Rio's contract was cancelled due to breach of contract.

2020
On 11 January, Irisu Mia announced her retirement via Twitter, and graduated on 29 February.

On 28 January, WACTOR introduced Nanaha Rui (七葉琉伊), their first bilibili-exclusive VTuber (or Virtual UP).

On 2 February, Kokoro Ichiru debuts as part of the Sister Unit.

On 12 March, WACTOR's Twitter account posted a statement regarding the unauthorized deletion of new member data in the company's cloud storage, and it was found that one of the many IPs involved belonged to a former employee. At the same time, Komori Aina and Mashiro Yuyu's contracts were cancelled due to breaches of contract.[9] As of this date, Mirais and her sister unit were merged to form one group simply called "WACTOR".

On 28 September, Kokoro Ichiru's activities are temporarily suspended. After a long hiatus, the cancellation of her contract is announced on 28 December due to management issues.

At some point in 2020 (presumed late December), archives on graduated Otogi Lilu's and Irisu Mia's channels were wiped, leaving their respective Twitter accounts the only official way to view their stream logs.

2021
Throughout January and February, WACTOR's talents began expanding towards Spanish-speaking fanbases, which caused a sudden surge in subscriber numbers. On 16 January, Miu was the first to publish a presentation video in Spanish, followed by Lia on 19 January,, Hana on 24 January, and Piyoko on 10 February.

On 17 March, WACTOR's Twitter account announced auditions endorsed by bilibili for five new members (now known as second generation), from 17 March to 5 April.

On 25 April, a public audition event featuring the 15 finalists was held on bilibili, with Komori Chiyu and Otome Oto as guest commentators.

Throughout May, the second generation made their debuts: Shino Laila and Hoshina Suzu on 9 May, Kurari Rose on 18 May, and Hina Misora on 25 May. One of the five avatars did not debut.

On 16 June, WACTOR's members were re-organized into generations (0th, 1st, 2nd) according to their audition and debut date.

On 30 June, WACTOR announced auditions for a third generation and opened early registrations.

On 31 July, WACTOR was ranked 8th among the top 10 Japanese vtuber companies with the most overall subscribers. The company also officially announced the start of the third generation auditions and shared the three avatars of its members, one of which was originally released during the previous auditions.

Throughout late 2021, the third generation debuted: Sumeragi Pal debuts on 12 September, Rurine Luna on 15 September and Inumaki Himari on 15 October.

On 1 November, after a long vacation, Kogure Piyoko announced her retirement, and graduated on 26 November.

On 28 November, Shino Laila was suspended indefinitely due to a breach of contract.

On 23 December, WACTOR announced auditions for a fourth generation sponsored by Bilibili. The new "fantasy"-themed generation is called "GATE" and is comprised of five new members.

On 27 December, after several management and communication issues between WACTOR and the subtitle teams of Suzu 星奈铃 and Nyaru 猫雷にゃる about uploading a collaboration video of Ice and fire song 冰火歌会, WACTOR announces to temporarily suspend Hoshina Suzu's activities for protective reasons.

2022
On 29 January, Nanaha Rui graduated from WACTOR.

On February, Tsukito Hana decided to cancel her contract with the company due to health reasons.

On March 2, WACTOR is involved in a scandal by revealing in a report the real name of one of their talents who had been suspended since November of the previous year. The report announces a damage claim and a lawsuit against the person in charge of Shino Laila, by "engaging in Vtuber activities outside the company" and "bringing discredit to the company". Taking legal action against a fan for alleged defamation is also considered.

Also the same day, Kurari Rose was suspended due to a breach of contract which, however, was never revealed.

Shino Laila and Kurari Rose's contracts were canceled by March at the latest.

Eventually, the fourth generation make their debuts: Saohime Yue on 20 February, Shinonome Ito on 26 February, Himea D'Almaria on 14 March, Mireille Kuuma on 16 April, while Yukinoshita Mimi postponed her debut date due to personal circumstances.

On 5 May, WACTOR announced auditions for an all-male generation of vtubers, a first for the agency.

On 9 May, Hoshina Suzu announced her retirement, and graduated on 29 June.

On 13 July, the fourth generation member who had yet to debut communicates her name change to Lea and finally debuts on 16 July.

On 24 July, Hina Misora announces the cancellation of her Bilibili activities.

In the middle of 2022, the fifth generation or also called GAMERS debuted: Nemurine Charo debuts on 22 July, Kumaboshi Mahiru on 29 July, and Himeragi Ageha on 3 August.

On 3 August, WACTOR's Twitter account also reported that Lea is absent due to illness.

On 27 September, Sumeragi Pal announces her retirement.

On 8 October, Inumaki Himari announces her retirement.

Members
WACTOR members were originally organized into groups called Units, but in March 2020, the idea was scrapped to form one single group, which was later separated into generations.

0th Generation
Founding members.

1st Generation
Debuted from November 2019 to January 2020.

2nd Generation
Debuted in May 2021.

3rd Generation
Debuted in September and October 2021.

4th Generation
Also called GATE. Debuted in February and April 2022.

5th Generation
Debuted in July and August 2022.

Mirais
Mirais (みらいず Miraizu) was WACTOR's first Vtuber unit which originally comprised only Hizuki Miu, Irisu Mia and Otogi Lilu. All of Mirais were VTubers who streamed from the future.

Sister unit
Mirais' sister unit, known simply as "Sister Unit" (姉妹ユニット Shimai yunitto), comprised Mihana Rio, Komori Aina, Mashiro Yuyu, Tsukito Hana and Kokoro Ichiru, was the second unit in charge of WACTOR. According to some media, it was provisionally called "ケモミーズ" (Kemomizu), but the name was never truly decided.