VirtuaReal



VirtuaReal (aka VR or 维阿) is a Virtual UP (VUP) project created as a joint venture between Bilibili and ANYCOLOR. It comprises three groups: VirtuaReal Project, VirtuaReal Star, and VirtuaReal Link. VirtuaReal Project is considered the Chinese branch of NIJISANJI, while the other two groups are partnership programs for independent VUPs. Due to this relationship, VirtuaReal members may stream with the NIJISANJI App, receive technical support from ANYCOLOR, and are occasionally invited to collaborations with members of NIJISANJI branches.

As of June 2023, there are 70 members across the three groups in total, 47 in VirtuaReal Project, 6 in VirtuaReal Star and 16 in VirtuaReal Link, mainly conducting activities on bilibili and Weibo. Hanser and Lingyuan yousa, two members of VirtuaReal Star, are the first and second most subscribed VUPs worldwide respectively with over 3 million followers each. VirtuaReal members have over 12 million followers in total on bilibili and are the most popular corporate VUP group in China as of June 2022.

2019
On 19 April, VirtuaReal's official account posted the initial recruitment information on bilibili, the audition period lasting until 24 April. At the same time, VirtuaReal also announced the opening of long-term auditions.

On 6 May, VirtuaReal announced the first generation and officially started their activities on the same day. The first generation livers started their streaming activities with Eine on 14 May followed by Ruki on 15 May.

On 7 June, the first generation participated in the 24th COMICUP convention in Shanghai. It was VirtuaReal's first off-stream event.

On 15-19 June, Nanami, Ichigo and Kouichi from the second generation made their first streams.

On 29 June, the first large collaboration between NIJISANJI and VirtuaReal where participants were asked real questions from Chinese college entrance exams. The participants were Eine, Ruki, Nanami, Ichigo, Mononobe Alice, Lize Helesta and Ryushen.

On 19 July, VirtuaReal announced the VirtuaReal Link and VirtuaReal Star. Lingyuan yousa was announced as the first talent to join VirtuaReal Star.

On 8 August, Andou Inari was announced to be the first indie VUP to join VirtuaReal Link.

On 21 August, Muri from the third generation debut.

On 29 September, Nyatsuki, Waku, and Plus from the fourth generation started their streaming activities with a debut relay.

On 31 August, VirtuaReal launched the first episode of the first official radio show, VRFM. The first guests were Nanami, Lize Helesta and Ruki.

On 21 September, VirtuaReal announced its participation in Bilibili World Shanghai in a joint booth with NIJISANJI.

On 5 October, Sakura Haruka joined VirtuaReal Star.

On 12 October, KINGSK and Mitsusa joined VirtuaReal Link.

On 14 October, Super Virtual High School, a 4-person idol group, joined VirtuaReal Link.

On 19 October, Hanon was revealed. On 1 November she made her first stream.

On 9 November, Hoshimi, Miki, and Mahiru from the fifth generation started their streaming activities with a debut relay.

On 1 December, Aza, Roi, Tabibito, and Yagi from the sixth generation started their streaming activities with a debut relay.

On 28 December, Sumire Hina, Suzuka and Mama Mara joined VirtuaReal Link.

2020
On 21 January, Yukie, Saya, and Seiya from the seventh generation started their streaming activities with a debut relay.

On 24 January, official Twitter account started.

On 31 January, VirtuaReal announced a collaboration with Kagura Nana to create an original VUP design.

On 24 February, Ruki reached 100,000 fans on her bilibili channel, making her the first overseas Liver to reach 100,000 followers on any streaming platform.

On 25 April, Samael and Karu from the eighth generation started their streaming activities with a debut relay followed by Mimoi, Shiki and Pax on 26 April.

On 6 May, VirtuaReal released a Chinese cover of "Virtual to LIVE" to celebrate their first anniversary with fan-submitted lyrics performed by 12 members. A music video version of the cover would later be released on 19 June.

On 2 June, VirtuaReal opened auditions for the VUP avatar Isabella, jointly produced by VirtuaReal and the Burst Witch mobile game. The audition period lasted until 15 June.

On 3 July, Nanako joined VirtuaReal Star.

On 18 July, Zuya Naxi joined VirtuaReal Star.

On 26 July, VirtuaReal held the first karaoke relay. Participating members were (in appearance order) Ruki, Nanami, Mahiru, Aza, Roi, Nyatsuki, Sumire Hina, Eine. From now on, the karaoke relay occurred semi-regularly, once per quarter.

On 27 July, Prime Star joined VirtuaReal Link. She is co-produced by VirtuaReal and the mobile game Yinshilu.

On 31 July, Chaos, Kiyora, and Chiharu from the ninth generation started their streaming activities with a debut relay.

On 15 August, VirtuaReal streamed the predecessor of its recurring summer time music show, "夏日合唱SP" (Summer Chorus SP), featuring 12 members (Eine, Ruki, Nanami, Ichigo, Waku, Hoshimi, Miki, Mitsusa, Shiki, Karu, Kiyora). The show was a formatted as a karaoke stream without 3D stages.

On 19 September, Karon joined VirtuaReal Link.

On 25 September, Isabella joined VirtuaReal Link.

On 30 September, Shaun, Yua, and Sirius from the tenth generation started their streaming activities with a debut relay along with Karon and Isabella.

On 18 December, Mari, Chiyuu, Tanoshiba, and Imi from the eleventh generation started their streaming activities with a debut relay.

On 20 December, hanser joined VirtuaReal Star.

2021
On 2 January, VirtuaReal held the first VirtuaReal Music MIX UP!! 3D live concert featuring 8 VirtuaReal members (Eine, Ruki, Nanami, Kouichi, Waku, Muri, Aza, Roi) and guest performances by hanser and Zuya Naxi. The event was held in the Shanghai West Culture and Art Center (now the West Bund Art Center).

On 20 January, six members of DengYue PlanV, Azusa, Kero, Jinxy, Ruruna, Mori, Rin Miyazono, and Syo joined VirtuaReal Link.

On 13 March, Mayumi, Remi, Tsukumo, and Kendou from the twelfth generation started their streaming activities with a debut relay.

On 15 March, three members of DengYue PlanV, Susam, Noi, and Nox joined VirtuaReal Link.

On 9 May, Tocci, Kiti, and Qilou from the thirteenth generation held their debut relay along with Joi, an indie VUP who joined VirtuaReal Link.

On 5 June, VirtuaReal held a solo concert for Nanami, "这个好诶" (This is Nice), with guest performances by hanser, Ruki, Aza, Roi, and NIJISANJI's Lize Helesta and Makaino Ririmu. The concert was held at the Bandai Namco Shanghai Base.

On 29 July, Hakuja and Koxia from the 14th generation started their streaming activities with a debut relay, followed by Yomiya, Rhea and Miyu on 30 July.

On 8 August, VirtuaReal held the "APEX夏日娱乐赛" (APEX Summertime Casual) with guests from NIJISANJI KR and Gwelu Os Gar from NIJISANJI.

Over 23-25 August, VirtuaReal held the "夏日合唱ProMax" (Summertime Chorus ProMax) 3D live concert featuring 14 VirtuaReal members (Eine, Ruki, Nanami, Mahiru, Hoshimi, Yukie, Chiharu, Shaun, Mari, Azusa, Kero, Jinxy, Ruruna, and Nox).

On 4 October, Uka, Yog, Hunger, and Keke from the fifteenth generation started their streaming activities with a debut relay.

2022
On 8 January, VirtuaReal held the 2nd VirtuaReal Music MIX UP!! 3D live concert featuring 12 members (Eine, Nanami, Kouichi, Hoshimi, Miki, Aza, Roi, Shuan, Mayumi, Remi, Azusa, Kero). The concert was held at the Bandai Namco Shanghai Base.

On 11 January, Ureme jonied VirtuaReal Star.

On 12 January, Kiyuu, Girimi, Karisa, and Sybil from the sixteenth generation started their streaming activities with a debut relay.

On 27 May, VirtuaReal's third anniversary special program. It was held as a variety show format where each livers submit videos. The host were Eine and Aza. The show also included awarding of various "prizes" that were decided in polls leading up to the special program.

On 5 August, aired the first episode of VR PARTY, a 3D party games variety show. Members of the first episode were Chiharu, Kouichi, Eine, Karon, and Mari.

On 4 September, Leo, Era, and Sui from the seventeenth generation started their streaming activities with a debut relay.

Over 19-23 September, VirtuaReal held the "夏日合唱Super" (Summertime Chorus Super) 3D live performance featuring 18 members (Eine, Nanami, Mahiru, Hoshimi, Aza, Roi, Yukie, Chiharu, Shaun, Karon, Mari, Chiyuu, Tanoshiba, Azusa, Kero, Tocci, Rhea, Yog).

On 4 November, VirtuaReal held the fan-meeting event "远行" (Farewell) for ROZA (Roi and Aza). The meeting was held at the KāixīnMáhuā Theater, Shanghai.

2023
On 3 February, Eve, Opal, and Shiori from the eighteenth generation started their streaming activities with a debut relay.

On 16 March, aired the first episode of "今晚唠唠嗑" (Let's Chat Tonight), a talk show program with Nox and Tocci as hosts. The guest to the first episode was Yukie.

On 15 April, VirtuaReal held the VirtuaReal 3RD MUSIC MIX UP!! 3D live concert featuring 17 members (Eine, Nanami, Kouichi, Hoshimi, Miki, Aza, Chiharu, Azusa, Kero, Mayumi, Susam, Nox, Tocci, Rhea, Yog, Girimi, Kiyuu). The concert was held at the Majestic Theater, Shanghai.

On 9 June, Hatsuse, Ameki, Michiya, and Awu from the nineteenth generation started their streaming activities with a debut relay.

On 21-23 June, VirtuaReal organized the VR Cup tournament for the mobile game Calabiyau where nine teams of five participated. The team of Nanami, Aza, Susam, Mayumi, and Girimi won the tournament.

VirtuaReal Project
The main group that's commonly referred to as just "VirtuaReal" (e.g., on the official NIJISANJI website). Unlike the main NIJISANJI branch after Ranunculus and NIJISANJI EN, VirtuaReal Project does not brand its individual generations as units. They are often referred to with their generation number.

First Generation
Debuted on 14 and 15 May 2019 respectively.

Second Generation
Debuted on 15, 19 and 18 June 2019 respectively.

Third Generation
Debuted on 21 August and 1 November 2019 respectively. Despite being announced and debuting after the fourth wave, Hanon is considered a member of the third wave due to the silhouette of her model already having been revealed alongside Muri.

Fourth Generation
Debuted on 29 September 2019.

Also known as "VR Sān Fei Rén" (VR三fei人).

Fifth Generation
Debuted on 9 November 2019.

Sixth Generation
Debuted on 1 December 2019.

Also known as "VRF4", a reference to the boy band F4. The first all-male generation.

Seventh Generation
Debuted on 21 January 2020.

Eighth Generation
Debuted on 25 and 26 April 2020, it is the first wave in NIJISANJI to include five Livers.

After Karu's graduation, it became the first generation to have all of its members retire.

Ninth Generation
Debuted on 31 July 2020. Prime Star, who joined VirtuaReal Link around the same time as the ninth wave's debut, was considered an honorary member.

Also known as 973.

Tenth Generation
Debuted on 30 September 2020. Karon and Isabella, who participated in a debut relay alongside them, are considered honorary members.

Eleventh Generation
Debuted on 18 December 2020.

Also known as "人外天国" (Rénwài Tiānguó) Monster Paradise due to the fact that all four of them are non-human, or 117.

Twelfth Generation
Debuted on 13 March 2021.

Thirteenth Generation
Debuted on 9 May 2021. Even though Joi joined under VirtuaReal Link, she's generally considered by viewers to be a part of the 13th Gen due to being revealed and having a debut relay alongside them. By early 2022, Joi was listed under VirtuaReal Project rather than Link on the official VirtuaReal website.

Fourteenth Generation
Debuted on 29 and 30 July 2021.

Fifteenth Generation
Debuted on 4 October 2021.

Sixteenth Generation
Debuted on 12 January 2022.

Seventeenth Generation
Debuted on 4 September 2022, it is the first mixed wave of VirtuaReal where there are not more female than male Livers.

Eighteenth Generation
Debuted on 3 February 2023.

Nineteenth Generation
Debuted on 9 June 2023.

VirtuaReal Star
Members of VirtuaReal Star are the Virtual personas of popular, established content creators or celebrities. They are generally not considered part of NIJISANJI.

VirtuaReal Link
VirtuaReal Link is similar to the former NIJISANJI NetWORK partnership program such that independent VUPs are given technical and operational support and shared experiences from VirtuaReal. Although there is now less operational distinction between VR Link and VR Project members, they are not considered official members of NIJISANJI or listed on the NIJISANJI website. They are not required to use the NIJISANJI App for stream, and can freely use third-party products with their models, such as VRChat.

Super Virtual High School
超V学园, a four-person idol group with their own bilibili channel. The group has ceased activity at an unknown time no later than late 2022. Its members now label themselves as indie VUPs.

Joined September 2020 with the tenth generation
Debuted as VirtuaReal members alongside the tenth generation on 19 and 20 October 2020 respectively.

Dengyue PlanV
Dengyue PlanV (登乐V计划) was a virtual talent show organized by Bilibili aimed at new VUPs focusing on singing and music.

Debuted as VirtuaReal members on 22 January 2021 through Dengyue PlanV. Debuted as VirtuaReal members on 22 January 2021. A three-person unit on Dengyue PlanV with their own bilibili channel: JRM Project.

Known Staff
VirtuaReal staffs tend to be a lot more easily identified. Some of the management can be identified because they join the membership or reblog posts for their managed livers. Many of the staffs are part-time and have other responsibilities within Bilibili. On 23 November, 2022, an account was created to handle community communication, using the mascot VR-bro that Karon drew as the avatar.

Events
VirtuaReal typically produce two 3D concerts every year.

Music Mixup
Music Mixup is a yearly offline 3D concert, typically held in first quarter of the year, and caters to fans of high-grossing livers. The concerts are held in a venue in Shanghai but also broadcast online with a purchased ticket.

In 2023, due to epidemic situation, the Music Mixup was held in April, later than the usual scheduled time of January or February.

Summer Chorus
夏日合唱 Summer Chorus is a yearly online music shows that typically happens in late summer and streamed for free.

The first instance, Summer Chorus SP was a "special program" karaoke stream held in August 2020. Then starting in 2021, they feature 3D live concerts for participating members. The live concert typically features livers with singing talent with less consideration about the size of their fan base.

Anniversary special program
Typically held in April-May to commemorate the anniversary of VirtuaReal's founding. Programs are designed to involve all the active livers.

Karaoke relays
Semi-regularly held every season. Livers participate on a voluntary basis.

Milestone illustrations
The VirtuaReal bilibili account posts special illustrations to celebrate VirtuaReal Project and Link members who reached 100,000 or higher milestone subscriber counts. See the following gallery for some examples.

Music videos
See also List of VirtuaReal Songs for the full list

Anniversary songs Summer theme songs
 * Virtual to LIVE - covered by VirtuaReal - 1st Anniversary Chinese cover of NIJISANJI's Virtual to LIVE
 * 星海 (Star Sea) - 2nd Anniversary song
 * 七色回响 (Rainbow Echoes) - 3rd Anniversary song
 * We are in Summer - 2020 summer theme song
 * 梦幻岛 (Neverland) - first appeared on Summer Chorus ProMax concert, 2021 Summer theme song
 * Shake the World! - first appeared on Summer Chorus Super concert, 2022 Summer theme song

Clip compilation

 * 虚拟主播高能放送 (Virtual Streamer Hyper Broadcast) - Weekly compilations of clips. Odd weeks are staff-selected, even weeks are fan-submitted.

Trivia

 * VirtuaReal refers to itself as a "虚拟艺人团体" (virtual t group).
 * Unlike Livers in other NIJISANJI branches that require both a Youtube channel and Twitter account, Weibo accounts are not compulsory for VirtuaReal members.
 * As the VirtuaReal bilibili account is active in interacting with VirtuaReal Livers and appearing in their livestream chats, it has been personified with the nickname "VR哥" (VR-bro). The official Live2D mascot model was drawn by Karon and rigged by Tanoshiba. The NIJISANJI bilibili account, which similarly interacts with VR Livers, is personified as "彩虹哥" (Niji-bro).
 * The sixth gen is the first generation of VirtuaReal to receive an official announcement trailer, which would not be done again until the fourteenth gen. The sixth gen is also the only generation to be teased individually before they were announced with images of their silhouettes accompanied by a passage hinting at their character settings. Group silhouette teasers have been done consistently from 13th gen onward.
 * VirtuaReal has its own Minecraft server that is separate from the main NIJISANJI Minecraft server. It also has a second server for modded Minecraft. The main server has secrets added in with the use of command blocks e.g. naming a pig "时守星沙" (Tokimori Seisa) will teleport the player to a hidden area just above bedrock layer.
 * VirtuaReal has three unused VUP avatars.

Administrative

 * The VirtuaReal headquarters are located in virtual Shanghai. Applicants who pass the second round of the audition p, mrocess are invited for an in-person interview. Being located in China is not a requirement to be a member; quite a few VirtuaReal members live elsewhere.
 * VirtuaReal members are allowed to design and distribute their own merchandise, usually as rewards for their captains (i.e. members).
 * VirtuaReal members typically receive new outfits once they reach 30k fans (i.e. followers) on bilibili, and 3D models once they reach 100k.
 * VirtuaReal takes face seriously. If a liver requests a change to their face in a new model, it will have be be taken as a serious change and is permanent, meaning the liver would not be able to go back. Livers who have made changes to their face include: Kero, Plus, Rhea, Tanoshiba, Tocci, Susam, Yog, Uka.

Official Websites

 * VirtuaReal Website
 * VirtuaReal under the NIJISANJI Website

Official Channels

 * VirtuaReal bilibili channel
 * VirtuaReal bilibili live room
 * VirtuaReal零号机 - Account that handles communication with community
 * 超V学园 - Super Virtual High School bilibili channel
 * JRM_Project - JRM Project bilibili channel

Official Social Media Accounts

 * @virtuareal - Weibo account
 * @Virtua_Real - Twitter account
 * JRM_Project - JRM Project Douyin account

Official Stores

 * @VirtuaReal - VirtuaReal Afdian account
 * VirtuaReal category under the NIJISANJI Taobao shop
 * VirtuaReal - VirtuaReal's bilibili mall