NIJISANJI (main branch)

''This article is about the main branch of NIJISANJI Project based in Japan. For a general overview comprising all the branches, see NIJISANJI.''



NIJISANJI (にじさんじ) is the main branch of the NIJISANJI Project. Prior to April 2022, it exclusively comprised Japanese-speaking Livers catering to Japanese audience, so it was sometimes unofficially referred to as "NIJISANJI JP" to distinguish it from overseas branches. The Indonesian and Korean branches merged with the main branch on 15 April 2022.

Kuzuha, a Japanese member of the branch, is the most-subscribed male VTuber worldwide with over 1.4 million subscribers; and Hyakumantenbara Salome, also a Japanese member of the main branch, is the current world record holder for being the fastest VTuber to reach 1 million subscribers in just under 14 days.

2018
On 8 February, NIJISANJI officially announced its First Generation. At the time, their original purpose was to showcase the capabilities of the NIJISANJI Live2D facetracking app.

On 15 March, NIJISANJI officially announced the Second Generation.

On 2 May, NIJISANJI introduced NIJISANJI Gamers, a new Virtual Liver group with a focus on Let's Play streams, with Kanae and Akabane Youko being its founding members.

From 5 to 15 May, NIJISANJI held an audition for NIJISANJI SEEDs, third Virtual Liver group of NIJISANJI, and the first batch of selected candidates started their activities on 3 June.

On 13 December, Ichikara announced that both NIJISANJI Gamers and NIJISANJI SEEDs would be merged into the main NIJISANJI group at the end of the month. After the merge, members who originated from Gamers or SEEDs started to use the term "ex-Gamers/SEEDs" when having a collab with their debut-mates.

2019
On 19 July, NIJISANJI's parent company, Ichikara Inc., announced a new branch of the NIJISANJI Project in Indonesia called "NIJISANJI ID". The auditions for four initial virtual YouTuber positions were open from 19 July until 4 August, and the selected candidates officially began their activities in September 2019.

On 17 December, Ichikara Inc. announced a new branch of the NIJISANJI Project in South Korea called "NIJISANJI KR". The auditions for five virtual YouTuber positions were open from 20 December until 6 January 2020, and the selected candidates officially began their activities in late January 2020.

On 18 December, the second wave of NIJISANJI ID started their activities.

2020
From 9 February to 5 April, NIJISANJI held a 6-show national music concert tour called "NIJISANJI JAPAN TOUR 2020 Shout in the Rainbow!". A total of 29 NIJISANJI members performed across 5 Zepp venues (Sapporo, Fukuoka, Namba, Nagoya, and DiverCity Tokyo). Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Zepp DiverCity Tokyo show was entirely cancelled and the second Zepp Namba show was exclusively streamed online.

On 13 March, the third wave of NIJISANJI ID started their activities.

On 22 May, the second wave of NIJISANJI KR started their activities.

On 31 July, the third wave of NIJISANJI KR started their activities.

On 7 August, the fourth wave of NIJISANJI ID started their activities.

On 9 October, the fourth wave of NIJISANJI KR started their activities.

On 11 November, the fifth wave of NIJISANJI ID started their activities.

On 25 December, Ichikara Inc. announced that the previously unofficial NIJISANJI subreddit, r/Nijisanji, would become officially run by Ichikara Inc. Many of NIJISANJI's Livers joined as moderators for the subreddit as well.

2021
On 28 February, it was announced at the NIJISANJI anniversary festival that 3.0 brush-ups would be implemented, which allow for Live2D models to have more movement and facial expressions. JK Gumi (Tsukino Mito, Higuchi Kaede, Shizuka Rin) will be the first to receive 3.0 brush-ups in April 2021. NIJISANJI ID's first wave, Hana Macchia, ZEA Cornelia, and Taka Radjiman received 2.0 brush-ups during the festival as well.

On 3 March, Kuzuha became the most subscribed Liver in NIJISANJI, surpassing Tsukino Mito, who had previously held the highest subscriber count since 2018.

On 23 April, the fifth wave of NIJISANJI KR started their activities.

On 12 May, the English version of NIJISANJI's official website was released.

On 13 May, NIJISANJI announced the start of its official TikTok account.

On 19 July, ANYCOLOR announced a new wave of five NIJISANJI Livers, the main branch's first debuts in nearly a year. The new wave, "Eden-gumi", started their activities on July 22.

On 28 July, the sixth wave of NIJISANJI ID started their activities.

On 25 August, the sixth wave of NIJISANJI KR started their activities.

On 2 September, Kuzuha reached 1 million subscribers, becoming the first NIJISANJI Liver and first male VTuber worldwide to do so.

On 21 October, the NIJISANJI YouTube channel announced the formation of the unit "ROF-MAO" (ろふまお), consisting of Kagami Hayato, Kenmochi Touya, Fuwa Minato, and Kaida Haru. The new unit has its own official website, YouTube channel and Twitter account, and would regularly hold a program called "ROF-MAO Juku" (ろふまお塾, ROF-MAO Cram School) on its official channel.

On 31 October, the NIJISANJI Official Twitter account announced that NIJISANJI 4th Anniversary LIVE "FANTASIA" would be held on 22 and 23 January 2022. The two-day concert would include 16 Livers in 3D with matching outfits.

2022
On 20 January, NIJISANJI announced that Day 2 of its 4th anniversary concert, "FANTASIA," would be cancelled due to Kenmochi Touya, Kanae, Kagami Hayato, and Yashiro Kizuku testing positive for COVID-19. The following day, NIJISANJI further announced that in addition to the cancellation of Day 2, Day 1 of "FANTASIA" would also be cancelled due to the worsening COVID-19 situation in Japan.

On 17 February, ANYCOLOR announced that the NIJISANJI ID and NIJISANJI KR branches would be merged with the main NIJISANJI branch starting in early April 2022. Currently active Livers would continue their activities under the NIJISANJI brand, using any languages of their choice. All activities and events on the ID and KR social media channels would be cancelled, including currently running programs and new wave auditions.

On 16 March, ANYCOLOR announced a new wave of three NIJISANJI Livers originally from VIRTUAL TALENT ACADEMY, the first VTA graduates to debut directly into NIJISANJI. The new wave, "Ranunculus", began their activities on 20 March, with an original debut song and a preset unit name.

On 15 April, NIJISANJI ID and NIJISANJI KR officially merged into the main branch.

On 15 April, NIJISANJI announced the major rerelease of NIJISANJI JP Livers' "Welcome Goods & Voice" which include voice pack, can badge, and acrylic stand staring from 19 April 2022.

On 19 April, NIJISANJI announced a renewal of "NIJISANJI no Happy Hour!!" (にじさんじのハッピーアワー!!) into "NIJISANJI no TOYBOX!" (にじさんじのTOYBOX！). Hosted by Sasaki Saku, Axia Krone, and Eli Conifer, the new program would start airing on 17 May 2022 (20:00 JST) and the first episode would be free to watch.

On 24 April, the NIJISANJI official YouTube channel reached 1 million subscribers.

On 3 May, NIJISANJI announced a new program to its main channel called "Game-Ru? Game-Lu!", replacing the previous Levergacha program that ended in April. This program will be broadcast every Wednesday 20:00 JST beginning on May 4, 2022 (Wednesday) as an official game live program hosted by Amamiya Kokoro, Matsukai Mao and Yorumi Rena.

On 5 May, NIJISANJI announced the "NIJISANJI 4th Anniversary LIVE FANTASIA" concert has been rescheduled to 30 September and 1 October 2022 as part of the NIJISANJI Anniversary Festival 2022's "Night Stage" #にじフェス2022.

On 14 May, Kanae reached 1 million YouTube subscribers, making him the second NIJISANJI Liver and male VTuber worldwide to reach the milestone after Kuzuha.

On 21 May, ANYCOLOR announced the debut of a new NIJISANJI Liver for the first solo debut of the agency, Hyakumantenbara Salome.

On 24 May, Hyakumantenbara Salome reached 100,000 subscribers on her YouTube channel in about 2 hours after her debut stream started, making her the fastest Liver to reach this milestone in NIJISANJI history. 4 days later, Salome reached 500,000 subscribers, making her the fastest Liver to reach the milestone both within NIJISANJI and in the entire VTuber industry.

On 7 June, Hyakumantenbara Salome reached 1 million subscribers in just under 14 days since her debut, making her the fastest Liver in NIJISANJI and VTuber worldwide to reach the milestone. She is the third NIJISANJI Liver to reach 1 million after Kuzuha and Kanae, and the first female Liver to do so.

On 20 June, Salome became the most subscribed Liver in NIJISANJI, surpassing Kuzuha, who had previously held the highest subscriber count since March 2021.

On 23 June, NIJISANJI announced the debut of new unit formed by existing Livers called "Nornis", which consist of Machita Chima, Inui Toko, and Asahina Akane, with their single "Abyssal Zone". This new unit will have Virgin Music as its Record Label, similar to Kuzuha and the unit Trinity (Takamiya Rion, Furen E Lustario and Hakase Fuyuki) who are also part of the same one.

On 11 July, NIJISANJI announced the debut of 4 new Livers unit "VOLTACTION" on 13 July 2022 with a peel-off advertisement at Shibuya Station which later revealed that their first streams were going to be on 16 July 2022 with a debut song and for the first time, a YouTube channel and Twitter account entirely dedicated for a wave alongside their individual channels and twitter accounts.

On 6 August, NIJISANJI's official Twitter announced that that multiple ex-ID and ex-KR Livers would participate in NIJIFes 2022, including a special 3D showcase from Hana Macchia.

On 29 September, NIJISANJI's Korean and Indonesian Twitters announced that multiple ex-ID and ex-KR Livers scheduled to appear at NIJIFes 2022 would be unable to participate due to "unforseen circumstances." These circumstances were later revealed to be visa processing issues.

On 1-2 October, Hana Macchia, ZEA Cornelia, Yang Nari, and Ha Yun participated in NIJIFes 2022, marking the first appearance of ex-ID and ex-KR Livers at NIJIFes. Hana showcased her 3D model on Day 2, becoming the first ex-ID Liver to receive 3D.

On 19-20 November, NIJISANJI Festival 2022 (にじさんじ遊戯王マスターデュエル祭2022) took place across 2 days on NIJISANJI Official YouTube channel (Day 1 & Day 2). Six male and female Livers participated in the event, the members are: Yashiro Kizuku, Kagami Hayato, Ibrahim, Mashiro Meme, Maimoto Keisuke, Kuzuha, Kurusu Natsume, Matsukai Mao, Hoshikawa Sara, Yorumi Rena, Fumi, and Yamagami Karuta.

On 12 December, Tsukino Mito reached 1 million subscribers, making her the fourth NIJISANJI Liver and second female Liver to reach the milestone.

2023
On 16 January, NIJISANJI announced the debut of 7 new female Livers on 19 and 20 January 2023. Three of them were VTA graduates.

Gamers
NIJISANJI Gamers (にじさんじゲーマーズ) was a group of Livers that specialized in gaming content. Originally managed as a separate branch, it was later dissolved and merged into the main NIJISANJI group in December 2018. Post-merge, these Livers are also known as Ex-Gamers.

SEEDs
NIJISANJI SEEDs (にじさんじSEEDs) was a third group that had no particular specialization and was designed to support a wide variety of talents. Originally managed as a separate branch, it was later dissolved and merged into the main NIJISANJI group in December 2018. Post-merge, these Livers are also known as Ex-SEEDs.

VOIZ
VOIZ (ボイズ, Boizu) was an ensemble of four male Virtual Livers launched in June 2018. Two of its members ceased activities after their first livestreams, while Naruse Naru and Harusaki Air, who initially were part of the group when debuting, chose to continue their activities and were transferred to NIJISANJI SEEDs a few months after debut.

Post 2018 Merger
At the end of 2018, NIJISANJI, NIJISANJI Gamers, and NIJISANJI SEEDs were all merged under one single Japanese branch named NIJISANJI. Post merger, new Japanese debut groups are not numbered by the agency. Before Ranunculus in 2022, most of the names were decided post debut by the Livers themselves, as branding them with unit names were not common back then.

Kouhaku Aho Gassen
Kouhaku Aho Gassen (紅白アホ合戦) literally means "Red and White Dummy Battle", a reference to NHK Kouhaku Uta Gassen. After Warabeda Meiji's graduation, it became the first group to have both members retire.

Usa-chan Club
Usa-chan Club (うさちゃんクラブ) also refer to themselves as MireRoa (みれロア).

28 January Debut
This group still hasn't gotten their name yet.

8 March Debut
Shindo Raito had termination of contract only 4 days after his debut, making Otogibara Era effectively a solo debutant. There was no official name for this group.

Sanbaka
Debuted on 22 December 2019. Although Sanbaka (さんばか) literally means "Three Idiots," the name is actually an abbreviation of Samba Carnival (サンバ・カーニバル), a song relay project they did during their debuts.

Beni Zuwaigani
Debuted on 2 April 2019. Beni Zuwaigani (紅ズワイガニ) literally means "Crimson Snow Crab," a reference to Saegusa Akina's crimson hair streak and Aizono Manami's pre-debut Twitter handle.

MahiLulu
Debuted on 19 April 2019. MahiLulu (まひるる) only used the name once and it never officially became a unit name.

LvEx
Debuted on 17 Mei 2019. LvEx is an abbreviation of LevEl Ex (レベルエックス), a combination of their names.

Chichiyama
Debuted on 19 June 2019. Chichiyama (乳山) literally means "Breast Mountain."

SMC-gumi
Debuted on 3 July 2019. SMC-gumi (SMC(すめし)組, Sumeshi-gumi) stands for the roles of the members: Scientist (Hakase Fuyuki), Magician (Yorumi Rena) and CEO (Kagami Hayato).

Blues
Debuted on 24 July 2019. Blues (ぶるーず) got their name from how the members' image colors are all varying shades of blue.

Posanke
Debuted on 8 August 2019. Posanke (ぽさんけ) is a portmanteau of gosanke (Pokémon's big three, referring to the members' colors) and pokapoka (onomatopeia of being warm, referring to how they warm your hearts).

Tulip-gumi
Debuted on 19 September 2019. Tulip-gumi (チューリップ組) refers to a Japanese nursery rhyme titled "Tulip," which mentions the image colors of all the members.

Orihimeboshi
Debuted on 17 October 2019. Orihimeboshi (織姫星) - or the star Vega - carries the wish "to be a bridge to make everyone's dreams come true and to be a team that has all its individual members connected like a constellation."

Aka no Soshiki
Debuted on 31 October 2019. Aka no Soshiki (赤の組織) literally means "The Red Organization," referring to the image colors of all its members.

Night Kingdom
Debuted on 28 November 2019. The group's name is written in kanji that should normally be read as Yaoukoku (夜王国) and they refer themselves as such from time to time.

Mananatsu
Debuted on 26 December 2019. Mananatsu (まななつ) is a portmanteau of all its members' names.

Meifu
Debuted on 30 January 2020. The members of Meifu (メイフ) all hail from the Corvus Empire (コーヴァス帝国).

VΔLZ
Debuted on 2 April 2020. VΔLZ is a word combinations of "waltz" and "valse" (French for "waltz"). It refers to how waltz is in triple metre, expressing how the trio is in triple harmony.

Kiramero
Debuted on 30 June 2020. Kiramero (きらめろ) is a combination of the members' names.

Selene Drama Club
Debuted on 6 August 2020. All members of Selene Drama Club (世怜音演劇同好会, Selene Engeki-doukoukai) attend the Selene Girls' Academy (世怜音女学院, Sereine Jogakuin).

Eden-gumi
Debuted on 19 July 2021.

Ranunculus
Debuted on 16 March 2022, Ranunculus is the first wave of the branch to come from ANYCOLOR's VIRTUAL TALENT ACADEMY instead of the traditional audition form. It is also the first to have an original song and a unit name ready for debut, similar to NIJISANJI EN which began such tradition in 2021.

NIJISANJI ID
NIJISANJI's Indonesian branch, consisting of Indonesian-speaking Livers and aimed at Indonesian audiences. Originally operating as a separate branch, it was merged into the main NIJISANJI branch on 15 April 2022. Post-merge, these Livers are also known as Ex-IDs.

First Wave
Also known as 3SetBBQ (read as Sunset BBQ), coming from the fact that their fanmarks (or the original fanmark, in case of ZEA Cornelia) being associated with BBQ.

Second Wave
Also known as CloverMcOver (read as Clover Makeover), named to wish the four members' luck, as well as to represent the members' different personalities.

Third Wave
Also known as LAN_NEE3S (read as Lan Neesans), coming from the first letters of the members' first name (Layla, Azura, Nara), and representing the number 3 and the fact that the wave being the first all-female wave from the former ID branch.

Fourth Wave
Also known as 3FicLite, from the fact that their signature color resembling the traffic lights.

Fifth Wave
Also known as 53Renade (read as serenade), representing the number 5, the wave being a trio, the first two letters of the members' first names (Reza, Nagisa, Derem), and the fact that the members' signature colors being associated with night.

Sixth Wave
Also known as 6WS, representing the number 6 and "GWS," an internet slang for the phrase "get well soon."

NIJISANJI KR
Previously NIJISANJI's South Korean branch, consisting of Korean-speaking Livers and aimed at South Korean audiences. Originally operating as a separate branch, it was merged into the main NIJISANJI branch on 15 April 2022. Post-merge, these Livers are also known as Ex-KRs. Only members listed here are the ones who still are active post-merger to the main NIJISANJI branch. For members who graduated pre-merger, look at the NIJISANJI Project page in the NIJISANJI KR section.

Second Wave
Also known as Arashi Unagi (嵐ウナギ). It literally means "storm eel" and is meant to phonetically represent the members' given names.

Third Wave
Also known as Neiro wa Murasaki (音色は紫).

Fifth Wave
Also known as Mianhada Pinaya (미안하다 피나야). It is meant to phonetically represent the members' given names.

Post 2022 Merger
Below is the list of NIJISANJI Livers who debuted after NIJISANJI ID and NIJISANJI KR merged into the main branch.

Solo Debut
Debuted on 24 May 2022, she is the first solo debutant from NIJISANJI.

VOLTACTION
Debuted on 13 July 2022, this group all came from VIRTUAL TALENT ACADEMY. Similar to Ranunculus, VOLTACTION debuted with its own unit name and song. For the first time in the main branch, the unit gets its own dedicated YouTube channel and Twitter account, alongside their own individual accounts.

Idios
Debuted on 19 and 20 January 2023. Three of the members, namely Nozomi, Meruto, and Roco, are VIRTUAL TALENT ACADEMY graduates.

Unlike what happened with Ranunculus and VOLTACTION, the wave didn't have a debut song or a unit name for debut. Instead the own members chose their own name after debut in their first collab, deciding by Idios, coming from the word "idiosyncrasy", a term which is often used to express eccentricity or peculiarity. A synonym may be "quirk".

Trivia

 * NIJISANJI's app has a mascot called Yugamin. Livers can stream as Yugamin instead of their usual forms as Yugamin has a Live2D model. Yugamin was designed by ほーじろ, who also designed Shibuya Hajime, Kenmochi Toya, Fushimi Gaku, Sister Cleaire, Amemori Sayo, Todoroki Kyoko, and Yumeoi Kakeru.
 * Whenever someone who isn't a Liver appears in a 3D stream, their avatar is that of a kuroko (黒衣, black-clad), a stagehand in traditional Japanese theater wearing black clothes that cover the entire body. The kuroko are usually ANYCOLOR staff.
 * There has been multiple instances where a model was left unused, one notable example being that of "Eudrick" who was revealed all the way back during NIJISANJI's conception but has since become a running joke among members.

Video Clips

 * Virtual to LIVE - NIJISANJI 1st Anniversary Song
 * Sanbaka (さんばか) Cover
 * Ex-Gamers Cover
 * NIJISANJI ID Cover (3SetBBQ Ver.)
 * VirtuaReal Cover
 * NIJISANJI ID Cover (CloverMcOver Ver.)
 * Acapella Cover (Miyazono Rin ft. Kouichi)
 * SMC-gumi (SMC組) Cover
 * VirtuaReal Cover (9th wave 1st Anniversary ver.)
 * VirtuaReal 117 Cover
 * VirtuaReal Cover (SKT 1st Anniversary ver.)
 * VirtuaReal Cover (137 1st Anniversary ver.)
 * NIJISANJI EN LazuLight 1st Anniversary Cover
 * Meifu (メイフ) Cover
 * #NIJIMelodyTime Cover
 * NijiFes 2022 by International Livers (ex-ID, ex-KR, EN, VirtuaReal)
 * NIJISANJI EN Ethyria 1st Anniversary Cover
 * into reality - NIJISANJI ID 1st Anniversary Song
 * NIJISANJI ex-ID (Japanese ver.)
 * Wonder NeverLand - NIJISANJI 3rd Anniversary Song
 * #NIJIMelodyTime Cover
 * Niji Iro Puddle - NIJISANJI 3rd Anniversary Song
 * All For Now!! - NIJISANJI KR 1st Anniversary Song
 * PUCHISANJI (ぷちさんじ, PetitSanji) - Short illustrated videos of moments clipped from NIJISANJI Liver streams. Some English translations can be found in the Closed Captions. As of July 2020, PUCHISANJI clips with English hardsub translations are simulcasted on the official NIJISANJI English YouTube channel. Chinese hard-subbed versions are uploaded to the official bilibili channel.
 * CHOKOSANJI (ちょこさんじ, Snack Time!) - Short stories that are presented using 3D animations. English hard-subbed versions are posted simultaneously onto the official English channel with Indonesian subtitles accessible in the closed captions. Chinese hard-subbed versions are uploaded to the official bilibili channel.
 * The official NIJISANJI TikTok reposts short clips from the official clip channel on YouTube.

Official Stores

 * NIJISANJI Official Store
 * にじさんじ公式 nijisanji.booth.pm - Official Booth store
 * NIJISANJI ID nijisanji-id.booth.pm - NIJISANJI ID's official Booth store
 * nijisanji-kr nijisanji-kr.booth.pm - NIJISANJI KR's official Booth store

Official Channels

 * にじさんじ - Main channel (Japanese)
 * にじさんじオフィシャル ニコニコチャンネル - Official Niconico channel (Japanese)
 * にじさんじ [公式サブch ] - Sub channel (Japanese)
 * にじさんじ公式切り抜きチャンネル【NIJISANJI Official Best Moments】 - Official Clip channel (Japanese)
 * NIJISANJI ID Official - Official Indonesian channel (Indonesian)
 * NIJISANJI KR Official - Official South Korean channel (South Korean)
 * NIJISANJI - Official NIJISANJI channel on bilibili (Chinese)

Official Twitter Accounts

 * @nijisanji_app - Main NIJISANJI account (Japanese)
 * @NIJISANJI_ID - NIJISANJI ID (Indonesian)
 * @NIJISANJI_KR - NIJISANJI KR (Korean)
 * @NIJISANJI_staff- NIJISANJI staff contact account (English)
 * @kirinuki_2434 - NIJISANJI clip channel account (Japanese)

Official Facebook Pages

 * @nijisanji.indonesia - NIJISANJI ID
 * @NIJISANJI.KR - NIJISANJI KR

Other Official Accounts

 * r/Nijisanji - Official NIJISANJI Subreddit (English)
 * @nijisanji_official - Official NIJISANJI TikTok account (Japanese)

Others

 * Unofficial NIJISANJI Wiki - Fan-made and ever-updating database of the NIJISANJI Livers including the international branches (Japanese)