Watarai Hibari

Watarai Hibari (渡会雲雀) is a Japanese Virtual YouTuber affiliated with NIJISANJI, debuting as part of the unit "VOLTACTION" (ヴォルタクション) alongside Fura Kanato, Shikinagi Akira and Seraph Dazzlegarden. Previously, he was enrolled as a student in VIRTUAL TALENT ACADEMY (VTA) as part of its first generation.

Profile
The heir of a phantom thief family. He longs to be the "good thief" that can catch people's hearts. He does not steal for money, so he makes a living from a part-time job at a cafe.

Personality
Hibari is outgoing, talkative, enthusiastic, loud, and according to his debut-mates, nearly perpetually cheerful and high-spirited. He is a natural performer and has a flair for the dramatic, in line with his backstory of being from a family of phantom thieves. He has been referred to as the quintessential extrovert, and as someone who enlivens the atmosphere and raises the mood of whatever group he's part of.

However, he is also infamous for being book dumb and lacking some degree of common knowledge, which he himself acknowledges. For example, he occasionally interrupts the other members of VOLTACTION or other collab partners of his to wonder what the idioms or phrases they just said mean, and honestly believed that the reciprocal of 6 is simply the number 6 written backwards; during a stream in which the VOLTACTION members all took a comprehensive exam, he had by far the lowest score - earning him the dubious honor of the title BAKATACTION.

Despite this, he is often described as being an exceedingly nice person and quite sensitive to the needs of others, to the point where his senpais are afraid of him. While not a natural leader, he provides a great degree of both emotional and technical support in other ways to VOLTACTION as well as other livers behind-the-scenes.

Appearance
Hibari has short layered purple hair with hot pink layers underneath. His eyes are light yellow with diamond-shaped pupils. He has a snaggletooth/fang that juts from the left side of his upper jaw, which is visible even with his mouth closed. Both his ears are pierced, with his left ear having black piercings and his right having gold ones.

In his, he has a removable long black jacket with pink-purple gradient belts and trim, and his winged logo printed on the back. Underneath this, he wears a white, slightly cropped shirt with black trim over a harness that covers his right arm as well as another harness over the shirt. He wears black pants, tucked into white sneakers with red accents and black soles and laces. His accessories include a black choker, a pocket watch suspended from his belt, a pair of red gloves, and a holster on his right thigh.

He also has the option to wear the mask he uses as a phantom thief, which is black with a bird-like motif. When wearing the mask, the eye openings can toggle between transparent and opaque; when opaque, Hibari's eye movements are tracked to the openings, giving an "animated mask" effect.

Background
On 5 November 2021, Watarai Hibari made his first appearance on the VIRTUAL TALENT ACADEMY channel as part of its first batch of students.

On 11 July 2022, ANYCOLOR announced that Watarai Hibari would debut directly into NIJISANJI as part of the unit "VOLTACTION", the second wave of Livers formed from VTA graduates. In preparation for his debut, Hibari received a full redesign, and all YouTube videos previously created during his time in VTA were hidden.

Hibari's YouTube channel was created on 2 July 2022, and his Twitter account was created in June 2022. His first tweet was made on 13 July 2022.

Debut
VOLTACTION started their activities on 13 July 2022 and had their first stream on 16 July 2022. Hibari was the second of the group to hold his first stream. Afterwards, all four members of VOLTACTION appeared on a special debut program on NIJISANJI channel, hosted by Hanabatake Chaika and Joe Rikiichi.

The short version of VOLTACTION's first original song, "INLAID" (インレイド), was released earlier on 13 July 2022. This song was written and produced by of STEREO DIVE FOUNDATION.

2022
On 16 July, on the day of his first stream, Hibari reached 50,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel.

On 18 July, Hibari reached 100,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel less than 2 days after his debut, which he celebrated with his first singing stream on 31 July.

On 1 August, his channel was approved for monetization and opened for memberships.

On 8 August, Hibari was announced as part of the Monday regular cast of the NIJISANJI summer special daily variety program NIJINoon's 2022 series, which ran from 15-26 August.

On 14 August, Hibari reached 150,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel.

On 31 August, Hibari released his first music cover, of 's "StaRt".

On 13 October, VOLTACTION's first voice drama, "Opening Today", was released.

On 19 October, Hibari reached 200,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel.

2023
On 12 January, VOLTACTION announced that that all four members would receive their second 2D outfits, and would reveal them via a stream relay with 30 minutes allotted for each member. The relay was held in the same order as their debut streams with Hibari going second, holding his stream at 23:00 JST that same evening. Hibari's second outfit is the standard Erfolg College uniform, consisting of a black tailcoat, grey dress shirt and tie, and black slacks. Hibari's variation on the uniform includes various badges and decals on his sleeves, a pair of headphones, a guitar pick necklace, bracelets and rings, and his pocket watch. Instead of his usual set of piercings, he wears a spike-shaped black pendant earring on his right ear and a skylark feather earring on his left. The outfit also came with a new hairstyle, which features his bangs being pinned up and a short side ponytail.

On 13 January, VOLTACTION celebrated their half-anniversary since debut by releasing their second original song, "Watercolor". The song was written and produced by the band. During a celebration stream for their half-anniversary held on the same day, they also announced the release of their second voice drama, "undertake any request", which was released that evening.

On 28 January, Hibari reached 250,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel.

On 26 April, VOLTACTION announced a 3D model debut stream relay, with Hibari as the second person to have have his 3D model debut on 12 May.

On 12 May, Hibari reached 300,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel during his 3D debut stream, which peaked at over 111,000 concurrent viewers. During his 3D debut, Hibari also announced his first solo original song, "skylark", which was released at midnight the following day. The song was written and produced by Horie Shota, also known as kemu.

On 24 June, it was announced that Hibari would be a coach for the 2023 edition of NIJISANJI Koshien, NIJISANJI's annual tournament featuring games in the franchise. He coached the Kaitou Gakuen Kōkō (快盗学園高校) team during the tournament, which ran from 1 July to 13 August (with an exhibition match on 19 August).

On 5 July, VOLTACTION announced that they would be celebrating their first anniversary since debut with a live 3D concert, "RAISE the VOLTAGE", which was streamed for free on the group's YouTube channel on 15 July. At the concert, they debuted their third original song, "RELOAD!!!!", which was written and produced by OSTER project. They also announced the release of the "Memories of Nostalgia" series of voice dramas over the course of the following months, each of which are set during VOLTACTION's formative years at Elforg College and focuses on a different member and their respective backstories/lore; the first, "Seraph Dazzlegarden-hen", was released shortly after the concert.

On 23 July, magazine revealed that VOLTACTION would be featured in its 2359th issue as part of its NEXT Generation 2023 segment, which was released on 2 August.

On 28 July, magazine announced that Hibari, along with the other coaches and organizers of NIJISANJI Koshien 2023, would be featured in its 1078th issue as well as on its back cover; the issue was released on 3 August.

On 1 August, the formation of a band composed of NIJISANJI Livers (later formally named 2-ji Datoka) was announced during a joint band session live stream between Hibari and Fuwa Minato, with the other members (Ibrahim, Lauren Iroas) being revealed in subsequent videos uploaded on Fuwa's channel.

On 19 August, Hibari reached 350,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel.

On 23 October, VOLTACTION's second "Memories of Nostalgia" voice drama, "Shikinagi Akira-hen", was released.

On 1 November, announced that VOLTACTION would be interviewed and featured in the magazine's December issue.

From 4-11 November, coinciding with the second anniversary of their VTA debuts, the 8 former members of VTA's first generation who ultimately debuted with NIJISANJI held the Ano 8-Nin Nayutan Medley (あの8人でナユタンメドレー), a cover relay in which each member sang a different NayutalieN song. Hibari released a cover of "Newton Dance" (ニュートンダンス) on 11 November as part of this relay. The relay concluded with a cover of "Alien Alien" (エイリアンエイリアン) by the full group on 12 November.

On 13 November, VOLTACTION's third "Memories of Nostalgia" voice drama, "Watarai Hibari-hen", was released.

At NijiFes 2023, which was held from 23-24 December, 2-ji Datoka held their first live as part of MUSIC GARDEN Day 1. On Day 2, Hibari took part in Day 2 of NIJISANJI 5th Anniversary LIVE "SYMPHONIA", where he debuted a new 3D costume in the same "royal military"/"idol"-esque style of NIJISANJI's past anniversary live costumes, featuring a navy blue and white coat and slacks with gold accents and hot pink trim. Also on Day 2, he participated in the NIJISANJI Dance Live alongside the other members of VOLTACTION.

2022

 * On 14 September, it was announced that VOLTACTION goods would be sold at Animate Girls Festival 2022, which was held from 5-6 November. A secondary campaign, "Luxiem × VOLTACTION ～Secret Mission～ in AGF2022", was announced on 2 November in collaboration with NIJISANJI EN's Luxiem; those who successfully solved the campaign's riddles would receive an exclusive acrylic keyholder.

2023

 * On 3 February, Hibari appeared as a guest on a special 5th anniversary edition of the NIJISANJI variety program NIJINoon.
 * On 28 April, Taito Toys released a VOLTACTION Street Style series of original collaboration goods via kuji (i.e., received goods are randomized). The goods featured original artwork of the members in streetwear, and included a poster standboard, large cushions, face towels, badge sets, posters, and rubber charm straps.
 * On 29 May, makeup brands Love Liner and iCouleur announced a collaboration with the members of VOLTACTION, with tie-in goods available to purchase from 14-30 June. They featured original artwork of the members in casual clothing, and included eyeshadow palettes and liquid eyeliner designed by each member as well as acrylic stands, with stickers and postcards as purchase bonuses. The campaign also included a pop-up event at @cosme's flagship Tokyo location in Harajuku from 18-19 June.
 * On 15 August, convenience store chain announced a sales campaign in collaboration with VOLTACTION which ran from 22 August to 4 September, with customers reaching a certain purchase threshold eligible to receive goods featuring original artwork of the members.
 * On 25 October, perfume brand Anideal announced the 4th volume of its collaboration series with NIJISANJI, this time featuring the members of VOLTACTION. The collaboration featured original fragrances designed by the members, which were released on 28 November.

Mascot and Fans



 * Hibari's fans and channel members are officially called "Hibarista" (ひばりすた), a portmanteau of Hibari's name and "barista".
 * His fanmarks are ♦️ (playing card suit diamond) and ☕️ (hot beverage).
 * His mascot is named "Hibari-san" (ヒバリさん), whose name is differentiated from that of human Hibari by being written in katakana. Like its name suggests, it is a hibari (雲雀, skylark).
 * The concept for Hibari-san originated from a drawing of a skylark that Hibari made when he was a VIRTUAL TALENT ACADEMY student, which would accompany his streams and social media posts. This concept was later fleshed out into being an actual companion for Hibari by his artist Ninahachi upon his NIJISANJI debut, as seen in his reference sheet.
 * Its current design, a skylark with purple wing feathers and tufts of purple and pink plumage resembling Hibari's hair and diamonds in its eyes resembling Hibari's pupils, was finalized for his 3D debut.
 * It shares a naming pattern with Seraph Dazzlegarden's mascot Mimizuku-san, who is also simply named after the name of its species in Japanese.
 * A large Hibari-san plushie was released on 13 July 2023 as part of the lineup of VOLTACTION's first anniversary goods.

Relationships

 * "VOLTACTION" (ヴォルタクション) or "VOLTA" (ヴォルタ) - Hibari, Fura Kanato, Shikinagi Akira, and Seraph Dazzlegarden.
 * They are debut-mates and fellow graduates from the first generation of VIRTUAL TALENT ACADEMY (VTA), and are the first debut wave from NIJISANJI to have received their own dedicated social media and YouTube channel on launch.
 * The unit's name is a portmanteau of the English words "voltage" and "bolt-action"; the four of them came up with the name together.
 * Media: YouTube | Twitter | Instagram
 * Hashtags: #VOLTACTION - General tag #ヴォルタ - General tag (Japanese) #ヴォルタノアジト - Stream tag #VOLTA展 - Fanart tag
 * Emoji: ⚡🔫 (tentative)
 * "Zeffiro" - Hibari and Fura Kanato; a subunit of VOLTACTION.
 * "Hibanagi" (ひばナギ) - Hibari and Shikinagi Akira; a subunit of VOLTACTION.
 * "Hibasera" (ひばセラ) - Hibari and Seraph Dazzlegarden; a subunit of VOLTACTION.
 * "2-ji Datoka" (2時だとか) - Hibari, Fuwa Minato, Ibrahim, and Lauren Iroas.
 * Originally referred to by the provisional name "NIJISANJI Band" (にじさんじバンド), it is a band featuring Hibari on vocals, Fuwa and Ibrahim on guitar, and Lauren on bass; the group is currently looking for a drummer.
 * Their name was decided during a stream on 6 October 2023, as a combination of 2-ji (2時), which is phonetically identical to "NIJI", and "Datoka" (だとか), taking inspiration from the band.
 * Hashtags: #にじさんじバンド - Band project tag
 * "Fuwahiba" (ふわひば) - Hibari and Fuwa Minato.
 * "Chiguhiba" (ちぐひば) - Hibari and Nishizono Chigusa.
 * "Bariberus" (バリベロス) - Hibari and Inui Toko.
 * "Nikuseikatsu" (にくせいかつ) - Hibari, Fura Kanato, and Ha Yun.
 * "Syāgenryūto" (西弦緑渡) - Hibari, Nishizono Chigusa, Genzuki Tojiro, and Ryushen.
 * "Hibari to Yukai na Nakamatachi" (雲雀と愉快な仲間たち) - Hibari, Fuwa Minato, Saegusa Akina, and Inui Toko.
 * "Skyscrape" (スカイスクレープ) - Hibari, Matsukai Mao, Ibrahim, and Amagase Muyu. They were teammates in the NIJISANJI Splatoon Festival, which took place on 16 October 2022.
 * "ONE PEN MAN" - Hibari, Naraka, Kuzuha, Mashiro Meme, and Shiina Yuika. They were teammates in the NIJISANJI Overwatch 2 Custom, which took place on 12 March 2023.
 * "Kachōshigetsu" (花鳥牛月) or "KTG" - Hibari, Uzuki Kou, Tachibana Hinano, and their coach, Mondo. They were teammates in VSaikyo Season 5, which took place on 15 April 2023.
 * "Judgement" (ジャッジメント) or "JMT" - Hibari, Morinaka Kazaki, Makaino Ririmu, Ex Albio, and Min Suha. They were teammates in the 2nd NIJISANJI VALORANT Custom, which took place on 2-3 May 2023.
 * "Amamiya-dan" (アマミヤ団) - Hibari, Shiina Yuika, Amamiya Kokoro, and Seffyna. They were teammates in the Game-Ru? Game-Lu! Autumn Pokémon Festival, which took place on 29 October 2023.
 * "Tank Top Sauna" (タンクトップサウナ) or "TTS" - Hibari, Lauren Iroas, Ex Albio, Ichinose Uruha, Ceo Kazari, and their coaches, mittiii and takej. They were teammates in the inaugural VSaikyo VALORANT Act 1, which took place on 19 November 2023.
 * "Ue Kara Don★" (上からドン★) or "UKD" - Hibari, Hyakumantenbara Salome, Inami Rai, and their coach, . They were teammates in the KZHCUP in STREET FIGHTER 6, which took place on 26 November 2023.
 * "NIJISANJI " (にじさんじカゲプロ) - Hibari, Higuchi Kaede, Ryushen, Machita Chima, Inui Toko, Lize Helesta, Saegusa Akina, Hakase Fuyuki, Hoshikawa Sara, Mashiro Meme, Genzuki Tojiro, Nishizono Chigusa, and Lain Paterson.
 * Hashtags: #にじさんじカゲプロ - General tag
 * "Ano 8-Nin" (あの8人, Those 8) - Hibari, Amagase Muyu, Umise Yotsuha, Ponto Nei, Fura Kanato, Shikinagi Akira, Seraph Dazzlegarden, and Kaburaki Roco. They are the 8 former first generation VTA students who ended up debuting with NIJISANJI.
 * "Kamupotage" (かむぽたーじゅ) - Hibari, Amagase Muyu, Ponto Nei, and Fura Kanato. They were former classmates in VTA's first generation's class 1 before debuting with NIJISANJI.

Identity

 * Color: #192332 (main) #CD3764 (sub)
 * Background: Heir of a phantom thief family.
 * Occupation: Part-time worker at a café.
 * His is ESFP.
 * Hibari shares his character designer, Ninahachi, with Re:AcT and Sugar Stella members Yuiga Kohaku and Kogami Yukari, as well as the members of upd8's Cherry-Ko Kitaku-Bu (Nanyo Yuki, Hanagasa Ilya, Mogami Ren, and Nishikiyama Mutaka).

Character and Lore

 * The members of VOLTACTION were originally a group of close friends - all coming from criminal or otherwise morally ambiguous backgrounds - who attended the same boarding school, Erfolg College (エルフォルクカレッジ).
 * Instead of enrolling through legitimate means, he stole and forged identification papers to gain acceptance to the school. He initially did this to have a base from which he could experience the big city, as he ran away from his family's estate in the countryside in order to do so.
 * After honing their respective skills in the criminal underworld, Fura Kanato gathered them together due to a shared desire to use these skills to instead bring happiness to people. To do so, they meet at a hidden base called the Laundry (ランドリー), and carry out missions in secret. After learning about NIJISANJI, the members decided to start streaming in addition to their activities as VOLTACTION.
 * Though he aspires to be a "good thief" who prefers to entertain and steal "hearts" rather than steal for personal gain, he still uses skills gained through his upbringing as a phantom thief as a member of VOLTACTION. These include casing mission sites for optimal entry and exit points, disguise preparation, infiltration, lockpicking, safecracking, and forgery. As such, his primary contributions to the group are reconnaissance and intelligence gathering.
 * He is capable of seeing in infrared when wearing his mask, which allows him to detect beam security systems that operate in that spectrum.
 * Like the other members of VOLTACTION, he does not age.

CAFE Zeffiro

 * CAFE Zeffiro is a café owned and managed by Fura Kanato and the Venti Group, and acts as a front for VOLTACTION's activities in conjunction with Shikinagi Akira's Room 4S. Hibari works part-time at the café, meaning that Kanato is technically his boss; as such, Hibari occasionally refers to Kanato as "Owner".
 * Owing to their close friendship, whenever he encounters a problem at work, he prefers to mention it directly to Kanato instead of bringing it up with the café manager.
 * In order to protect clients' privacy, the primary way clients can contact Room 4S is by first ordering a small espresso with four sugar cubes at CAFE Zeffiro. As orders and requests are relayed through Kanato and Hibari, it can then be determined if the request warrants involving VOLTACTION as a whole.
 * Some of his duties at the café include taking orders at the front counter, preparing coffee, and developing new food and drink items for the café's menu.
 * He very much enjoys his work, referring to it as a part-time job he can do freely and leisurely - especially in comparison to Seraph Dazzlegarden's near-constant state of being overworked. The job has no overtime, and as the café manager is quite kind, they're very lenient when Hibari asks for time off due to his other commitments.
 * When shown in 3D, CAFE Zeffiro is shown to have a yellow exterior facade with a large covered outdoor terrace, while its interior appears much like a classic modern café, with ivory walls, indoor seating, and a baked goods case at the front counter.

Name

 * As "Watarai Hibari" is the name he went by at Erfolg College, it is unclear as to whether it is his "real" name or that of the person whose identity he stole in order to enroll.
 * His surname Watarai is written as 渡会, with 渡 (wata) meaning to give and 会 (rai) meaning to meet or gather.
 * His given name Hibari is written as 雲雀, which means skylark, usually in reference to the ; the male of this species is known for its long, clear, warbling song.
 * Likely in reference to this, his mascot Hibari-san is a skylark, and his first solo single is titled "skylark".
 * An alternative kanji reading for "hibari" is 告天子, which also means "skylark", but directly translates to "messenger from heaven".

Preferences

 * Likes:
 * Anime and manga:, , , , , , , ,
 * Games:, , ,
 * Music: VOCALOID, anime songs
 * VOCALOID producers: Jin, kemu
 * Food: Ramen, sushi, and  , Basque cheesecake, , sweet potatoes in general
 * Snacks: Kettle-cooked chips, Country Ma'am cookies, ,
 * Perfume: Chanel Platinum Égoïste, Bulgari Omnia Amethyste, Samouraï by Alain Delon
 * Animals: Dogs
 * Dislikes:
 * Games: Horror games where the protagonist can't fight back
 * Food: Sour foods (especially pickled and things that taste like vinegar), coriander
 * Other: Bugs, -type amusement park rides

Miscellaneous

 * He is quite knowledgeable when it comes to audio mixing and audio engineering, and has mixed the majority of his own song covers as well as for other Livers. He was also the one who originally taught audio mixing to Seraph Dazzlegarden. All of his audio engineering skills are self-taught. Covers he has mixed include:
 * His own covers of "StaRt", "God-ish" (神っぽいな), "CHAINSAW BLOOD", "Lie" (嘘), and "Yobanashi Deceive" (夜咄ディセイブ)
 * His and Fura Kanato's duet of "Identity" (アイデンティティ)
 * Kanato's cover of "Traffic Jam" (トラフィック・ジャム)
 * Shikinagi Akira's cover of "Overdose"
 * Umise Yotsuha's cover of "Friday's Good Mornings" (金曜日のおはよう)
 * NIJISANJI Second Generation's cover of "Blessing"
 * Furen E Lustario's short covers of "God-ish" (神っぽいな), "CH4NGE", and "Henceforth"
 * He can play the acoustic guitar and electric guitar.
 * He played baseball throughout elementary and middle school, and is still quite good at it; his primary position was, however he also occasionally played as the . He was usually his teams' , and was the team captain at one point.
 * He has an older brother, who he refers to as aniki (兄貴) and nii-chan (兄ちゃん).
 * He has a driver's license.
 * He was the one who drove when VOLTACTION went on a road trip as one of the things they did to celebrate their first debut anniversary; this trip was recorded for a vlog posted on the group's channel.
 * He is known to be an excellent cook, and makes meals for the other members of VOLTACTION from time to time. He was able to show off his culinary skills during a VOLTACTION cooking duel off-collab, with the other members complimenting his dexterity.
 * One of his weaknesses is cleaning; he once Tweeted several days in a row that he was going to clean his room only to keep putting it off. He even went an entire year without cleaning his room at one point, with him suspecting that his air purifier instead started polluting his room because he hadn't changed the filter in that time.
 * His alcohol tolerance is next to zero, with Kanato remarking that it takes very little alcohol for him to get drunk, and that he inevitably ends up with his face flushed and fast asleep within half an hour of starting to drink. In fact, he can apparently even get drunk just by eating whisky bonbon candies.
 * He is an ex-smoker; he initially started smoking as he thought the people smoking in clubs and bars seemed cool, but he eventually quit as he found it ultimately didn't suit him and because smoking is bad for his throat.
 * He knows how to use a and has gone to shisha bars before.
 * His favorite cigarette brand when he did smoke was Mevius, specifically Premium Menthol Option Purple.
 * He did not do well academically in school, but despite this had a good relationship with his teachers.
 * He once got 1% on a test despite answering all the questions, and even then he suspects the one partially correct mark to have been given by his teacher out of pity.
 * He especially struggles with kanji, having failed the level 4 (which is designed to be passed by elementary school students).
 * While he shows a decent grasp of English pronunciation in his covers, Hibari has little to no actual understanding of the English language itself - somehow even managing to typo "VOLTA" as "VLUTA" once - though he does want to work on this. As such, he is completely unable to communicate with CAFE Zeffiro's foreign customers, but tries his best using passion English.

Live Chat Etiquette

 * Common VTuber chat etiquette is summarised here: "VTuber Chat Etiquette"
 * From stream descriptions:
 * Please refrain from making comments that contain spoilers.
 * Please do not mention Hibari in other Livers' streams unless they mention him first.
 * Please refrain from making comments unrelated to the content of the stream.
 * Additionally:
 * Please use inside jokes in moderation so that they'll still be fun!

Media

 * Watarai Hibari's corporate profile on NIJISANJI website
 * 渡会雲雀 / Watarai Hibari - YouTube Channel
 * @watarai_hibari - Twitter Account
 * @watarai_hibari - TikTok Account

Twitter Hashtags

 * #渡会部 - Stream tag
 * #わたらいらすと - Fan art tag
 * #お渡系会 - Thumbnail art tag
 * #秘雀絵 - NSFW art tag
 * #ひばくりえいと - Non-art fan project tag (e.g., cosplay, MMD, etc.)
 * #渡会盗聴会 - Comments about voice release
 * #ひばりーど - Egosurfing
 * #サクット雲雀 - Clips