Tachibana Hinano

Tachibana Hinano (橘ひなの) is a female Japanese Virtual Youtuber. She is a member of Iris Black Games, an Esport team under the Virtual eSports Project, debuting after Kurumi Noah and before Kisaragi Ren.

Personality
Hinano is a self-proclaimed nerdy beautiful girl who loves playing video games and singing. While most of the time she is shown to have a rather bullish and cheerful personality, she also has a kind and maternal side to her. Hinano is the type of person who can't handle compliments well; she gets flustered easily and usually reacts by snapping at the one who complimented her for "making fun of her". She has a bit of complex about her own voice, which is one of the reasons why she made her singing streams to be members-only after one week. Although she is one of the best VSPO's APEX players, she seems to be feeling insecure about her own skills and often downplays herself.

Appearance
Hinano's original design is the embodiment of a sweet that takes shape in human form. She has two-tone colored hair like a cake with two different sides. On her left side (right side from viewer's POV) the hair is brown: the embodiment of the sweetness of chocolate on one side of the cake. On her right side (left side from viewer's POV) the hair is pink: the embodiment of the strawberry flavor like the one side of the cake. The combination of the two makes the appearance of Hinano stand out with incomparable sweetness. The blue color in her eyes like blueberries on a cake adds to the beauty. She wears a ribbon that is the opposite color of her hair. On the brown side she wears a pink ribbon, on the pink side she wears a brown ribbon. These ribbons perfectly complement her hair.

Hinano wears a Lolita Sailor Dress style with a white dominant top while the bottom is brown with a light plaid. The top on the chest there is a brown ribbon decoration. On the sleeves there is a brown ribbon braid decoration. At the bottom there are two white ribbon decorations at the waist with the addition of pink bunny ribbon decoration and pink heart ribbon. On her legs she wears flat round shoes with black ribbon decoration.

Background
Hinano's Twitter account was created on June 2020, while her first tweet was made on 11 August. Her YouTube channel was created on 4 August and her debut stream was on 14 August.

2020
On 28 August, Hinano did a 100 kills endurance Apex stream to celebrate her channel reaching 5000 subscribers.

On 11 September, Hinano's channel got monetized and her channel also reached 6000 subscribers.

On 11 November, Hinano did her first birthday stream.

On 23 December, Hinano released her first cover song: supercell's Hajimete no Koi ga Owaru Toki.

On 30 December, Hinano streamed 10,000 subscribers celebration by watching her debut video.

2021
On 27 February, Hinano did a celebration stream after her channel reached 20,000 subscribers.

On 7 March, Hinano was a guest on the ALGS Winter Circuit #4 - APAC North, which was streamed on Mildom.

On 27 March, Hinano revealed a new 2D Costume.

On 4 May, Hinano released her second cover song: supercell's Sayonara Memories.

On 7 May, Hinano did another 100 kills endurance Apex stream to celebrate her channel reaching 50,000 subscribers.

On 12 June, she did a free talk while waiting for her channel to reach 100,000 subscribers, and then sang Hajimete no Koi ga Owaru Toki and ファンサ after reaching it.

On 2 July, Hinano released her third cover song: kairiki bear's Darling Dance.

On 14 August, Hinano did a singing stream to celebrate her 1-year debut anniversary. Her channel reached 150,000 subscribers during the stream.

On 15 August, Hinano called her friends to both celebrate her 1-year debut anniversary and promote her self-designed goods (a T-shirt with ひなーのトロールなの on it). The friends she called were Kaga Nazuna, Hanabusa Lisa, Asumi Sena, Gill, Rader, Uruca, Kawase, Seto Miyako, Yakumo Beni, Kogara Toto, Komori Met, and Kamito.

On 16 August, Hinano released her fourth cover song: mikitoP's Shoujo Rei.

On 28 September, Hinano did an endurance APEX ranking stream to reach Master rank with various people, such as Tosaki Mimi, Kamito, and Virtual Gorilla. She finally reached Master in the very last match just before the rank got locked.

On 17 October, her first song cover, supercell's Hajimete no Koi ga Owaru Toki, reached 1 million views.

On 11 November, Hinano released her fifth cover song: ryo (supercell) & Hatsune Miku's World is Mine and did a birthday stream + first ever call-ins. Her concurrent viewers peaked at 20,488 during this stream.

2021

 * On 23 February 2021, Hinano participated in the Rainbow Six Siege Rainbow Six Streamer Cup 1 as a member of team "VSPO" along with Kaga Nazuna, Kogara Toto, Asumi Sena and Kaminari Qpi. The team took 3rd place in overall ranking.


 * On 2 May 2021, Hinano participated in the 2nd Apex Legends Washu Cup as team "Otaku Desk slam Coach" (オタク台パンコーチ) along with Kamito and Dexyuku (Fennel). The team lost in the qualifying round.


 * On 15 May 2021, Hinano participated in the 5th Apex Legends Crazy Raccoon Cup as team "Iwate Prefectural Pocky Agricultural High School" (岩手県立ポッキー農業高校) along with Rader and Spygea. The team took 13th place in the overall ranking.


 * On 16 May 2021, Hinano participated in the Apex Legends Savage Club Cup as team "VSPO?" (ぶいすぽっ？) along with Hanabusa Lisa and Kamito. The team took 4th place in the overall ranking.


 * On 19 June 2021, Hinano participated in the Apex Legends VISC Tournament 2021 Summer as team "Otaku no Shin'yuu" (オタクの親友 My Otaku Best Friend) along with Kamito and Tonakaito Hendy. The team took 16th place in the overall ranking.


 * On 26 June 2021, Hinano participated in the Apex Legends Kagayaki Cup as team "300k in debt" (借金30万) along with Virtual Gorilla and Tenkai Tsukasa. The team took 8th place in the overall ranking.


 * On 27 June 2021, Hinano participated in the Apex Festival Gaiden and placed in draft Group B along with Kaga Sumire, Kurumi Noah, Shirayuki Reid, Kyouichiro, TIE Ru, Gatilmo, Kurokishi, Kurimaru, and Onzōshi. Her team members drafted from Group C and E are And Uge and Kazami Kuku. The team took 9th place in the overall ranking. Hinano also received the Best Leading Heroine award.


 * On 3 July 2021, Hinano participated in the Apex Legends Reignite Cup as team "Iris Black Games" along with Kurumi Noah and Kisaragi Ren. The team took 18th place in the overall ranking.


 * On 23 July 2021, Hinano participated in the 6th Apex Legends Crazy Raccoon Cup as team "夢女子卍會" along with Naraka and Kawase. The team took 6th place in the overall ranking.


 * On 22 August 2021, Hinano participated in Apex Legends VTuber Most Cooperatitive Tournament Season 3 as team "Getsumen Chakuriku" (月面着陸) along with Asumi Sena, and Kisaragi Ren; with Dexyuku (Fennel) and Kamito as their coaches. The team took 6th place in the overall ranking. Hinano also ranked 7th for the most kill and 8th for the most damage dealt.


 * On 10 September, Hinano participated in Rainbow Six Siege R6 Royal Flush as team "VSPO! Siege Club" (ぶいすぽっ！シージ部 VSPO! Siege-bu) along with Kurumi Noah (leader), Kaga Nazuna, Ichinose Uruha, and Kaminari Qpi; with Wokka (Crazy Raccoon) as their coach. The team took 3rd place in overall ranking.


 * On 19 September, Hinano participated in Autumn Minecraft Premium Stage ~Big Gathering of Game Streamers~ (秋のマイクラ プレミアム ステージ 〜ゲームストリーマー大集合！〜) as Team A along with Kaga Sumire, Kaga Nazuna, Kaminari Qpi, Hanabusa Lisa, and Tosaki Mimi. The team took 1st place in overall ranking by winning all three stages: "Snowboard Racing", "Archer Strike", and "Survival House", with Hinano getting the most points during "Snowboard Racing" stage because she placed 1st in all three racing courses.


 * On 23 September, Hinano, along with the other VSpo members, participated in VSpo! Autumn Surprise Test ~Get out from the academic ability Bronze lobby~ (ぶいすぽっ！秋の抜き打ちテスト～抜け出せ学力ブロンズ帯～) hosted by Kisaragi Ren, Ichinose Uruha, and Shirayuki Reid as the special guest. Hinano ended up in 4th place, after Manager 3, Kaminari Qpi, and Tosaki Mimi.


 * On 9 October, Hinano participated in 7th Apex Legends Crazy Racoon Cup as team "Don't feel burdened" (負担に思うな) along with Zeder (CR) and Nishizono Chigusa. The team took 10th place in overall ranking.


 * On 11 November, Hinano participated in ShibuHal Custom 1st Year Anniversary Apex Event as team "OreApo Family" (おれあぽ一家) along with Kamito and Kaga Nazuna.


 * On 13 November, Hinano participated in Apex Matsuri Gaiden 2: General Frost. She got drafted into Team Koyanagi along with Ichinose Uruha. The team took 16th place in overall ranking.


 * On 26 November, Hinano participated in Valorant Girls' Party as Team B along with Ichinose Uruha, Komori Met, Kaminari Qpi, and Yakumo Beni. The team placed 1st in the overall ranking.


 * On 27 November, Hinano, along with the other VSpo members, participated in VSpo! Final Battle to Decide the Remote Bistro Queen (リモートビストロクイーン決定戦) hosted by Kisaragi Ren and Shirayuki Reid, with Tonakaito Hendy as the remote chef. Hinano was crowned as the MVP of the Remote Bistro Queen.

Quotes

 * "イライラしてきた"(Iraira shite kita, I became frustrated)


 * "喧嘩する？"(Kenka suru?, Wanna fight?)


 * "いやになってきちゃった"(Iya ni natte ki chatta, I got sick of this)


 * "も゛っ゛！！！"("Mouuuuu ! ! !")


 * "くそでかといれ"(Kuso deka to ire, Big ass toilet sign on screen)


 * "ひなのトロールなの？"(Hinano torōruna no?, Hinano is trolling?)


 * "気まずっ"(Kimazuuu~, Awkwarddd~)


 * "ほんますんまへん"(Honma sunmahen, I'm really sorry)


 * "バカにしてる？"(Baka ni shiteru?, Are you making fun of me?)

Fans

 * Hinano's fans are called "ひななー"(Hinana, reference from her name Hinano). At first it was called "ひなのの彼氏" (Hinano's Boyfriend), but it was changed starting from May 2021.

Trivia

 * She describes herself as a "menhera" (possessive) shut-in otaku, and this is reflected in her Twitter main account's description and her sub account handle: hinano__otaku.
 * She reached Apex Predator rank in Apex Season 2 before debut, this is confirmed on her bio on VSPO's website.
 * She's only counted as Master rank in tournaments because it was before debut and before the Predator-Master split in Apex Season 4.
 * She loves to sing, she almost always does weekly singing streams since her debut and has since released 4 cover songs on YouTube.
 * Although her singing streams are a little quirky, her singing ability is outstanding.
 * She is good at songs that are a bit nostalgic due to her mother's influence.
 * She forbids clips to be made from her singing streams, because she sets them to be member-only content after 1 week of free viewing.
 * Her drink of choice is Monster Energy (original flavor), she drinks one or more a day to fuel her long game streams.
 * Her favorite food is omelette rice.
 * She has a younger brother who didn't know about her life as a Vtuber until he came across her Kagayaki Cup video. Her brother is also good at playing APEX and has reached Master rank.
 * She has an older sister.
 * She has experience working part-time in Lawson and in a casino.
 * She was nicknamed Apollo (chocolate) by fans when they suggested names for her collaboration partnership with Kamito. Her name is derived from her two-tone pink and brown hair in the same way Kamito is nicknamed Oreo for his two-tone black and white hair.
 * Preferences
 * Favorite things : Video games, singing.
 * Anime : Gintama, Attack on Titan, Shokugeki no Soma, Tokyo Ghoul, Violet Evergarden, Hunter x Hunter, Nagi no Asukara, Tokyo Revengers and more.
 * Dislikes : Infidelity, Getting seen-zoned.

Notable Units

 * OreApo "Oreo and Apollo" (おれあぽ / おれおとあぽろ) - Hinano and Kamito
 * The nickname Apollo was given to Hinano and Oreo was given to Kamito because of the similarity of their two-tone hair colors to the sweets Oreo and Apollo chocolate.
 * They often collab playing Apex Ranked and even participate in tournaments.
 * They often play games together off-stream, sometimes uploading clips of it on Twitter.
 * They reached Master rank together in Apex Season 8 and Season 9.


 * Geinin Ryoudan "Comedian Brigade" (芸人旅団) - Hinano, Kamito, Lisa, Hendy, Virtual Gorilla, Gill, Reid, Noah
 * This group of friends started with Valheim but now also play Valorant, 7 Days to Die and Minecraft together.


 * Kitanai Warai San Kyoudai "The Three Crude Laughter Siblings" (汚笑い三兄妹) - Hinano, Lisa and Hendy

Equipment & Game Setting
 Some of the equipment listed may not be up to date.* 


 * Gaming PC
 * CPU             : I7-9700
 * Graphic Card    : RTX 2070 Super
 * Memory          : 32GB RAM


 * Peripherals
 * Monitor         : iiyama ProLite GB2488HSU 144hz
 * Keyboard        : Varmilo 113 Sakura JIS Keyboard Silver axis
 * Mouse           : Logitech G Pro (Wired)
 * Mouse pad       : ZOWIE G-SR-SE red
 * Capture board   : AVerMedia C878
 * Audio interface : Yamaha AG03
 * Headphones      : Iphone genuine earphone
 * Microphone      : Shure SM58-LCE
 * Microphone Stand : Roycel
 * WebCamera       : Logicool C920r


 * Apex Setting
 * DPI                : 800
 * In-game sensitivity : 1.5
 * Turn distance      : about 17cm

Live Chat Etiquette

 * Common VTuber chat etiquette is summarized here: "Vtuber Chat Etiquette"


 * Please don't mention the names of other streamers not involved in the stream (exception if Hinano talks about them first).
 * Please don't mention her or her collab partners' names in unrelated streams of other people.
 * Please don't spam comments.
 * Please avoid inappropriate remarks, expressions or words that are offensive to public order and morals.
 * Do not be "carrier pigeons" (viewers who bring messages and comments from other streams).
 * Do not "stream snipe" (deliberately joining her games while watching her stream to gain an unfair advantage).

Media

 * 橘ひなの - YouTube Channel
 * 橘ひなの - Twitcasting Channel
 * @hinano_tachiba7 - Twitter Account
 * Hinano Tachibana - Marshmallow Account
 * Lupinusvg - Official Booth

Twitter Hashtags

 * #橘ひなの - Main hashtag
 * #ひなのの絵なの - Fanart hashtag
 * #ひななー - Fans hashtag
 * #ひなのとたちばなし - Delivery hashtag
 * #ねえねえひなの - Egosurfing hashtag
 * #ひなのくりっぷ - Twitter clip hashtag
 * #ひなじゅ～る - Schedule hashtag
 * #歌ってひなの - Song request hashtag

Further readings

 * 橘ひなの, おれあぽ - Pixiv Encyclopedia
 * Official Japan Website
 * Official English Website