NIJISANJI

NIJISANJI Project (にじさんじプロジェクト), colloquially known as just NIJISANJI, is an agency of primarily 2D Virtual YouTubers who are also known as "Virtual Livers" (バーチャルライバー Bācharu Raibā) when posting on sites outside of YouTube, such as NicoNico Douga, Twitch and Bilibili.

Managed by ANYCOLOR Inc. (known as Ichikara Inc. until 16 May 2021), NIJISANJI started in Japan in February 2018 as one of the first major VTuber agencies. Their focus on livestreams set its members apart from other early VTubers, such as Kizuna Ai or Kaguya Luna, who primarily made prerecorded videos. This, as well as the use of Live2D over expensive 3D, led to NIJISANJI's success in the Japanese market and codified the current VTuber format of Live2D streaming.

As of April 2022, there are a total of 206 members across three different branches: 140 NIJISANJI members, 20 NIJISANJI EN members, and 46 VirtuaReal Project members from VirtuaReal, a joint venture Chinese branch between Bilibili and ANYCOLOR.

The agency has 46 million subscribers on YouTube with 160 livers in the platform, making the it the second most subscribed agency, only behind hololive. VirtuaReal members stream primarily on Bilibili, so their numbers aren't counted for YouTube.

Kuzuha holds the highest subscribers count at over 1.2 million. The top 10 most subscribed Livers in all NIJISANJI branches are Kuzuha, Kanae, Tsukino Mito, Hoshikawa Sara, Sasaki Saku, Honma Himawari, Vox Akuma, Ange Katrina, Lize Helesta and Kenmochi Toya.

Technology
NIJISANJI Livers usually stream with iPhoneX facial motion capture technology, Live2D models rigged in-house by ANYCOLOR, and the NIJISANJI app (commercially unavailable). This method is technically simpler and much less expensive than full-body 3D motion tracking equipment but the resulting motion is mostly limited to facial features, rotation of the head, and limited movement of the upper body. These models suffered from many stuttering and accuracy issues in the early days of NIJISANJI but less of these issues are seen today as their technology has improved.

After debuting, Livers are able to receive 2.0 and 3.0 brushups that allow them to expand their range of movement and make more facial expressions. 2.0 and 3.0 brushups are announced through Twitter and are distributed in batches at random times and to random members in a lottery system. Those with 3D models are also eligible to receive 3D brushups, which are also announced through Twitter. Updates of any kind are tagged with #にじあぷで on Twitter.

As of April 2022, 109 Livers from NIJISANJI's main branch have received 2.0 brushups and 51 have received 3.0 brushups. 13 Livers from NIJISANJI ID and 16 Livers from NIJISANJI KR have received 2.0 brushup, while since March 2022, 7 VirtuaReal members have received 3.0 and are the Livers from foreign branches to have received brushups.

In addition to Live2D and conventional full-body 3D motion capture, NIJISANJI also supports "Niji 3D" (にじ3D), which allows Livers to stream using their 3D models without a studio. The range of motion for Niji 3D is limited to the upper body and hand tracking.

As of April 2022, 86 Livers from NIJISANJI's main branch have received 3D models (including Livers who have used their models in events but haven't had their YouTube debut yet) and 7 have received 3D brushups. 8 Livers from VirtuaReal have received 3D models as well and are the only foreign branch to have received 3D models.

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

On 15 March, NIJISANJI officially announced its second wave of Livers.

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 wave of selected candidates started their activities on 3 June.

On 17 July, NIJISANJI announced Chinese and Taiwanese VTubers as an expansion into those markets. However, they are no longer active within NIJISANJI and on April 2019, were transferred to another virtual group called "VEgo" which only lasted for a month before retiring from YouTube entirely.

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
In April 2019, a new branch of the NIJISANJI Project in China called "VirtuaReal" officially began their activities.

On 10 May, they announced the commencement of their NIJISANJI NetWORK (にじさんじネットワーク NIJISANJI NETTOWAAKU) partnership program which is aimed towards giving support to other virtual talents. The first VTubers to participate in the program were Tenkai Tsukasa and Fairys Chan. It was first hinted at on 8 May.

On 19 July, NIJISANJI's parent company Ichikara Inc. announced a new branch of the NIJISANJI Project in Indonesia called "NIJISANJI ID." 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 18 November, Ichikara Inc. announced a new branch of the NIJISANJI Project in India called "NIJISANJI IN." Auditions for three initial virtual YouTuber positions were open from 18 November until 2 December, and the selected candidates officially began their activities in January 2020.

On 17 December, Ichikara Inc. announced a new branch of the NIJISANJI Project in South Korea called "NIJISANJI KR." 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 31 December, NIJISANJI NetWORK ceased operations, and its former members are no longer officially partnered with NIJISANJI.

2020
On 22 June, NIJISANJI IN was rebranded as "NIJISANJI EN." NIJISANJI also launched its official English YouTube channel on this same day.

On 27 November, the NIJISANJI IN branch (previously rebranded as NIJISANJI EN) was rebranded back to NIJISANJI IN.

On 1 December 2020, Ichikara Inc. announced the official launch of NIJISANJI's first-wave auditions for English-speaking countries. The audition period lasted until 15 December.

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 13 April, NIJISANJI IN announced the upcoming graduation of its Livers and the branch's temporary suspension on 30 April 2021, 23:59 JST.

On 12 May, Ichikara Inc. announced a new branch of the NIJISANJI Project for English-speaking countries, "NIJISANJI EN", as well as the upcoming debut of the branch's first wave "LazuLight", previously selected during the auditions in December 2020. The new Livers started their activities on 16 May with a special debut program hosted by NIJISANJI ID's Hana Macchia and Bonnivier Pranaja.

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 17 May, Ichikara announced the company would change its name from Ichikara Inc. to ANYCOLOR Inc.

On 18 June, ANYCOLOR announced the opening of VIRTUAL TALENT ACADEMY, a training program for amateurs interested in becoming VTubers, featuring vocational courses specialized toward streaming and content creation. Admission is audition-based, and training costs are covered by ANYCOLOR. Upon completion, academy graduates may be given an offer to debut directly into NIJISANJI, or are otherwise freely permitted to audition for any agency.

2022
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 15 April, NIJISANJI ID and NIJISANJI KR officially merged into the main branch.

NIJISANJI
Prior to April 2022, NIJISANJI's main branch consisted of Japanese-speaking Livers and catered to Japanese audiences, 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. Members = Former Members =

VirtuaReal
Also known as VirtuaReal Project, it is the Chinese branch of NIJISANJI that was created as a joint venture between ANYCOLOR and bilibili.

While it also has two partnership programs in VirtuaReal Link and VirtuaReal Star, only the main group is listed under "VirtuaReal" on the official NIJISANJI website.

Members = Former Members=

NIJISANJI EN
NIJISANJI's English branch, consisting of English-speaking Livers. Unlike other overseas branches, it is not associated with any specific country and is aimed at English-speaking audiences around the world. Members =

NIJISANJI Shanghai/Taipei
Based in Shanghai and in Taipei, these branches were NIJISANJI's first presence overseas. Referred to as NIJISANJI VTuber Project (二次三次虚拟主播企划), it was created and fully operated by CAPSULE Inc. with ANYCOLOR (at the time, Ichikara) providing branding and technical support.

The branches began running from 24 August 2018. However, CAPSULE lost the license for the "NIJISANJI" brand and they abandoned the name on 29 March 2019, changing their name to VEgo.

NIJISANJI Shanghai
By the end of March 2019, with Saitania as its sole remaining member, the Shanghai branch had been deprecated and merged with the Taipei branch to form VEgo.

NIJISANJI Taipei
By the end of February 2020, VEgo only had one active member left, Talency, and finally ceased operations along with her retiring on 31 March 2020.



NIJISANJI NetWORK
NIJISANJI NetWORK (にじさんじネットワーク) was a partnership program aimed at supporting independent virtual talents. It was launched on 10 May 2019 and its first participants were Tenkai Tsukasa and Fairys-chan. The program was ultimately terminated on 31 December 2019 but both members still continue their activities.



NIJISANJI IN
NIJISANJI's Indian branch, also known as 3 idiots, consisting of English-speaking Livers and aimed at the Indian market, began their activities in January 2020. The branch was briefly rebranded to "NIJISANJI EN" on 22 June 2020 before being reverted back to "NIJISANJI IN" on 27 November 2020. It ceased operations after April 2021.



NIJISANJI ID
NIJISANJI's Indonesian branch, consisting of Indonesian-speaking Livers and aimed at Indonesian audiences, began their activities in September 2019. Originally operating as a separate branch, it was merged into the main NIJISANJI branch on 15 April 2022, where all of its members are still active.

NIJISANJI KR
NIJISANJI's South Korean branch, consisting of Korean-speaking Livers and aimed at South Korean audiences, began their activities in January 2020. Originally operating as a separate branch, it was merged into the main NIJISANJI branch on 15 April 2022. Below is the list of the members who retired pre-merge.

Trivia

 * NIJISANJI can be represented as the number 2434, so this is sometimes seen in their material. During live-streams, fans sometimes donate 2434 yen (~$21 USD).
 * NIJISANJI is often represented using the rainbow emoji (niji) and 3 o'clock emoji (sanji). Livers use this to represent their affiliation with NIJISANJI while fans use it to show that they are fans of NIJISANJI.
 * ANYCOLOR Inc. is run by Tazumi Riku, the CEO of the company. He has made appearances on the NIJISANJI YouTube channel and is even the inspiration behind some of the membership emojis. He has his own Twitter and YouTube channel.
 * NIJISANJI is run by Tazumi Riku, the CEO of ANYCOLOR Inc., after Iwanaga Taiki stepped down due to his cancer treatment.
 * NIJISANJI used to be run the by Iwanaga Taiki, the former COO of ANYCOLOR Inc. He switched to running SLEE, an idol group that used to be under ANYCOLOR, after he started undergoing treatment for cancer. He has now gone into remission and has left ANYCOLOR to become the president of Yokaze Inc, where he will continue to run SLEE. His Twitter is here. He sometimes does live-streams as a female-looking VTuber named Iwanaga-chan whose Twitter is here.
 * 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.

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
 * nijisanji-store.com - NIJISANJI EN's Official 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)
 * VirtuaReal - Official VirtuaReal channel on bilibili (Chinese)
 * NIJISANJI English Official - Official English channel (English)
 * NIJISANJI_EN - Official English Twitch channel (English)

Official Twitter accounts

 * @nijisanji_app - Main NIJISANJI account (Japanese)
 * @NIJISANJI_World - International NIJISANJI (English)
 * @NIJISANJI_IN - NIJISANJI IN (formerly NIJISANJI EN with former Twitter handle @NIJISANJI_EN) (English)
 * @NIJISANJI_ID - NIJISANJI ID (Indonesian)
 * @NIJISANJI_KR - NIJISANJI KR (Korean)
 * @NIJISANJI_staff- NIJISANJI staff contact account (English)
 * @Virtua_Real - VirtuaReal (Chinese)
 * @kirinuki_2434 - NIJISANJI clip channel account (Japanese)

Other official accounts

 * r/Nijisanji - Official NIJISANJI Subreddit (English)
 * @nijisanji_official - Official NIJISANJI TikTok account (Japanese)
 * @nijisanji_en - Official NIJISANJI Instagram account (English)
 * @virtuareal - Official VirtuaReal Weibo account (Chinese)