Souya Ichika

Souya Ichika (宗谷いちか) is a female Japanese Virtual YouTuber associated with 774 inc. She originally debuted as part of the first wave of VTubers from the company's branch group AniMare (あにまーれ) alongside Inaba Haneru, Hinokuma Ran, Umori Hinako and Inari Kuromu, before leaving the group on 30 April 2022, she is now working directly under 774inc.

Background
Her YouTube channel was created on 4 June 2018, but she debuted 9 June 2018.

2018
On 20 October, she revealed her second 2D costume, she presented her costume with a small guess game showing different pictures with some of them being part of her costume.

2019
On 13 March, she debuted her 3D model.

On 5 May, she unveiled her third 2D costume, unlike the previous two costumes this one shows her with casual clothes and longer hair.

On 10 October, during Inaba Haneru's stream about Umori Hinako's retirement, Ichika expressed how she genuinely felt about the topic; which had left her in tears throughout almost the entire stream.

On 1 November, Ichika debuted her first original song "Kimi To Mirai."

On 8 December, she did a stream revealing her fourth 2D costume. In this costume Ichika's hair becomes almost gray, with a lock of her remaining her original color, her hair also covers the left side of her face. In this costume Ichika wears a sleeveless black top with blue edges and two white lines. A black jacket and shorts with more motifs in blue, her shorts have what appears to be a blue suspender on the right side with her name on it.

2020
On 12 July, she announced on her Twitter account that she would get her 2D model updated to the 2.0 version. she debuted her 2.0 model later that day, showing her original design, she has more facial expresions, she can turn her head in different directions with her earing also matching the movement, her handkerchief also received movement updates.

On 25 October, Ichika debuted her fifth 2D costume. In this costume she got a new hairstyle using her hair down to her shoulders with the tips of her hair curled. In this costume Ichika wears a dark blue beret, golden earrings with pink jewels in their center, both of them heart shaped. She uses a white shoulderless blouse with a see through neck decorated with a dark blue bow. The blouse has small sleeves with a dark blue edge and laces. On her right shoulder Ichika carries a pink bag and a dark blue watch on her writs. Ichika wears a dark blue skirt with yellow elements and a see through ruffled edge. She has white socks and dark blue shoes.

On 6 November, Ichika reached 70,000 subscribers on her YouTube channel.

2021
On 14 November, she debuted her sixth 2D costume. This costume was a contest where a fan designed outfit would become her new costume, the winner of the contest was Irisu. In this outfit Ichika got a new hairstyle using curled twintails decorated with black bows, she also uses a black diadem and two earrings on her left dog ear instead of sole pink one. Ichika wears a dark blue minidress with a ruffled neck decorated with a bow with a golden button with the print of a paw and cleavage in the form of a heart, the skirt of the dress is decorated with a sparkle pattern. On top of her dress she wears a blue see through cloak with dark blue bows on her wrists. On her left hand she has two black rings. Ichika has on her leg thigh two three finger paws print. She uses white socks and dark blue shoes.

2022
On 29 March, AniMare's Twitter account announced that Ichika would graduate from AniMare by the end of April but she would continue her activities as a member of 774 inc.

On 30 April, Ichika held her final stream as part of AniMare in a conmemorative stream alongside Haneru and Ran on Haneru's YouTube channel.

On 16 May, Ichika returned to her activities on her YouTube channel after a 15 days break now working directly under 774inc. Ichika's profile on the official site was updated, as her new main costume was changed to her fifth 2D costume (as she no longer works at the AniMare cafe), and she has her own section separated from other 774inc.'s groups.

Events

 * On 11 July 2019, she made an appearance in AniMare's collaboration with Dawn of the Breakers as one of the characters alongside Inaba Haneru, Umori Hinako, Hinokuma Ran and their manager Nanashi.
 * On 15 July 2021, 774inc C99's Twitter account announced that its talents would appear in the event Nanashiinku bake~shon! in which every member would appear in limited time merchandize including original artwork by studio A-1 Pictures depicting them in swinsuits. The merchandize included, posters, hand fans, cushions, keychains, pins, beach balls and special conmemorative drinks associated with each group. The event was held in the EJ Anime Theater in Shinjuku City from 22 July to 1 August.

Trivia

 * Ichika has a pet rabbit named Yuzu (ゆず)
 * She likes to collect Teddy Bears
 * A Twitter user asked if she collected anything else other than Teddy Bears, and admitted to collecting original merchandise from other artists.
 * She is good at both: singing and drawing.
 * Ichika is the first member of 774inc. that is not part of a group.

Media

 * Ichika Channel / 宗谷 いちか 【774inc.】- YouTube channel
 * 774inc. - AniMare's member page
 * @Ichika_Souya - Twitter account
 * @ichika_souya - Marshmallow account

Twitter hashtags

 * #しせになる - Stream talk
 * #いちかあるばむ - Fan art
 * #しせ動画- Video clips

Further readings

 * 宗谷いちか - Unofficial 774 Wiki
 * 宗谷いちか - Nicovideo Encyclopedia
 * 宗谷いちか - Pixiv Encyclopedia
 * 宗谷Ichika - Moegirl Encyclopedia