NIJISANJI



NIJISANJI (にじさんじ, stylized in uppercase) 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.

Since 2019, NIJISANJI has also expanded to international markets such as China, Indonesia, South Korea, and English-speaking countries.

As of April 2022, there are a total of 211 members across three different branches: 144 NIJISANJI members, 20 NIJISANJI EN members, and 47 members of VirtuaReal, a joint venture Chinese branch between Bilibili and ANYCOLOR. There are also 5 VirtuaReal Star and 20 VirtuaReal Link members, but these are independent VTubers partnered with VirtuaReal rather than true VirtuaReal members.

The agency has over 40 million subscribers on YouTube. The top 20 most subscribed Livers in NIJISANJI are Kuzuha, Kanae, Tsukino Mito, Hoshikawa Sara, Sasaki Saku, Honma Himawari, Ange Katrina, Lize Helesta, Kenmochi Toya and Ars Almal while after the 10th member to the 20th, they are Yashiro Kizuku, Yuki Chihiro, Inui Toko, Vox Akuma, Shiina Yuika, Ryushen, Fuwa Minato, Suzuka Utako, Mayuzumi Kai and Higuchi Kaede. Except for Vox, all of the members are part of the main branch in Japan. Kuzuha holds the highest count at over 1.2 million subscribers.

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 March 2022, 104 Livers from NIJISANJI's main branch have received 2.0 brushups and 46 have received 3.0 brushups. 13 Livers from NIJISANJI ID and 15 Livers from NIJISANJI KR have received 2.0 brushup, while since March 2022, 3 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 March 2022, 87 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 (not including members from VirtuaReal Link or Star).

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 Tukasa and Fairys Chan. It was first hinted at on 8 May.

On 11 June, the second wave of VirtuaReal started their activities.

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 20 July, VirtuaReal announced the commencement of VirtuaReal Link and VirtuaReal Star, two partnership programs where members are given technical support from Ichikara Inc.

On 14 August, the third wave of VirtuaReal started their activities.

On 16 September, the fourth wave of VirtuaReal started their activities.

On 28 October, the fifth wave of VirtuaReal started their activities.

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 20 November, the sixth wave of VirtuaReal started their activities.

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

On 31 December, NIJISANJI NetWORK ceased operations, and its former members are no longer officially partnered with NIJISANJI.

2020
On 14 January, the seventh wave of VirtuaReal started their activities.

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 8 April, the eighth wave of VirtuaReal started their activities.

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

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

On 20 July, the ninth generation of VirtuaReal 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 20 September, the tenth wave of VirtuaReal 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 27 November, the NIJISANJI IN branch (previously rebranded as NIJISANJI EN) was rebranded back to NIJISANJI IN.

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

On 6 December, the eleventh wave of VirtuaReal 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 brushups 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 brushups in April 2021. NIJISANJI ID's first wave, Hana Macchia, ZEA Cornelia, and Taka Radjiman received 2.0 brushups during the festival as well, making them the first members of any foreign branch to receive 2.0 brush ups.

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 5 March, the twelfth wave of VirtuaReal started their activities.

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

On 2 May, the thirteenth wave of VirtuaReal started their activities.

On 12 May, ANYCOLOR 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 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.

On 18 June, ANYCOLOR opened new auditions for NIJISANJI EN. Unlike the first set of auditions, separate auditions were held for male and female Livers, with female auditions lasting until 11 July and male auditions lasting until 1 August.

On 18 July, the second wave of NIJISANJI EN, "OBSYDIA", started their activities with a special debut program hosted by LazuLight. These Livers were selected from the same auditions as LazuLight rather than the auditions that had opened in June.

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 started their activities on July 22.

On 20 July, the fourteenth wave of VirtuaReal started their activities.

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 4 October, the fifteenth wave of VirtuaReal started their activities.

On 8 October, the third wave of NIJISANJI EN, "Ethyria," started their activities with a special debut program hosted by OBSYDIA.

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.

On 20 December, the fourth wave of NIJISANJI EN, "Luxiem", started their activities with a special debut program hosted by Elira Pendora and Oliver Evans.

2022
On 12 January, the sixteenth wave of VirtuaReal started their streaming activities.

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 27 February, the fifth wave of NIJISANJI EN, "Noctyx", began their activities with a special debut program hosted by Reimu Endou and Ike Eveland.

On 4 March, ANYCOLOR opened a new set of auditions for NIJISANJI EN for male and female Livers. The audition period will be open until 31 March 23:59 JST.

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.

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.

Gamers
NIJISANJI Gamers 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 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 the other two chose to continue their activities and were transferred to NIJISANJI SEEDs.

2019 Q1 Debuts
Starting from 2019, all new members are considered part of the main NIJISANJI group, and new Japanese waves now debut without the agency numbering them. They are listed by debut period (quarterly or yearly) for ease of reading.

The following Livers debuted in five batches of two to three from January to March 2019. The latter three Livers are also known as Sanbaka.

2019 Q2 Debuts
These Livers debuted in four batches of two from April to June 2019. The first, third and fourth batches are also known as Beni Zuwai Gani, LvEx and ChichiYama respectively.

2019 Q3 Debuts
These Livers debuted in four batches of three from July to September 2019. Also known as SMC-gumi, Blues, Posanke, and Tulip-gumi respectively.

2019 Q4 Debuts
These Livers debuted in four batches of three from October to December 2019. Also known as Orihimeboshi, The Red Organization, The Night Kingdom, and Mananatsu respectively.

2020 Debuts
These Livers debuted in four batches of three, two or five during 2020. Also known as Meifu, VΔLZ, KiraMero and Selene Girls' Academy Drama Club respectively.

2021 Debuts
These Livers debuted together as a single batch of five in July 2021. Also known as Eden-gumi.

2022 Debuts
These Livers debuted as a batch of three in 2022. Also known as Ranunculus.

NIJISANJI NetWORK (program terminated)
These two are still active VTubers, but they are no longer officially affiliated with NIJISANJI.

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.

First Wave
Also known as 3SetBBQ.

Second Wave
Also known as CloverMcOver.

Third Wave
Also known as LAN_NEE3S.

Fourth Wave
Also known as 3FicLite.

Fifth Wave
Also known as 53Renade.

Sixth Wave
Also known as 6WS.

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.

Second Wave
Also known as Arashi Unagi.

Third Wave
Also known as Neiro wa Murasaki.

Fifth Wave
Also known as Mianhada Pinaya.

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.

First Wave
Also known as LazuLight.

Second Wave
Also known as OBSYDIA.

Third Wave
Also known as Ethyria.

Fourth Wave
Also known as Luxiem.

Fifth Wave
Also known as Noctyx.

NIJISANJI IN (Dissolved)


NIJISANJI's Indian branch, consisting of English-speaking Livers and aimed at the Indian market. The branch ceased operations after April 2021.

VirtuaReal (China)


VirtuaReal is a branch of NIJISANJI that was created in partnership with the Chinese media site BiliBili as a joint venture between the two companies. Apart from their VTubers/VUP's (what VTubers are called in Chinese), VirtuaReal has a producer named Tokimori Seisa, whose BiliBili page can be found here and Twitter can be found here.

VirtuaReal Star (China)
Members of VirtuaReal Star are the VTuber identities of popular, pre-established Chinese content creators and celebrities on Bilibili.

VirtuaReal Link (China)
VirtuaReal Link is similar to the former NIJISANJI NetWORK partnership program such that independent VTubers are given technical support from ANYCOLOR Inc. "Super Virtual High School" (SVHS) is the unit name for four members. JRM Project is another unit composed of three members that joined VirtuaReal Link.

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.
 * Every time before a new NIJISANJI EN wave is announced, the NIJISANJI World Twitter account makes seemingly out-of-context tweets.
 * 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
 * into reality - NIJISANJI ID 1st Anniversary Song
 * Wonder NeverLand - NIJISANJI 3rd Anniversary Song
 * 虹色の Puddle - NIJISANJI 3rd Anniversary Song
 * Diamond City Lights - LazuLight (NIJISANJI EN) Debut Song
 * Black Out - OBSYDIA (NIJISANJI EN) Debut 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 simutaniously onto the official English channel with Indonesian subtitles accessable 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
 * 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)

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)
 * @nijisanji_en - Official NIJISANJI Instagram account (English)
 * @virtuareal - Official VirtuaReal Weibo account (Chinese)