An enthusiastic university student with big ambitions and commitment to everything he does. He dreams to perform live at the Budoukan.[2]
Personality[]
Akina has a friendly and lively personality. He is known to be very loud and excitable, easily getting caught up in the tension of any games he plays. Staying true to his character bio, he is a highly motivated singer; he often participates in covers with other livers, hosts karaoke streams, and organised the first Nijimen Utaite Relay.
Perhaps more regrettably, he is often said to have a "virgin boy spirit."[3] Around those he isn't well acquainted with he can easily become flustered and apologetic - especially towards women. Despite having known her for 8 months, upon his first offline collaboration with Aizono Manami he struggled to look at her straight.[4]
Appearance[]
He has light blue eyes with short dark hair and a red braid, as well as a blonde streak. He has a black jacket with red straps and a white shirt.
History[]
Background[]
Akina made his YouTube debut on 7 April 2019.
2019[]
On 7 April, Akina reached 10,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel.[5]
On 17 August, Akina reached 50,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel.[6]
On 12 April, Akina reached 150,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel.[8]
On 13 May, Akina debuted in the new NIJISANJI music unit "Rain Drops," which is signed under the major music record label Virgin Records (Universal Music Group). The other members in this unit are Elu, Ryushen, Suzuki Masaru, Joe Rikiichi, and Warabeda Meiji.
On 18 September, Akina revealed his new character visual.[9]
On 27 September, Akina reached 200,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel.[10]
On 18 December, Akina announced on Twitter that he will reveal his 3D Model on 25 December, the tweet was then followed by an announcement from NIJISANJI's official Twitter. A week later, on 25 December 2020, Akina unveils his 3D Model Debut stream with the hashtag #三枝明那3D in collaboration with SEGA.[11][12]
On 27 December, Akina reached 250,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel.[13]
2021[]
On 13 March, Akina reached 300,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel.[14]
On 17 July, Akina reached 350,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel.[15]
On 11 November, Akina reached 400,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel.[16]
2022[]
On 13 March, Akina reached 450,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel.[17]
On 8 May, Akina and Fuwa Minato held FuwaGusa 3D LIVE stream #ふわぐさ3Dライブ titled "Dream that came true" (叶えたかった夢, Kanaetakatta Yume) on Minato's channel with their fellow Mescher's group-mate, Mayuzumi Kai, made appearance as narrator and guest.[18] The live stream generated 15,237,000 Yen worth of superchat.[19]
On 9 May, Akina officially changed his image colour[20][21] and default outfit to his current model on his corporate profile.[22] The new image colour was also briefly shown on FuwaGusa 3D LIVE stream on the previous day.[23]
On 19 July, Akina reached 500,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel.[24][25]
On 1 September, Akina made a digital release of an original song, "Hanbunko" (はんぶんこ), in commemoration for his birthday.[26]
On 23 September, Akina reached 550,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel.[27]
On 4 December, Kenmochi Touya announced that he will be hosting the 2nd Mario Kart NIJISANJI Cup on Twitter with 67 participating Livers and among them was Saegusa Akina where he received his nickname, "Red Hot Shotacon".[31]
On 21 December, the Qualifiers match was held within 6 different leagues. Akina fell into the C League with 10 other Livers where he won and placed 2nd just 4pts behind Kuzuha. After qualifying, Akina would then proceed to the main tournament.[32][33]
On 28 December, the main tournament (Semi Finals and Finals) has begun with 3 leagues playing in the Semi Finals. Akina is placed in the B league where he gets 3rd place behind Yashiro Kizuku at 2nd and Kanae at 1st place.[34]
After placing 3rd Place in the Semi-Finals, Akina enters the final stage that lasted for 6 rounds and takes 8th Place in the overall rankings. After the match, he left the message: "憧れの人達が自分をライバルと認めてくれた事が嬉しい" (I'm glad that the people I admired recognized me as a rival).[34]
2020[]
On 4 May, Akina participated on the 1st NIJISANJI Tetris Grand Prix along with 46 other NIJISANJI livers. The event was organized and hosted by Honma Himawari and Yashiro Kizuku.[35][36]
After getting 1st place in F block qualifiers,[37][38] Akina advances to the tournament's Semi Finals where he is placed in the B block along with Kaida Haru and Amamiya Kokoro. On the Semi Finals, Akina wins 1st Place with Kaida Haru at 2nd and Amamiya Kokoro at 3rd Place. Placing first meant Akina would be advancing to the Finals.[39][40]
During the Finals, Akina competes with Morinaka Kazaki and Genzuki Tojiro. After taking 1st Place in all three matches, Akina becomes the 1st NIJISANJI Tetris Grand Prix Champion.[41][42][43]
On 19 December, Akina participated on the 3rd Mario Kart NIJISANJI Cup Qualifying Match. He won through the D League Qualifiers in 3rd Place right after Ienaga Mugi and Yashiro Kizuku.[44][45]
On 26 December, Akina participated on the 2nd Half of the 3rd Mario Kart NIJISANJI Cup.[46]
Akina participated on the 3rd Mario Kart NIJISANJI Cup Quarter Finals. He won through the A League Qualifiers in 2nd Place right after Fuwa Minato at 1st Place.[47]
After placing 2nd Place on the Quarter Finals, Akina advanced to the Semi Finals B League, where he won 2nd Place ranking behind Ibrahim at 1st Place. Akina would go on to place 8th overall in the Finals, barely missing seeded for next year in 7th place.[48]
On the 28th, Akina appeared in Tsukino Mito & Higuchi Kaede & Rain Drops Stage.[49]
On 15 May, Akina participated in the 5th Apex Legends Crazy Raccoon Cup (Known as CR Cup, an APEX tournament held by Pro-Gaming team Crazy Raccoon) along with Kawase and Stylishnoob. Their team name is called Kitanee Hanabida (きたねえ花火だ) The team won the champion on the first match with a total of 9 kills and finished with 5th place overall. It was the first time he appeared in CR Cup.[50]
On 12 June, Akina participated in NIJISANJI APEX Party with DETONATOR (Known as NijiPex) along with Alelu and Shiina Yuika. Their team name is called Turing Alelu (チューリングあれる). The team ranked third with a total of 24 kills.[51]
On 26 December, Akina participated in the 4th Mario Kart NIJISANJI Cup.
He would go on to the finals to only place 8th overall again for the 3rd year in a row.[55]
2022[]
On 27 February, Akina participated in the NIJISANJI VALORANT Custom event organized by Lauren Iroas and Naraka as team "Noisy Cruise Ship" along with Ban Hada, Yuhi Riri, Morinaka Kazaki, and Yukishiro Mahiro. The team was originally supposed to have Debidebi Debiru in place of Yukishiro Mahiro, but had to step down due to schedule conflict on Debiru's side.
On 1 September, Ora2 (read: Ora Two), a dental and oral healthcare products company, announced a collaboration campaign with Akina in commemoration for his birthday by releasing 3 different flavours of toothpaste, mouth spray, and toothbrush.[56][57] The campaign lasted until 15 October 2022.
The campaign also include a special AR contents, including 2 designs for each theme, which include: birthday celebration theme, Ora2 aroma flavour collection theme, and Ora2 premium series theme.
Mascot and fans[]
Akina's mascot is "Kamekshu" (かめっくしゅ), the spirit of the red highlight in Akina's hair. His verbal tic/suffix after each sentence is "game" (がめ).
Akina fans are called "童志（同志)."
His catchphrase is "DETAWA NE!" (でたわね！ lit. Finally here!). Viewers will comment this at the start of his livestreams. Ichikara released character merchandise T-shirts featuring this phrase for Akina.[58]
Awards[]
Year
Ceremony
Category
Ref.
2020
VTuber Music Awards
Music Category (16th for “VOLTAGE”) as “Rain Drops”
Rain Drops first debuted as an indie group in 2019 during the "Virtual to LIVE in 両国国技館 2019" (Virtual to Live in Ryogoku Kokugikan 2019) one-man live event.[66]
They have had a major debut under the label "Virgin Label" of Universal Music.[66]
Up until this day (28 September 2021), they have officially released 4 albums that can be acquired in the official Universal Music Store: シナスタジア (Synesthesia), オンソロジー (Onthology), リフレインズ (Refrains), and バイオグラフィ(Biography).
Debuted as a unit on 3 April 2023. The english translation of their unit would be "7th Dimension Student Council"
The unit revolves around a student council with the aim to reach the support of 1 million parents and students, with each liver in the unit as a certain role within the student council. Akina is Public Relations and a 2nd year along with Ryushen.
They air their program every week regularly on Wednesday at 19:00 JST (7:00 PM JST)
Akina ages depending on his mood. In his 2019 birthday he decided not to age, staying at age 20, but on his 2020 and 2021 birthday celebration, he decided to age by one year making him 22 years old. On his 2022 birthday celebration, he decided that his age was in his mid 20s. On his 2023 and 2024 birthday celebration, he decided to age by one year again, making him 24 years old. On his 2025 birthday celebration, he is now 25 years old, but with a question mark because he's unsure about his age.
Akina really likes cats, he dreamed of raising a cat one day.
(2) Indonesia and Korea branches merged with main NIJISANJI branch.
(3) Program terminated; members are active but are no longer affiliated with NIJISANJI.
↑Hoshikawa, S. [AmeMori【トランスレーション】]. (2020, May 16). [Eng Sub Hoshikawa Sara delusions about who gets the most chocolate on Valentine's Day [Nijisanji]] [Video]. YouTube.
↑三枝明那 /Saegusa Akina. (2020, December 25) 【3Dお披露目配信】聖なる夜の奇跡 powered by SEGA【 #三枝明那3D 】/Akina's 3D Model Debut powered by SEGA [Video File]. Retrieved from: https://youtu.be/yF4hkZUVQzc
↑剣持刀也. (14 December 2019) 第二回マリカにじさんじ杯 説明＆抽選会/ The 2nd Marika NIJISANJI Cup Explanation & Lottery [Video File]. Retrieved from: https://youtu.be/oqP9y4txuaI
↑にじさんじ. (21 December 2019) 第2回マリオカートにじさんじ杯【#マリカにじさんじ杯】/ 2nd Mario Kart NIJISANJI Cup Qualifying Match [Video File]. Retrieved from: https://youtu.be/RniFgeUbGns
↑三枝明那 / Saegusa Akina. (21 December 2019) 【#マリカにじさんじ杯】風になる。アッキーナ支店【予選Cリーグ】/Akina's 2nd Mario Kart NIJISANJI Cup Qualifying Match Stream
↑ 本間ひまわり - Himawari Honma. (3 May 2020) 【#にじテトグランプリ】テトリス99大会予選。1位に輝くのは誰だ！【本間ひまわり/社築/にじさんじ】/ Nijisanji Tetris Grand Prix F block Qualifiers [Video File]. Retrieved from: https://youtu.be/Oj-XKVi2_Vo?t=13595
↑三枝明那 / Saegusa Akina. (3 May 2020) 【#にじテトグランプリ】Fグループ予選 アッキーナ始点 / Akina's NIJISANJI Tetris Grand Prix F block Qualifiers stream [Video File]. Retrieved from: https://youtu.be/gDYa_6GqyCA
↑ 社築. (5 May 2020) 【#にじテトグランプリ】テトリス99大会準決勝～決勝戦 にじテト決定へ！【本間ひまわり/社築/にじさんじ】/ Nijisanji Tetris Grand Prix Semi-Finals B Block Match [Video File]. Retrieved from: https://youtu.be/SrlH_QHGU9c?t=3175
↑三枝明那 / Saegusa Akina. (5 May 2020) 【#にじテトグランプリ】準決勝→決勝 最悪俺自身がIミノになる アッキーナ始点 /Nijisanji Tetris Grand Prix Semi-Finals B Block Match [Video File]. Retrieved from: https://youtu.be/VlIfBFHrw7w?t=603
↑ 社築. (5 May 2020) 【#にじテトグランプリ】テトリス99大会準決勝～決勝戦 にじテト決定へ！【本間ひまわり/社築/にじさんじ】/ Nijisanji Tetris Grand Prix Finals [Video File]. Retrieved from: https://youtu.be/SrlH_QHGU9c?t=7682
↑三枝明那 / Saegusa Akina. (5 May 2020) 【#にじテトグランプリ】準決勝→決勝 最悪俺自身がIミノになる アッキーナ始点 /Nijisanji Tetris Grand Prix Finals [Video File]. Retrieved from: https://youtu.be/VlIfBFHrw7w?t=5219
