WACTOR Production (ワクタープロダクション ), also simply known as WACTOR, is a Japan-based agency of VTubers managed by the company of the same name.
Since 2019, WACTOR has expanded towards Chinese streaming on bilibili. On January 2021, WACTOR's talents presented themselves to Spanish-speaking audiences.
As of September 2023, there were a total of 37 members throughout its history. Hina Misora, a talent from its 2nd generation, was the most subscribed VTuber of WACTOR with over 220K subscribers.
History[]
Background[]
WACTOR Production first announced auditions on 25 April 2018.[1][2]
The first two members were Hizuki Miu and Irisu Mia, who debuted on 21 October 2018. The third member, Otogi Lilu, debuted on 23 February 2019. However, their affiliations and relationship remained undisclosed at the time.
On 2 March 2019, the VTuber unit "Mirais" managed by WACTOR was formed, with Miu, Mia and Lilu as its first three members,[3] and a staff Twitter account was set up in May.[4]
2019[]
In July 2019, 株式会社WACTOR was officially established as a company.[5]
On 3 October, WACTOR announced auditions for two new members for Mirais unit (みらいず Miraizu) and four new members for Sister unit (姉妹ユニット Shimai yunitto).[6]
On 25 October, Otogi Lilu announced her retirement via Twitter.[7] She graduated on 16 November.[8]
Eventually, the Sister Unit members debuted: Komori Aina on 28 October, Mashiro Yuyu on 7 November, Mihana Rio on 9 November, and Tsukito Hana on 11 November.
On 20 November, Kogure Piyoko debuted as part of Mirais.
On 12 December, Mihana Rio's contract was cancelled due to an undisclosed breach of contract.[9]
On 15 December, Mitsurugi Lia debuted as part of Mirais.
2020[]
On 11 January, Irisu Mia announced her retirement via Twitter,[10] and graduated on 29 February.[11]
On 28 January, WACTOR introduced Nanaha Rui, their first Bilibili-exclusive VTuber.[12]
On 2 February, Kokoro Ichiru debuted as part of Sister unit.[13]
On 12 March, WACTOR's Twitter account posted a statement regarding the unauthorized deletion of new member data in the company's cloud storage, and it was found that one of the many IPs involved belonged to a former employee. At the same time, Komori Aina's and Mashiro Yuyu's contracts were cancelled due to breach of contract.[14] As of this date, Mirais and her sister unit were merged to form one group simply called "WACTOR".
On 28 September, Kokoro Ichiru's activities were temporarily suspended.[15] After a long hiatus, the cancellation of her contract was announced on 28 December due to management issues.[16]
At some point in 2020 (presumed late December), archives on graduated Otogi Lilu's and Irisu Mia's channels were wiped, leaving their respective Twitter accounts the only official way to view their stream logs.
2021[]
Throughout January and February, WACTOR's talents began expanding towards Spanish-speaking fanbases, which caused a sudden surge in subscriber numbers.[17] On 16 January, Miu was the first to publish a presentation video in Spanish,[18] followed by Lia on 19 January,[19], Hana on 24 January,[20] and Piyoko on 10 February.[21]
On 17 March, WACTOR's Twitter account announced auditions sponsored by bilibili for five new members, from 17 March to 5 April.[22]
Throughout May, the new members (now known as second generation) debuted: Shino Laila and Hoshina Suzu on 9 May, Kurari Rose on 18 May, and Hina Misora on 25 May. One of the five avatars did not debut.
On 16 June, WACTOR's members were re-organized into generations (0th, 1st, 2nd) according to their audition and debut date.[23]
On 30 June, WACTOR announced auditions for a third generation and opened early registrations.[24]
On 12 July, Kogure Piyoko's activities were suspended.[25]
On 31 July, WACTOR was ranked 8th among the top 10 Japanese vtuber companies with the most overall subscribers. The company also officially announced the start of the third generation auditions and shared the three avatars of its members, one of which was originally released during the previous auditions.[26]
Throughout late 2021, the third generation debuted: Sumeragi Pal on 12 September, Rurine Luna on 15 September, and Inumaki Himari on 15 October.
On 1 November, after a long vacation, Kogure Piyoko announced her retirement,[27] and graduated on 26 November.[28]
On 28 November, Shino Laila was suspended indefinitely due to breach of contract.[29]
On 23 December, WACTOR announced auditions for a fourth generation sponsored by Bilibili. The new "fantasy"-themed generation is called "GATE" and is comprised of five new members.[30]
On 27 December, after several management issues about uploading a collaboration video of Suzu and Nyaru, WACTOR temporarily suspended Suzu's activities as a protective measure.[31][32]
On 28 December, Nanaha Rui announced his retirement.[33]
2022[]
On 28 January, Tsukito Hana's accounts ceased all activity. In late february Hana decided to cancel her contract with the company due to health reasons.[34]
On 29 January, Nanaha Rui graduated from WACTOR.[35]
In February, WACTOR 4th Generation first members debuted: Saohime Yue on 20 February and Shinonome Ito on 26 February.
On 2 March, WACTOR revealed in a statement the real name of one of their talents who had been suspended since November 2021. The statement announced the filing of a lawsuit against the person in charge of Shino Laila. On the same day, Kurari Rose was suspended due to an undisclosed breach of contract.[36]
Shino Laila's and Kurari Rose's contracts were canceled by March.[37][38]
Eventually, the other members of the 4th generation make their debuts: Himea D'Almaria on 14 March, Kuuma Mireille on 16 April, while Yukinoshita Mimi postponed her debut date due to personal circumstances.[39]
On 5 May, WACTOR announced auditions for an all-male generation of vtubers, a first for the agency. [40]
On 9 May, Hoshina Suzu announced her retirement,[41] and graduated on 29 June.[42]
On 13 July, the 4th generation member who postponed her debut announced her name change to "Lea",[43] and debuted on 16 July.[44]
Around mid-year, the fifth generation or also called GAMERS debuted: Nemurine Charo on 22 July, Kumaboshi Mahiru on 29 July, and Himeragi Ageha on 3 August.
On 3 August, WACTOR's Twitter account reported that Lea is absent due to illness.[45]
On 3 September, a tweet on the official WACTOR account announces a new WACTOR ES 1st GEN audition for Spanish-speaking members.[46] On September 17, a new tweet revealed silhouettes for 3 members.[47][48]
On 27 September, Sumeragi Pal announced her retirement,[49] and graduated on 30 October.[50]
On 8 October, WACTOR debuted its first all-male generation, WACTOR Boys, comprised of Vyse Yagami, Ayato Galilei and Leo Valentino.
On 8 October, Inumaki Himari announced her retirement[51], and graduated on 26 November.[52]
On 18 October, WACTOR's twitter account announced WACTOR Boys 2nd-Generation audition with pre-entry session[53], and unveiled the designs for two members on 25 December.[54]
On 8 November, Saohime Yue's activities were suspended for health reasons.[55]
On 12 November, WACTOR's Twitter account announced WACTOR ID 1st-gen audition for their new Indonesian branch with pre-entry session.[56]
On 15 November, WACTOR start auditions for their new Chinese branch WACTOR CN 1st-Gen and unveiled the designs for three new members.[57]
At the end of the year, WACTOR ES 1st-Gen members debuted: Neon Kuroyuri on November 27[58] and Sezia Haruma on December 18[59]. One of the three avatars did not debut.[60]
2023[]
On 3 January, WACTOR revealed the designs for 3 members of their new branch WACTOR ID.[61]
On 23 January, Usami Mina (兔美咪奈) debuted as first member of WACTOR CN and Bilibili-exclusive VTuber.[62]
On 28 January, Nekomiya Yumi (猫宮悠米) debuted as part of WACTOR CN.[63]
Throughout January, several members suddenly ceased all activity on their accounts. Hina Misora's last tweet was on January 1.[64] Luna Rurine's last tweet was on January 24.[65] And on January 31, Neon Kuroyuri held her last stream, arguing she's fine. Later, she vanished.[66] Her viewers and fans were concerned and speculated that she might have been forced to stream and to say those words.
On 9 February, Hina Misora's contract was canceled.[67]
On 27 February, WACTOR's Twitter account announced that Mitsurugi Lia would leave the agency and continue her activities as an independent VTuber.[68]
On 28 February, WACTOR exposed confidential information about former member Hina Misora. WACTOR posted her personal information (full name, country, city and personal identification) on the Official Wactor Page and Hina's Twitter and also published a video on YouTube revealing the same information.[69] Fans would report the video and Tweet for violating community guidelines on cyberbullying, leading to both being taken down, but the company would double down by posting this same information on the descriptions of her streams.
Reorganization[]
Also on 28 February, WACTOR announced they will be splitting the various members into various units, attempting to distance itself from the brand of WACTOR.[70] The following projects are:
- "META-MUSIC" as a musical project. Comprised Hizuki Miu.
- "VV-Gamers" as an E-Sports project. Comprised Himeragi Ageha, Kumaboshi Mahiru and Nemurine Charo.
- "E-STELLA" as a Spanish language project. Comprised Nekomiya Yumi, Sezia Haruma and Himea D'Almaria.
- "noVas" as an English language project. Comprised Vyse Yagami, Leo Valentino and Ayato Galilei.
- "星辰计划" (Star Project) as a Chinese language project. Comprised Nekomiya Yumi, Usami Mina and Kuuma Mireille.
The other members like Saohime Yue, Shinonome Ito, Lea, Rurine Luna and Neon Kuroyuri (all of them having been on indefinite hiatus at the time of this statement) were not included in this reorganization.
On 15 March, Mireille Kuuma announced her retirement,[71] and graduated on 15 April.[72]
On 30 March, the debut of two new members for Deus Rosaire (previously WACTOR Boys 2nd Generation) was announced.[73] However, on 8 April, which was meant to be the debut dates for Ibara Kyran and Tenrai Calvus, WACTOR announced on their YouTube Community pages that the two had decided to quit on their own. All of their accounts were set to close the next day, 9 April.[74]
On June 1, Hizuki Miu announced an indefinite hiatus set for June 30.[75]. Later that same day, Anya Okumura debuted as part of E-Stella[76].
On 8 July, Kobi Ururu debuted as part of VV-Gamers.[77]
2024[]
On 16 January, WACTOR would announce that it would rebrand itself as 910 Inc. As part of this announcement, the company also announced that Hizuki Miu would return to streaming that March.
On 20 January, WACTOR would debut Tenjo Yuiga, a new male talent who would reuse the model originally intended for the never-debuted Ibara Kyran.[78] Incidentally, the talent that would have been Ibara Kyran would later release a statement about their time in the company and why they left following hearing news of this.[79]
On 18 February, the company would come under fire again as Nemurime Charo, Tenjo Yuiga, Himeragi Ageha and Kobi Ururu would all release public statements condemning WACTOR for various acts of misconduct, including forcing them to conduct non-contractual activities under threat of termination or legal action, a poor environment consisting of fear and high pressure, abuse of power and sexual harassment, compulsion to express false opinions, and instructions prohibiting the use of legally prescribed psychiatric medication, while also effectively declaring that they would take no further part in it.
Members[]
| H | Is on an indefinite hiatus |
| R | Retired from VTubing activities |
Initially WACTOR members were organized into two groups called units.
In March 2020 this was changed to form a single group.
Subsequently, Wactor was separated into generations starting with the debut of the 2nd Generation in 2021.
In 2022, after some graduations, they would form groups according to the language and/or focus of each member, such as singing and gaming.
In February 2023, its division into new branches with different approaches was announced.
META-MUSIC[]
Originally known as Generation 0, and is composed of the founding member. Debuted in October 2018. As its name suggests, its main focus is musical.
| Hizuki Miu |
|---|
 |
Defunct Branches[]
Mirais[]
Mirais (みらいず Miraizu) was WACTOR's first VTuber Unit formed in March 2019. Originally comprised only Hizuki Miu, Irisu Mia and Otogi Lilu. Two new members joined Mirais in late 2019. All of Mirais were VTubers who streamed from the future.
| Hizuki Miu | Irisu Mia R | Otogi Lilu R | Kogure Piyoko R | Mitsurugi Lia R |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
Sister Unit[]
Mirais sister unit, known simply as "Sister Unit" (姉妹ユニット Shimai yunitto), comprised Komori Aina, Mashiro Yuyu, Mihana Rio, Tsukito Hana and Kokoro Ichiru, was the second Unit in charge of WACTOR formed in 2019 throughout October and November. According to some media, it was provisionally called "ケモミーズ" (Kemomizu),[80] but the name was never truly decided.
| Komori Aina R | Mashiro Yuyu R | Mihana Rio R | Tsukito Hana R | Kokoro Ichiru R |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
1st Generation[]
Debuted from November 2019 to January 2020.
| Mitsurugi Lia R | Kogure Piyoko R | Tsukito Hana R | Nanaha Rui R |
|
|
 |
 |
2nd Generation[]
Debuted in May 2021. Three of the members left the company for different reasons, who have also been sued by the company; two of them suffered from doxxing.
| Hina Misora R | Shino Laila R | Hoshina Suzu R | Kurari Rose R |
 |
 |
 |
 |
3rd Generation[]
Debuted in September and October 2021.
| Rurine Luna R | Sumeragi Pal R | Inumaki Himari R |
 |
 |
 |
4th Generation[]
Also called GATE. Debuted in February and April 2022.
| Saohime Yue R | Shinonome Ito R | Himea D'Almaria R | Kuuma Mireille R | Lea R |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
WACTOR ES[]
Debuted in November and December 2022.
| Sezia Haruma R | Neon Kuroyuri R |
 |
 |
noVas[]
Initially, called WACTOR Boys. Also called VALNEXIA. Debuted in 8 October, 2022.
| Vyse Yagami R | Ayato Galilei R | Leo Valentino R |
 |
 |
 |
星辰计划 (Star Project)[]
It's composed by members of different generations, and focus on the Chinese-speaking public.
| Kuuma Mireille R | Nekomiya Yumi R | Usami Mina R |
|
 |
 |
Deus Rosaire[]
Unofficially revealed as WACTOR Boys Second Generation via one of the members' YouTube channel banners. They were meant to debut on 8 April, 2023, but both talents left for undisclosed reasons before even streaming once, with the only notification being on their YouTube Community pages.
| Ibara Kyran R | Tenrai Calvus R |
 |
 |
E-STELLA[]
It was composed of members of different earlier generations following their disbanding, and focused on the Spanish-speaking public.
| Himea D'Almaria R | Sezia Haruma R | Nekomiya Yumi R | Anya Okumura R |
|
|
|
 |
VV-Gamers[]
Formerly known as 5th Generation Gamers. Debuted in July and August 2022.
| Nemurime Charo R | Kumaboshi Mahiru R | Himeragi Ageha R | Kobi Ururu R |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Known Staff[]
| Akira Ōishi WACTOR CEO |
Nana-chan R Spanish staff |
管家酱 R Chinese staff |
|---|---|---|
 |
 |
 |
Controversy[]
Fire and Ice Songfest Incident[]
On 26 December 2021, Hoshina Suzu and Necora Nyaru participated in the "Fire and Ice Songfest" (a bilibili concert with many vtubers being teamed up together) and sang "Connect".[81] As agreed, both would publish the collaboration video using the "group upload" (a bilibili feature that allows a video to be credited by many channels).
Later, Suzu's channel uploaded the collab video without crediting Nyaru's channel or adding Nyaru's tags under the video. Due to this, Nyaru's channel was unable to upload the collab video for being a "duplicate video". Nyaru's translation team claimed that all attempts to contact Suzu's team failed.[82] This situation provoked a huge backlash from Nayru's fans on the comments section of Suzu's channel, Suzu's fans retaliated in return.
On 27 December, Suzu's translation team published their statement. Suzu's translation team head apologised and claimed that he did not have access to Hoshina Suzu's channel and that it was a communication problem on the part of WACTOR management. As for the lack of communication between the teams, it was because he did not check his inbox frequently, and that was his fault.[83]
Suzu, for her part, apologized to Nyaru, the translation teams, and the fans. She claimed that the lack of tags or group upload was due to the fact that she did not receive any instruction to do so and she slept as soon as she finished uploading the video. She stated that all contact was made by WACTOR management. Regarding all the issues between Nyaru and WACTOR management, neither Suzu nor the translation team knew anything about the bad attitude WACTOR management had towards Nyaru.[84]
On 28 December, WACTOR suspended Hoshina Suzu for "protection" reasons,[85] which caused great discontent among Suzu's fans, who considered this was an evasion of responsibilities and that the one who should apologize should be the management, however WACTOR never apologized.
The agency doxxed their own talent[]
On 28 November, 2021, WACTOR announced the suspension of Shino Laila due to breach of contract.[86] Later, on 12 December, her fans wrote a letter of inquiry to WACTOR about two questions:
- A end date of the suspension.
- Measures that will continue (whether to resume activities or termination of contract).[87]
On 23 December, WACTOR took control of Laila's accounts to promote auditions for a 4th generation.[88]
On 28 December, a second letter was written by Laila's fans, mentioning that the agency did not give any response or statement. In addition, the hashtag #freelaila was created to send support messages to Shino Laila.[89] In the following days, the agency massively banned from the official discord all fans who asked for answers about the case.
On 2 March, 2022, WACTOR exposed in a statement the real name and personal accounts of Shino Laila, and announced the filing of a lawsuit against her, for engaging in "Vtuber activities outside the company" (In fact, transmissions with a PNG drawn by her) and "bringing discredit to the company". WACTOR also considered taking legal action against a fan for alleged defamation.[90]
Throughout her suspension, WACTOR never responded to Shino Laila's emails, DMs and letters, leaving her with no channels of communication, no suspension deadlines, no payments for three months and limited from continuing to work due to contract clauses. On 16 April, the former actress confirmed the cancelation of her contract. She apologized for the concerns caused to everyone and stated that the content published by the agency was one-sided, and had terribly damaged her privacy and honor. She also mentioned that her lawyer tried to contact WACTOR several times since the incident, but the company did not respond.[91][92]
On 15 February, 2023, the former actress released a new statement, declaring that she had not yet received any kind of contact from the agency or its lawyer, and that the fact that the agency had claimed they were initiating a lawsuit against her was just a legal threat.[93]
The agency doxxed their own talent again[]
On 8 December 2022, WACTOR announced that Hina Misora was sick and would be taking a break.[94]
On 1 January, 2023, Hina posted her last tweet saying "Esta hora antoja cereal". She then went silent in all social media.[95]
On 15 February, 2023, Hina's former actress posted a letter on Twitter stating that her contract with WACTOR was terminated on 9 February.[96]
On 28 February, WACTOR posted a press release on their website, Hina's Twitter and a video on Hina's YouTube channel, stating that Misora was no longer part of the agency due to several breaches of contract and that legal action would be taken against her. The statement also included confidential information about her (full name, country, city and identification number). Eventually, the video and tweet were taken down after fans reported them for violation of community guidelines and cyberbullying. However, the company would repost this same information on the description of Hina's channel and on descriptions of her videos.
On 2 March, the former member openly expressed her experience, telling how in the past she suffered harassment and bullying for being half-Japanese, and mentioning that "In the past, I would have given up on my life after this exposure. However, now I am different, I am proud of myself".[97]
On 5 March, WACTOR would again use Hina's Twitter to make another announcement, this time merely directing viewers to a stream by Himea D'Almaria which, among other things, voiced out the company's lawsuits against several former members.[98]
Missing Members[]
Since 2022 many of WACTOR members suddenly ceased all activity on their accounts instead of graduating. Shino Laila and Kurari Rose were the first cases, with WACTOR publishing announcements of the suspensions for these two members, but no statements were ever issued of any terminations or retirements. Other cases would cease all activities abruptly, leaving behind only a cryptic message. In all of these cases, the only proof of their retirements came from statements published by the former talents themselves, mentioning their former identities and that they were no longer affiliated with the agency.
Below is a list of these missing members and their last days of activity.
- Hana Tsukito's last tweet on January 28, 2022.
- Lea's last post on August 1, 2022.
- Yue Saohime's last post on November 8, 2022.
- Luna Rurine's last tweet on January 24, 2023.
- Neon Kuroyuri's last tweet on February 3, 2023.
- Ito Shinonome's last post on February 19, 2023.
- Leo Valentino's last tweet on March 1, 2023.
- Sezia Haruma's last tweet on May 11, 2023.
- Vyse Yagami's last tweet on May 11, 2023.
- Yumi Nekomiya's last tweet on May 11, 2023.
- Ayato Galilei's last tweet on May 11, 2023.
- Mina Usami's last post on May 13, 2023.
- Anya Okumura's last tweet on July 20, 2023.
- Himea D'Almaria's last tweet on September 12, 2023.
Due to the company's refusal to clarify these cases and the prolonged inactivity of their accounts, several of which exceed the contract year established in official audition pages, they are considered retired members.
Trivia[]
- The WACTOR CEO is Akira Oishi (大石 昂) who plays the role of Maid-chan. He is half-Japanese and half-Chilean.
- Spanish staff Nana-chan joined WACTOR on 17 July 2022, and retired on 5 June 2023.
- Chinese staff Guangja-chang joined WACTOR on 15 June 2022, and vanished on 15 February 2023. (She was replaced by a 2.0 version who also vanished).
Gallery[]
External Links[]
Media[]
- WACTOR Official Website
- @WACTOR_Vtuber - Maid-chan's Twitter (management)
- WACTOR-女仆酱-官方 - Bilibili channel (management)
- WACTOR Facebook page
- WACTOR Youtube channel
- WACTOR公式 - Official Booth store
- WACTOR FanCommunity - Discord server
Further reading[]
- WACTOR - on Virtual Youtuber Encyclopedia (Español)
- WACTOR - on pixiv Encyclopedia (Japanese)
- WACTOR - on moegirl Encyclopedia (Chinese)
References[]
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