Mori Calliope is a new generation star, full of talent and humor. She started her career as a VTuber in the English-speaking VTuber group hololive English under the VTuber agency, hololive production. She creates music by mixing English and Japanese to produce fluent and skillful raps. As of March 2022, the number of subscribers to her YouTube channel exceeded 2 million.Her first full-length album UnAlive, in March 2022, ranked No. 1 on the album charts of iTunes and the online music store called “Mora” operated by Sony Music Solutions. On April 4, 2022, her major-label debut was announced by EMI Records - Universal Music, and her first EP, SHINIGAMI NOTE, will be released on July 20, 2022. They also announced that her first solo concert, titled Mori Calliope Major Debut Concert “New Underworld Order,” will be held at Toyosu PIT in Tokyo on July 21, 2022, to celebrate her major-label debut.
In this long interview, we display her creative background and the philosophy behind her activities, which showcase her diverse talents.
【Photo】First oneman live at Toyosu PIT (13 photos)ーHow did you get into the VTuber scene? Can you tell us the sequence of becoming a VTuber?First, I saw many clips on YouTube of VTubers like Inugami Korone and Natsuiro Matsuri from hololive. I wondered, “What is this?” and my friends from the underground rap scene became VTubers as well. So, I wanted to know more about VTubers, and I was interested in them. And then, my friends sent the audition for hololive English on our Discord channel, so I applied for it and showed them my music work. I think they liked my music, sense of humor, and personality. And then, they hired me to join hololive English which was a dream come true for me, so yeah, I’m really enjoying being a VTuber very much now.
ーEven though there are some VTuber management offices, what does hololive production mean to you?Let’s see, hololive production is like a big family, I think. There aren’t too many of us, so we can still all know about each other decently. Maybe not everyone is best friends with each other, but we still support each other. And it feels like I can speak easily to anyone in hololive production because we all are working together and there’s a great feeling of being like comrades, like very good co-workers who are caring, supporting, and willing to see each other’s dreams come true. So yeah, we all are very friendly to each other, chasing our own dreams. I think hololive production is a great agency to offer many wonderful opportunities to aspiring VTubers and the members of hololive production. We all care very much about each other.
