The allure of the grand digital stage being showered by stars and flowers is not foreign to celebrities of V-tuber idol company hololive. However, in collaboration with VR company VARK, the girls are able to do something different this time around including celebrate with their fans. Over the last couple of months the two companies have banded together to bring the Cinderella switch live concerts. Originally taking place back in September of last year, these feature a duo from the company performing a 3D live with one member onstage and the other in the virtual crowd, the two switching places with each other for the following performance. One of the added twists is that both concerts are able to be VR viewable via multiple VR capable devices such as the Oculus Quest and PlayStation VR.

For the first part of this amazing collaboration, members Kanata Amane and Marine Houshou took the stage, with Kanata going up first and Marine hanging with the virtual “crowd”. One of the amazing things I first noticed was the immersion of the scene; it felt as though Marine was right there next to me as a friend, giving commentary about the performance. I was initially hesitant about watching something like this, as it really has that idol stream feel with the comments just zooming by and the cheers from the “crowd”, along with the other members chiming in from time to time by becoming the mood-maker during the live. However, the stage and camerawork is amazing that even when viewing the show in 2D the viewer won’t feel like they lost anything extra compared to 3D viewers.

Another great thing that I absolutely love about virtual lives is that the performers are not limited to having the stage as their background. I also adore the interactions between idols and the “crowd”, and while hololive’s usual karaoke livestreams or live performances are great, having that second member in the “crowd” the performer can “bounce off of” is something that can’t be replicated in typical virtual lives. This works especially well with Kanata and Marine as they converse very well with each other by sharing several inside jokes, which the fans just love them for. They even mimic each other’s catchphrase motions.

First up was Kanata Amane and I admittedly wasn’t very knowledgeable about her singing skill before this; however, in the short time that live was going on, she became a member I absolutely am paying more attention to in the future. Her vocal range is absolutely out of this world. She’s able to hold notes absurdly long and she can hit deeper pitches in several of the songs. With songs like “Rettou Joutou” and “The Narrow Way”, I was just floored by how Kanata could hit the notes she did, along with the scene transition for “Outsider”, I was so excited to hear something like that. Something very interesting they did for the stage change from Kanata to Marine’s performance was the background stage changing color to match the respective member’s color.

For Marine Houshou’s performance I would have to say I was extremely excited as she is a member of hololive I do follow, and seeing her on a 3D stage like this was very hype for me. Having watched several of her singing livestreams in the past, I knew what was in store for me when she took the stage.

During her first performance, she was adding her own twist on ”Lum's Love Song” which I loved and Kanata in turn reacted perfectly with the back-and-forth during the end of it. “Tengoku to Jigogu” was a nice changeup as it was a more rock infused track. The banter with Kanata in the “crowd” was really great and that’s when it clicked for me that concerts like these are absolutely amazing from the gimmick alone. Marine’s last track was “Ahoy!! Warera Shoshou Kaizokudan”. Now I absolutely love this song and hearing it in a live atmosphere is something I’ll never forget. Seeing Kanata also reacting to it added to the illusion of being in an actual live.

What’s also very interesting for Cinderella switch is at the end of the performance the duo has a very special after-talk segment. The segment has both members on stage talking about the performance. Along with it is a close-up version of both Marine and Kanata in the crowd as though they were there physically in front of you—along with a very dangerous headpat, hug, and virtual kiss, making this an amazing experience for fans.

Overall, the first collaboration between VARK and hololive was absolutely amazing, especially with it bringing that live concert feeling which some people have been craving for over the past year. If the rest of the collaborations are even half as enjoyable as this one, fans are surely in for a treat.

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