NIJISANJI / AnyColor Inc.

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About

NIJISANJI is a Japanese VTuber talent agency owned by AnyColor Inc. The company was founded in 2018 with the goal of promoting "Livers" who use anime-style 2D models to conduct livestreams and content for their audiences. NIJISANJI began with a team of Japanese Livers before expanding into overseas markets with the NIJISANJI EN branch. The agency is similar to Hololive in how its talents frequently perform songs and covers for their audiences. In 2024, NIJISANJI became embroiled in controversy following Liver Selen Tatsuki's termination, with many accusing the agency of mismanaging their talents and causing them mental anguish.

History

Riku Tazumi created Ichikara Inc in 2018. Ichikara Inc., now called AnyColor Inc., founded the VTuber agency Nijisanji in February 2018. The agency helped popularize the use of rigged Live2D models, with Livers using iPhone X facial motion capture technology to track their movements in real time. The agency's "First Wave" of Livers consisted of eight Livers, with Tsukino Mito being one of this generation's most popular VTubers today.^[1]

NIJISANJI expanded into the Chinese, Indian, Indonesian and Korean markets in 2019. On June 22nd, 2020, the company launched the official YouTube account for its English branch, with auditions of members opening in December of that year.

The English branch debuted its first wave of VTubers, dubbed "LazuLight," on May 16th, 2021. The group consisted of three female Livers: Elira Pendora, Pomu Rainpuff and Finana Ryugu.^[2] As of 2023, NIJISANJI EN has launched its ninth wave of VTubers.

Following

AnyColor took over the subreddit /r/NIJISANJI^[3] on December 25th, 2020, with the subreddit gathering over 94,000 members in four years. Various Livers also signed onto the subreddit as moderators in 2021.

As of February 2024, NIJISANJI EN has gathered over 780,000 subscribers on YouTube, 870,000 followers on X,^[4] 270,000 followers on Instagram^[5] and 230,000 followers on TikTok.^[6]

Controversies

Zaion LanZa's Firing

Zaion LanZa was part of NIJISANJI EN's seventh wave AKA "XSOLEIL" of VTubers from December 2022 till March 2023. On February 8th, 2023, NIJISANJI EN made a post on X^[10] announcing that Zaion had been suspended as a result of "repeated misconduct." This post was followed by one on March 10th, 2023, where NIJISANJI EN announced^[11] Zaoin's termination from the agency (shown below).

The list of offenses included the use of uncleared copyright material, falsely claiming to be sponsored by certain brands, offensive remarks regarding discrimination and revealing internal information that could affect stakeholders.

Zaion herself posted an account of events from her perspective through X^[12] user @sayusyn's post on May 5th, 2023, gathering over 11,000 likes.

The document refutes the various offenses listed under the reasons for her termination, including accusations of promoting "shotacon," copyright infringement and accessing her Past Life, among others.

The phrase "Zaoin Was Right" began to trend in 2024 after NIJISANJI fired second wave Liver Selen Tatsuki.

Selen Tatsuki's Firing

NIJISANJI began to face criticism in February 2024 after the agency fired Selen Tatsuki, a streamer from the agency's second wave. In December 2023, a cover produced by Selen Tatsuki was set to "private" on her YouTube. Selen subsequently announced that she was hospitalized, with no news emerging until NIJISANJI announced her termination from the agency.

The act of a VTuber departing from their home agency is typically called a "graduation," however, NIJISANJI announced that Tatsuki was being let go from NIJISANJI EN "due to repeated breaches of contract and misleading statements on social platforms."^[7]

The statement also mentioned that Tatsuki had accused fellow Livers of participating in a "bullying" campaign against her, a revelation Selen had not made public herself.

NIJISANJI faced significant backlash for their termination of Selen Tatsuki, criticism that was only exacerbated by a statement NIJISANJI directed toward their investors on February 6th, 2023, a day after Selen's firing. The statement read, "On February 5th, 2024, ANYCOLOR made the decision to terminate our affiliate contract with the NIJISANJI EN Liver Selen Tatsuki The impact of this decision will be negligible."

However, other fans noted that the company's market value did appear to drop following Tatsuki's firing, as seen in a series of posts by X^[8] user @eviltape (seen below).

NIJISANJI's CEO issued a statement via a YouTube^[9] video posted to NIJISANJI EN on February 13th, 2024. In the video, NIJISANJI CEO Riku Tazumi apologizes for the phrasing used in their statement to investors on February 6th and assures fans that measures are being taken to ensure the safety and mental health of VTubers signed to their agency.