"Sea angel? Yep, you’re definitely seeing an angel!”

For our fifth edition of Spotlight on IRIAM: Meet The Streamer, we’re joined by Hiumi Subaru! Subaru is a clione, otherwise known as a sea angel, that loves to sing! If you look at her hoodie, there's a silhouette of a clione on it, and that's what her model's based on! When she's not trying to find new friends to play IdentityV with, she's making sure you read her favorite manga (The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity) and follow suit in whatever her latest hyperfixation is. This social sea angel also loves coordinating cute outfits for tea parties, doing escape games, and singing karaoke with friends. Visit her streams and hear more about her fun adventures on IRIAM US!

What inspired you to become a VTuber?

If I had to pick one aspect that motivated me to become a VTuber, it would be the desire to belong to a community that shared my interests. Everything started when I discovered Vocaloid. Since I couldn't find any friends who shared my interest or get them into it, I began searching online. Through following utaite, I learned how to join their livestreams on NND (ニコ生/Nico-nama). From there, I got the courage to try streaming with some friends to practice my Japanese and also meet other Vocaloid fans.

Due to school and other priorities, I didn't remain super consistent with streaming and would only upload covers every so often. However, during the pandemic, one of my friends became a VTuber, and seeing how much fun she and her VTuber friends were having, I wanted to give it a shot too! I commissioned my friend, who's also an artist, to create a PNGtuber for me, and she kindly made me a GIFtuber. I also had a long backlog of Steam games (I'm sure many can relate), so I hoped that streaming would help me be more motivated to play some of those games. It would also allow me to spend more quality time with friends who made make time to watch me or play with me. I also did singing streams to improve my vocals and got scouted by an IRIAM JP partnered agency from that, but it didn't go through since they didn't realize I wasn't residing in Japan. After seeing the IRIAM US announcement, I decided to apply, and here I am! In summary, I wanted to join my friend in the Vtubing sphere while also creating a fun space of my own!

“All I'm doing is recreating the warm, comfortable atmosphere I got to experience when exploring IRIAM JP!"

You have a reputation for being incredibly welcoming to new users on IRIAM. What’s your approach to making newcomers feel comfortable in your space?

All I'm doing is just using the resources that the IRIAM app already provides for me. Being a yapper myself, I always appreciate when people talk to me, so I make sure to greet anyone who comes in by name. Since we can also peek at their profiles, I find something that I'm able to comment on, such as a shared tag we may have, or something about their icon. Oftentimes, I find it encouraging for viewers to chat with me, especially when we see something we can bond over.

I also want to extend my gratitude to all the lovely senpais I met on IRIAM JP! I wasn't aware we, as streamers, could check our viewers’ Tutorial Missions progress until I hopped on IRIAM JP. There's an entire tab dedicated to newcomers where the VTubers focus their whole stream on welcoming new users to IRIAM. They typically start by breaking down the Tutorial Missions tab and explaining how the users can complete them and earn points. The easiest ones to start with are to tap the star button, tap the follow button, and send a comment. The streamer I watched at the time said that one of the fastest ways to complete the “send 50 comments” tutorial mission was to spam emojis while the streamer sang. They sang for me to spam, and that’s something I adopted as well as a singer! Everyone was patient and kind with their guidance, making it easy for me to ask a bunch of questions too.

My goal is recreating the warm, comfortable atmosphere I got to experience when exploring IRIAM JP! One of IRIAM’s staff, Sohei (jokingly...?), called me IRIAM US' (保健室 - hokenshitsu) infirmary since lots of people have shared visiting my streams made their IRIAM experience less overwhelming/intimidating. I don't know who's been praising me to Sohei, but Su is right here... please send words of affirmation to my VERY OPEN Twitter DM's or my Marshmallow linked on my bio. Please? Su wants to hear praise directly. Plea— (Meira puts Su back in the aquarium tank for a short timeout)

Recently, you not only secured your spot in the IRIAM Animate bookmark event, but you also placed first in June’s fan badge ranking! When you look back on your journey to earning these rankings, what would you say was the biggest challenge and how did you overcome it?

Honestly, I think the biggest challenge was to avoid thinking too much about the rankings while offline, since I would be a little anxious from anticipation. I just happened to be streaming a lot more than normal in June, and thanks to being present a lot, it was easier to meet new viewers who were interested in joining my community and getting fan badges. I typically don't look at the rankings since I don't expect to be anywhere near the top 3, but sometimes my viewers will share with me when I reach a milestone, and last month, I was in the lead for fan badges. Since I was already in the lead, I felt more comfortable with letting my community know and announcing that it would be nice if we could maintain that lead - I'm happy that we did! I didn't want to make a habit of checking my rankings excessively, so I would do my best to share my intentions of keeping the lead. If anyone else reminded me of my standing, then that's how I would receive the update.

As for the bookmark event, it was the first time I ranked so high in an event. I tend to shy away from asking my community to send gifts beyond what's necessary ("I'm okay as long as I place"). When I managed to get into the top 4 even without a detailed stream campaign, I believed it was enough. While I dropped to 5th in the last minute, I learned that if I wanted to maintain a specific ranking, I could definitely come up with a more concrete campaign and be more vocal about wanting to place it in my community. Overall, I'm happy with my placement in both the monthly fan badge rankings and the limited bookmark event. Regardless of the outcome after the event periods were over, the gratitude and sense of accomplishment I felt during them are feelings that helped keep me grounded. Now, I don’t feel so fearful of dropping in ranks or "failing," so I can continue streaming as I normally do. While results are important, I want to focus my appreciation on the journey that led to them, because I believe they serve as a meaningful reminder of the joy found in these moments, no matter the outcome.

“No matter where you find your ideas for streaming, as long as you're having fun and are being your genuine self, everything will work out from there "

For new or aspiring VTubers, your journey is a great example of what’s possible on IRIAM. What advice would you give to someone interested in or just starting on the platform?

Progress isn't linear, so try to be flexible with your expectations and be kind to yourself. I originally wanted to post cute schedule graphics and stream consistently, but realized it wasn't possible with my current lifestyle, so I ended up being a guerrilla streamer. It was in week two on IRIAM that I realized I'm more suited to my whimsical schedule. I've taken multiple unannounced 'breaks' where I don't stream consecutively for days (my record was two weeks (´>ω∂`)☆ oops), but I always came back after taking care of offline obligations and getting sufficient rest. Though I would also advise letting your community know, if/when you can, that you'll be away from streaming for a bit to avoid worrying them (I hoped that retweeting art and memes to show signs of life would be sufficient, but still got some wellness check DMs in). Each time I returned, I was always welcomed with excitement and warmth from my community, and now I no longer fear being forgotten or stress about having to be 'present' all the time. So just show up when you can and don't worry about the 'perfect' timing.

What also helped motivate me was my fellow IRIAM founding streamer friends who share this wonderful journey with me. I am so lucky that everyone I've met through IRIAM has been very supportive and encouraging - it is always easy to reach out for help or guidance, so I don't feel like I have to handle everything alone. Sometimes, it's as simple as joining someone else's stream and watching them to get inspiration. I've watched various streams on IRIAM US & JP and always find so many positive takeaways that I could incorporate into my own streams.

You can also ask your community directly what they'd like to see more of from you on stream and go from there. No matter where you find your ideas for streaming, as long as you're having fun and are being your genuine self, everything will work out from there. Maybe not everyone who pops in will stay, but those who mind won't matter, and those who matter won't mind. Just take it one stream at a time and enjoy the moment with everyone who drops by to have fun with you!

How would you describe your growth since your very first stream on IRIAM? What has changed most about you or your content?

At the moment, it was a bit nerve-wracking, but in hindsight, it was quite charming that my very first stream on IRIAM did NOT go according to keikaku (Translator’s Note: keikaku means plan). I thought I had tested my devices and equipment beforehand to ensure everything was ready for my debut. However, issues with my old phone not handling the audio interface for extended periods meant I had to disconnect from my stream at least five times. In the end, I had to give up on using the audio interface to have background music for my stream and my short singing performance. Thanks to everyone’s kindness and patience, it was easy to wrap up my debut with a song sung a cappella - even if it wasn’t how I first envisioned it.

After that clumsy debut stream (thank you Orpheus Nephilim for holding my hand over Discord call right after to tell me everything was fine, ily), I didn't really stress myself over the "quality" of the stream as long as my viewers and I have fun. It's been two months since I last plugged in my audio interface for singing streams. I've been lazy and want to stream from bed. I just play music from a second device and have the sound loop in from the same mic I sing/speak into - no one has complained, and even if they did, they can find the exit button on the top right of the app~

In my first half year on IRIAM, my streams were quite sporadic as I was adjusting to streaming on top of my regular daily life, but now, I'm having so much fun that I stream nearly every day, often multiple times in a day! If I had defined my future in Vtubing based solely on my first stream or the first few months on IRIAM, I don't think I could believe the person I am today would exist. You'll never know when you'll get the hang of things, so keep persisting and be patient - growth will naturally follow at its own pace. Though I have to apologize in advance for being a "one-trick" clione since my content is still primarily singing. "No music, no life."

What are some memorable moments or streams you've had on IRIAM?

There isn't one specific stream I could immediately pick out as the most memorable, but there are many fond memories of various streams of my interactions with my community. I find it endearing when my community picks up on some of my everyday speech mannerisms, such as "weh" when I'm sulking or when they can recite/quote my self-intro to newcomers. When someone new joins the stream and mentions manga, some of my viewers like to tease them, asking if they've heard of my favorite, The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity. Similarly, when they mention liking Vocaloid, the song I've been singing the most often recently gets mentioned. It's always a fun time when my community can laugh together with me at how I'm always a "short story long" kind of person, and that sometimes, I never get to finish a recap or story in one stream, so we'll always have endless things to look forward to. I'm really happy to be hanging out with everyone on stream and making fun memories that we can look back on and share with others.

What kind of streams can viewers expect from you on the platform?

Expect the unexpected - just kidding! I'll always offer to sing something to first-time viewers, and sometimes, I'll make you sit through a reading of the latest book/series I'm into, or tell you some stories about my various adventures.

Do you have any upcoming projects or events we can look forward to?

I have an Excel sheet listing all the Founding Streamer friends I have discussed and secured collabs with, so keep an eye out for more song covers that are in production and will be released soon. Staying true to my roots, you can always expect some kind of music project, and I love including as many people in my projects as possible! My first cover, although it was a solo cover, features various cameos of some of my Founding Streamer friends in the music video, so I'd recommend anyone who hasn't checked it out yet to give it a watch!

Hoping to also catch up on some original merch production that I can announce soon, so everyone can carry around Subaru with them, not just through their phone on IRIAM!

Editor: Meira

Make sure you never miss what Subaru has in store! Visit her on:

• IRIAM

• X

• YouTube