"If you need healing, just call my name!”
For our second edition of Spotlight on IRIAM: Meet The Streamer, we’re joined by hiyumiNAO! She’s a healer from the world of Grand ET Online. She began vtubing around four years ago and since then has found many adventurers to join her party!
She enjoys chatting with her community about food, anime/manga, and Kamen Rider! hiyumiNAO also play Tetris, Mahjong, and simulator games. Occasionally, she’ll also sing and doodle on stream. Join her next stream on IRIAM to party up!
What inspired you to become a VTuber?
At the start, there was no real rhyme or reason. I was a faceless streamer who treated streaming as a fun hobby a few years earlier, but I got a bit discouraged when viewers constantly asked to see what I looked like. So, when I was surrounded by friends who were becoming VTubers in 2020, it not only looked and sounded fun - it also felt like the natural next step. It gave me the push I needed to give streaming another try!
What motivates me to continue being a VTuber is love for the community I’ve built and also a love for the medium of VTubing itself. Every year that passes, there are more and more projects I still want to do, and there are still several goals I hope to achieve! I told myself I can't quit until I see them all through.
“What kind of experience do I want to give my audience?"
Your branding is very strong and easily recognizable. How did you develop your persona and aesthetics? What were your biggest inspirations?
I’m glad you think so! I initially had a few concepts, but I think a healer character stuck because I had talked with a friend about VTubing, and they had asked me to think about “what kind of experience I want to give my audience.” I decided that I wanted to make a place where my audience could come to forget about the pressures of everyday life for a moment, which reminded me of how I felt when I used to play MMORPGs.
There was a particularly tough time in my life, and I remembered when I’d logged into my favorite MMORPG called Dragon Nest and playing with my guildmates always made those days go by easier, so my whole concept is also a love letter to the people and fun I had during that part of my life.
You recently debuted your 2.0 model! What fueled the upgrade, and what does this new version represent for you?
The initial idea for my 2.0 was that my character hiyumiNAO was progressing in the story of the game Grand ET Online. The new outfit was going to be inspired by the raid boss that she had defeated. However, after a bit of soul searching and going through some changes in my life during the time it took to prepare for the 2.0 debut, I feel like she now represents a part of me that is braving my mistakes, fears, and doubts and continuing on this journey of being a VTuber.
There remain a few character designs and in-game world lore I had set aside. I hope to find a good way to showcase them someday in the future!
You often collaborate with other creators in a way that creates engaging streams. What draws you to hosting collabs, and do you have any advice for any VTubers that are interested in organizing their own collabs?
My first gut response was “I JUST WANT AN EXCUSE TO HANG OUT WITH MY FRIENDS!” However, I think collabs are a fun way to display different dynamics that viewers might not always get to see normally on an individual streamer’s channel. I don’t think I actually host that many collabs, but maybe that has changed recently since I currently have a very flexible schedule! (Translator’s Note: I’m currently (f)unemployed…)
The only advice that comes to mind is that I try to be very intentional when planning collabs, and I put a lot of thought into what could be fun for both my fellow streamers to play/do and what could be fun to watch for our audiences. I also don’t really collaborate outside my close circle since I’m quite an introvert! If you are new to collaborating, I’d suggest trying it out with a friend first to see if collaborations are something you’d want to continue venturing towards. Each streamer may have different etiquettes they follow, so I'd check in to see if there are any expectations they'd have as well! (i.e. muting when reading chat, etc.)
“My main focus has always been to interact with my community first.”
What kind of streams can viewers expect from you?
I can’t quite confidently say what to expect from me on Twitch since I hyper fixate on random games often. I’m not much of a gamer, so I don’t think my community comes to see me for any compelling gameplay… However! I have had some memorable moments of spectacular failures in-game. I’ve asked my community to describe my streams before, and most have declared it as “comfy chaotic.” Some staple games that I do play are Mahjong Soul, Tetris, and Suika Game.
On IRIAM, I typically do short 30-minute to 1-hour streams on some mornings directly from bed. I have also done longer streams when doing karaoke or at my desk set-up. Chats can range from what viewers are having for their next meal to learning about Cao Cao from the Three Kingdoms time period! My main focus has always been to interact with my community first, so I try to play games where I can juggle looking at chat often.
As someone who started on Twitch, what drew you towards streaming on IRIAM?
I feel like I've always been more of a chatting streamer than a gaming streamer, so IRIAM made a lot of sense to try at the time! The number one feature that amazed me with IRIAM was the low-latency chat responses. It's amazing and feels like I really am talking with my community directly without any latency. I also occasionally deal with some low health days, so it's nice to have IRIAM on my phone to easily do a small stream when I'm away from my setup!
“I’m forever grateful to my community for participating in that event with me!”
What are some memorable moments or streams you've had on IRIAM?
I think back fondly to my debut stream and what a crazy 3 hours it was..! It really meant a lot to me to see so many familiar names in chat from Founding Streamers to my own community members and friends who came by to cheer me on in this new adventure.
I also always think back to the ending of the Animate event that happened in December. That ranking event in particular was very competitive! I remember I had spent 6-8 hours making pancakes for anyone who was sending gifts towards the end of the event.
It was a spectacular way to end my 2024, and I’m forever grateful to my community for participating in that event with me! Being able to see my character standing next to Suisei from Hololive and buying the merchandise in-store felt so surreal.
Do you have any upcoming projects or events we can look forward to?
I have an original song that is coming out soon! It's composed and produced by my wonderful friend TOFIE, so I am looking forward to sharing it with everyone. The music video is almost complete, so it should be released on my YouTube channel sometime in May! I’ve also recently been learning the basics of competitive Pokémon battling to prepare for an event called Fluffy Barrage. The event should be taking place towards the latter half of the year. Last but not least, there’s always some event I’ll probably be participating in over on the IRIAM app, so please check out IRIAM!
Editor: Meira
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