In April 2020, hololive production's Southeast Asian branch launched the VTuber group hololive Indonesia (hereinafter hololive ID) who, to celebrate their 5th year anniversary, recently performed their very first concert, hololive Indonesia 5th Anniversary LIVE Chromatic Future, in their home country of Indonesia.
This is the first part of a two-part series here on COVERedge as we take you through the journey of hololive ID, behind the scenes at the hololive ID 5th anniversary concert performance and talk to supporting COVER staff members about how the group has grown and developed since the beginning!
In this article, Part 1, we will take a look back at the history of hololive ID, from its inception up until now from an internal perspective.
In True Indonesian Style Backed by Data: Born from a Nation of Youth
The Southeast Asian archipelago made up of over 17,000 islands that is Indonesia is known for being a “nation of youth” where around half of its population is 29 or younger and is also one of the most multilingual countries in the world with over 700 languages spoken nationwide, characterized by its diverse language and culture. Since the second half of the 1980s, popular Japanese anime has been shown in Indonesia, making it a country with a high awareness of Japanese pop culture for some time now, not just anime.
It was into this landscape in April 2020 that the first hololive production VTuber group outside of Japan was born with three talents in Generation 1, with 3 more talents following suit in December of the same year as part of Generation 2, doubling the number of unique talents and with it the fan base grew.
To commemorate their 1st anniversary, hololive ID released their first original song “id:entity voices” in April 2021, a track written and arranged by music producer Farhan Sarasin that truly represented the group’s identity. In August 2021, Generation 1 held a stream revealing the first new outfit for hololive ID, an Indonesian-style outfit that coincided with a special Indonesian occasion. This was an important time for hololive ID with the hololive production Official Shop expanding into the popular marketplace Tokopedia in December of the same year, enabling merchandise to be sold locally and helping to create an environment where fans’ oshikatsu could flourish.
At that time, those who were aware of hololive within Indonesia were still only those who consumed Japanese anime and had an interest in Japanese culture. However, through constant streaming and activities from Generation 1 and 2 members, this level of interest steadily grew. Then, when Generation 1 talent Moona Hoshinova’s channel became the first in Southeast Asia to reach 1 million subscribers, everything began to change.
VTubers were no longer just “novel content for anime lovers,” but were being recognized as individual streamers as internet culture in Indonesia continued to thrive. It was also at this time that we were able to accumulate data, through the activities of Generation 1 and 2 talents, about what genres and music were well-received among Indonesians.
Based on this data, from Generation 3, which debuted in March 2022, onwards, we have reflected Indonesian culture and trends more in our audition methods and visuals. As a result, hololive became far more well-known locally with Kobo Kanaeru following in the footsteps of Moona Hoshinova and Kureiji Ollie, becoming the fastest hololive ID to reach 1 million subscribers on her YouTube channel, reaching the milestone in just four months after her channel was created.
Following on from this, in August 2022, to mark 7 million subscribers across all hololive ID talents, a commemorative advertisement was put up in Senayan Station, part of the Jakarta subway system (MRT Jakarta). hololive ID talents could be seen throughout the city and were becoming a part of daily life in Indonesia.
The VTuber boom in Indonesia and the various challenges posed to previous generations gave us crucial insights into what kind of content and activities are commonly enjoyed locally—from music and gaming genres to communication styles. These learnings have not only heavily influenced how the Generation 3 debut project was managed, but also all hololive ID-related decision-making processes regarding offline events and local promotions ever since.
Since 2022, hololive ID talents have featured at the annual hololive SUPER EXPO & fes. in Japan, with their incredible singing ability and dance performances a huge hit among fans. In September 2022, the three Generation 1 talents revealed their 3D models on a relay stream, and increased the scope of their activities that included a tour of Asia* in 2023.
*International Event: “VRChat Presents viv:ID CRUISE hololive Meet Asia Tour”
Respecting Indonesian Culture: An Appeal Born from a Unique Identity
So, why have hololive ID talents been so well received by viewers in Indonesia and many other parts of the world? We believe that there are a number of reasons for this.
The appeal of VTubers that have the support of a global community stems from the talents all having their own strong individuality, and their ability to have bilateral communication with their viewers. hololive ID adapts this characteristic appeal to suit the Indonesian language and culture. In particular, forms of “wrestling-style” communication between talents and viewers are frequent, where Indonesian slang, known as bahasa gaul, and jokes are used to make jibes at each other, bringing about a closer and more friendly form of interaction with local viewers.
Many of the hololive ID members are also multilingual allowing them to “code-switch,” whereby they naturally switch between multiple languages during the same stream, making the group particularly unique with its ambiguous geographical and linguistic boundaries, endearing itself with not only the Indonesian public, but with Japanese and Western fans as well.
These strengths are evident in the content of talents’ streams, their fan communities and, above all, their original music.
On the musical front, songs like Kobo Kanaeru’s “Oh! Asmara” and Moona Hoshinova’s “Perisai Jitu” are characterized by their Indonesian pop influences, making them highly acclaimed locally in Indonesia. These songs have transcended the VTuber fan base and become huge hits, making waves on the national music streaming charts. On the other hand, other songs feature a blend of multiple languages such as English and Japanese and are being released with a more global audience in mind.
The presence of both an approachability stemming from local influences to a universality which resonates with a global audience is what makes hololive ID so unique. hololive ID, with its uniquely Indonesian languages and culture as well as its boldness and individuality that connects with a global audience, has seen its fan base continue to grow, not only within Indonesia but far and wide throughout Japan, South Asia and North America, blossoming into a group boasting diversity even within the production. Each and every talent of hololive ID has been a pioneer in bringing Indonesian culture and VTubers to the global market.
Some fans may remember the oddity of anime-looking characters speaking Indonesian in the beginning when hololive ID first became active as a group, but the talents’ efforts to stay true to their culture and values while continuing to produce content that can be enjoyed by anyone regardless of nationality may just be what has made hololive ID so uniquely appealing. Since 2023, the group’s activities have diversified even further through offline events and collaborations with other companies. February 2023 saw all 9 affiliated talents reveal their new kimono outfits on a relay stream, and then in August, they announced their VRChat Presents viv:ID CRUISE hololive Meet Asia Tour, with 4 of the members touring Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and New York. This saw a steady increase in offline engagement with fans, with appearances by ID talents at both hololive STAGE World Tour’24 -Soar!- and hololive STAGE World Tour ’25 -Synchronize!- in 2024 and 2025, showcasing their global presence.
Collaborations and campaigns domestically with Indonesian businesses have also been well-received. Kureiji Ollie and Kobo Kanaeru made an appearance in a promotion for the staple instant noodles Indomie from Indonesian food/beverage giant Indofood, which originally came about by the brand simply being mentioned on stream, enabling the presence of VTubers to be more widely known outside of original fan communities.
Kobo Kanaeru also appeared in a commercial for the Honda BeAT, a popular scooter in Indonesia. A fusion of live-action and 3D elements, the commercial was nominated at the YouTube Works Awards Southeast Asia 2025, winning Best Collaboration: Brand & Creator. On top of this, 2025 also saw a domestic collaboration with Pocky. hololive ID has played a considerable role in not only promoting local companies within the Indonesian market through such campaigns as receiving hololive ID photo cards when purchasing products, but has worked with international companies achieving similar success as well.
In November 2025, numerous fans gathered at Comic Frontier 21 ICE BSD Hall 6 for hololive Indonesia 5th Anniversary live Chromatic Future, the group’s first-ever concert in Indonesia featuring all hololive ID members to celebrate its 5-year anniversary, which was a resounding success.
Five years on, hololive ID has been a social phenomenon going beyond the realm of entertainment; a success story in the digital creation industry in Indonesia made through successes had in music streaming charts and collaborations with other brands. Moving forward, we are looking to expand activities based in Indonesia even further while continuing to collaborate even closer with the entire hololive production.
In the second part of this series, we will bring you interviews with event staff who worked on the hugely successful hololive Indonesia 5th Anniversary LIVE Chromatic Future, and share some of the ideas and sentiments that went into the production.
※Part 2 coming soon!
