It’s been a pair months since FLOW GLOW arrived on the VTuber scene. hololive’s rap-focused technology is pretty totally different from what has come earlier than them, and I wish to report my ideas and emotions now that I’ve had extra time to see what they’re about.
(Disclaimer: I don’t know music genres very effectively, so this may simply be phrase salad).
On a micro degree, all of FLOW GLOW really feel prepared as entertainers. Rindo Chihaya is my favourite of the bunch, between her beautiful character design, her love of automobiles, trombone abilities, and deeper singing voice. I additionally discover Isaki Riona to be particularly foolish and entertaining. In a single “mindfulness” stream (i.e. assisted meditation), she requested her viewers to emulate throwing a Kamehameha.
On a macro degree, FLOW GLOW does one thing essential for me: It helps make clear the course of their latest department, hololive DEV_IS.
Again when DEV_IS was first introduced, it wasn’t apparent what precisely made it totally different. Don’t holo abilities already make music? Weren’t INNK and Challenge Hope totally different makes an attempt to give attention to music that each ended up closing? Don’t the members of ReGLOSS (DEV_IS’s first technology) stream video games and speak with chat all the identical? However FLOW GLOW makes it way more apparent the place the distinction lies. One, the generations are seen much more as cohesive teams of performers. Two, they lean much more into the sorts of antics one may anticipate of “abilities”—the minor celebrities who seem on selection exhibits in Japan. That first facet is what piques my curiosity.
The truth that FLOW GLOW has a totally totally different sound in comparison with ReGLOSS says all of it. As a substitute of attempting to observe a dependable components to the purpose of tedium, Cowl Corp appears to be exploring totally different avenues with the notion that an more and more numerous roster can attain totally different corners, and FLOW GLOW’s Okay-Pop + J-Eap strategy contrasts with the clean synth J-pop of ReGLOSS. Whereas I’ll admit that I’m not a giant fan of their debut music, “FG Roadster,” I’m glad they’re not simply ReGLOSS 2.0. Additionally, their first cowl music (of KICK THE CAN CREW’s “Marche”) jogs my memory a little bit of A Tribe Known as Quest, and provides me hope that they’re going to attempt totally different genres of rap.
It’s humorous to consider that combo of Okay-Pop and J-Rap. Positive, rap is a staple a part of Okay-Pop, however inside the particular context of Hololive, every of these halves is represented by the members of TakaMori. Takanashi Kiara’s music is more and more within the course of Okay-pop—an intentional choice in keeping with her. Calliope Mori is the primary title in VTuber rapping, and whereas she’s moved on to totally different sounds that incorporate pop and rock as effectively, the affect she had on the enterprise can nonetheless be felt. Would FLOW GLOW have gone on this course if Fantasy hadn’t ascended again in 2020?
I do marvel if hololive will be capable to attain a brand new viewers by means of FLOW GLOW, and if that viewers may even embody people who find themselves neither into anime or Japanese popular culture. I’m curious to search out out the place they’ll take us.
