On July 26, MANON released her new song come again (prod. Sam is Ohm). The track is a cover of m-flo’s 2001 hit come again, blending the classic club sounds of the early 2000s and MANON’s unique sound.

 

MANON has started to attract attention as a cultural icon, and her musical style is enhanced this time around by Producer/DJ Sam is Ohm, who has participated in several m-flo remix contests. He has also been highly regarded for his Konya wa Boogie Back cover project, inspired by Kenji Ozawa’s 60s hit. The new arrangement incorporates the heart of the 2000s hit while transforming its Y2K sound to fit modern trends.

 

A Y2K-inspired retro-futuristic music video is also available to watch on YouTube. The artwork and video were created by Dan, who works with MANON as a member of the girl's creator collective bala.

On December 4, 2021, Kizuna Ai announced that she would be going on indefinite hiatus. Prior to her 'sleep,'  the VTuber will hold her final online live event, 'Kizuna AI The Last Live "hello, world 2022" on February 26, 2022. For those wanting to participate in the show, applications are now open!   Ai would like the performance to be held with as many people as possible--not only those who are active as VTubers, but also those who are interested in being active in the virtual space. And, of course, those who have supported her over the past five years! Be sure to tune in to this final performance filled with virtual talent!

Get ready for your trip to Virtual Sanrio Puroland! For the first time ever, Sanrio is teaming up with U.S. company VRChat for an entirely virtual music festival, SANRIO Virtual Fes in Sanrio Puroland on December 11 and December 12, 2021. Guests will be able to enjoy the event using a VR Headset, a PC, or a smartphone.      The concert space will feature both live and virtual artists (VTubers), as well as popular Sanrio characters in a massive five-story underground space beneath Virtual Sanrio Puroland. Participants will also be able to transform their avatar into the Sanrio character of their choice during the event! High-fiving other concert-goers will result in an explosion of Hello Kitty bows, and there will be plenty of surprises during the music performances, so don’t miss it!   The lineup for the event includes Kizuna AI, Hatsune Miku+PinocchioP, AKB48(Team8), CHiCO with HoneyWorks, Haneru Inaba, Kaede Higuchi, KMNZ, VALSHE, Hakushi Hasegawa, YuNi, Pasocom Music Club, Mom, Megu Shinonome, AMOKA, Yukichi Kasaku/men, LAUSBUB, and Kinu. Plenty of Sanrio characters will also make appearances, including Hello Kitty, Cinnomoroll, Kuromi, Cogimyun, and Hapidanbui.    Who are you looking forward to seeing perform in this adorable virtual space?   ©‘21 SANRIO　©’21 SANRIO　SP-M　© ‘21 SANRIO S/F・G 著作(株)サンリオ ©AKB48　©Kizuna AI　©BANDAI NAMCO Arts Inc.　 ©ANYCOLOR, Inc. Art by KEI　©Crypton Future Media, INC.

From her debut in 2016 until 2021, Kizuna Ai was the most subscribed VTuber on YouTube, and the one responsible for the term ‘Virtual YouTuber.’ Now, this legendary star will be holding a concert available to fans of Japanese culture around the world, while also showing off the beauty of a Japanese fireworks festival. The event will take place on Facebook’s Oculus, on the Venues app, on September 25, 2021 in Japan. Anyone who has an Oculus Quest can view the concert for free.   Oculus Venues is a VR video platform, allowing users to enjoy a variety of concerts, sporting events, and comedy shows from the front row. There’s no need to worry about grabbing expensive tickets or dealing with crowds when you can enjoy your favorite events from the comfort of your own home!   In January 2021, Kizuna Ai announced a contract with UTA (United Talent Agency), one of the four major agencies in the United States. In April and May, she went on her first virtual US tour. Under the theme of connecting with everyone in the world, Kizuna Ai is attempting this new challenge using Oculus to get closer to fans than ever before. As a guest artist, world-renowned performers HANABI will perform, blending traditional Japanese culture with cutting-edge technological art in this one-of-a-kind DJ-directed space.   Will you be tuning in to Kizuna Ai’s fireworks concert?  

American singer Alaina Castillo released her debut album parallel universe pt. 1 on May 29. The Japanese release of the album includes the song down 4 u performed in collaboration with the world famous virtual YouTuber Kizuna AI.   After amassing hundreds of thousands of subscribers on YouTube, Alaina Castillo was noticed by RØMANS, the Grammy-nominated producer known for working with such artists as Alicia Keys, John Legend, Demi Levato, Lewis Capaldi, and others. Since 2019, Alaina has released a string of singles and as well as an EP. She also made it onto Spotify RADAR, an emerging artist program which helps up-and-coming artists with exposure. Her hit single just a boy was also picked up by V of BTS.   Alaina is a fan of Japanese anime and anime characters. In the music video for her single wishlist which dropped last year, Kizuna AI made an appearance. Alaina herself repaid the favour by performing as a guest at the final show of Kizuna AI's 'Virtual US Tour' in New York on May 30. The two artists came together once more by performing down 4 u feat. Kizuna AI, a track sung in English and Japanese. Comments from excited fans around the world flooded into the live stream.At the end of the show, the two danced to Kizuna AI's AIAIAI feat. Yasutaka Nakata.   This marks Alaina's first collaboration with another artist as well as Kizuna's first collaboration with an artist from the US.   Alaina's new album parallel universe pt. 1 features seven tracks including pocket locket, parallel universe, make it rain, and down 4 u.

Last week, an animated music video was released for the main theme song of the upcoming original anime film Human Lost. The song was written by m-flo and features vocals from Colombian Grammy Award-winning artist J Balvin.

It has since amassed over 200k views on YouTube, and has garnered worldwide attention, with fans praising the triple, no-borders collaboration between m-flo, J Balvin and the animated film. The music video ranked at No. 2 on the iTunes Store, while the song made it into various Spotify playlists around the world, including New Music Friday in Asia, New Music Friday Latin in Latin America, and Tokyo Super Hits in Japan. The video has also made it onto TV in Columbia, which is the home country of J Balvin and m-flo's own LISA. Rolling Stone described Balvin as having "made a name for himself by transcending borders, both of the national and musical variety."   The music video was animated by internationally-acclaimed and award-winning animators Polygon Pictures, Inc and OLM Digital. The character design work for J. Balvin’s animated character was created by Yūsuke Kozaki.   Scenes of m-flo and J.Balvin are woven together with highlight scenes from the anime film Human Lost. The original animated feature film will be released in Japan on November 29, 2019. The film will be screened in the US ahead of the Japanese release on October 22 and 23 with the subtitled version rolling out on October 22 and the dubbed version on October 23.  which will hit US theatres on October 22, 2019. J Balvin is one of the world’s top artists with over 50 million monthly listeners on Spotify and more than 30 million Instagram followers. He has also performed with other global superstars including Beyoncé, Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez. The song was released simultaneously worldwide on October 11.   ©2019 HUMAN LOST Project