Turning Back from the Captured Place (4)
It was unthinkable that a VTuber would take money from a specific political party to do sponsored broadcasts. Thinking about it normally, it would be crazy, right?
The act of an internet broadcaster openly displaying political colors might temporarily draw attention, but looking at it from afar, it was essentially limiting the growth potential of the broadcast, or at the very least, no different.
That said, if it was just a simple individual, one could call it freedom of expression and a personal choice. However, for a corporate VTuber to display political colors could be seen as corporate suicide or sabotage against the company.
Yet, there were cases where VTubers could associate with politics without much issue.
The key was when it was perceived as being commissioned by the 'state' rather than a specific party.
For example, if an entertainer was selected as a promotional ambassador for some cultural campaign hosted by the government, it was rare for them to be pointed out as a daughter of the current regime.
Of course, it wasn't impossible. Even in Japan, where political interest was relatively low, or rather, precisely because of that, a small number of vocal political figures stood out.
But such opinions would be shot down and chased away by the majority of fans. If receiving ads from a political party made one a crazy woman, receiving ads from the government was seen as an honor. That was the value system of most viewers.
Especially since VTubers, who hadn't yet fully escaped the 'sub' culture domain despite appearing in various places recently, collaborating with government agencies?
"From the Ainu People's Party... exactly which side is this from? The party name?"
"Ah, I should have explained that from the beginning. It's a cultural promotion plan from the Hokkaido Prefectural Government."
"Ah... if that's the case, it shouldn't be a big problem."
"And it was called 'Sharout', right? You've been subtly mentioning Anathema quite a bit from that side lately."
"Probably because Aki-senpai's stream is based on Ainu mythology RP."
"Then the collab partner for the broadcast would naturally be senior Aki, right?"
"Indeed."
Hitomi nodded her head. If it had been the opposite, she would have thought it even stranger.
Whether it was government or company, if one of the two caught the eye, it would naturally prevent them from receiving the sponsored content they should have.
"But what exactly is the plan?"
"The Hokkaido government supported and produced a promotional web animation, and they say we can watch it together with the viewers."
"Ah, is it like 'Tensei Oni'?"
Upon Seoyeon’s follow-up words, Hitomi muttered as if she recalled something similar. For some reason, there was a strangely hesitant expression on her face.
"Tensei Oni? What is that?"
"'I Was Reincarnated as an Oni Exterminator'... We went to Mount Oe a few times before, right? It's a promotional animation made in that region."
Hitomi continued with a wry smile.
"It could be called a tragic work that was half-record-erased... or a work where even the records that were supposed to be erased remain in the corner, gathering dust... A paper-doll animation at the level of a children's storytelling puppet show from old TV, mixed with modern time-travel elements for adults, a work whose target audience was unclear."
In short, it was a bizarre work that was common, where the promotional effect on whom was unclear. People living in the same era were doing such mysterious promotional policies.
At this point, it was a kind of lost media where no records remained except for the promotional articles that appeared just before broadcast.
"Hitomi, you seem to know about such things well."
"I've been interested in folklore since before..."
"Still, it probably won't be as bad as you think. If it's a work at that level that wouldn't elicit much reaction even if pushed to viewers, the operation would have cut the sponsored content. At least a bit below average... It might not be worth spending time watching, but with Osawa, it would be enjoyable to some extent, wouldn't it?"
The other party was a sitting politician from the Hokkaido local government? If someone flinched at that, they wouldn't even be able to play the role of president of this crazy company.
Probably because the governor himself came to discuss, and Nakabashi Gyokichi, the man who could say in front of the face 'This anime quality is too crappy, so watching it together in the broadcast is a bit...'
"Other examples usually come to mind. Like that manga about female high school students on tanks or zombie idols, or animations that double as regional promotion. There are many successful cases, right?"
"Yeah. Maybe this one stuck too much in my memory..."
Hitomi gave a wry smile and said.
"Actually, there are a few similar ones. But the way they come out like this, it's high probability that it results in something comparable to those works, rather than starting from a naive idea like 'We should make something like that in our city too' and failing..."
At this point, since it didn't get aborted and succeeded in web upload form, it was a project in the upper 10%.
"So, will you do it?"
"There's no reason not to. The president probably already reviewed the detailed parts... By the way, what genre is it?"
"They say it's a daily life genre with a comic atmosphere mixed in."
"It's an easy genre or a difficult genre..."
Hitomi thought for a moment and opened her mouth.
"But if so, we couldn't make a serious work either. There's one wall that can't be reached in this field among works that use Ainu culture as a subject..."
"If it was going to be compared no matter what, it would be better to go to a different genre. And there was no point in just focusing on cultural introduction in a learning manga-like atmosphere."
"Well, somehow it should work. Actually, even if something goes wrong, the ones who take the hit would be the people over there, not us."
"No need to sacrifice a famous saying to fail, but since it was a sponsored content with little risk, there was no reason not to accept it."
"It could receive praise for pursuing public interest while receiving ads, and even if it was ruined, it would only ruin the broadcast atmosphere that day."
"So, Hitomi. Won't you come to Hokkaido with me once before?"
"To Hokkaido?"
"Since it's come to this, it would be good to actually experience it before introducing it to viewers by watching the work. I heard you hadn't been to Hokkaido before."
"Hmm, Hokkaido, huh..."
It was an idea that stirred some interest. Of course, more than the place, it was about the person going together, so the feeling that fit "following the bait" or something.
"What about the schedule?"
"I wonder. 2 nights 3 days or 3 nights 4 days would be appropriate, wouldn't it?"
"Hmm, I'll adjust the broadcast schedule. Taking a whole week off is a bit much, so how about bringing a laptop and doing a talk broadcast? It would be nice to have Q&A content after a long time."
"Then I'll talk to the operations side. We'll adjust the schedule as needed. Probably after the Shuten Live ends. Shuten was supposed to appear there briefly, right?"
"Yes, we're scheduled to appear together on my original song stage."
Even so, before appearing on stage, wandering around felt a bit uneasy.
"Since Hitomi had her own physical presence, it was okay even if the practice amount wasn't much, but it wasn't necessary to leave the impression of 'not practicing before the stage and just wandering around.'"
"Especially since Mary Tepes and the human Ninomae Hitomi were being evaluated as diligent."
"Well, since concerts are important, a trip might be delayed a bit if it's a Sharmia duet stage."
"Even after marriage, you say such things?"
"W-well, I guess. Since I think I was the one who dealt the most fatal blow to the Sharmia coin listing cancellation, it feels a bit strange. Even if it's just words, it feels like we have to do this..."
"Pff, what is that."
"It wasn't a coin listing cancellation in the first place. The reactions that linked pink vibes, yuri, tete, etc., that viewers liked, included warm friendship between close friends, after all."
"Of course, compared to before, the response of linking with pink vibes had decreased, but it wasn't zero. There were still quite a few people producing yaoi content against married women."
"Anyway, I pray for a good stage performance."
"Yes, well, I'll do my best whenever. In this case, the protagonist is the Shuten award, so we have to avoid standing out too much."
"Yes, looking forward to it."
"...Ehehe."
Seoyeon smiled faintly and pulled Hitomi into her arms.