Out of everything I went to at Anime Expo this year, the hololive Night at Dodgers stadium had to be the best out of all of them. This was my first time at a baseball stadium in over 17 years as I’m not a sports fan in the slightest, yet seeing all of the hololivery on the jumbotron coupled with the fan interaction on the field was a real home run for me.
The leadup to the hololive night was so contagiously fun that it was impossible not to be intoxicated by the vibes. Adoring fans flocked to the field the moment the game ended with manic glee. Granted, these fans were in the small minority of those who attended the Dodgers game that day—if I were to take a guess, it was about 10-15% of the people in attendance. That made it all the better; the normies had gone up and left, and that allowed us freaks and geeks to go nuts with the VTuber worship.
Rituals were conducted to hype everyone up for the stream. Fans ran laps around the field, danced in hololive cosplay, and my personal favorite, formed the P L U S H I E M O U N T A IN. A circle formed in the middle of the field where they paid tribute to their favorite VTubers by dropping plushies into a pile. The more plushies that got dropped, the more fervent the crowd. Even by the time everybody seemed to have run out of plushies to contribute to the pile, fans kept on chanting “MORE, MORE, MORE, MORE!!”
You can imagine the excitement that broke loose as soon as the VTubers got onto the jumbotron. The YouTube stream kept the audience’s volume at a level of dull white noise, but as someone who was there, I can tell you that this was a deafening roar. And unlike the Dodgers that night, the hololive VTubers did not strike out once.
The stars of the night were Biboo, Ina, and IRyS, who introduced themselves accordingly. Ina let out her world-famous “WAAAAAAAAH” and encouraged the crowd to do one of their own, causing the crowd to reach a fever pitch. Ina and IRyS introduced themselves to the crowd as well, with IRyS chiming in to say how excited and happy she was to be there with everyone at Dodgers Stadium. But she had to stop herself when she realized that being there with her fellow VTubers brought swarms of fans on a baseball field. “Does that mean,” IRyS asked, “our fans are literally……touching grass?!” Obvious joke to make sure, but I laughed. Props to IRyS for seeing an opportunity and hitting a homerun.
After the VTubing trio briefly discussed what VTubing was, the night then divided itself into three main segments. The first of which was a staring contest, where fans had to put on their fiercest of battle faces and stare down at their VTuber idols. You could feel the intensity of their stares since they always looked like they were on the verge of bursting out of their skulls, which made for some hilarious moments. A Biboo cosplayer had gave out the best and most unflinching stare of them all. “She’s staring into our soul!” Biboo quipped. “Are you me? Am I you? Which one is the real me? Did I blink? I don’t even know.” Biboo would tease the cosplayer in the hopes that she’d laugh and blink, but to no avail.
The second segment involved a dance contest, where fans had to match the rhythm and moves of other VTubers dancing on the jumbotron. I have no sense of rhythm thanks to having two left feet, nor did I even bother to learn the dance moves. But I guess that didn’t matter, since my awkward dancing managed to make it onto the jumbotron by pure dumb luck. Hey, I’ll take what I can get.
The third and perhaps the wackiest segment was a mascot race. “This one is going to be a little special,” Ina announced. “Because we want some high. Octane. ACTION!!!”
Again, if sports is a religion, consider me an atheist. However, this race was definitely a sporting event that I could get behind. The mascots Shuba Duck and Udin waddled their way onto the field while blaring metal guitars served as their entrance themes. Udin via Biboo said, “I have come here to watch baseball and kick some butt. And I just finished watching baseball!” (Salute to the They Live reference, by the way) Meanwhile, Shuba Duck via IRyS chanted,
“Shubashubashuba, shuba shuba, shubashubashuba shuuu baaa!”
The races began after a little bit more crowdwork, and it wasn’t even close. The minute the race began was the minute Shuba Duck would get a running start, meaning the race was over before it even began. Shuba Duck would win big, leaving Udin to pant in a breathless disbelief as the water fowl mascot did a victory dance.
Other VTubers made cameos between these events for some added fun. You can imagine the hype that filled the stadium when hololive Myth entered with Mori Calliope. Mori encouraged the crowd to chant “MORI, MORI, MORI,” although given the intensity of the crowd, I’m certain that they would have done so without question. Takanashi Kiara encouraged everybody to chant a “Kikkeriki,” while Ina came back for one last “WAAAH!” hololive Promise then made their way to the jumbotron, with IRyS joining Ouro Kronii with Hakos Baelz. I wasn’t surprised they’d head onto the field, but as someone who is becoming more and more hololive-pilled by the minute, I still was screaming when I saw everyone’s favorite Aussie Rat Bae Queen pop up. The moment I exploded though? That was when I saw the holo Justice and holo Advent gang grace the jumbotron in their own special segments. It brought back recent memories of seeing them at Anime Boston, as well as how I made the grave mistake of thinking Fuwamoco were cat girls (and yes, I deserve to be eternally roasted for that).
The VTubers closed their night with a concert where they performed some of their greatest hits alongside other hololive members who had already graduated. Apparently this was bittersweet; a friend of mine told me via Discord that “ending with Connect The World and Breaking Dimensions is sad – it was the last time all of Hololive EN was together” Maybe, but to see everyone come together like that for one big epic show was still a very satisfying way to conclude things, and an epic night I will never forget.