Blue Journey

Blue Journey consisted of 23 female VTubers affiliated with Hololive Production:^[1]

Blue Journey was announced on March 19, 2023 – the second day of Hololive Super Expo 2023.^[2] The announcement was accompanied by a teaser video. On April 13, the teaser was followed up with a video posted to the group's YouTube channel announcing its first three singles. They were released digitally and with accompanying music videos over the following three months. "I Am Alone", sung by Minato, Houshou, and Tsunomaki, released on April 17; "You ≠ Me", sung by Sakura, Houshou, and Omaru, released on May 15; and "Dear Youthful Days", sung by Minato, Amane, and Yukihana, released on June 19. They were also released under EMI Records, a label owned by Universal Music Group which had previously signed the Hololive-affiliated VTuber Mori Calliope in 2022.^[1] On July 8, Hololive Production and EMI Records announced they had jointly established a record label, Holo-n. Blue Journey was the new label's inaugural undertaking and its later releases were under the label. Shirokuro of KAI-YOU  [jp] concluded that the collaboration was an attempt by Hololive to solidify the artistic legitimacy and expand the audience of its VTubers, saying that a large number of people perceive them as unusual or foreign, a feeling he concluded could be lessened by collaborating with a Big Three label.^[3]

Also on July 8, Blue Journey announced that their debut album, Yoake no Uta, would release on September 6 and that their debut concert of the same name would take place at Tokyo Garden Theater [jp] on September 13. At the time of the concert's announcement, Hololive had only previously hosted four large live concerts.^[3] On July 18, the group's fourth single "Astro", sung by Amane, Nekomata, and Shirogane, was released digitally with an accompanying music video.^[4] At the end of the concert, all 23 members of Blue Journey performed a previously unreleased single, "Mizutamari".^[5] On March 20, 2024, a video posted to the group's YouTube channel announced that it had ended after one year.^[6]

Prior to Blue Journey's debut, Hololive's previous musical project, "Hololive Idol Project", was known for producing bright and poppy songs befitting an idol.^[3][5] Individual members of Hololive were also known for producing original songs that often function as character songs, displaying a member's personality.^[3] Blue Journey's songs differ, instead expressing melancholic and negative emotions.^[3] The group's stated aim was to bring happiness to people by expressing unwanted emotions.^[5] Shirokuro argued that this change may have been part of an attempt to appeal to a wider audience and make the VTubers more relatable, saying that negative emotions are commonly felt by everyone and so more relatable than the bright songs Hololive was known for.^[3] The concert featured spoken-word segments and the group's original songs. Takeshi Matsumoto of Real Sound  [jp] felt that the stagecraft and spoken-word segments created a narrative distinct from the one on the album.^[5]