Welcome back, Kizuna AI.

With virtual YouTubers/VTubers having established a lasting space in the Japanese entertainment landscape, it’s easy to forget that there didn’t used to be nearly so many of them. As a matter of fact, if you go back to just 2016, Japan had only one VTuber, Kizuna AI.

If you’re thinking you haven’t seen much of Kizuna AI lately, you’re correct, but that’s not because she’s gotten lost in the shuffle of the now crowded entertainment sphere she pioneered. On February 26, 2022, following the Kizuna AI The Last Live Hello, World 2022 event, Kizuna went on indefinite hiatus. Indefinite doesn’t mean permanent, though, and on Wednesday, exactly three years to the day since she started her break, Kizuna announced via video that she’s back!

Showing off her new room and retouched design, Kizuna explained her extended absence by saying “I went to sleep to update so that I could connect with even more people around the world,” during which she came to the conclusion that “If I [want] to connect with more people on a deeper level, music [is] the best way to do it,” and so Kizuna’s comeback project is music-focused, with her newest single, titled “Kamone,” already having an animated music video.

Kizuna isn’t taken a timid approach to her latest project, either. She says she plans to release more than 10 songs this year, enough for an album, and that her next release is only a few weeks away, with a projected release date of either March 12 or 19. “I also think that music transcends barriers like language and preconceptions,” she adds, implying that she’ll be making a global push to connect with fans.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that Kizuna is going full idol and dropping the laid-back VTuber part of her activities, though. In announcing her comeback she specifically says “The newly updated Kizuna AI will focus on music activities first,” implying that non-musical endeavors haven’t been ruled out, but are simply on the back burner while she reestablishes her singing career.

Source: PR Times
Top image: PR Times
Insert images: YouTube/KizunaAI – A.I.Channel, PR Times
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