Things are not looking good over at hololive HQ at the moment. Murasaki Shion and Akai Haato (aka Haachama) both announced that they would be going on indefinite hiatus over the weekend, adding to fan anxiety following the news of Kiryu Coco’s graduation.
In the case of Murasaki Shion’s hiatus, she explained in a livestream on 13 June that poor health placed a barrier between her and a more regular schedule. More specifically, throat pain meant that she wasn’t able to stream for hours on end, nor eat enough to feel energetic. The news of Coco’s graduation also got her down, so she discussed with her manager and other talents, who advised her to go at her own pace. She promised to start streaming again when she feels a little better.
Akai Haato, meanwhile, offered a lot less reasoning behind her hiatus. In a livestream on 12 June, the only thing she said was that she decided to make the announcement on YouTube because there were people who might not follow her on Twitter. Her tweet, published moments afterwards, said that she would be entering into an indefinite hiatus. Nevertheless, she will be participating in Coco’s graduation live.
To a certain extent, neither Murasaki Shion nor Akai Haato’s hiatus announcements are particularly surprising. Both of them had been very inactive up until then, with Shion’s last stream being on 23 May. Haachama had also set out an ambitious schedule at the end of April that she wasn’t able to stick to for very long. Again, not many details have been provided from her side, so we don’t know exactly why.
In any case, this doesn’t exactly paint a good picture of the mood among hololive talents at the moment. Two hiatuses and one graduation in a single week is pretty alarming, raising serious questions about how the company cares for its talents. You could call it a coincidence, but it’s also possible that the news of Coco’s graduation has opened the floodgates, pushing other creators to put their mental health first.
It’ll certainly be interesting if any more hiatuses come in the next few weeks. Watch this space.