PRISM Project unveils seventh generation made up of ex-independent VTubers

PRISM Project has announced its seventh generation is coming, and will be the agency’s first to be made up of formerly independent VTubers who will retain their characters and identities: Mako Sameshima, Nana Asteria, and Emma Oumiya.

VTuber agencies are nothing without their fans and it’s the talents that draw those fans in. To keep people engaged companies like NIJISANJI, Hololive, and PRISM host auditions and hand-select the best candidates to represent them.

Another reason new talents are hired is that VTubers are constantly graduating. Be it to move elsewhere, go independent, or because their contract was terminated. PRISM Project itself was affected by this in January 2022 when Sumi Ushio left the company on mutual terms.

Now PRISM Project is set to expand its roster of virtual talents further with Generation 7 right around the corner.

PRISM Project’s new wave includes three formerly independent VTubers

PRISM Project has revealed its seventh generation will consist of three formerly independent VTubers: Mako Sameshima, Nana Asteria, and Emma Oumiya.

The three talents will host a debut relay on June 29, starting at 6pm PDT with each debut scheduled to last around an hour. Mako will debut first with Nana and Emma following in that order.

Proud of the expansion, PRISM’s producer Shogun commented: “With the additions of Mako, Nana, and Emma, PRISM Project is taking a leap forward in aiming to create a virtual talent industry where virtual talents can achieve their goals and dreams of building professional careers as talents.”

PRISM Project

The producer went on to emphasize the importance of its new talents being able to “maintain the communities, stories, and history,” they’ve built up as independent content creators.

This comes at the end of a spree of debuts for PRISM Project, who previously went more than 18 months without a new talent joining. Gen 5’s launch in April included three brand new talents — Ami Amami, Kou Tsubame, and Lana Shikami — while Gen 6’s release in May marked PRISM’s first male-presenting wave with Jun Akane and Yuki Kamishiro.

Although rare, it isn’t unheard of for agencies to let VTubers keep their old identity. An example of this is Hoshimachi Suisei who started out as independent before joining Hololive in May 2019. Today, Suisei has nearly two million subscribers on YouTube, showing how successful the model can be.