Valkyrae launches new media company to make anime with multiple projects planned

YouTube star Valkyrae has created her very own media company named ‘Hihi,’ which will produce IPs — mainly, anime.

Rachell ‘Valkyrae’ Hofstetter is a prominent streamer on YouTube, where she boasts over 4 million subscribers.

Over the years, she’s gone on to become co-owner of esports team 100 Thieves, modeled for Gucci, and has even appeared in various music videos for high-profile artists like Machine Gun Kelly.

Now, she’s taking things a step further by founding her very own media company, which aims to create IPs for movies, TV shows, and even comic books… but at its heart, Hihi is specifically focused on making anime.

“I have always loved anime and animation, so it definitely will inspire our projects in the storytelling and community around the various fandoms,” she said in an interview with Variety. 

“We are also open to all types of graphic novels or comic books or manga or anime storytelling.”

Hihi has secured a co-publishing arrangement with GlobalComix, a digital graphic novel platform that will handle the lion’s share of developing, funding, and even distributing Hihi’s very first intellectual property.

Valkyrae says that she wants to adapt the kinds of stories that she’s personally interested in — even if those stories contain themes that are a “bit more mature in nature.”

“We are not afraid to broach hard topics like death or war,” she said, per Variety. “Ultimately, I feel the greatest stories are the ones that can tap into the universal experiences of discovering who we are as human beings, stories that the viewer can relate to and definitely focus on entertaining audiences.”

She expounded upon the company in an announcement on Instagram, saying she has “always loved anime and animation and now felt like the right time to build something that would let me launch my own ideas across tv, film, and other mediums i am excited to explore.”

This isn’t Valkyrae’s first foray into the anime biz. She was a presenter at Crunchyroll’s 2023 anime awards and even lent her voice to a character in the streaming service’s original Tribe Nine anime in 2022.

Considering her long tenure as an entertainer in the media space, this latest move has been a long time coming for the star streamer, who says Hihi is already working on “multiple” upcoming projects.