Shiranui Flare Finishes Village in the Shade Update Stream, Meets Unannounced Character

HOLOLIVE — Shiranui Flare of Hololive’s third generation returned to the village-life game Village in the Shade (known in Japan as Honogurashi) after the story ending and the game’s second update, and midway through a calm farming day a character she had never seen walked into the village. The newcomer wore sunglasses, took a photo of her, said he would be back and left, and told her to look forward to the next update.

Flare, who said she had been away from the game while playing something else, opened by trying out the update’s changes. Entering a barn or a house no longer lets the clock run on, the dog now goes into its doghouse, and items can be handed over from a much wider range. A shop visit turned up a seed sower and a bath that can be placed at home, which she guessed had been heavily requested.

“Who? No, who? Who is this, really?” — Shiranui Flare, on meeting the new character

The stream almost ended early. Around the half-hour mark the connection stuttered, and she said YouTube itself seemed to be having trouble. She weighed dropping the day’s progress and replaying it on a better day, then decided to carry on and stop only if it cut out again. It held, and she finished the whole session. She told viewers at the close that the first part might skip when watched back on the archive.

The day also brought the affection events she had come for. Asked for a birthday by the player character, Ame, who has no memory of one, she chose the second day of spring to match the official date. A lunch scene in which a villager served soy sauce pudding wrapped in seaweed as a stand-in for sea urchin sushi drew a burst of chat, as did a request for an item with a blank name that appeared around the three-hour mark.

The unfamiliar character arrived late in the stream. Flare said nothing in the game or from its official channels had mentioned a new playable character, and guessed he might belong to the paid downloadable content. Chat reacted with jokes and questions of its own, and nine Super Chats came in.

Flare said she would stream the game again when updates add story or affection events, and may set aside a slot if a birthday event is added.