Inami Rai Marks His Birthday Mid-Stream During Overwatch Team Practice

NIJISANJI — Nijisanji’s Inami Rai saw his birthday arrive during an Overwatch team practice stream that began at 11 p.m. Japan time on Oct. 22 and ran just over five hours. Chat filled with birthday greetings as midnight passed, and the broadcast drew 103 Super Chats.

Rai opened the stream with news about his music. He said his first mini album, titled Hero, comes out Oct. 24, and that listeners could so far hear only a part of the songs through a crossfade preview video. He asked viewers to post their impressions under the album’s hashtag and said he would talk about the release in more detail on a birthday and album stream the next day. Chat answered with congratulations, and the crossfade video drew praise. Rai then turned to the game, saying he would be spending this year’s birthday in Overwatch.

“I never thought the moment would come in my life when I’d be playing Overwatch as my birthday arrived.” — Inami Rai, at the start of the stream

The group’s first task was a team name, which had to be submitted before the date changed. The participants traded suggestions for some time before settling on D4P4, a name they said carried several layers of wordplay. A joking fan name built on the same sound also came up, and chat reacted with laughter.

Rai was joined by fellow Nijisanji talents Kanae, Shiina Yuika, Reina and Tsukahara Daichi, along with a coach. With a scrim set for the following day, they went through the maps one by one, covering where to take positions, when to share ultimates, when to swap heroes and how to call out enemy flankers, and played practice matches between the walkthroughs.

The session ended with a win in the final match shortly after the five-hour mark. Rai closed by saying he planned a stream at around 7 p.m. to talk about the album and his birthday, and he asked viewers once more to check the crossfade video.