Shiratama Utano Splits Fate-Themed Singing Stream in Two, With Part 2 Set for Nov. 6

INDEPENDENT — Shiratama Utano, an independent VTuber with unUniVIRTUAL, opened her first “honki” utawaku of the year on Oct. 30 with a Fate-themed set and announced that the full program would run in two parts. A utawaku is a singing stream, and the “honki,” or all-out, editions are the ones in which she layers in every harmony part.

Utano said she had prepared more than 30 songs, but a rehearsal the day before convinced her that the full list would take too long and strain her focus. She halved it, planned on fewer than 20 songs for the first night, and promised the rest in a second part. She later set the date: Part 2 begins Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. Japan time, and it will add songs from the Fate/Grand Order game.

“This time, all the harmonies are in.” — Shiratama Utano, after the final song

Between songs she recalled how the series began. It started with a Macross Frontier set, when she was working out how a new singer could be noticed, and the harmonies and deeper study of each song came later. As live shows, events and recording sessions piled up, recording all those harmony parts at night became punishing, she said, which is why the streams slowed. She still wants to hold them a few times a year and hopes to fit in one or two more before the year ends. For this set she also recorded about three extra Kalafina songs.

Near the end she said the night’s performance of “I beg you,” a song she had worked hard to learn, felt like her best yet, then added that the archive might change her mind. She also said she had come in half a count early on one song, and laughed it off as “the devil of the live performance.” She noted that her first album is due Nov. 11 and that a one-man show in Taiwan follows on Nov. 22.

Chat filled with applause emoji and chants through the busiest stretches, and viewers greeted her with “Hello, Utanon” at the start and “Good work, Utanon” at the close. The stream drew 49 Super Chats and Stickers.