Hakos Baelz Plays Second Album Mirror Mirror in Full as It Goes on Sale, Then Explains Its Layers

HOLOLIVE — Hakos Baelz of Hololive English -Promise- played her second album, Mirror Mirror, from start to finish for viewers as it went on sale at midnight, then went back through it song by song with commentary.

She had planned the night in two passes: a first listen with no interruptions, so everyone could react together, then a second round with talk after each track. The album ran from Headshot to Diamond Spark, a duet with a close friend of many years, Snake Eyes, Villain Era, My Horizon and For You, and closed with I Found Me. She said she would skip Snake Eyes and I Found Me in the second round because she had already discussed them at length.

“Let’s just say anger is a really good accelerant.” — Hakos Baelz, on writing Villain Era in two hours

Baelz said the album was built on self-reflection, with each song a deeper layer of herself, which is where the title comes from. Headshot is the outermost performer layer and Diamond Spark the idol she always wanted to be. Snake Eyes and Villain Era sit in the layer of the bold, unbothered Baelz, with Villain Era showing a side of her anger she had not shown before. My Horizon is the girl who just wants to be an anime character, For You is for the family and friends she left in Australia to chase her dreams, and at the core is, in her words, a little girl who really wanted to live.

She said she wrote Villain Era in about two hours, fueled by anger that had built up over years, and that it was not aimed at one person. She described My Horizon as her anime-AMV song, with lyrics deliberately meant to be as chuuni as possible and a sing-along section she said would hit hard at her live. For You, she said, was added at the last minute.

Partway through, she learned that the Headshot music video, released earlier in the day, had passed 500,000 views in about 12 hours. She said she had told herself not to expect too much after the success of Snake Eyes, and later posted a call for one million. She also said her first solo live, Regalia, was one month away and that the Japan tickets had sold out. Chat sent 52 Super Chats and Stickers over the evening. She said a Headshot music video afterparty would follow at 10 a.m. JST the next morning.