Interview Date: 8/25/2025
Anime Herald: Thank you for joining us. What was it like preparing for All For One?
Shiori Novella: Oh, it was nerve-wracking! And then some! It’s like preparing for public speaking, except you have to dance in front of everyone.
It’s a little anxiety inducing, but it was fun.
Anime Herald: I’m glad you enjoyed it. Did you enjoy the concert itself?
Shiori Novella: Yeah! Everyone did great. I loved seeing everyone dance their hearts out. A lot of effort went into this. Seeing it finally play out for everyone to see was fantastic.
Anime Herald: Shifting gears, let’s talk about Dum-Dum Learns Chess.
Shiori Novella: I learned how to play chess last year. I feel like it’s a common game everyone is supposed to know. I figured “I should probably learn how to play.” I did, and I still suck at it, but I’m doing my best at it.
Anime Herald: That’s fine. That’s how chess works. Just keep playing, keep learning, and most importantly, just keep having fun.
Shiori Novella: Thank you. I’ll do my best. I’m going to lose so many times!
Anime Herald: Good for you.
You’ve mentioned you’re a big anime fan. What are some of your favorites?
Shiori Novella: I loved watching Gintama. It’s a comedy with a lot of hijinks. Besides that, I really like detective stories, or things that have a dark story.
One of my favorites is Ajin (Ajin: Demi-Human). It’s about a dude who is constantly dying, but he can’t really die, so people target him. Which kind of sucks for him.
Anime Herald: What are the shows that got you into anime?
Shiori Novella: My papa was into anime. He loved watching Dragon Ball Z. As a kid I had no idea what was going on, but everyone was going “Kamehameha!” It was cool so I liked it.
Anime Herald: You’ve released a visual novel, Snowed In. What was it like creating it?
Shiori Novella: I thought it was pretty fun because it was a group project. I could direct things, “I want this, and that, and we should probably tweak these things.” It was a joint effort. As someone who loves visual novels, it was interesting seeing the creation side of it.
Anime Herald: Are you going to dip your toe into that again?
Shiori Novella: I would love to, but I think next time, I would like a darker story.
Anime Herald: I see. I’m starting to get a sense of your personality. (Laughs)
Shiori Novella: Ooh, I don’t know what you mean. (Laughs)
Anime Herald: “Alas, poor Yorick!” Are you a fan of Shakespeare?
Shiori Novella: A little. It depends on the story. I am at a point, though, where I think some of it is stereotypical. I kind of know what to expect. Everyone knows Hamlet. Although, I do like how people die in it, which sounds kind of weird.
Anime Herald: It’s not uncommon for characters to die, in fact it’s quite common for characters to die in Shakespeare’s works.
Shiori Novella: It makes it cooler. “Wow, I didn’t expect that!”
Anime Herald: I’m glad you enjoy that part of it. (Laughs)
You recently had your second anniversary with hololive. How would you say VTubing, as a career, has changed over that time?
Shiori Novella: It has evolved. It was a lot more niche back then. Harder to begin. The technology has advanced over the past few years. Now, because it is a lot more accessible, it is interesting seeing what people are able to create. It’s also interesting to see how many people get into this hobby.
Anime Herald: It sounds like you are looking forward to what the next generation will be able to create.
Shiori Novella: Yeah. I’m not sure what they’ll do, but I’ll bet it will be nuts.
Anime Herald: How would you like your career to evolve over the next couple of years?
Shiori Novella: I would like to make more videos. In this field, it is so hard to juggle the virtual side of things and mix that with real-life content. That is preferably my method.
Anime Herald: Speaking of doing more streaming, about six months ago, you started doing the confession streams. What led to you starting that?
Shiori Novella: I just thought it was funny to be honest. (Laughs)
My parents told me to go to a confessional booth growing up. I thought, “Oh, I should do that too. It would be funny.”
Anime Herald: This is the second time your parents have come up. Are they major influences in your career as well?
Shiori Novella: Not really. (Laughs) They just exist. They exist somewhere on this planet.
Anime Herald: You released a cover of SAWTOWNE’s “Confessions of a Rotten Girl.” What led you to choose that song and what were you going for in your version?
Shiori Novella: I know the original version is all about yaoi. There’s a lot of memes about it, because of the yaoi paddle and forbidden fruit. Personally, I thought it would be fun to self-insert, so I turned it into a non-yaoi version. Plus, it’s just a fun song. It’s really amusing to see and make.
Anime Herald: Speaking of yaoi, and boys’ love novels, it has had a tremendous explosion. At Anime NYC, you could see tens of different variations of the genre. Do you have any comments on that and how it has evolved?
Shiori Novella: I’m just so very happy for people who love yaoi.
Anime Herald: What were your inspirations that got you into music?
Shiori Novella: I grew up listening to Japanese songs. Specifically, Vocaloid. Naturally, I had no idea what they were saying. At the time it was just such a unique genre. It was a virtual voice singing over some song that someone had composed. They just needed a singer for it. That got me into anime and other Japanese-style songs.
Anime Herald: At this point, have you leveled up your Japanese language skills so that when you hear a vocaloid song, you know what is going on?
Shiori Novella: Nope!
Anime Herald: You’ve done a variety of different types of streams, such as chess, ASMR fan-fiction reads, teaching yourself RPG Maker. What leads to this diversity in streaming for you?
Shiori Novella: I just love learning things at my own pace. I wanted to be a teacher growing up. Naturally, I didn’t become one. I became this. I thought “I wish the classroom was a little bit more fun, so I am going to make content like fun for a classroom, except you are at home.
Anime Herald: What is your favorite RPG Maker game?
Shiori Novella: This one is not RPG Maker, but it is a similar engine, End Roll. For RPG Maker itself, I do like Omori. That one was pretty fun.
Anime Herald: Getting back into the hololive universe, what kind of forbidden knowledge did you find?
Shiori Novella: I think if I told you, you wouldn’t be able to stay human anymore.
Anime Herald: That kind of forbidden knowledge, I got it.
Shiori Novella: Exactly.
Anime Herald: What does it mean to you to be an archivist?
Shiori Novella: I think being an archiver is all about absorbing a lot of stories, memories, and emotions from people. Then, carrying that inside you for as long as you’re alive.
Anime Herald: What would you like our readers to know about you?
Shiori Novella: I have no idea! I just hope you enjoy my presence.
Anime Herald: What would you like our readers to know about hololive?
Shiori Novella: Oh, I have to think about that! It’s such a rabbit hole, because there are so many talents. I think you should just listen to our songs or just give a clip a try. If you like it, you’ll enjoy it. If you don’t, I’m sorry.
Anime Herald: How is it different preparing songs versus preparing to perform live?
Shiori Novella: For a song, you have the ability to redo things. For a live show, it’s more anxiety inducing. You have to wait your turn and then show up. There’s less room for mistakes. You have to wing it.
Anime Herald: This is the second time you’ve brought up anxiety. Is this something you deal with on a regular basis?
Shiori Novella: I believe so. I think it’s a little inevitable, no matter how much practice you have. The reality is you are going to go up on stage and perform for people. It’s going to be remembered as part of the archive.
Anime Herald: What is it like interacting with your fellow hololive talents?
Shiori Novella: Awesome! They’re so nice. They’re so fun! We have tickle fights and pizza parties. It’s like a sleepover, yeah!
Anime Herald: It sounds like a high school environment.
Shiori Novella: Basically, yeah. We all have a different lunch table sometimes. Maybe we’ll dare someone to eat pineapple that’s two or three days old.
Anime Herald: What did you expect it to be like inside of hololive, and how different is it in real life?
Shiori Novella: I think, because we have fewer people in our branch than the other side, it’s a little bit more close knit. My expectation was that we’d all be individuals, doing some collaborations. We actually hang out and keep up when we can.
Anime Herald: Do you think that the expectations for your branch are going to change and grow into the future?
Shiori Novella: I’m not sure. I think our direction is based on what we want. Even with the expectations, it has to be a group unity thing.
Anime Herald: That’s fascinating. Can you elaborate on the freedom you have?
Shiori Novella: We’re in charge of what content we want to show and prepare for. For group songs, we all have to agree to it. We’re our own bosses, with bosses on top of the bosses.
Anime Herald: I had no idea. From the outside, you never know how an organization is.
Shiori Novella: Yeah.
Anime Herald: What is it like working with your fellow talents? Is there a lot of give and take?
Shiori Novella: We’ll share songs that we like or think that would fit our group. Then, depending on which project it is, we’ll decide on the lyric split. That’s who will sing what lines and who should group up during which parts. We tend to have a say on what lines we want to sing.
Anime Herald: Can you share any stories from this process?
Shiori Novella: I don’t think it’s a big process. Basically, we just have a big Excel sheet. We have all the lyrics up. We’ll have columns where one person will say “I want this part.” and another column where someone else will say “I want that part.” We’ll decide from there.
Anime Herald: That’s really great. It’s collaborative, it’s supportive. It’s teamwork from the start of every project.
Shiori Novella: Yeah.
Anime Herald: Shifting gears, do you have any questions for us?
Shiori Novella: How’s your day? Are you enjoying your life?
Anime Herald: Yes. I just finished with Anime NYC, so I’m a little tired after the four-day weekend. Otherwise, life is good. I can’t complain, even if it is a Monday.
Shiori Novella: My condolences on it being a Monday. I can’t change it, but my condolences.
Anime Herald: I have two cats, and unlike Garfield, they have no idea what day of the week it is unless I’m working, in which case they are very annoyed at me.
Shiori Novella: I see. Besides Anime NYC, what did you think of the concert?
Anime Herald: It was my colleague who attended All for One. She loved it.
Shiori Novella: I’m so glad she had a great time then.
Anime Herald: Radio City Music Hall is a New York icon. It has four levels. I don’t know if you have ever been there physically. It is worthy of its fame.
Shiori Novella: It’s very fancy. I was actually looking for popcorn inside.
Anime Herald: Very nice. Thank you for speaking with us.
Shiori Novella: Thank you. Have a great day.
Thanks to Shiori Novella for talking with us, and to hololive for facilitating this interview.
Header Image source: Hyperventilation Dance / 過呼吸ダンス ©2016 COVER Corp.
Shiori Novella, hololive English -Advent-‘s Archiver, Talks With Anime Herald – Seth Burn