<\/p>\n
Ookami Mio, a hololive VTuber, has released her second solo album, My Sparkle<\/em>. It\u2019s been roughly a year and a half since her first solo album, Night walk<\/em>, whose theme was \u201cnight.\u201d Now, on her new album, whose theme is \u201cvoyage,\u201d she creates a soundscape that vividly embodies the worldview of her unique songs, like taking journeys to far-flung lands.<\/p>\n Ookami made her debut as a VTuber in December 2018. In August 2021, she released her first original songs, \u201cHowling\u201d and \u201cBowwow Ahwoooooo,\u201d and then in December 2023 she came out with her first album, Night walk<\/em>. Since then, she has been engaged in a wide range of musical activities, including being a member of units such as hololive GAMERS and AyaFubuMi. Billboard JAPAN recently had the opportunity to interview her, and she talked about topics like her approach to music over the past four years and how her motivations have changed.<\/p>\n More from Billboard<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cWhen I made my first album, my focus was on making the kinds of songs I like and writing songs that would be fun to sing. Of course, I still love singing, but looking at the fans\u2019 reactions, I realized that really it all began with singing because I want people to hear me. Ever since then, when I write music, I\u2019ve been thinking a lot about how the music will reach listeners and how they\u2019ll react. I\u2019ll google what people are saying about my music, and I\u2019ve seen that there\u2019s a lot of variety in people\u2019s favorite songs. Some people interpret my music in the way that I intended, while others take it in totally different ways. I think that has kind of changed the direction I take when making music.\u201d<\/p>\n Ookami also checks fan reactions on social media. She says she has seen some fresh, novel reactions there. \u201cWhen I was working on my first album, I thought that people were looking for stylish songs like \u2018Howling,\u201d but there were a lot of people saying that they liked the ballads like \u2018Camellia\u2019 and \u2018Insoluble Crystal.\u2019 I cover a lot of Nana Mizuki songs when I stream, and I thought of myself as being good at singing that kind of stylish song, but the reality is that my fans also really like ballads.\u201d<\/p>\n Her new album is stylistically more wide-ranging than her previous album, with many softer songs like \u201cDandelion\u201d and \u201cShoushin Ryokou.\u201d \u201cWhen I was working on the second album, I thought about what listeners wanted from Ookami Mio. I decided I should try making more laid-back music that would be soothing to listen to. Also, personally, I love travelling, and I go on lots of trips with other hololive members. When on the Shinkansen or traveling by plane, I usually listen to beautiful, relaxing music. I wanted to make the kind of music people want to listen to when they\u2019re traveling, or when they\u2019re feeling anxious.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDotta Batta Chindochu!\u201d (meaning \u201ccrazy, slapstick journey\u201d) includes memories from her own private travels. Last year, while visiting Las Vegas with fellow hololive artists Oozora Subaru and Sakura Miko, she encountered a spot of trouble. \u201cIt was my first time getting a passport on my own and traveling overseas. Sakura Miko and I don\u2019t speak any English, and Oozora Subaru can communicate just a little, mainly through enthusiasm and vibes, so the three of us going on our own to America was just begging for trouble (laughs). Oozora Subaru\u2019s energy is something to see, so even when the language barrier was in the way, she was great at looking people in the eye and expressing herself, driven by this powerful desire to communicate. The song \u201cDotta Batta Chindochu!\u201d from the new album was inspired by that trip. I talked to BOTCHI BOROMARU about our experiences in Las Vegas, and that led to the creation of the song. The lyrics include the line \u2018Don\u2019t forget your wallet and your passport!\u2019 That\u2019s because I actually lost my passport in Las Vegas (laughs). Someone delivered it to the Lost and Found, and they were like \u2018You girls have been blessed by a miracle.’\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhenever I travel with someone else, it tends to turn into a \u2018dotta batta chindochu\u2019-like trip, but I also travel by myself. Those trips tend to be more soothing, peaceful journeys, like my song \u2018Shoushin Ryokou.\u2019 There\u2019s a lot to say about that song. After my first album came out, my manager and my music producer, who had helped me out so much, left my team. They had worked so hard with me on the first album, I\u2019d just assumed we\u2019d make the second album together, too. So their departure came as a shock. Of course, I took a really positive approach in working with the new team on the new album, but there were times when I missed the old team, and it was a little hard-going. That\u2019s when I wrote \u2018Shoushin Ryokou.\u2019 I changed the kanji for writing \u2018shoushin\u2019 from kanji that mean \u2018heartbreak\u2019 to kanji that mean \u2018timid.\u2019 (Translator\u2019s note: Normally, \u2018shoushin ryokou\u2019 means \u2018a trip you take to relieve heartbreak,\u2019 but this song\u2019s name is written using different kanji.) It\u2019s not like I dislike my new team, and now, having finished the album, I\u2019m glad that I worked on it with them. I truly feel like I\u2019ve been blessed by being able to work with wonderful people.\u201d<\/p>\n When asked about what was behind the title of the album, My Sparkle<\/em>. \u201cThe first song I ever posted was a vocal cover of was RADWIMPS\u2019 \u2018Sparkle.\u2019 The song had a lot of personal significance to me, and my fans listened to it a lot, so I wanted to use the word \u2018sparkle\u2019 somewhere in the story of Ookami Mio. That\u2019s why I named the album My Sparkle<\/em>. When I released the album, I already had my first solo live show lined up, so I linked the album and the live show by titling the show [Our Sparkle].<\/em> Partly, this was inspired by the sparkle of the penlights people hold up at the show, and partly it represented the sparkling emotions of the audience,\u201d she replied.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like my skills are improving with every song I write,\u201d said Ookami. There are more soaring vocal songs on this album than the last, and you can get a real sense of how her vocal abilities and expressivity are evolving. \u201cOn the new album, \u2018Lady of KEMONOHEN\u2019 was particularly hard. Also, the album includes \u2018Howling (Rearrange ver.).\u2019 On both the last album and this album, \u2018Howling\u2019 has been the hardest song, and I\u2019m still exploring ways of performing it. My vocal coach told me that when I perform \u2018Howling,\u2019 I get this deep furrow in my brow, so I need to try singing it with an expressionless face. I tried that out, and I really did get better at singing it. Until now, I found even singing the chorus difficult, but thanks to that advice, I can now sing it much more smoothly, and I feel like I\u2019ve grown a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOn \u2018Until spring comes,\u2019 I wanted to give a bit of a feeling of the spring school graduation season, like saying your goodbyes to some and also meeting new people. With \u2018Natsuyadori,\u2019 I like this feeling of going back into your memories of the summers of long ago, and time just stopping. I included it on the album because it\u2019s like taking a journey through your memories. I wanted it to conjure up the image of a bright, starry sky, so I didn\u2019t put too much passion into my singing but instead tried to keep it feeling light. I think I managed to create a summery vibe. With Night walk<\/em>, I used a lot of power to drive the album, but this time I worked on highlighting the different aspects of my voice. I hope that comes across to listeners.\u201d<\/p>\n Her first solo live show, which will be in September, has been long awaited by both Ookami and her fans. \u201cI\u2019ve really been looking forward to this solo show, and I think the listeners who support me have been, too. I\u2019m getting ready, making sure the show lives up to everyone\u2019s expectations. I hope to put on a performance that will leave a sparkle in everyone\u2019s hearts.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014This interview by Takuto Ueda first appeared on Billboard Japan<\/em><\/p>\n Best of Billboard<\/strong><\/p>\n Sign up for Billboard’s Newsletter<\/a>. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ookami Mio, a hololive VTuber, has released her second solo album, My Sparkle. It\u2019s been roughly a year and a half since her first solo album, Night walk, whose theme was \u201cnight.\u201d Now, on her new album, whose theme is \u201cvoyage,\u201d she creates a soundscape that vividly embodies the worldview of her unique songs, like […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1979500,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[354697,354698],"class_list":["post-1979499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-ookami-mio","tag-oozora-subaru"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/The-Healing-Voyage-of-hololive-Artist-Ookami-Mios-Second-Solo.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1979499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1979499"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1979499\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1979500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1979499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1979499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1979499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}