Former Morning Musume's Maki Goto Announces Reincarnation as 15-Year-Old VTuber!
Metaverse
3-minute read
In this era of virtual idols and emerging VTuber talents, a new member has recently joined the VTuber's world. Although she may be a newcomer, the person behind her is actually a veteran idol with 20 years of experience, Goto Maki, the most dazzling member of Morning Musume!
The Unrivaled Star of the OG Girl Idol Group-- Goto Maki
Do you remember Goto Maki? In 1999, before she was even 15 years old, she competed with over 10,000 other applicants in audition and won her place as a member of the third-generation of Morning Musume. She achieved overwhelming success with the group's single "Love Machine," which sold over a million copies, and performed on the NHK Red and White Song Battle stage. With her signature appearance and singing and dancing abilities, Goto Maki made Morning Musume the dominant girl idol group!
However, after "graduating" from the group in 2002, Goto Maki's career didn't go as smoothly. She pursued a career as a singer, faced family issues and negative scandals, and ultimately decided to retire. She later returned to the entertainment industry and started her YouTube channel in 2020. She interacts with her fans through game streaming, especially with Monster Hunter, and discusses topics related to makeup and beauty. In the same year, she participated in the Tokyo TV Music Festival 2020, performing in the spotlight on stage with AKB48's junior members. Her youthful appearance and singing and dancing skills earned her the title of "the world's cutest 35-year-old" by the Japanese media.
Goto Maki's latest video reveals her debut as a VTuber.
Reliving Her Iconic Youth as a VTuber
To celebrate her 25th anniversary in the industry, Goto Maki, under Avex, recently announced on YouTube that she will officially debut as a VTuber named "V GOTOMAKI." The character design for V GOTOMAKI is a 15-year-old girl who traveled from 2001 to the present through a wormhole after being sucked in by a flip phone.
Interestingly, there’s back and forth between the the virtual Goto Maki and her real world counterpart. In the teaser announcement video, V GOTOMAKI expresses her delight and relief to Goto Maki, saying "So it looks like I did well for myself!” Goto Maki also praised V GOTOMAKI's youthful appearance during a press conference, expressing her envy. Many fans, seeing the new VTuber who is the 15-year-old version of Goto Maki, began to reminisce about the real Goto Maki's time as an idol girl group member (2001 was her last year in Morning Musume) and expressed a sense of warm nostalgia.
V GOTOMAKI, wearing a black cat coat. (Source: @V_GOTO_MAKI)
V GOTOMAKI announced that her debut stream will be held on October 26th, and she will appear in 3D form at the "Virtual Halloween 2023" event on October 28th. She will also take on many challenges and activities on her channel in the future. It's worth mentioning that Goto Maki, who has been reborn as a VTuber, will directly unveil her 3D model and perform on stage just two days after her debut stream. She truly is going to be a remarkable newcomer!
However, Goto Maki has actually entered the VTuber's world before and collaborated with hololive. She even followed members such as "PP" Amane Kanata, "Tiger Orca" Sakamata Chloe, and "61 Sister" Lui Takane after their collaboration, leading fans to jokingly say that she has fallen into the VTuber rabbit hole. With the OG idol now officially joining the VTuber's world, we're curious whether V GOTOMAKI will collaborate with hololive again in the future. What do you think?
