Takanashi Kiara Talks With Anime Herald

Note: Due to time constraints, this will be published on Anime Herald's main site on July 20, 2025. We apologize for the inconvenience.

• Author: Samantha Ferreira

• Editor: Samantha Ferreira

When discussing the growth of the English VTuber space, it is impossible to ignore the impact that hololive has had on the scene and community. The debut of hololive English -Myth- in September 2020 occurred at a time when the world was under lockdown from COVID-19, and people were grasping for any form of happiness and normalcy. Myth proved to be just that for millions of viewers, who would tune in every day to watch as they bantered, played video games, sang karaoke, or did whatever else seemed to be the order of the day. In the years that followed, hundreds, if not thousands of VTubers would cite Myth’s members as influences and inspirations, as they set out on their own debuts and formed a vibrant subculture that continues to grow today.

Takanashi Kiara is one of those inaugural members, who made her debut on September 12, 2020. She’s a phoenix and an idol who, according to her published biography, dreamed of owning a fast-food chain. Since then, she’s gone on to host more than 1,400 live streams and videos. More than 1.6 million subscribers, who are collectively known as KFP, or “Kiara Fried Phoenix,” tune in each day as she greets them with a cheerful “Kikkeriki!”

During her gaming streams, Kiara is a laid-back and good-natured host, as she banters with chat and cracks jokes as she plays through titles like Stellar Blade and Inscription, or serves as an agent of cheerful chaos in collaborations with other members.

Moreover, she also hosts the Holotalk talk show: an irregular streaming program in which she interviews other talents who are a part of hololive. In recent months, the program has served a dual role, as it’s also a space where graduating members have been able to have a final, candid chat.

As a musician, Kiara is a tireless creator, having cut seventeen solo singles and published more than a dozen covers. Songs like TASTY, Perfume, and Retrospective draw heavily from a musical spectrum that includes K-pop, alternative rock, and punk. She’s traveled the world, performing in sold-out venues for fans in New York and Japan. Moreover, she will be headlining in New York on August 23 and 24, as part of the “All For One” concert series.

On June 13, we had a chance to talk with Takanashi Kiara over Zoom about her work as a streamer and a performer, as well as her recent single, Perfume.

[Sep]

Anime Herald: I’d like to take a moment to congratulate you on the release of Perfume and your recent 3D Live.

Takanashi Kiara: Thank you! Thank you, thank you. A lot of hard work recently, or always. Thank you very much.

Anime Herald: And on the topic of Perfume, you mentioned in previous interviews that you wear multiple hats when producing original songs, from the songwriting process to the music media production. What would you say is the most vital part of that creative process when you were creating Perfume?

Takanashi Kiara: I think, making my vision of the music video come true, and making it have, like, the perfect harmony with the song itself. I generally let my music team, Asteroid, do most of the work when it comes to creating the songs. So, they just create some really awesome masterpieces for me constantly. 

But for the music video, I really wanted to make sure that my vision of the song would come through perfectly. And I wanted it to be a really gentle, pure visual, even though the song itself maybe has some sexy nuances here and there. I wanted to make sure that the pure side of it comes through, and it turned out so beautiful, and I'm really proud of it.

Anime Herald: And for the music video. You worked with Raora Panthera for the design of the swimsuit. 

Takanashi Kiara: Yes. 

Anime Herald: How would you describe the experience collaborating with a fellow Holomem for such an important part of the project?

Takanashi Kiara: Oh, yeah, that was actually a result of me being super stressed, because originally I was gonna do both. I was gonna design both outfits of the music video, and I had a pretty clear idea also of how I wanted both outfits to look like. And I was like in the middle of designing the main outfit, the pink dress, and at the same time, while I was designing those things, the annual hololive Festival in Makuhari in Japan was happening. And I was walking around with Raora, and I was telling her about how I was so stressed out about like, “Now I'm in Japan, I can't even work properly on this, so I don't know how to get this done.” 

And she's a really speedy artist. She's a very talented artist, and she immediately wanted to help me, because we're pretty close. And yeah, she pretty much the next day, it felt like she submitted some drafts to me, and they looked perfect! A little bit spicy, but perfect. (laughs)

And, yeah. It's really great because I can communicate directly with her, and say my wishes clearly, and she will follow them. And she's very motivated to do stuff for other members, so it feels like a really comfortable give-and-take between us. So, yeah, I'm so glad that she was able to give a little bit of something of her own into this music video.

Anime Herald: And also in the music video, there was a scene where it looked like you were dancing in front of a building inspired by Vienna’s Fleming's Selection Hotel Wien-City. What inspired you to use this particular landmark?

Takanashi Kiara: So I don't know why, but when I heard the song the first time, I was sitting in an airplane, and I had so much free time. And I was listening to it over and over and over again, and I had a really clear vision of the locations I wanted to use. One of them being a swimming pool, one of them being a little bit more of an abstract room with those like flowy curtains, a very soft look, overall. And then one of them was just a… I felt like a European-style old town would fit quite well for the vibe of the song, somehow. 

I don't know. I just feel like, rather than me dancing and prancing in the middle of Tokyo or New York wouldn't have been quite the right atmosphere. And, yeah, well, I am from Austria, so I guess, in this case, I'm just in my own territory feeling comfortable. Because in the end, Perfume, you want to wear the kind of perfume that you feel most comfortable with, that makes you feel like yourself. And perhaps, in my own territory, I also feel the most like myself, the most comfortable.

Anime Herald: And what would you say was the biggest challenge in the choreography for the music video?

Takanashi Kiara: Oh, the biggest challenge was that I barely had any time to remember it and learn it. And that this time… so basically, I tried to combine things conveniently for myself, because I had a 3D Live recording. And this time, I was allowed to have a few more backup dancers in the same room as normally, as usual. There's a technical limit to it, usually, and in this case, I got to have a few more. 

And I was like, “Okay, I will make the most of it. I want the most intricate-looking choreography. I want to challenge myself again.” But the more backup dancers there are, I would say it's the most complicated for them in the end, because I'm still like the main singer. So there will be more moments where I'm just standing in the middle rather than worrying too much about formation or so, and they will have to worry a lot about formation. But still, there's a lot of intricate moves, especially for the chorus.  Honestly, even months later to this day, the chorus hand movements with the “got that perfume-fume-fume-fume on me,” I still often don't do it right. (laughs) 

So, that one really… they cooked hard with that choreography. But it was a lot of fun to challenge myself and dance with so many backup dancers, because I feel like the overall picture really resembles a proper K-pop performer, which is what I'm going for. So, yeah! It was worth it in the end, the troubles

Anime Herald: You mentioned K-pop. In a 2024 interview, you mentioned that you've been looking to K-pop for your inspiration on song choreography for a while now. Are there any acts in particular that you'd like to point to as major influences?

Takanashi Kiara: Okay, so, for example, some of my influences, I think, would be NewJeans, and also, as a solo artist Chung Ha. She has also a lot of backup dancers most of the time, and the way she performs is so inspiring to me. And I wish I could get to her level. I always look at her choreographies, and I'm like, “Oh, I wish I could do stuff like that.” So, yeah, I look up to her.

And then, very recently, Katseye. They are like a mix of K-pop and Western American music, but they are just such strong, talented, skillful dancers. And I think their choreographies just add so much to their songs. That's what maybe can be easily underestimated, if you're not a dancer. A choreography can really add so much of a new nuance to a song and really capture the viewer, the fan, more than without anything regarding dancing whatsoever. So, I put a lot of weight into that, and a lot of value. So yeah, those would be some of my influences.

Anime Herald: And I'm on a slightly different note. You recently performed with Hiroshi Kitadani,  Kobo Kanaeru, and Hakos Baelz on One Piece theme song We Go! How would you describe your experience in contributing to a franchise like One Piece?

Takanashi Kiara: It was definitely an honor and a very special opportunity. Originally, when they asked me about it, I thought that every single hololive member was participating. So I thought, “Oh, I'm just, like, one of many.” 

But then I realized, “Oh, wait. I'm, I'm one of, like, three in my group.” So I suddenly felt very nervous, and the pressure was on. But it was so much fun, and I told this to the wonderful people of One Piece, as well. I told them that I actually didn't watch the anime or didn't read the books. But I have watched the Netflix show! (laughs) And I loved it very, very much. It's just, like, very intimidating to get into such a huge series now, suddenly. So, I have been like… yeah. 

I want to. I've been very interested in it, especially also in the movies, because there are some characters whose visuals really speak to me. But we'll see. Like, maybe when I have some more free time, I'll get into it. 

But it was a lot of fun! It was a big honor, and it was hopefully not the last time that I get to do something so amazing, like singing for an anime. And then my voice was actually being heard through the Japanese television several times a month. And that was quite an experience, too, to hear it. Not just for YouTube or for my phone, but for a TV. That was really cool!

Anime Herald: And early on in your career, you very much seemed like the member of the group who kind of had it together. Like, fans saw you as having almost the “mom-like” position of the group against, to make the common joke, Mori Calliope’s dad, wrangling a lot of kids. Do you ever feel that way yourself, and do you still feel that way towards Myth or the newer generations?

Takanashi Kiara: I don't know. Do I have it together? (laughs) I feel like a lot of the time, I'm also just a beautiful, chaotic mess. But I guess, after five years, almost five years now, definitely all the experiences that I have, all the memories that I've made here, result in me having somewhat of a caring, mothering nature. (laughs) 

And even if I don't try to, honestly, in my private time, I don't really see myself in that position at all with my friends, either. Although they do see me kind of always as a leader of the group, leader of my friend group. So, not really like a nurturing, mother position, but I tend to become a leader of a group quite often, naturally. 

[I’m] not sure why. I guess just because I talk a lot, and I do naturally tend to take the lead in things for, I don't know, probably because I really don't like awkward situations when it gets too quiet, and so on. So, I'd like to lead conversations and bring up nice questions and interesting topics, especially with, like, streaming collabs, and so on.

But, yeah! People see me like that, and it's become a really interesting thing between me and Calli, because in the early days, there was a lot of tsundere reactions going on from her side. But these days, yeah, it really feels like both of us are the grandparents of hololive English, looking over everybody and trying to make sure everybody's okay and everybody has what they need. And if they're struggling, then we like to help out, and so on. So it's an interesting development over the years, for sure.

Anime Herald: And you have a reputation for actively managing and working with your community as a KFP’s Tenchou. What would you say is your biggest responsibility in such a role, and your biggest hope for the greater KFP community?

Takanashi Kiara: I think they are currently, like, pretty much perfect the way they are, my community. I couldn't ask for them to change anything, because I think they are all very proactive and they organize stuff together. And then, even when there's situations where something is kind of urgent, they get together, and with all their passion and motivation, they just manage to make anything happen, really. 

And they're just the friendliest people, so supportive, so sweet. I love talking to them, may it be via chat or just in meet-and-greets at events. When they make it in, when they're the lucky ones, I'm always excited to talk to them face-to-face. So yeah, I love my community, and I don't really feel like I have to do anything in particular. They are just, like, functioning automatically. You know, a herd of chickens and one brain cell per chicken, but together, they're like, so smart together. So I love seeing what they come up with and what they're up to. And I love observing, and, you know, spying on them a little bit every once in a while. 

So, yeah! KFP is great. I really love my community. I'm very proud of them,

Anime Herald: You're arguably one of hololive’s best-traveled talents to this point. What would you say is your most memorable travel story that you'd like to share with folks?

Takanashi Kiara: I have been to the Maldives twice now. Once with Pavolia Reine from hololive Indonesia, and then another time with Nerissa Ravencroft from hololive English. In the beginning, the first trip was with Reine, and I was basically just always dreaming of going to this, like, beach paradise. And I think it was pretty much the first time that I really treated myself to something so big, ever since I joined hololive. And I just wanted to make this little dream of mine come true. 

And I asked Reine, because I was really close with her. I still am. Still love her so much. And she was so up for it. She was so excited for it. We didn't fly from the same place; we flew from different places, and then met in the Maldives. And the moment we met there was the first time we ever met. And then from there on, we spent a whole week together, 24/7. So, it was a risk to take to see if we would get along and all that, but we're still like best friends forever now, so I think that proves that everything went well. 

And then I kind of wanted to make it a tradition, so then I went a year later with Nerissa, who's also a bird. I keep on going with birds. We're, like, migrating to the warmer areas of the world, it seems. (chuckles) 

But yeah, this year, I kind of failed. I couldn't manage to organize the right time and the right people to go with me. So, I couldn't go to the Maldives, and I really regret it. So, hopefully in the next Maldives season, hopefully I manage to go again with someone, perhaps a bird again. We will see.

Anime Herald: And is there any city or venue that is on your wish list that you'd like to perform?

Takanashi Kiara: I don't really know many venues by name in America and so on. Also, not really in Austria or in Europe, in general. But I will say that it would be nice to perform in Europe some more. Like, it would be nice to see not just a hololive English concert, but perhaps the World Tour that hololive did last year and is doing again this year. Last year, I was part of it, but I would love to see them give Europe a try with their concerts. And, perhaps, they will call me over as a guest when that happens. I would love that, because I think for hololive English, or as a solo concert, or whatever, it's not quite likely unless it's like a convention thing, you know? A little convention panel.

But yeah, it would be cool if we could expand our reaches and have a big festival in Europe one day, as someone who has been the the only European member for the longest time in hololive, as a whole I it would make me very proud, and it's definitely always been something that I've been rooting for and hoping for.

Anime Herald: And speaking of being one of hololive’s only European talents, in 2022 you created a sub-channel to host more German-language streams. And even though it's only hosted a couple of streams and videos, how did this come about? Also, do you have any plans to revisit the concept in the future?

Takanashi Kiara: Um, you can add here, “Kiara starts profusely sweating.” 

It started with me noticing a demand. Like, people wanted to hear me speak more German, whether or not they could understand it. And I wasn't quite comfortable to do German streams on my channel for several reasons, and I wanted it to be separate. So, I made a separate channel, also thinking that maybe I could pick up a completely different audience with that. 

But it's just hard to balance two channels. I quickly noticed that, like, most of the time, I still want to focus on my main channel that I worked so hard on to build. And so, yeah, the German channel has been very neglected for the longest time, has become a little bit of a joke within the community. “German channel, who? I don't know what that is. I never heard of it.” (laughs) Maybe the owner of that channel will revive it sometime, but there was is much hope for it at this point.

Anime Herald: Very fair, and you're approaching your fifth anniversary with hololive at this point, how would you say VTubing, as a career has changed over the years, and where do you hope to take your own career through the current, changing landscape?

Takanashi Kiara: It is quite amazing to see how the English, or generally not Japanese-speaking VTubing community has grown ever since hololive English has come out. I had chances to speak to indie vtubers personally several times now, and it's quite the surreal feeling when you talk to them, and they credit their own, current VTuber career to you. To Myth, specifically, or hololive English, specifically. And, like, we talk about how the way things are currently is thanks to Myth, and that is so surreal and amazing. 

Like, I'm so honored to be part of such a new era and a wave of a new career popping into this landscape. And so many people are now able to do streaming in a way that they're comfortable in. Because I understand that streaming may be something for people that they want to pick up, but they don't feel too comfortable showing their faces, or showing their environment, and so on. And also, they just want to be more, you know… they want to present themselves very differently. 

And with VTubing, you can do that. You can be so creative. You can be whoever you want to be. And that's so beautiful. And I'm so glad to be part of such a change in the streaming world. So, that's amazing to see, to watch from five years ago to now, it has grown so much, and it's like, ever-growing. At this point, it looks like it's never gonna go away. And that is great! 

Sorry, what was the second part of the question?

Anime Herald: No worries. Where do you hope to take your own career through the current changing landscape? 

Takanashi Kiara: Ah, my own career! Yeah, I am working pretty hard on the music side of my career. I really hope that it can pick up more and more in the coming years. Because I don't see myself as the greatest singer, but I really want to be a great performer. And I work really hard on that, and I hope more people can see that. 

And I tried to make my music like very, how to say? I like to make my music not too specifically, like something that has a strong connection to VTubing and hololive. I like to make it more like anybody can listen to it and anybody could be interested in it. And this could be playing on any radio station all over the world. Which I think it already is that. I think it already has potential to be out there, listened to by random people who don't even know what they're listening to in the car. That would be awesome. If we get to that, I would be most delighted. So, working hard on that currently,

Thanks to Takanashi Kiara for chatting with us, and thanks to hololive for facilitating this interview.