The Hololive Breaking Dimensions Concert let Everybody Shine

The stable of talent for Hololive English is getting pretty packed, with 4 full generations currently active under the branch. It should be no surprise, then, that they had more than enough skilled singers to hold their own annual concert in a prominent venue. But what was a pleasant surprise was how the Hololive Breaking Dimensions concert didn’t just lean on the agency’s strongest singers and most popular members like Gawr Gura or guests like Hoshimachi Suisei, but let the less accomplished or newer performers have their own time to shine and show how much they’d improved.

Taking place at New York’s Kings Theatre on August 25 and 26, 2024, the Breaking Dimensions concert was the second official Hololive English show after 2023’s Connect the World. Performing this time were the entirety of Hololive English’s first 3 generations: Myth, Promise (née Council and Project: Hope), and Advent, alongside four guests from the Japanese and Indonesian branches. Together they performed over 30 songs both solo and in groups, broken up by short breaks where some of the girls would lead the crowd in call and response. The concert did not include the more recently debuted group Hololive Justice, but in a nice touch they provided voiceover both before and after each show.

Both days of the Hololive Breaking Dimensions concert started off with some real crowdpleasers: HoloMyth took pride of place with ‘ReUnion’ followed by IRyS’ eurobeat-inspired ‘Carbonated Love’ on day 1, while day 2 started with Advent singing their original song ‘Rebellion’ with Hakos Baelz’ ‘Gekirin’ afterwards. I’d seen Bae perform before at DreamHack Melbourne but her skill at dancing still took me by complete surprise, even if I didn’t completely vibe with the song itself. Other highlights included noted Hatsune Miku fan Gawr Gura singing ‘World is Mine’, and Moona Hoshinova being joined by Suisei, IRyS, and Baelz for powerful performance of ‘High Tide’.

But beyond those established vocal powerhouses, what really impressed me was how the less musically-focused members had improved, and even stepped up to perform excellent solos. Ninomae Ina’nis, sometimes something of a shrinking violet, stunned when she began belting out the falsetto for ‘Synchrogazer’. Meanwhile, Ceres Fauna not only debuted a new song alongside gen-mate Nanashi Mumei, but also took to the stage solo with a rendition of ‘Mayonaka no Door (Stay With Me)’. Thats not to say they haven’t performed well before, but the confidence they displayed at Breaking Dimensions was on another level and wonderful to see, especially having followed some of them since debut.

Similarly, each member of Hololive Advent got their own solo at Breaking Dimensions, on top of joining various combinations of other members. Rising stars FuwaMoco even got two solos (duos?), proving their performance chops with their original song, ‘Born to be a “BAU”DOL!’, and a cover of Houshou Marine and Gawr Gura’s ‘Shinkiro’. Meanwhile, Nerissa Ravencroft struggled not to steal the show in every song she appeared in and Koseki Bijou put on a pretty stellar performance of ‘Koi wa Sensou’. It was a very strong showing considering they hadn’t even debuted by the time of last year’s concert, and I look forward to seeing what newcomers Justice will bring when next year’s event rolls around.

If I had to criticise something, it’s that the expressions on the models during the MC sections could look a little stiff. They were fine during the performances themselves where they could possibly have been pre-programmed to match the choreography, but during the more freeform sections the tech they used couldn’t seem to keep up with their expressions.

But despite that, the Breaking Dimensions showed off a major part of the appeal of Hololive, and Vtubers in general. It’s not just the talent and hard work of the performers that is compelling, though it is plenty impressive, but the personal touch gained by watching them adapt and grow. That’s what keeps me, at least, coming back to see them and it’s why I’ll be looking forward to the next EN concert in 2025.

The Hololive English Breaking Dimensions Concert will be available to watch via VOD over on Streaming+ and SPWN until September 25, 2024. Previews of both Day 1 and Day 2 are also available on Youtube.