Hololive New Year 2023 Meals Feature VTubers in Kimonos

A Hololive New Year 2023 collaboration with theme cafe chain Smile Base Cafe is promoting Hololive-themed New Year’s eve meal boxes. The meals include special illustrations of various Hololive VTubers dressed in formal kimonos.

The promo features the following twelve Hololive Vtubers in kimonos:

• Gawr Gura
• Hoshimachi Suisei
• Houshou Marine
• Minato Aqua
• Ninomae Ina’nis
• Ookami Mio
• Oozora Subaru
• Shishiro Botan
• Tokino Sora
• Tsunomaki Watame
• Usada Pekora
• Yozora Mel

Core to the Hololive New Year 2023 promo is the art of characters in kimonos. The art was provided by three well-known online artists. Artist Yom drew Marine, Gura, Ina’nis, and Aqua. Artist Mahonanoka drew Mio, Pekora, Watame, and Botan. Artist Mikazuki Mika drew Sora, Mel, Subaru, and Suisei. Check out their individual pieces in the gallery.

The art will accompany special Hololive New Year 2023 osechi meals. Osechi is a special type of boxed cuisine consumed at New Year’s and the days after. Based on a tradition dating back to the 8th century AD, osechi was devised at a time when it was taboo to cook food during the new year. Thus, osechi food items are made in the last days before New Year’s Eve, and consisted of dishes that stay edible and tasty over a period of several days, so that people could consume them without having to cook. The practice took on ritual symbolism as well, and it became common to eat certain items for good luck. For example, red sea bream fish is often included in osechi meals, because the Japanese name for the fish “Tai” is associated with the word “Medetai”, symbolizing an auspicious event.

The osechi meals sold for the Hololive New Year 2023 promo consist of various traditional osechi foods. Customers can choose between three variants (Land, Sea, and Sky) with different food and VTuber groupings. Each box costs 19,800 Yen (about $145 USD), and a full set of all three boxes costs 38,500 Yen (about $281 USD). The complete box set includes a special board with all twelve illustrations gathered together (the board can be purchased separately, though). Other items on sale at Smile Base Cafe for the Hololive New Year 2023 promo include chopsticks, buttons, placemats, and Ema prayer plaques. People visiting temples can write their wishes down on Ema plaques and tie them to a special grid at the temple, that their wishes might come true.

Smile Base Cafe will take reservations of the Hololive New Year 2023 promo until December 17, 2022. The meals, once reserved, will be delivered on December 31st, right on time for consumption at New Year’s eve. Gura and Ina also appear in the ongoing Hololive crossover with mobile game Counterside.