The English brand account for vtuber company Nijisanji released a three-page post on X on Monday detailing the termination of Nijisanji EN talent Selen Tatsuki. Now going by Dokibird, the vtuber would strike back immediately, alleging mismanagement, harassment, bullying, and more by employees of the company.
Following her statement, Selen Tatsuki’s audience revolted against the company, posting “Sink the Yacht” on X and in her livestream chatrooms, which were made public again by moderators of her channel.
Nijisanji accused the vtuber of violating their activity and third party content rules for a music video she commissioned. The video featured some former members of the company, which has been a sore spot for management previously.
The music video titled “Last Cup of Coffee” featured a somber moment where Selen Tatsuki looks back towards former Nijisanji members Nina Kosaka and Mysta Rias, both of which went on to join VShojo.
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Selen Tatsuki, now going by Dokibird, said she obtained all rights on the video, and that Nijisanji management decided to private it. LilyPichu later confirmed that she gave her explicit permission to allow Selen Tatsuki to upload the cover. Nijisanji management still refused to allow its publication, and privated the video.
She then asked others to reupload the video because management refused to fund the video, and she was forced to pay for it out of her own pocket, which Nijisanji management cited as one of the reasons they chose to terminate her contract.
Dokibird issued a statement after Nijisanji’s post went live, claiming that she suffered from bullying within the company and that it was a “toxic” environment.
She said that she wanted to leave the company on better terms, and that she found out about her termination from a friend, and not from the company itself. Dokibird also said she did not want the details of her hospital stay to become public, but felt compelled to share them because of the company’s actions.
Nijisanji has been plagued by vtubers leaving the company. Two weeks ago, fellow Nijisanji EN member Pomu Rainpuff “graduated,” which in vtuber terms means to quit playing a vtuber character. Pomu posted that she had reached an agreement with management to keep her videos available for viewing, including members-only content.
One such video, featured an upset Pomu crying about missing out on a “one in a lifetime opportunity” because management did not agree to it. This opportunity is believed to be a collaboration with Konami on the Metal Gear Solid franchise. Konami would go on to collaborate with HoloLive English vtuber Mori Calliope instead.
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In the previously members-only stream, Pomu said, “There was a really big opportunity that was given to me, or rather, I don’t know, asked of me, offered to me. And I get why it wasn’t accepted, but it’s really frustrating that things weren’t negotiated or anything. It was just flat out no.”
“I’m just really frustrated about it cause I felt like maybe it was maybe a once in a lifetime opportunity or something. I don’t know. I was really excited about it. But I felt like maybe things were turning around or something. I don’t know. This is really frustrating.”
“I don’t know what to really think right now. I mean, maybe it wasn’t going to be good, but there’s always what ifs you know? I don’t know if I don’t try. Maybe more opportunities will come? I don’t think so. Maybe not here unfortunately.”
The video went viral on social media, and the company swiftly removed it from Pomu’s channel, in spite of their agreement to keep her videos public. In the comments of his video covering the Pomu stream, FalseEyeD confirmed that the video had been made private.
“The source video from Pomu Rainpuff’s channel used for the first clip of this episode has been made Private. The total public video count for the channel went down from 913 to 912, meaning it was the only video made Private.”
Selen Tatsuki was not the only liver to feel frustrated with the company and end up being terminated by Nijisanji. Fellow English branch vtuber Zaion Lanza, who now goes by the name Sayu, was terminated by Nijisanji in March of 2023.
Zaion had been known to say controversial things that often resulted in videos being taken down or edited afterward, but what likely caused her termination was a joke made during a livestream where she remarked on the attractiveness of a character that had been raped. “Man, no wonder she got… I mean uh, yeah, wow, hi.”
She was then suspended by the company. Zaion would never return as her character, as Nijisanji announced on March 10, 2023 that her contract would be terminated, vaguely referencing the statement as one of several reasons why.
Zaion, now Sayu, would take to Twitter, now X, to post a large document covering her side of the story and her perspectives on Nijisanji, and her counterpoints to each of the causes of action. A major point of contention between Sayu and the company was that Nijisanji did not make enough of an effort to protect their talent from doxing and credible online threats.
Sayu also criticized what she saw as incompetence from Nijisanji management, saying that her manager had only been with the company for two weeks when she was brought on, and that reaching out to a manager in their direct messages caused her to be suspended.
Sayu would join FalseEyeD on his Twitch livestream to talk about Selen Tatsuki / Dokibird leaving Nijisanji, and briefly talk about her situation.
FalseEyeD: “I mean if I may ask what’s going through your mind right now? What have you been thinking this morning?”
Sayu: “If I’m being honest, so in order it was like I saw that and I thought, I’m happy that said person [Dokibird / Selen Tatsuki] can be free, you know, and I hope they can be happy. Because that’s all that a certain other friend wanted, you know, like a certain other friend just wanted everyone to be happy and get what they deserved, instead of constantly being treated horribly. But you know, people wouldn’t understand that right? People don’t see that on the outside. So, you know, what can you do? You can’t take down a whole corporation. So you can only just do what you can to try to make people believe.”
In addition to fans revolting against Nijisanji’s termination of Selen Tatsuki, some partners, artists, and businesses announced that they would cease collaboration with the company.
HYTE on X posted the following: “In light of recent developments regarding AnyColor [aka NIJISANJI], HYTE has made the decision to terminate our current projects with the VTuber Group.” The company had Nijisanji liver themed computers available for sale.
In addition to brands disassociating with Nijisanji, the parent company Anycolor Inc. suffered an 11% decrease in the value of their stock immediately following the announcement that Selen Tatsuki / Dokibird was fired.
Dokibird would hold her re-debut stream live on February 7th, where she talked about her plans moving forward, and that she was able to find a new manager to help her grow her platform forward. She said that she wanted to move on from the situation, and that the Lunar New Year was a perfect time to start things over fresh.
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At the end of her re-debut stream, the former Selen Tatsuki, now Dokibird would go on to issue a statement that her lawyer helped her prepare regarding her termination from Nijisanji EN, and the allegations she made regarding the company:
“Okay, so as y’all know, when the announcement dropped, I was just as surprised as all of you. And I only found out because a friend messaged me, and I didn’t even know what was in it. And I read it for the first time when it went public. When I still know that I did try to leave neutral. Because I knew it would be very bad for everyone involved if it went to the last possible route, and I tried. I really did try to try and make it neutral, and I did get a lawyer because my emergency contact, and I couldn’t really handle it anymore, especially when I was still recovering.”
And I was lucky that I had a statement made in advance, which my lawyer helped edit in case this did happen, so I could respond instantly. The statement that was posted was written so I’d be safe and I can move forward and restart my life without being stuck in limbo forever and. I wouldn’t have made the statement if the announcement didn’t go up the way it did, and I was willing to keep the info hidden to the public, and I never truly wanted the public to know why I was in the hospital. But I had to respond with the truth when it did went out, and I know there’s a lot of people that wish for me to clarify or explain more, but I honestly can’t and I’m sorry. And these are the things that I can say, though.”
I was in the hospital for an attempt, and I provided medical documents of everything that happened to prove it, as well as the therapy sessions afterwards, and doctor evaluation. Everyone knew I was in the hospital and the reason behind it a few days before I was discharged, and I was not referencing something that happened once that pushed me to it, but it was a build-up that stemmed for multiple months that led to my breaking point.”
I would never make this claim without proof or confirmation, and only did so when my lawyer looked through the proof and believed and agreed it was happening for multiple months from what I showed. I honestly wish I could have met you all one last time, and I cried when I found that I couldn’t. And I hope I can still meet you in the future, even if I’ll be a little different.”
My final note on all of this is let’s not harass or bully anybody. I already know how that felt. I want us to be adults and not make it high school. And I want to move on, focus on us, succeed, and be better. And the Lunar New Year is coming and it’s to new beginnings. And it’s time to leave the past behind us and make new memories. Like this entire stream, I have so many ideas I still want to do and I really do want to make all you laugh for as long as I can. And I think from this entire stream you guys can tell that I’m still me, and they can never really take that away.”
We wish Dokibird well in her future as an independent vtuber, and hope that she continues to experience such a warm reception from fans across the vtubing landscape.
What do you think of the Dokibird / Selen Tatsuki situation? Do you side with Nijisanji, that she broke the rules and deserved to be punished, or do you side with Dokibird? What do you think of Pomu Rainpuff’s claim that management prevented her major collaboration? Do you think Zaion LanZa was justified in her post or was Nijisanji correct to fire her? Leave a comment below and let us know what you think.
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All I gotta say is, I’m so glad I don’t give a flying fuckola about V-tubers. lol