Finding a Place Where I Can Express Myself Authentically After Giving Up on Being a Singer

I am a liver. A liver is someone who appears in streaming apps and talks with listeners. In terms of work, I read comments from listeners and engage in casual conversations to hype up everyone's comments during the stream. When you say streamer, some people understand, but when you say liver, some people think of a diver from diving.

I can do it both on a PC and a smartphone, but in my case, I usually fix my smartphone to a selfie stick and show my face while chatting. Comments from listeners come in, so I read them while drinking and casually chatting with everyone. There's no specific topic, but I talk casually about comments from the moment, the mood of the moment, stories from my past, or events on the streaming site I'm using, which happen monthly.

An event is something where you can get prize money from the management if you rank in the top 10, and talking about wanting to win that with listeners or people who support you can get everyone excited. We often have strategy meetings too.

Without alcohol, my tension doesn't rise much, so I drink alcohol, get a little tipsy, and talk. I stream every time, but talking every time is tough, right? Without drinking to get in the mood, I can't talk for long. So, I like talking while sipping.

It's different from YouTube. YouTube is more video-centric, but what I do is on a streaming-specialized site, so that's the difference.

Videos are things shot in the past, aren't they? But with streaming, it's live, so it's real-time. It's not just about being able to talk or meet, but it's about being able to share time.

The prompt was, for a while in my 20s, I aimed for the entertainment industry and auditioned at about 100 companies from the first half to the latter half of my 20s. I passed a few places, but I was told I wasn't suited. I wanted to be a singer. But I was told, 'You're funny, so you'd be better as a talent.' I really disliked that, but I wanted a place to express myself and thought there must be a way I could express myself. Then, by chance, I found streaming while searching on the net and thought, 'What is streaming?' I watched it, and at that time, you could only watch it on a PC, but I thought it was interesting. You can show your own figure on the net, I thought I could do this too, and I started right away. That was the prompt.

I immediately had people supporting me. At that time, I only had one PC, but there's actually a wishlist where you can register things you want, and listeners buy them for you. People like 'I'll buy this' or 'Then, I'll buy the alcohol you want' appeared, and it really arrived at my home. I was like, 'Huh?' and thought this was amazing. Amazon mediates, and my address isn't known, and their address remains anonymous too. Such listeners appeared within the first month. Since then, various presents arrived every month.

Really expensive music equipment worth about 70,000 yen, a ring worth about 200,000 yen. It's surprising, isn't it? Even though they're complete strangers, I wonder why they buy such things. It's really a mystery.

No, I think of streaming as part of my life. There are quite a few men who stream their daily lives. Women often have well-planned events and some even craft their image. But I'm not the type who can do such detailed things. On the contrary, some people have gift events saying 'Let's give this as a present,' but I'm more the type who wants to show everything about myself and have it received with enthusiasm.

No, I don't. Even if I tried, I might not be able to. On the contrary, I think building up a character might feel unnatural. There are people who meticulously build up their character, but that's tiring, isn't it? I don't think it can last, so I think this is fine.

When I receive tips. Tipping is when listeners buy items from a list of chargeable items on the management side and throw them. The cheapest is 10 yen, and the most expensive is 5,000 yen. Even the 5,000 yen ones, you can throw from 1 to probably a maximum of 20 at a time. So, there are times when you can earn a lot in one go.

Well, since it's the internet, there's occasional slander. The management also has a system where such words are hidden, but listeners also think ahead and deliberately leave spaces to avoid being caught. For example, if it's 'ugly,' they write 'u' and leave a space before 'gly.' Well, it hurts a little.

Yes, there was one in the past. Basically, there was one person who spent too much money. At that time, there were Amazon gift certificates, right? They sent 200,000 yen every two weeks. I honestly didn't know this person was married, but they actually were. Later, they said they were using their own money, but it wasn't their own money. I got a direct DM from their wife saying, 'It seems my husband is tipping you, but he's embezzling money from his parents,' and I got scolded.

Again, it's about events, but as I said, there are monthly events. When you win an event, your winning history, saying 'What award, what position' is permanently displayed on your streaming page. I'm happy that it's continuously written in the profile section every month.

During events, for example, on the final day, everyone is in a close race. Everyone wants to be first and starts throwing tips, so when it seems like you might lose, people start saying 'Throw quickly.' Since you can see others participating in the same event, when someone is winning, the comments start getting rough, and people start provoking saying 'Is losing okay?' So, at that time, I get heated. I don't want to lose.

No, that's my current issue. If I just keep streaming, what will happen when I get older? So, considering that, I'm currently doing part-time work as a parts model or advertisement model, but I'm thinking about what else I can do.

I think it's because I made what I enjoy into my job. If I made something I dislike into my job, I wouldn't be able to continue, but since I made my hobby into my job, I've been able to continue.

Doing something different from others, something that doesn't overlap with others, I guess. Specifically, I sometimes did cosplay during events. Risqué cosplay. That way, I could capture the hearts of male viewers.

Maybe 50%. The time I spend streaming is certainly long, but in my mind, it's not so much work as it is chatting with people. I don't think of it as work; even though I'm getting paid, it feels very much like chatting with friends. In my life, it's about half.

Yes. As long as I have life, I want to continue.

Really, anyone can do it with just a smartphone. Even though it's called being a liver, even in the Reiwa era, not everyone knows, so I want everyone to try it casually. Everyone has a smartphone these days, so I want this word to become widely known soon.