It’s no surprise that I’m a fan of Hololive if you’ve read any of my old articles. Recently a myriad of milestones have been achieved by the talents, with the Hololive EN girls even getting new outfits. So I figured I’d do something to celebrate.
I came to the conclusion to talk about the biggest aspect of Hololive outside of live streaming and that’s the music. After all, they are an idol entertainment company. I decided to limit it to original songs released in the last 4 months because Hololive talent produces songs and covers like wildfire and going through them all would require a team and a very special occasion. Even with those limitations I still had roughly 22 different songs to listen to and rank, and well, due to the sunk cost fallacy I am seeing this through to the end.
I am going to give fair warning that I am in no way qualified to review music, so I apologize for my very crude descriptions of the songs in advance. Now then here are the ground rules:
· These songs will be ranked in order of how much I enjoy listening to them, music videos and lyrics won’t have a large effect on the rankings of each song, basically if I can jam to it more the higher it goes.
· All songs were grabbed from this wiki article (https://virtualyoutuber.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_Hololive_Songs). If it wasn’t on there I apologize as I used the wiki so I didn’t have to comb through over 50 different channels with several different stream vods to find the music.
· All songs must be original and sung by Hololive talent as well as have been released in the last 4 months.
· Regardless of placement every song is still good so please remember that.
Now then let’s rock.
22. Bersama Ioforia
A beautifully done acoustic piece sung by Iofi, short and simple it’s a sweet lullaby-esque tune to listen to. It only really makes its way to the bottom spot because it’s a song that I have to be in a certain mood to listen to.
21. petal dance
Something you’ll unfortunately notice as we go down the list is I’m not really the biggest fan of slower-paced songs which is really the only reason this ranks so low because this song is beautiful. AZKi’s voice along with the violins bring about this sort of grand and serene feeling, the same kind of feeling you get when you watch the sunrise. It’s a very pleasant song to listen to just not one I’d play on a regular basis.
This song gives me a very nostalgic feeling for some reason. I can’t quite put my finger on it but if I had to describe it, it reminds me of songs used to promote Disney movies back in the mid-90s to early 2000s. Which is probably not what this song is meant to evoke. This song also carries a very grand feel to it but one that’s more like – and I’m gonna stick with movie talk for this analogy – the end credits sequence of a movie or the closing of a journey. Once again it’s only this low because it’s not normally something I listen to. Please, believe me, I’m not a tool.
19. Heroine Audition
A cute and poppy and slightly jazzy song sung by Aki. While probably one of her more standard songs compared to the others she’s released, that’s not necessarily a bad thing because, while she shines in doing something totally unique, she still does just as well being a little more conventional. I can totally see myself jamming to it while taking the bus or just walking down the road. It’s the kind of song that adds a spring to your step and I’m here for it.
18. Heart Challenger
Another very poppy and upbeat one, but this time it’s a love song sung by none other than Kiara. Given that her first song was more reminiscent of a badass anime opening, it makes sense she would make something more light to balance it out, especially given that this was a Valentine’s Day release. Not that a badass love song akin to “Ai Wo Torimodose!!” would be something I wouldn’t want to see from Kiara. That’s beside the point though, Kiara really nailed it on this one and I find myself pleasantly surprised when it shows up in my autoplay.
17. Ibasho
The first appearance of Calli on this list. Ibasho, while a nice change of pace from her usual output, wouldn’t be what I would call her best work. However, just like with everyone else in Hololive, not their best is still really damn good. I think maybe a bit of the weirdness of this song comes from how it’s a sponsored song for Princess Connect, however, I’m not going to dock any points for that.
16. Unmei no Arika
Speaking of songs that sound like anime opening, AZKi is no stranger to producing those types and Unmei no Arika hits a lot of the right buttons for me: a fast pace, piano, and interesting vocals. Those sorts of things in songs are what I enjoy most and this song does them incredibly well. The only reason it ranks so low is that I feel other songs down the list just hit those buttons a wee bit harder. Still a banger nonetheless.
15. Mawarusekai to Tsumino Kajitsu
A gothic-sounding piece with beautiful piano and one hell of a guitar riff in the middle of it, almost as if made for something like a Castlevania game. You’ll notice as this list goes down that I am an absolute sucker for piano in songs and it is exceptionally well done here. Paired with Aki’s vocals everything is just *chefs kiss*.
A bit of a controversial song this one but I’m not gonna get into that since it’s not worth talking about. Regardless you can’t tell me this song doesn’t slap. At first, I wasn’t the biggest fan of this song since it sounded a little weird to me but after a few more listens the song grew on me and before I knew it I’d been putting it on from time to time.
13. Guh
Oh hey look at that more Calliope, can you guess who my favorite in Hololive is? Go on guess I bet you won’t figure it out. Anyway, Guh is a pretty damn solid track that musically weaponizes Callis signature catchphrase as the backing vocals. Creative and unique, I find myself listening to it more often than most of the previous songs.
12. Dreaming Days
Now here’s a song that just makes me want to dance. The high energy, bright tone, and fast pace of Dreaming Days is addicting and makes you feel good just like any idol song worth its salt should. This is a song that I’m always happy to hear when my autoplay takes me there because it is so god damn uplifting.
11. AsuiroClearSky
Speaking of uplifting idol songs, AsuiroClearSky is also one real solid track in that department. It’s a song celebrating Hololive productions and their talents as well as how, while the future is uncertain, together with Hololive we will make it bright. This is probably one of the only times I’d have to reference the lyrics of the song due to the nature of the song’s existence as a celebratory song that played at the end of the Bloom concert. The song definitely captures that feeling of a bright future and I look forward to seeing it be performed at future concerts.
10. IJIMEKKO Bully
This is one of Callis’s more moody songs but that’s just fine with me because I think she shines her brightest when doing these sorts of tracks and Ijimekko Bully stands up there for me as one of her best works. I noticed that her Japanese rapping stuck out to me more than in her other songs, and I’m not entirely sure why. In any case, Ijimekko Bully is an almost hypnotic track that is a good vibe all around.
9. Saikyo Tensai★Wonderful♡World of Korone
Now, this was a trip to listen to. Yandere Korone was the last thing I expected to see and yet here I am. This is not a scary or creepy song I should say, this song is actually quite upbeat and features Korone acting very cute if not a little psycho. It’s basically a love letter to her fans that come and watch her streams on the reg and the upbeat and high temp rhythm is very in line for Korone given just how damn Genki she is at any given moment.
Mogu Mogu Yummy is a simple song. Okayu likes food and thus Okayu will sing about liking food. Simple isn’t necessarily bad though, the tune is catchy and the simple lyrics give a very chill vibe much like Okayu herself. There’s not really much to say here really, it’s just a nice simple song to listen to when you need a breather.
7. Smile & Go!!
Another bright and uplifting song by Flare, it’s a short but fun and really really high energy song, and for what appears to be her first original song it’s really damn good. This one is a more recent discovery for me since I had no idea that this release but I can see myself blasting it as much as I have Ahoy. Thinking about it they almost have similar energies. Or maybe I’m just crazy and making connections where there are none.
6. The Grim Reaper is a Live-Streamer
This is my second favorite song from Calli’s “Your Mori” album because it’s basically one big badass boast that has one hell of a catchy chorus. While all of “Your Mori” serves as a sort of badass boast for Calli I think this song in particular really condenses it all in one with her bragging about her double life and reminding the viewer that the price of admission was their soul, meaning that their hers forever and god dammit that’s cool.
5. Palette
I’d be a god damn fool not to put this song in the top 5 are you kidding me? Towa’s vocals alone are what earn her this spot because god damn she has some pipes. The song itself is great too; it’s a very powerful piece that just wants to make you go out there and realize your dreams. It may be somber sounding but this is a feel-good song in the end and it is simply marvelous.
If there is anything I love more than the use of piano’s in a song, it’s catchy electronic beats and man does id:entity voices provide a really good backing track with them. Paired with the vocals of all the Hololive ID branch girls and this song makes for one poppy jam that makes it feel like you’re being greeted into some sort of fun-loving wonderland. Seriously I just can’t get enough of this song man.
3.GHOST
I think everyone kind of expected Suisei to be somewhere in the top 3 and I also think no one can really blame me. At this point, everyone knows Suisei’s a fantastic singer so I’ll try and focus a bit more on the backing track this time around. The backing track features heavy use of guitars, which I think is an interesting choice for this kind of song since its a bit slower-paced, however, it works great due to the riffs in the song being very melodious and almost dreamy but still very striking and strong, which I think very much works with the type of vocals Suisei provided.
Violins, electric beats, piano, a high-energy beat, Towa, Flare, and Kanata this song has it all. There is a reason I played this song non-stop when it came out because it hits every one of my goddamn buttons and I’d just jam out whenever I’d hear it. Not to mention Flare, Kantata, and Towa was a grouping I never knew I needed to hear, and listening to this song makes me want them to collaborate more because they all have incredible vocal ranges (*pssst* if you’re reading this and know any other songs the three have collabed on, join the discord and link them to me).
1.Red
Now here is my number one pick from “Your Mori”. I don’t even know where to begin with “Red” man, it has such a memorable and unique backing track, so much so that I’m sure I would still enjoy the song without the accompanying vocals. That’s not to say the vocals don’t add anything though. In fact, the vocals are what turn a good backing track into a goddamn banger of a song. This song isn’t really about Calli declaring how badass she is, rather the lyrics seem to suggest this song is something of a declaration of her ambitions and that’s fucking wicked. I have been jamming to this song every day since its release and I swear to you by the end of this year I’m gonna know every goddamn lyric by heart.
That has been my top 22 Hololive songs from the past 4 months. I hope you enjoyed my list and I’m really sorry in advance if I was off the mark on some of my descriptions. As I said before I’m not really used to ranking and rating music and would legitimately appreciate any feedback so I can grow in the future. Remember these are in no way meant to be a list from good to bad, just on a scale of jam-ability (I’m making this a word now). Please share your own Top 22 in the comments as I’d love to see it. Also for those of you who were guessing who my favorite Hololive member is, if you guessed a tie between Suisei and Ayame then you would be correct, and to those who thought it was Calli, seriously you think I’d make it that easy to guess? Anyway I’ll see you guys around some other time.
