Hololive Vtuber Ninomae Ina’nis has a busy week ahead of her after an already packed few months, as she’s headlining a Drawn to Dawn concert alongside Myth gen-mate Kiara Takanashi between March 27-28, 2026. This follows a new original song, her first EP, an appearance at HoloFes 2026, and a Monster Hunter Wilds collaboration. Siliconera caught up with her ahead of the show to talk about her music, art, activities, and future.
Jenni Lada: You released a new original song called “TAKO∞TAKOVER” ahead of Drawn to Dawn. Was the launch planned to coincide with the concert all along? How long were you working on it?
Ninomae Ina’nis: I had the basic concept for “TAKO∞TAKOVER” planned out for a few years! After participating in multiple live performances over the years, I became captivated with how the audience can elevate the experience of these live performances by joining in on the chanting and cheers of the song. I have not had original songs where the audience could shout and call together during the performance, so I wanted to make a really fun song for everyone to have fun singing!
You also handled the art for the “TAKO∞TAKOVER” video. What inspired you to go with the design direction you chose for it?
Ninomae Ina’nis: I would like to give the credit for the art direction for “TAKO∞TAKOVER” to tellingbones, who was in charge of the character design and the animations for the MV! I have worked with them before for my 3D birthday live “EVERMORE”, and when I was thinking of someone who could bring my ideas for “TAKO∞TAKOVER” to life I could not think of anyone but tellingbones!! I have always loved their character design and animation, and they have a unique style that I thought was perfect for the MV. I explained the rough idea for the song and the general direction I wanted to take in terms of the art and animation, and I was blown away by how perfect the initial character design drafts were!! The portrayal of something that is very comical whilst being dark and doomed in nature was done so masterfully with the beautiful character design and whimsical animations!
I really want to give big thanks to tellingbones who really brought everything to life!
Your first EP re:Vision debuted ahead of the concert too. When did you decide you wanted to put together an album like that?
Ninomae Ina’nis: I have been tossing around the idea of putting together an album with original songs for many years, but it had not come to fruition due to logistical issues. However, when the discussions started for Drawn to Dawn, we were thankfully able to arrange for the creation of the EP and have it released before the concert! We could not do a full album with the limited time we had, but we were able to create an EP since I already had a solid idea and planned out which songs I wanted to release ahead of time.
In addition to the concert and your other activities, you took part in the “Speed Dating with holoMyth” event with Calliope Mori and Kiara Takanashi. What kind of preparation goes into those sorts of annual holiday streams, and is there a particular year’s event that you liked most?
Ninomae Ina’nis: The Speed Dating stream this time was planned out by a director in the company and they helped oversee the entire process! This time around we oversaw and gave feedback for the illustrations and other assets created for the stream, song cover, and the SNS posts. I think this year’s Speed Dating stream was very memorable as I enjoyed the preparations and execution of the entire project, and having our kouhais fighting for our love was very cute!!
One of the other things you worked on was the new collaboration outfit designs for both Koseki Bijou and yourself for the Monster Hunter Wilds streams the two of you did. How did you decide to go with the Nu Udra and Gore Magala designs for the two of you, and did you get any assistance on Capcom’s end to help with references for your designs?
Ninomae Ina’nis: I think Bijou chose Gore Magala almost instantly and I thought it was the perfect choice for her! I had a very strong image for what her outfit would look like from the very start so I didn’t have much trouble polishing up the details afterwards.
For me, I initially chose a different monster – Uth Duna – since I thought the iridescent texture of the fins could be a cool design…until Nu Udra was revealed to the world a little while later. At first I thought I would stick with Uth Duna to avoid the obvious connection to Nu Udra’s designs, but the more I looked at Nu Udra the more I was captivated by its design!! I then asked if I could change to Nu Udra for the outfit and was really happy when they allowed me to! (I was definitely not preparing a 50 page document on why it would be the greatest idea for me to switch monsters)
Capcom also provided me with very detailed references of the monsters, and I was internally dancing with joy that I got to see the materials…! I was able to clearly see which part of the monster would be important to represent in the outfit so I made sure to try to incorporate as much of it in the design as possible. I heard that the actual designer of Nu Udra themselves gave feedback on my outfit design and I was very honored and extremely happy!!!! Especially since Nu Udra (and Xu Wu) were the first cephalopod monsters that was introduced in Monster Hunter Wilds, so I can only imagine the amount of thought and love they put into designing Nu Udra…and to officially design an outfit AND get feedback from them?! It felt like a dream! (I will stop here because I can talk about this all day haha)
You had the hololive Super Expo 2026 at the beginning of March. What did preparation for that look like for you, specially with your own concert with Kiara coming up?
Ninomae Ina’nis: I definitely remember my brain being overloaded with the number of choreo to remember for all the songs I am to perform. Dance lessons and rehearsals start months ahead of the concert and live dates, so having to remember all the choreographs for all the songs for an extended amount of time become really difficult…! Other than that, I think it was mostly trying to make sure I don’t get too sick or making sure all my tasks and schedules were on time!
You’ve gotten a lot of opportunities to take part in different types of events in your years with Hololive. Is there any kind of event you haven’t gotten to do yet that you’d like to?
Ninomae Ina’nis: I have been very grateful for so many opportunities over the years and being able to participate in a lot of events, so I really want to host some sort of charity event where I can give back sometime!
Now that you’re coming up on your sixth year with COVER, what are your dreams for 2026?
Ninomae Ina’nis: I think the last six years have really shaped me as a person and as a creator, so I want to take some time in 2026 to think about and explore new ways I can apply the knowledge and experiences I learned to create something I can to share with the world!
I also want to stream and play more games I have in my backlog since I was really focused on projects last year! Please look forward to it!
Ninomae Ina’nis streams on YouTube, and she’s also active on social media. Her Drawn to Dawn concert with Kiara Takanashi will take place between March 27-28, 2026, and streaming tickets are available via SPWN and Streaming+.