Uruha Rushia

About

Uruha Rushia, also known simply as Rushia, was a Hololive VTuber under Cover Corp management from July 2019 until her termination in February 2022. Following her termination, the event resulted in a wave of backlash online that month as fans expressed their anger and support for the streamer.

History

Rushia debuted as part of the third generation of Hololive VTubers^[1] and was introduced for the first time on July 18th, 2019 (shown below).

According to her Hololive profile,^[2] she was "A necromancer from the Demonic-Realm Academy who is not good at communicating with people. She does not want to be alone, however, which is why she talks to the spirits and the damned."

Rushia was known for her "yandere" persona and would get upset when fans would discuss other Hololive streamers. She was also notoriously sensitive about her small breast size, with fans joking she had a "cutting board" chest as opposed to a "boing boing" chest (large-breasted). She also had a sharp temper, and would occasionally get very angry while playing video games, dropping her more demure persona. Rushia released two songs during her time with Hololive, titled "Iris" and "Omoikou" (shown below).

She was very popular, amassing over 1.59 million subscribers on YouTube before her termination.

Controversies

Alleged Relationship With mafumafu

In early February 2022, Rushia became the subject of controversy and widespread discussions after an exchange with fellow virtual streamer mafumafu prompted fans to think the pair were dating. Mafumafu messaged Rushia on stream stating he was "heading home, roommate-chan," prompting some angry fans to harass both Rushia and mafumafu, though mafumafu denied the pair were dating.

Rushia reportedly tweeted and later deleted the message, "I can’t eat, I can’t sleep, I have trouble walking, there are so many terrible falsehoods that I want to die right now." On February 14th, she tweeted, "I’m sorry I couldn’t send out a message sooner… I’m so sorry for causing you all so much worry and trouble. Once I’ve calmed down physically and mentally, I’ll send out a proper message. Sorry."

Cover Corp stood up for Rushia in a statement reading, "We, as Cover, do not interfere with our talents' private lives." The company also stated it will take action against "slander and defamation" that has been directed towards Rushia, stating that she and other Hololive talents "have suffered harsh emotional stress."

Termination

On February 23rd, 2022, Cover Corp announced that it would terminate Rushia, citing a breach of the streamer's NDA.^[3] In part, the statement read:

Regarding “Uruha Rushia,” it has been apparent for some time that she has been distributing false information to third parties and has been leaking information, including communications regarding business matters. We have been investigating the facts related to these matters.

With respect to the above, we were able to confirm that she engaged in acts that: violated her contract by leaking information that she acquired from the company as well as communication over SNS, both of which she has a responsibility to protect; and caused the company to suffer reputational damage, such as by publicizing falsehoods to various related parties. As a result, we, as a company, have determined that it has become difficult to continue managing and supporting her and have elected to make this decision.

The company announced it will terminate Rushia's channel at the end of March. Covercorp made no reference to the mafumafu incident in its statement, but some fans and followers, such as in Reddit's /r/OutOfTheLoop,^[4] speculated that the company's investigation into that incident led to the discovery of Rushia leaking private information in violation of her NDA.

Online Presence

Prior to her termination, Rushia was a very popular VTuber online with a notable presence and fandom across various sites and platforms. In addition to her 1.59 million subscribers, she had a subreddit^[5] with over 4,100 members. She also inspired a significant amount of fan art around the web featuring her character and avatar (examples shown below).

Search Interest

External References