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Hello, yes, some clarification on the slanderous misappropriation of Ashelia Rinkou’s “”””””””half-baked”””””””” kayfabe. Lia has done an outstanding job of guiding the overall narrative of her character’s development. The role of “thief” or perhaps if you will, charming rogue, Ashelia was a vehicle for an outstanding meta interpretation of the industry at large. Lia’s early “capers” could be viewed as the “theft” of the chuuba culture in general. That is to say the cutesy idol, game heavy, and gfe styled experiences intended to capture the primary demographic of the industry. In Lia’s indomitable style the broader arc of her development took a very heavy conceptual loan from ame-chan of NSO. I’m this way Lia is able to break the character wide open and begin the less heavily broadcasted subtext of her performance. This is of course that “Lia” isn’t the chuuba character in the way that a big corpo performer plays the virtual idol role but instead Lia is performing as the girl behind the screen playing the role of virtual idol. While it can be argued that she isn’t the first to do so she has integrate many aspects of heavily convincing kayfabe into the fabric of her narrative. Of course the stand out precedence for this style of content is most famously done by Haachama’s schizo arc that was handled in an all together overly produced anivideo style that pushes the limits of mainstream palatability and gives a comfortable amount of leeway in the heavily processed presentation to not scare away the broader corpo fan base that catches wind of it. With this comparison we see the raw emotionality of the true Lia experience surrounding her abrupt tearful breakdowns, the slogging grind of unsuccessful mainstream acceptance, and gradually the manic explosion of a true to herself figure in the development of Lia. Even Lia’s one time stream foundation “I’m Lia!” is pilfered, to the more broadly acclimated chuuba fan, from her idol and near future collabo partner Pomu. In a similar, albeit less openly admitted, vein comes the “I’m Poppy!” Narrative influence of exploring the various tropes and tribulations of the “idol” lifestyle. When properly digested you come to see that Ashelia Rinkou is a thief not of goods but of conceptual content as a mirror to the operating practices of consumer media and the chuuba industry at large. I’m this capacity Lia’s theft should be legendary and a stark reminder of how she stole your heart. Operating more broadly within the company the their motif is hefted from the shoulders of Lia to allow the fujo denpa gaki spotlight on the “Lia” behind the screen personality, with the introduction of the Second Thief into the ranks with “Invaders.” I think conceptually this is one of the more dense chapters of Lia’s development with an utterly next level performance from Virus, Cat, and Star incestuously cannibalizing one another’s various features through the complexity of a three way exchange that culminated in a truly high stakes gambit that brought narrative defining consequences down. From that point Phase as a company has heavily capitalized on the narrative ploys of Lia, using repetition and cross pollinating of archetypes and tropes to solidify their overall direction. Just look at the current power bloc of The Three Celestials to see how the previously proofed schizo energy of the Lia/Yuri/Lumi triangle has been repurposed into the edifying strength of Shiina/Jelly/Lumi coded for the kind of demographics and clout that The Fish Headed Man desired with his initial Lia/Pippa/Tenma opener. Lia’s evolution into “Malware” speaks more to the inter company dealings with the palatable seiso efforts and dabbling from Lia creating a “back door” of sorts through which her more attention grabbing content can then be exploited to curious new friends. The recent VODpocalypse works on either interpretation of Thief/Virus with the “ill-gotten” infamy of her formative performance being “burned” lending a truly avant-garde approach to her handling of the emotional foundation of longtime viewers relationship with her. The moments must have been written to your heart at this time or else be lost to the whims of the Thief/Virus. Ultimately this is just another in Lia’s long line of superb “negative space” work showing the reach of her talent, as showcased in Friday’s “The Lia Experience” wherein her ability to equally move the audience with what she doesn’t show, or more prudently, takes away is the emotive thrust of the production. This isn’t even touching on the structured use of her game and stream title selection to cognitively preload desired anticipation and emotional ballast to her performances. I simply can’t wait to see where the culmination of the post-Jong “stretching” of Lia’s creative freedoms takes us. I like Lia.
