when i first heard about holoEN i was very negative about it, assuming it would be horrible and everything we always feared. i was on vacation from work when the holoEN debuts came along, and i missed the first couple of them, but i saw people mention it on twitter about an hour before gura was up. i thought she looked cute so i decided to watch. even though i didn't take it seriously at the time, i am so, so grateful now that i had that opportunity.
i wasn't too surprised by her "a" false ending after having read her twitter, but as soon as she started talking i knew i had been very, very wrong. her voice was a voice like i had never heard before. i had some favorite seiyuu from anime, but gura's voice had a magical quality to it that i still can't quite explain to this day, despite hours and hours poring over how she sounds. surely, the fact that she was talking to me in my own language, in my own accent, about the same kinds of things i enjoyed, had a huge impact on me. but the sound of her voice was just so intoxicating, so unbelievable, so indescribable, that i was unable to resist her.
when she revealed that amashiro-sensei had drawn her avatar, i had no choice but to surrender to her. i already knew there was something about her avatar that i liked, but i'd been a fan of amashiro-sensei's work for years, and to see her work come to life, moving in real time, and talking to me, it was all too much. gura was my oshi, and i would never have another oshi. that was the moment that i finally really, truly knew what it meant to have an oshi.
by the time she sang "ride on time" i was beyond any ability to resist her siren song. her voice was magical, unbelievable, like something i had never experienced before. so, of course she could sing so beautifully, so perfectly, hitting every single note and giggling about it like it was nothing. by that point nothing about her surprised me. of course she could do it. she was gawr gura.
over the next few months i was fortunate enough to watch her grow in confidence. she started off so nervous and timid. she was so worried about disappointing her audience. it was wonderful to see her in her element blowing through incredibly difficult songs in muse dash like there was nothing to it. i watched every time she streamed, laughing along with her and enjoying every minute of it. when she sang in her karaoke streams, i usually cried, sometimes just out of the ecstasy of hearing her voice, and sometimes because i could tell she was nervous or hurting and i felt nervousness or pain along with her.
in my life there is a time before gura, and there will someday be a time after her. i know that one day she'll graduate, and we'll both move on to other things. but the time in her life and in my life when she performs as gura is so special to me, and it will always be special to me.
thank you so much for all your hard work and for everything you do. i love you, gura.
