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This is a bait thread, but it got me thinking. This isn't concise, but it's what "ruined" (changed) many EN members for me.
3 reasons for EN specifically, I think
1. Permissions
2. The end of using idol culture to create unique content
3. Global separation made it harder to do content the JPs do regularly, which makes them lack the ability to be as competitive in content styles.
Really, the Permissions Arc destroyed a lot of good streams for so long that by the time many got bored of EN it was no longer worth it to stream said things. Permissions really fucked over Hololive in general
>Oh I know that song
>Ah...I can't sing it because of DMCA...ah...I can only do English songs in unarchived karaoke...ah...I can't do English song covers...
>Sweet! New perms for that game I like and my fans want to see me play!
>Oh...they're only for the Japanese version...
>Ok, time to organise a new project!
>Oh...I need to clear everything with management...and JP management...and it has to comply with permissions
Pekora used to be able to find some kusoge on Steam and play it the same day. She cannot do that now, so her game choices are more limited. This is worse for EN.
Then other things came into the picture and damaged the then unique competitive advantage HoloEN had over much of the western market. The deviation from alternative idol content ruined what made hololive EN special to me. Being an idol is hard, it is a hard standard to meet, but it doesn't require someone to be "seiso" to be an alternative idol, which is what Hololive is mostly composed of. Cute girl (vtuber in this case), who uses her talents (whatever they may be, for vtubers this is art, or singing, or gaming, or talking, or just being cute) to perform to an audience who she is loyal to, how hard can it be? However, that loyalty can only be truly broken by the idol (this is what idol culture is all about, the responsibility is on the girl, not the fans), and that's where the line of idol vs not idol is tested. Many members of EN broke that loyalty, male collabs are just the worst example, it doesn't take much for that "loyalty" to feel put on or fake to a fan. Sometimes just not making content is enough, or being too distant or being too close. There's a specific level of separation between a fan and an idol which is hard to meet, so many in EN just gave up entirely. Hence HoloEN where not the same. A few members still keep that sense of loyalty, so their content hasn't changed much since debut, but people are unwilling to watch them because they still want the good old days with their favourite to come back.
Off collabs? 3 different continents, and they don't even want to see each other in person much, or at least don't want to stream it. 3D? Lol, Studio Ame was made of cardboard and duct tape, Covid made going to Japan impossible for a long, long time.
