Overview
Uruha Rushia (潤羽るしあ) was a female Japanese Virtual YouTuber associated with hololive, debuting as part of its third generation of VTubers under the name of "hololive Fantasy" (ホロライブファンタジー) alongside Usada Pekora, Shiranui Flare, Shirogane Noel and Houshou Marine.
At the time of her retirement in February 2022, Rushia held the record for the most superchatted YouTube channel, receiving a total revenue of US$3,285,003 across 273,923 superchats.
History
Background
Rushia was one of the five hololive VTubers first announced on 13 June 2019 as part of the third generation, but she and Usada Pekora were not open for audition. Her Twitter account was created on 24 June, while her YouTube channel was created on 3 July.
On 7 July during the hololive karaoke session, her name and Twitter account was officially announced alongside Usada Pekora. Her Twitter account was opened on 24 June 2019 while her YouTube channel was opened on 3 July. She debuted on YouTube with her introductory stream on 18 July.
2019
On 27 November, she announced on Twitter that she would get a 3D model.
On 30 November, she debuted her 3D model during a stream. She was the second of her generation to get her 3D model after Shirogane Noel.
2020
On 2 January, she announced on Twitter that she would get her second 2D costume, this costume was revealed to be a kimono in celebration of the new year during a stream the same day. In this costume Rushia wears a butterfly ribbon, that can be taken off.
On 24 January along with the other hololive girls up to the third generation, she debuted her 3D idol outfit at hololive's 1st fes. Nonstop Story.
On 15 June hololive's Twitter account announced that Rushia would get a new 2D costume. The costume was revealed the next day on 16 June, during a stream, in this costume, she wears a black dress, long white hair with pink lights and purple shadows, her old hair style is still usable and has been recolored to match the new costume.
On 25 December, she reached 800,000 YouTube subscribers during a singing endurance stream.
2021
On 22 January, during her birthday celebration 3D stream, Rushia debuted a new hairstyle, similar in appearance to her original hair cut, she uses small pigtails and cat ears. She also debuted her first original song: Iris「アイリス」.
On 26 January, she reached 900,000 YouTube subscribers.
On 3 March, Rushia reached 1,000,000 YouTube subscribers, becoming the 11th member of hololive to reach this milestone and the 8th member of hololive JP to do so. She is also the 3rd member of hololive Fantasy (alongside Pekora and Marine) to achieve this milestone.
On 27 April, Rushia revealed that she was diagnosed with reflux esophagitis and insomnia, thus her streaming activities were put on a temporary hiatus.
On 18 July, Rushia debuted new accessories for her third 2D model, including a new hairstyle, a crown and a black and white oversized jacket.
On 11 November, hololive's Twitter account announced that Rushia would get her fourth 2D costume.
On 13 November, Rushia debuted her fourth 2D costume, in this costume Rushia got a new hairstyle with the longest loose hair, like every long hair version the inner side is pink, Rushia has a braid on the left side and two butterflies decorations, the left one is small and is below her braid, the right one is big to the side of her head, she also use small heart shaped earrings. The costume is a typical school uniform, with a white blouse, decorated with a dark blue plaid ribbon and a matching skirt, however the costume has some accessories, a light brown sweater falling from her left shoulder, a dark blue blazer and a polar bear hoodie.
On 10 December, she reached 1,500,000 YouTube subscribers, making her the 8th hololive member to reach this milestone, as well as the 5th member of hololive JP. She is also the third member of hololive JP's 3rd Gen to achieve it.
On 24 December, Rushia debuted new accessories for her fourth 2D costume, a white and fluffy beret and earrings.
2022
On 22 January, Rushia debuted her second original song "Omoikou" during her 3D birthday live, during the same event Rushia also debuted new accessories for her fourth 2D costume, cat ears and a choker.
On 11 February, Rushia went on a self-imposed hiatus following an incident during a stream on the previous day, where she accidentally leaked a DM on her Discord from utaite Mafumafu, which sparked the rumors of the two dating; Mafumafu later issued an apology and denied the rumors. The hashtag #るしあ大好きだよ ("We love Rushia!") went viral on Twitter among Fandeads who were concerned with Rushia's mental health.
On 14 February, COVER Corporation released a statement on the incident, noting that "the private life of the talent is left up to the individual. We, as COVER, do not interfere with our talents' private lives." It noted that Rushia and other had suffered emotional stress due to slander and defamation, and asked the public to refrain from further misinformation and harassment. The company also stated that they were investigating misleading information to third parties and leakage of business information.
Retirement
On 24 February, COVER Corporation released a statement terminating their contract with Rushia due to several contract violations on her part. The notice alleged that she leaked company information which she had a responsibility to protect, and publicized falsehoods to various parties, causing the company to suffer reputational damage.
At her retirement, Rushia was the most superchatted YouTube channel of all time, receiving a total revenue of US$3,285,003 across 273,923 superchats. The second highest at this time was Kiryu Coco, who had retired from hololive around eight months earlier. Rushia's channel had 1,590,000 subscribers and 150,305,753 video views at the time of the announcement, and her Twitter account had reached 1,174,502 followers.
In their statement, COVER announced that Rushia's YouTube channel would be deleted around the end of March 2022. This was consistent with previous hololive members whose channels had been erased by the company following the termination of their contract, with the notable exception of Kiryu Coco, who had retired voluntarily, and holostars member Kagami Kira.
On 1 April, just after midnight JST, all of Rushia's YouTube videos were set to private. As had previously occurred with Mano Aloe, Rushia's YouTube channel and Twitter account were not deleted, although a notification was added to the channel description and Twitter bio that she had ceased activities. Her channel had 157,454,559 views and 1.6 million subscribers at this time.
