Hololive
The colloquial name given to Hololive Productions, one of the worlds largest VTuber agencies, a part of Cover Corporation. A sizable presence in the Japanese entertainment market, with a surprisingly impactful presence in the USA and tentacles across Indonesia and Europe. A truly 21st Century sponsor to drive us forwards, with a sole focus to entertain!
IMAX
Arguably the biggest name in cinema technology, IMAX has been a part of the team for many many years. Canadian in origin, they are a truly global brand. Constantly pushing movie camera and projection technology forwards this is a very 21st century partnership, whose mandate to us is simply to entertain!
Gekkeikan
One of the worlds oldest companies, Gekkeikan is a Japanese brewery from Kyoto. An instantly recognizable name across Japan they also have arms in the USA. Their nihonshu is regarded as some of the finest around. Quite the contrast between the ultra-modern and the traditions of nihonshu brewing, but it's just an encapsulation of Japan.
Tourism Fiji
From one set of tropical islands to another, we can try to distance ourselves from the past but it is always there. More than just a tax movement, the Fijians are renowned as the great entertainers in my favorite sport, Rugby Union. So for a team with a premise to entertain there was no better place to do business with, and maybe it'll lead to an all expenses paid holiday?
Bridgestone
Primarily known for tyres, Bridgestone is also a bicycle manufacturer amongst a wide array of other products. A truly global brand that has immense sporting pedigree, any motorsport fan is more than aware of this. Lots of knowledge is brought to bear on this project and return the Japanese brand to the forefront of cyclists minds.
Shimano
It's harder to find a bicycle without Shimano elements, than one with. So why would you not want to take the gold standard of components with you? Reminding the world that Japan is still a global leader in manufacturing and product design and integration.
Sea Turtle Conservation
Fiji is home to five of the seven species of Sea Turtles. And we couldn't leave behind our commitments to improving the worlds. We'll make you laugh with Vtubers, make you gasp in wonder at Imax, and then we'll give you a warm feeling inside knowing these previous creatures are being supported and protected.
No more 'Great Big Posts'! But still the semi-rambling format. The more things change the more they stay the same. Except we really have changed. Podium Ambition is gone, dead and buried. In it's place the brand new entity, Bacharu Mamachari Faito!.
What on earth is "Bacharu Mamachari Faito!"?
Bacharu, or バーチャル, is Japanese for Virtual - as in computer generated/tech, as opposed to fictional. Our new primary sponsor is a VTuber (Virtual streamer) so you see the link. Plus we only exist online inside a video game. See, it's clever!
Mamachari, or ママチャリ, is Japanese slang for mom bicycles (Mama = mom, Chari = bicycle), the instantly recognisable bicycle with a front basket, upright style and low-step frame. Cycling is for all, not just mamil's.
Faito!, or ファイト, is not about combat but instead in Japan is more akin to "do your best/go for it" encouragement. And we certainly need all the good luck and inspiration we can find.
You say VTuber as if that's a normal thing?
This one will very much depend on your age and how much time you spend online. But as a very quick explainer: VTubers are Virtual Streamers (V = Virtual, Tuber = Youtuber but now covers Twitch and other platforms), real people who present themselves online as fictional characters. The origins are unsurprisingly Japanese, and you may well have heard of Hatsune Miku, who falls into a related space. The first VTuber (for simplicity sake) was Kizuna AI in ~2016(go do your own research) but the genre has exploded since then, especially during the Covid years.
Ok, but I need help with Hololive.
The umbrella company, Cover Corp, began is 2016 as an AR and VR (Augmented/Virtual Reality) tech start-up. But by just 2017 had created their first virtual avatar, Tokino Sora, and launched Hololive as a proprietary streaming app using AR to view it's virtual avatars streams.
To cut a story short, they then grew the avatar and streaming branch ahead of the tech side, expanding rapidly over the next year including debuts for the likes of Hoshimachi Suisei and Sakura Miko who have gone on to become household names. And frankly, they've barely slowed down since!
Hololive expanded to Indonesia with Holoive_ID in April 2020, and to the English language market with Hololive_EN in September 2020 (you look at those dates and immediately realize why this company exploded in popularity). In March 2023, Cover underwent an IPO, as an indicator of quite how successful this niche product really is.
Yeah, that's a lot of information i won't remember
I fully understand! But don't worry, i'll be teaching you far more than you'll ever really want to know about Vtubers and Hololive throughout this teams existence!
For example, our jersey (currently) features three Hololive members. On the front we have Hololive Gamers, Ookami Mio - A black-haired wolf girl who appeared on our radar randomly. She often shows up around shrines. She likes gaming. She's my Hololive Oshi. On the back we have Hololive Gamers, Nekomata Okayu - A cat being raised by an old woman that runs an onigiri store. She streams from the computer in her grandma's room. And Flow Glow's, Isaki Riona - The leader of FLOW GLOW. Extremely stoic and hates losing with a passion. She puts on a poker face so as not to be looked down upon, but her heart melts when she sees little animals and spoils them rotten. As a vivid fan of Shonen manga, she can be quite the passionate figure contrary to her cool-headed facade.
Umm... This is still a cycling team right?
Yes! In fact we are not just a cycling team, we are a PCT team! And no crazy regional restrictions any more. Instead we are a truly global team, free to sign any rider from any nation with just one mission statement from our sponsors - be entertaining! Honestly we're not entirely sure how that translates to transfers, but we're just excited to go into them with a bucket load of cash and a freedom to do whatever the hell we like.
In fact we can confirm at least one rider was in fact re-signed from Podium Ambition, and at least one rider was in fact not re-signed from Podium Ambition (this is all we can say for now). Plus, as mentioned before, we have a team jersey!
Oh cool! Your team jerseys have always been amazing!
Damn straight. Except, all of those creators have retired. Sooo... we have to sew it ourselves. From scratch. Having not made a jersey in over a decade. But we did make one, and you can enjoy it below! It's very rough, we're aware none of the lines match, all of the logos and designs will warp horribly. Still, I think it's fun. And it's something I'll continue to fiddle with and try to refine (for the love of god, i need a proper graphics maker to help!) it over time.
