Is Hololive’s Gawr Gura returning as an independent vtuber?

Gawr Gura has graduated from Hololive, but fans have found evidence that suggests the vtuber may be returning to the streaming scene as an independent content creator.

Gawr Gura was arguably the most popular vtuber in the industry with a staggering 4.56 million subscribers on YouTube. The vtuber’s graduation from Hololive disappointed fans as they wouldn’t see her content, but many viewers weren’t surprised. She wasn’t streaming as often and was experiencing health issues that fans thought may eventually lead to her departure from Hololive.

Gawr Gura stated in her departure announcement that she still loves streaming but disagrees with the company’s direction. The announcement made fans hopeful that she might reappear later, and they wondered whether she’d return to her past life as Senzawa. In a surprising turn of events, fans have found clues about how Gawr Gura will return, and it isn’t as her previous persona after all.

Gawr Gura may return as an new independent vtuber

Gawr Gura’s past life Senzawa gave the first hint at the streamer returning as an independent vtuber.

Vtuber Gawr Gura deciding to start fresh and not use her previous person isn’t uncommon. Other vtubers such as ex-Hololive Amelia Watson have done the same. Making a new persona gives creators more freedom as they’re not expected to stream content similar to that of their old selves.

saba / saba

Fans found the first hint of Gawr Gura’s return on Senzawa’s X. The account used to say number one fan of Gawr Gura but after her graduation added an “and.” This led fans to believe the shark girl would return under a new identity. Then on April 9, Senzawa posted an innocent fish emoji. A similar fish emoji became the profile picture of a new vtuber named Sameko Saba.

Is Hololive’s Gawr Gura returning as Sameko Saba?

Fans have noticed a new vtuber sounds like Gawr Gura and found more signs after some digging that point towards the shark girl’s return as Sameko Saba.

On May 19, the seemingly new and unknown vtuber went viral, with many viewers claiming it was Hololive’s shark girl returning. The evidence most viewers were showing wasn’t sufficient to prove anything. But opening Sameko Saba’s YouTube channel made all the pieces fit. The channel only has one video posted and when fans heard the vtuber’s voice they instantly recognized it as Gawr Gura.

The only thing left after that was to blow up the vtuber’s subscribers and followers. Sameko Saba’s X account and YouTube channel both went from low numbers to almost 200,000 in less than a single day.  Some fans were still confused and this dilemma may last even after the vtuber’s debut because streamers typically don’t share information about their past lives.

Established vtubers like Shondo and Nimi Nightmare commented on Saba’s tweet likely in the spirit of welcoming the shark girl back. Guwa Gura’s return hasn’t been confirmed and likely won’t be even after Saba’s debut. But fans are largely satisfied with the proof that they have already cobbled together.