{"rewrite":{"id":"r_e9aaab8f296f1a0638de049e","clusterId":"c_be2a987a977858f1bb1705a6","slug":"project-vilai-puts-an-anime-studio-behind-a-hikikomori-double-life","model":"deepseek-v4-1-flash","headline":"Project Vilai Puts An Anime Studio Behind A Hikikomori Double Life","summary":"RIKANIMATION, the anime studio led by Russian-born creator RIKANI, is developing Project Vilai: Liver's Hikikomori Escape, a psychological horror RPG. The player controls Hicha, a shut-in who manages hunger and stress in a small apartment while performing in VR space as the virtual singer Vilai, earning V Coins. RIKANI says the project is an attempt at an original story after three Steam games built on memes, homages, and fan work.","whyItMatters":"A studio whose output has been short anime and music videos is moving into a long-form game with original writing, and RIKANI frames the shift as a way around the runtime limits of anime.","webCardHtml":"\u003cp\u003eThe game follows Hicha through two lives: a depressed, unchanging existence in a dirty apartment and a sparkling idol career on the VR platform Vita, where she performs as Vilai. Players balance her real-world hunger and stress gauges against her V Coin earnings as a virtual singer.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRIKANI started RIKANIMATION at 16 and has spent about 10 years on original short anime, advertising footage, and music videos, including work for Ice Cube. The studio\u0026#39;s earlier game output was a short visual novel, An Alt Girl for Skoof, made in two months and sold at about 200,000 copies on the strength of a Russian internet meme. Project Vilai is the studio\u0026#39;s first original feature-length game.\u003c/p\u003e","blueskyPost":"Project Vilai is RIKANI's pivot away from three Steam games built on memes and fan work. The horror RPG's split between Hicha's apartment and Vilai's VR stage is where that original voice gets tested.","twitterPost":"Project Vilai is RIKANI's move off meme and fan-work Steam games. The double life of Hicha and Vilai is the original story the studio now has to carry.","threadsPost":"Project Vilai marks RIKANI shifting from three Steam games built on memes, homages, and fan work to an original story. Hicha's apartment and Vilai's VR stage split the game in two, and that split is where RIKANI's own voice either holds or does not.","newsletterBlurb":"RIKANIMATION, the anime studio run by RIKANI, is developing Project Vilai: Liver's Hikikomori Escape, a psychological horror RPG about a shut-in who performs as a virtual singer in VR space. RIKANI describes it as the studio's first original feature-length game. The studio's previous game was a two-month visual novel that sold about 200,000 copies.","attributionJson":"[{\"source\":\"Automaton\",\"url\":\"https://automaton-media.com/articles/interviewsjp/project-virai-20261113-479055/\",\"title\":\"Project Vilai: Liver's Hikikomori Escape Developer Interview - A Psychological Horror RPG Where a 600,000-Subscriber Influencer Exposes Her \\\"Hidden Face,\\\" and the \\\"Salvation\\\" That Lies Beyond\"}]","lintFlagsJson":null,"lintHits":0,"costUsd":0,"inputTokens":5612,"outputTokens":803,"status":"published","repairAttempts":0,"nextRepairAt":null,"factsAttemptedAt":1794541503,"createdAt":"2026-11-13T03:41:49.000Z","publishedAt":"2026-11-13T03:43:24.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-11-13T03:43:24.000Z"},"cluster":{"id":"c_be2a987a977858f1bb1705a6","canonicalTitle":"『プロジェクトヴィライ：ライバーの引きこもり脱出』開発者インタビュー。登録者60万人のインフルエンサーが自らの”裏の顔”をさらけ出す心理ホラーRPG、その先に用意された”救い”","representativeArticleId":"a_f503c74364c45dd87e2425ff","sourceCount":1,"writtenSourceCount":1,"writeAttempts":0,"isSolo":true,"entitiesJson":"{\"anime_titles\":[],\"manga_titles\":[],\"work_titles\":[\"Project Velai: The Influencer's Hikikomori Escape\"],\"studios\":[],\"people\":[\"RIKANI\"],\"type\":\"news\",\"domain\":\"games\",\"is_roundup\":false}","contentType":"news","status":"published","firstSeenAt":"2026-11-13T03:00:30.000Z","lastSeenAt":"2026-11-13T03:00:30.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-11-13T03:43:22.000Z"},"attribution":[{"source":"Automaton","url":"https://automaton-media.com/articles/interviewsjp/project-virai-20261113-479055/","title":"『プロジェクトヴィライ：ライバーの引きこもり脱出』開発者インタビュー。登録者60万人のインフルエンサーが自らの”裏の顔”をさらけ出す心理ホラーRPG、その先に用意された”救い”"}],"entities":{"anime_titles":[],"manga_titles":[],"work_titles":["Project Velai: The Influencer's Hikikomori Escape"],"studios":[],"people":["RIKANI"],"type":"news","domain":"games","is_roundup":false},"keyFacts":["RIKANIMATION is developing Project Vilai: Liver's Hikikomori Escape, a psychological horror RPG.","The player controls Hicha, a hikikomori who performs on the VR platform Vita as the virtual singer Vilai.","RIKANI started RIKANIMATION at 16 and has made anime videos for about 10 years.","RIKANIMATION's earlier game An Alt Girl for Skoof was made in two months and sold about 200,000 copies.","Project Vilai is the studio's first original feature-length game."],"pageLinks":{"healthSlugs":["project-velai-the-influencer-s-hikikomori-escape","rikani"],"storySlugs":[],"entities":[{"slug":"project-velai-the-influencer-s-hikikomori-escape","supported":0,"disputed":0,"contradicted":0,"unverified":2,"overall":"unverified","story_count":1,"has_dossier":false},{"slug":"rikani","supported":0,"disputed":0,"contradicted":0,"unverified":1,"overall":"unverified","story_count":1,"has_dossier":false}],"stories":[],"entitiesOk":true,"storiesOk":true}}