Remember this? So awkward, lol.
Back then, the whole thing seemed strange and uncertain. It was a gamble, we didn't know if English speaking audiences would ever widely accept vtubers, or if a HoloEN branch could be successful. There was a huge amount of pressure on the original Myth members, and an absolute minimum of organizational support. They were, and are, pioneers, and with their meteoric rise to popularity in the West, they showed Cover and the world just how much demand there is for high quality English speaking vtubers.
It was very scuffed at first. The Myth members barely interacted before debut, and it showed. It took them months to build rapport, before that they were nervous and awkward with each other. They had extremely limited corporate support. Because of their wide dispersal, they had to make due with far less resources than JP Holos had at the time, and things like new outfits and model updates were a LONG time coming. I distinctly remember thinking that they would probably never make it to 3D.
In the midst of it all, there was Ame. We heard about her working behind the scenes for the other Myth members. Providing tech support, helping out on the back end. We also saw how her streams were different from the others. She kept playing around with the stream environment, pushing the boundaries, either making her own assets or reaching out to others. When Walfie's "Smol Ame" drawings started getting popular, she took the concept and ran with it, not only making her own "Smol Ame" character with 2D and 3D models, but leading the way for all Myth mems to have Smol versions, and then for Council and ID to have alternate versions of their own. This was just one of many examples of her contributions to vtubing in general.
She also casually updated her own character lore. It may not seem like much, but adding time travel to her lore sparked an explosion of creativity from the fans that continues to this day with some truly extraordinary fan works. Both in the industry and among the fans, Ame is a source of inspiration.
I didn't plan to write much when I started typing. I never watch Ame very much, to be frank, but when I did I found her to be very entertaining and creative. More than that, I respect her. I respect her as a founding Myth member, and a genuine trailblazer, a real leading light for an industry. That's a rare distinction in any field.
I don't know any more than the rest of you about what exactly her new status is or why now, but we all knew this day was coming. It's a big change because of who she is and what she's accomplished, but everyone reaches the point when they're ready to move on to the next stage eventually. That's life.
So to Ame, and to Myth, and to all the behind-the-scenes staff that we never saw, and to all the fans I just want to say: Thanks. For everything.