INTERVIEW: VTuber Magni Dezmond Wants You to Experience Fear in His Streams

This interview is part of our series of articles and interviews with the members of HOLOSTARS English -TEMPUS- and CEO Motoaki Tanigo. This series includes interviews and recommendation lists from some of the world's most well known VTubers. You can read Magni Dezmond's top anime list here, and you can see all of the upcoming articles below!

Every member of HOLOSTAR's new generation -TEMPUS- brings their own unique set of skills and expertise to the guild, and, as the resident publicist and alchemist, Magni Dezmond is no different. HOLOSTAR's official website describes him as "the type of person who stares right into the abyss," and a cursory glance at his chaotic streams really lines up with that. We had the opportunity to talk with Dezmond about his time at the guild, the mysteries of the universe, and whether or not mixing soda flavors together counts as alchemy.

Crunchyroll: Hello! For any of our audience who don’t know you, could you please introduce yourself?

Magni Dezmond: I am the great Magni Dezmond. You can call me Dez or Dezzy Wezzy if you’d like. I’m the alchemist of Guild TEMPUS - HOLOSTARS English! I like to draw and enjoy bantering with my guildmates.

Brewing potions, working in public relations for the guild, and streaming all the time must be difficult! How do you manage all of your different duties in a day?

Dezmond: A wonderful question. It's taken a long time to figure out the perfect balance between all these things. After much careful planning, I’ve found the best solution is to simply sleep less. Who would have guessed?!

How does it feel now that you have debuted as HOLOSTARS?

Dezmond: It's been definitely a surreal experience to be a part of something I’ve always looked up to. I remember watching the debuts of UPROAR!! not that long ago, and now I happily call them my sempai’s. It feels wonderful to be a member of the family and have people who share my interests and goals as HOLOSTARS.

I would like your opinion as an alchemist: does mixing together all the different soda flavors at a soda fountain technically count as a potion?

Dezmond: Being an alchemist is a mentality rather than a science! That being said … soda mixing is probably on the lower end of alchemical pursuits.

Your art is really great! How long have you been drawing, and what got you interested in art in the first place?

Dezmond: Thank you! I’ve been drawing since I was a very little alchemist — for as long as I can remember. I’ve always enjoyed doodling, but I really started to draw a lot after reading the Sonic the Hedgehog comic books from Archie Comics!

Spore is such a fascinating game that can lead to many cursed situations. What made you decide to stream that particular game?

Dezmond: Being an alchemist means pushing the boundaries of human experimentation. In Spore, I can be the harbinger of life and death, evolution and chaos. My Spore species is called the Axel, and my goal is to evolve his intelligence to be able to finally read a book!

VTubers have become extremely popular in the last few years. What about the medium do you think speaks to people’s hearts so deeply?

Dezmond: Streaming and online content has always been an act of escapism, much like books and movies have been for everybody. I think VTubing is an expansion of that escapism and the long held fascination with characters.

I really loved the atmosphere of the first TEMPUS collaboration stream! What sorts of things do you want to do all together in future when you’re hangin’ with the boys?

Dezmond: I think the magic of TEMPUS is that there is no specific answer to this question. I couldn’t care less what we do, so long as I get to do it with the rest of my guildmates and friends. I just love their company so much.

If you could ensure your viewers take one feeling or message from your streams, what would it be?

Dezmond: Fear.

Do you have anything else you would like to say to your fans and fans of hololive production in general?

Dezmond: The viewers are the lifeblood of hololive production. Thank you for the continual support in all the amazing projects that the talents take a part in. We hope to keep pushing the limits on what hololive production has to offer. Also, I definitely don’t need an audience to eventually transmute into a philosopher’s stone, so keep on coming to my streams!