Holoearth Chronicles Side:E ~Yamato Phantasia~ is a manga spin-off of hololive and is a part of Hololive Alternative multimedia project that transplants the characters of Virtual YouTubers into a fantasy setting.
It features Fubuki Shirakami and Mio Ookami as guardian demi-dieties of the land Yamato, protecting it from The Corruption called Stigma, also featuring Ayame Nakiri as the Oni.
Holonometria
is a Lore Codex website that provides additional info about the world's setting, published on June 7, 2021.
The manga penned by Kosuke Kurose (of Goblin Slayer manga fame), was announced on June 4, 2021 with Chapter 0 released on Twitter the same day. On May 6, 2022 the manga began publishing in Square Enix Manga UP! app. On November 25, 2022 chapters 0 to 5 of Yamato Phantasia have been published on Holonometria.
Side-stories include:
- "The Transcended Ones"
- "Contest of Strength at Senjogahara"
- "Just Another Day at Mizore’s Kitchen"
- "Hunting the Oni of the Oeyama Mountains"
Tropes features in Yamato Phantasia:
- Above the Gods: Fubuki, who is already called the Kami of the Shirakami region, answers to Kyubi, a shrine priestess who answers to master Inari.
- Adaptational Job Change: According to hololive's official profile, Fubuki is an otaku schoolgirl. Here she's a guardian diety.
- Affectionate Parody:
- Fubuki's shown to be quite obsessed with idols, videogames and figurines from Cyber Akihabara, to the point of sometimes forgetting to sleep or eat. This matches the tastes of many within the manga's and hololive's target audience, and makes her endearing to them.
- Senko-sama, the high priestess of Cyber Akihabara's Inari Shrine, is an even worse case, spending too much time in her room, having an impressive Nerd Hoard of her favorite show (which she's both embarrassed by and proud of), quickly bonding with Fubuki over their shared love of their favorite show, crying over being spoiled of her favorite fictional character's demise and being addicted to ASMR from motherly types, such as Mio.
- ASMR itself is also parodied by it being used as the standard way to get Senko-sama out of her crying fits, getting the person with the most motherly voice around to whisper a prepared script into a microphone. Mio (who does ASMR in real life) dutifully complies up until the priestess requests to rest her head on her lap for an hour, at which point the wolf girl refuses to go along with her wishes anymore and bluntly tells her to shut up and do her job.
- All There in the Manual: Holonometria acts as a collection of lore briefings for the Hololive Alternative canon and provides additional information.
- Animated Armor: Ayame can remotely control a large samurai armor with her Will-o'-the-Wisp familiars called Karma and Shiranui.
- Arc Villain: Jorougumo, the spider yokai, has been responsible for the children kidnappings that were investigated in the first many chapters.
- Artifact of Doom: The Shards of Magatsu are little magatama that are pieces of Magatsuhi-no-kami's power, and are brimming with so much Stigma, that Kyubi herself has to step in to take care of one. She doesn't even allow the heroes or herself to touch it, instead containing it in a seal similar to the one that Magatsuhi-no-kami is depicted as being trapped in.
- Ascended Demon: According to Fubuki, foxes are naturally inclined into becoming malevolent Youkai, but her clan has managed to ascend to Kami thanks to Inari's Training from Hell.
- Astral Projection: Mio can mentally leave her body to look for traces of a heart of a missing person, though not their exact location. She can do better, but is keeping it a secret due to a traumatic childhood experience.
- Aura Vision: Ayame can see spider webs over Tsumugi's house with the special Oni Vision.
- Bare-Fisted Monk: Most fighters, including Fubuki and Ayame, use katanas to fight. Mio is a notable aversion as, bar some fire-based elemental attacks, she's a unarmed brawler with a surprisingly 'power'-based style full of haymakers and dropkicks.
- Being Watched: Ayame is able to sense Mio using Tracing to find the children at her location.
- Breather Episode: The EX chapter is disconnected from the plot and features Sakura Miko from Cyber Akihabara make preparations for the concert and other events in Holoearth.
- Calling Your Attacks: Fubuki and Mio call out "Mega Corn Hammer" and "Flaming Punch" respectively when fighting Ayame.
- Chekhov's Gun: Ayame buys some shichime spices to use as a prank for yokai, but it turns out useful against a stigmatized woman due to lack of any weapons.
- Clap Your Hands If You Believe: The real reason why Haunted House is the way it is now is because without its owner people have kept spreading rumors about it, resulting in it accumulating Stigma and turning dolls into Youkai.
- The Corruption: Stigma is a black miasma that appears from the negative emotions, periodically turning people Brainwashed and Crazy and ruining the land. Continuous stress can make a person possessed by animal Ayakashi that matches their behavior.
- Creepy Good:
- Kyubi has a 4-eyed mask, sharp teeth and intimidating demeanor, but is still one of the highest-ranking protectors of Yamato.
- Nue may seem rather intimidating, due to being something of a Creepy Child living in an extremely-stigmatized haunted mansion, but she's actually just a Cute Mute who just wants friends.
- Cute Mute: Once properly introduced, Nue is shown to be smiling constantly, but can only communicate with writing and can't leave her room.
- Demonic Possession: A stigmatized squirrel Ayakashi possesses a female student and then manifests as a large beast physically attached to her.
- Eldritch Location: Stigma is capable of affecting buildings (and possibly other kinds of locations), giving them all kinds of weird properties such as being Bigger on the Inside. A perfect example is the haunted house Fubuki and Mio are led to by their search.
- Elemental Punch: Mio's punches are on fire.
- The Faceless: Inari, the lord of Yamato's Kami, is only shown behind the wall screen.
- The Gadfly: While investigating the Haunted House, Fubuki tries to find a chance to scare Mio for fun, despite both already been attacked by ghosts and Mio having a past trauma.
- Gamer Chick: Fubuki plays games at her shrine when not on god duty all her spare time, up to missing some job-related emails.
- God of Evil: Aside from the general existence of the Stigma Kami and Youkai, there is a single being that fits this trope the most: Magatsuhi-no-kami, the dark Kami who defeated many powerful Kami and Ayakashi and infected them with its bountiful Stigma, causing the Cursed Night. Thankfully, it is currently sealed away, but not without a lot of Kami sacrifices and with those corrupted by Magatsuhi-no-kami's Stigma being permanently tainted by its mark. With the introduction of empowering pieces of its power known as the Shards of Magatsu, it has been even more solidly established as the Greater-Scope Villain that it is.
- Gods Need Prayer Badly: Holonometria claims that the nature of Aura is unknown, though each interpretation effectively means that the more stories or prayers there are about an Ayakashi, the stronger they become. The "The Transcended Ones" story tells that without a supply of new Aura, a Kami eventually disappears. This is also the reason some Kami engage in public Divine Conflict.
- Haunted House: The Lost Doll's Manor is a house filled with Stigma and is also rumored to be haunted by a child's ghost. Being scared by a crawling Creepy Doll is only the start of the misadventures.
- How We Got Here: The manga jumps from mid-fight with Ayame to a few days prior.
- I Know Mortal Kombat: Fubuki learned some fighting moves and how to investigate a Haunted House from video games and anime.
- Instantly Proven Wrong: Fubuki asks Mio is she's too scared to go to Oeyama Shrine alone. She puts a brave front, goes alone, then on the next panel decides to wait for Fubuki.
- Jurisdiction Friction: The Patrol Company is a squad that serves as the police in Kyo-no-Miyako, but they distrust the Inari Clan who have the same duties due to some past grudge.
- Magic by Any Other Name: Magical abilities by Ayakashi are called "arts".
- Missing Child: A few children have gone missing from Kyo-no-Miyako, so Fubuki and Mio are sent to investigate.
- Mood Whiplash: Chapter 1-2 starts with the lighthearted tone of the second chapter, continuing Fubuki's quest for instant Fox's Delight udons. As a young girl buys all rations, Fubuki asks her for one, only for the next panel to reveal her Stigma-covered neck. This is accentuated by the panel's significantly darker coloring, and the fact that it is the first panel of the next page.
- Not Evil, Just Misunderstood:
- The boss doll of the haunted mansion, Nue, didn't meant to scare the duo, she just tried to ask for help but couldn't communicate in another way than to lure the two inside.
- In the manga prologue Fubuki and Mio fight Ayame. The "Hunting the Oni of the Oeyama Mountains" story published earlier provides additional context that Ayame was accused of kidnapping children, but it allegedly turns out to be a misunderstanding of some sort. Chapter 10 confirms it.
- Not So Stoic: Shou of the Patrol Company loses her haughty attitude when Mio asks her politely to leave matters to her.
- One-Winged Angel:
- The squirrel Ayakashi gets Combat Tentacles and More Teeth than the Osmond Family as the fight with Fubuki progresses.
- After being separated from Tsumugi's mother, Jorougumo enters a much more monstrous form that draws from the Shard of Magatsu in its possession in place of its former host to maintain its existence. By all accounts though, Jorougumo itself technically counts, at least in comparison to Tsumugi's mother channeling its power.
- Our Humans Are Different: Holonometria claims that beast/Ayakashi hybrids are still called humans despite being Little Bit Beastly.
- Outcast Refuge: There are some Yokai who aren't corrupted by Stigma that much, but being non-humanoid means they can't live outside of Oeyama Shrine.
- Paint It Black: A subtle case whenever humans are corrupted by especially powerful Stigma, with them gaining a black aura and black Tainted Veins that appear to only be visible to Kami. A much more blatant case is when an Ayakashi becomes stigmatized, if the squirrel Ayakashi fought by Fubuki is any indication.
- Parasol of Pain: Jorougumo's silk umbrella acts as both a shield and a trap.
- Parody Product Placement: Fubuki plays on a Nintendo Switch, which can produce 8K graphics on TV.
- Physical God: Holonometria claims that the most powerful Ayakashi are called Kami, capable of ruling the land, being subjects of worship or summoning. Fubuki is one of them and acts like a security force to a nearby village.
- Pieces of God: Chapter 17 introduces the Shards of Magatsu, dark magatama jewels brimming with Stigma. These are actually fragments of Magatsuhi-no-kami's own dark power, and allow youkai of pure Stigma like Jorougumo to keep physically existing without necessarily needing a human host.
- Pinky Swear: In Chapter 6's flashback Fubuki and Mio exchange a pinky swear to play together. Mio recalls it when Fubuki gets abducted.
- The Power of Friendship: According to Mio, the Tracing is stronger when she thinks about her bond with Fubuki and the bond between tracing's target and their anchor object.
- Sore Loser: On the next day Ayame tries to imply that Mio dropkicking her and managing to get past her doesn't count as a loss.
- Super-Hearing: Fubuki's fox ears can hear someone's cry for help from far away.
- "Super Sentai" Stance: In Chapter 13 Mio and Fubuki spawn a sudden Dramatic Spotlight to introduce themselves with a symmetric pose. Ayame is very confused.
- Third-Person Person: Ayame refers to herself with "I" instead of "me".
- Trademark Favorite Food: In Yamato Phantasia Fubuki gets distracted by the in-game depiction of Fox's Delight Udon, specifically instant noodle one. In the "Just Another Day at Mizore's Kitchen" story Fubuki and Mio order Fox's Delight Udon and Chicken Tail Special respectively despite Mizore asking to try something else for once.
- Trailers Always Spoil: The supplementary side-stories spell out that Ayame is Not Evil, Just Misunderstood months before it's confirmed in the manga.
- Training Montage: The EX chapter shows Miko putting the three protaogonists through a harsh physical training before the idol concert.
- Troubled Backstory Flashback: Mio is asked if she can use her divination for tracing a missing person. It's not shown who scared her when she tried that as a child, but she denies knowing such ability.
- Running Gag: In "Just Another Day at Mizore's Kitchen" story Fubuki is asked if she's really not a cat. She yells that she's not. In Yamato Phantasia she's repeatedly called a catgirl as well.
- Wham Shot: The young girl at the beginning is affected by rampant quantities of Stigma, as shown wordlessly at the beginning of chapter 1-2.
- When She Smiles: In the flashback Mio was perpetually depressed until Fubuki plays a game with her and gets a laugh out of her.
- World Tree: Kyo-no-Miyako features a spiritual tree that as tall as the town is wide.
- Writing Around Trademarks: In the "Contest of Strength at Senjogahara" story, Fubiki and Mio fight in S*** Bros, then decide to see who's stronger for real.
- Wutai: Fubuki and Mio reside in a traditional Japanese-themed region called Yamato. It contains a city Kyo-no-Miyako featuring never-ending Cherry Blossoms season, Shirakami Shrine, and Oeyama Mountains.
- Youkai: Yes, despite Ayakashi and even some Kami already being youkai by some technicality, there are also beings explicitly referred to as such. As they are effectively the opposites of kami due to drawing power from Stigma as opposed to Aura, a Youkai in this setting is something of a God of Evil.
