The Year is 2035. Social distancing is still in effect; not out of necessity, but out of
choice. An entire generation of teenagers has seen more anime faces than human ones.
The new president has declared the USA a protectorate of Atlantis, a talking dog is the Japanese
Prime minister, climate change has been fixed and there are no more wars, obviously. 99%
of the world’s GDP goes to superchats. And all in all everyone’s pretty happy with
how things are going. Or else they get eaten by sharks.
So it’s exactly as voluntary as what we have now.
Speaking of, 2020 is when now actually is; and the beautiful future I just painted in
your mind is but one possibility of many laid out before us. Its potential cause? The precipitous
rise to prominence of VTubers. Which I predicted in my Kizuna Ai video 3 years ago, hence why
you should believe in everything I just said without question.
Though honestly, I never could have guessed how far this whole thing would come, especially
over this last year. Kizuna’s just another face in the crowd now – albeit a pretty
big one that’s on a lot of billboards and televisions. But her charming outbursts of
English profanity have been superceded in our collective culture by EEKUM BOKUM and
A. There are plenty of VTube Streamers who rival – and even surpass – her viewership
now, and more and more viewers every day are falling past her into the bottomless abyss
of Hololives, Nijisanjis, smaller agencies, and the endlessly swelling horde of indies.
Virtual Youtubers are the new apex predator of the streaming ecosystem, and… pretty
much everyone I know is eager to welcome our new anime overlords. I know I am. But I don’t
fully know why I am, so today, I’m gonna take a crack at figuring out what’s so special
about this whole thing, especially the Hololive girls, since they’re who I’m most familiar
with
But first, this Video is sponsored by Skillshare, an online learning community where creators
of all skill levels can… well it’s kinda right there in the name… Between quarantines
and winter vacation, a lot of us have a lot of free time on the horizon, and that’s
time that can be well spent paying artistic tribute to these virtual idols. And whether
you wanna immortalize your favourite VTubers in fanart, cut together a compilation of their
funniest moments, animate one of those moments for extra hilarity, or remix their songs into
new and funky forms, Skillshare is THE place to go to learn how to do it.
For instance, if you wanna compete in Mori’s next remix contest, DJ King Arthur’s course
“Remixing Dance Music: Digital Production Basics“ can help you figure out how to get
the killer mashup of your dreams out of your head and into your headphones. And it’ll
teach you how to get it into other headphones, too, with a whole section on sharing and legality,
in case you wanna leverage those skills toward making music of your own some day.
No matter your field, whether you’re a professional looking to up your game or an aspiring creator
wondering where to start it, Skillshare has a class for you, taught by experts. And they’re
always launching new premium courses, so you always have new places to go on your creative
journey. There is a lot to choose from, but they keep the site curated with education
in mind – meaning there are no ads to get in your way – and it still costs less than
ten bucks a month with an annual subscription. But if you act now, you won’t even have
to pay that up front. The first thousand people to sign up at the link in the dooblidoo will
get a free trial of their premium membership, so you can start learning the skills you need
to appease your new anime gods and explore your creativity today.
perhaps I’m getting a little ahead of myself. After all, some of you are probably here wondering
what the big deal with vtubers even is – and why your fealty to them is necessary and good
– in the first place. Why are they so popular all of sudden? Well… that much isn’t hard
to figure out. VTubers have been around for years now, and
it’s no coincidence that 2020 was the year of their ascendance. You know, on account
of the thing. A lot of people have been stuck inside, seeing less and less of their family
and friends – especially the far off ones they only see at cons - and more and more
of their TVs and computer screens, and while, believe me, I’ve tried, man cannot live
on video games and anime alone. We need human contact, or at least, an anime facsimile thereof,
playing video games. As Yazy said in our last podcast, being in
the chat of a big VTuber feels… oddly similar to the sense of anonymous inclusion you get
wandering around a con, or sitting in on a panel. For folks with social anxiety especially,
there’s something really… cozy about being in a crowd like that, where you can exist,
express yourself, and participate in something without being really… noticed, you know?
Of course, in theory, any kind of streamer could fill that void, but VTubers have a particular
appeal that sets them apart: they’re anime. And anime is inherently cooler than real life!
Also less real, which can help a lot with the anxiety. Where your typical twitch affiliate
seeks to create a vibe akin to hanging with your gaming buddies, VTube Streams – especially
collabs – better resemble the slice of life atmosphere of a Moe after school club.
Which can be easy to misconstrue, just like moe club shows. From the outside looking in,
it can look a lot like nerds simply simping for their 2D crushes. And that’s definitely
a factor, especially when it comes to superchats and character merch. But we don’t *just*
watch Moe slice of life stuff to see cute blobs jiggle. For most people, the true appeal
of these shows – and these streamers – lies in watching fun, larger than life personalities
have fun doing fun things. It’s escapism at its simplest and most joyous, here made
interactive and immediate. Which isn’t easy. If you’re not already
into VTube, it’s important to understand that these live2D avatars aren’t just filters
over standard facecam. They’re digital puppets, controlled by the streamer’s expressions
– and a few hotkeys - and the top hololive VTubers, Gura and Korone, are both REALLY
good at exaggerating those expressions and their movements to make those puppets feel
alive. Successful VTubers also give their all to the vocal side of the performance,
to imbue their characters with more… character. It takes a lot of talent – and a keen sense
of comic timing – to do this job well. Have confidence. No confidence
These exaggerated, animated personalities give each VTuber and their community a distinct
vibe; and with the wide variety of characters out there, it’s all but guaranteed that
any potential viewer will find at least one channel they can vibe with. A lot of folks
enjoy the chaotic, shitposty Bart Simpson energy of Gura’s streams, some prefer the
laid-back, soothing atmosphere of Ina’s drawing sessions, and others deeply appreciate
Amelia’s patented blend of real gamer skill and real gamer toxicity.
“It looks like they’re gonna try to go for the hunt and not for the kill because
what’s the point they already won the game OH! looks like they are gonna go for the plant
even though it’s pretty much in the bag for them no plant even needed THAT’S RIGHT
gonna take out the Sova what a surprise…” “My brain is mellllllltiiiing…”
Personally, I just appreciate no longer being the worst anime chess streamer.
Also she’s definitely got the best taste in anime and manga out of the Holomyth squad.
Like, Mob Psycho, Made in Abyss, The Promised Neverland,*Deca-Dence.* Between Bubba and
Pipe that’s some good taste in dogs too. Kiara’s probably got her beat in JRPG taste,
and her open, positive personality mixes well with everyone she collabs with, and makes
it a lot of fun to watch her fail and learn in games on her own. Callie, uh, does a lot
of that too, with her own upbeat attitude. Though I think most people appreciate her
attitude and beats in a different context. “Trapped in a stasis- I hate this, I haven’t
taken a life in like ages, okay. This is Heinous, but wait, look at me now! Try’na get souls
and I just found out how! Put up a shroud, Stream for the crowd, Play up the game and
the viewers could bow!” There’s something for… pretty much everyone
between the five of them. And DEFINITELY everyone when you add in the dozens upon hundreds of
Japanese and foreign streamers under the hololive banner and beyond.
If you wanna revel in the simple Joy of gaming, it’s hard to resist Korone’s enthusiasm.
If you like clowning around – or whole-damn circussing around – then Polka’s zany
gaming streams will delight you. It’s especially fun watching her play Among Us because she
just… constantly seems like she’s up to something. On the other hand, Pekora IS constantly
up to something. And everyone knows it, which you’d think would undermine her mischief.
But she knows how to turn that suspicion to her advantage. She’s a master of psychological
warfare. “So where are you?”
“huuh, well, if I tell you, you might get even more anxious, maybe”
“Where are you?” “The foot of the snowy mountain. PEKO PEKO
PEKO PEKO Why don’t you try your best and catch up? I’m looking forward to your VR
horror stream Peko peko peko” “Shut up! Damnit this is the worst!”
It’s hard not to get attached to a favourite or two if you spend any amount of time watching
these girls stream. Though it’s worth noting that there are a lot of fun, underappreciated
personalities on the male “holostars” side as well. Roberu the bartender has a pure,
direct charm that makes his English among us streams a lot of fun, and I deeply, DEEPLY
relate to his undying thirst for Pyra in xenoblade 2.
“Subarashi! *parched noises*” On that note, there’s a practical benefit
to the wide range of VTubers, beyond appealing to a broad audience – it makes it easy to
avoid whatever aspects of the larger community *don’t* appeal to you.
Most VTubers sit in a comfortable PG middle ground between all-ages and adult-oriented
content, where they can traffick in innuendo and double entendre for the sake of humor,
without doing anything suggestive enough to make anyone who’s not *here for that* feel
uncomfortable. Of course, these are anime girls on the internet; some people are absolutely
here for that. And some of those people might be inclined to push that, through thirst chatting,
on viewers and streamers who aren’t. Which is where more, uh, overt creators like Hololive’s
Marine come in. “Senchou!!”
“Ahoy!” “Ahoy!”
“How are ya?” “I’m HORNYYY!”
“A.” They give the viewers who are “Woah, actually
horny?” a place to congregate, express themselves, share… fanart, and mingle with their own
kind. An outlet, if you will. And when these streamers collaborate, they can serve as the
butt of the others’ “go to jail for horny crimes” jokes, subtly setting boundaries
for anyone who finds a new favourite through the collab.
It helps – quite a bit – that respecting these boundaries seems to be more or less
the norm among VTube viewers, when the opposite is so often the case in the world of streaming
and parasocial relationships at large. It’s all too common for fans of online personalities
to become over-familiar with their faves, and expect really unfair things of them, but
VTube avatars serve as an additional barrier between creator and audience, and in general,
fans discourage each other from trying to break through that. Even if the true identity
of a vtuber’s “soul” is an open secret, it’s generally taboo to bring it up.
I don’t know if that’s motivated by respect on every fan’s part, per se. I think it’s
more likely that some of them just don’t want others breaking the “illusion” of
the character for them. But the result is positive either way; obsessive, possessive,
intrusive fans are pushed to the fringes of the community, where – usually – they
do less harm. And because everyone’s already invested in playing along with the character,
they’re a little more inclined to play along with other rules too.
That’s not to say the VTube community’s free of toxicity and disrespect. Ha. Ha. It
is to laugh. But in general, the atmosphere is more positive and inviting than… most
online spaces I’ve been in. At least when it comes to big, “officially sanctioned”
streamers. It can be rough for independent creators who don’t have a big audience or
an agency to back them up, but even then, the community is keen to welcome new voices,
and push back against the small but vocal minority of gatekeeping assholes at its periphery.
Be they Chumbuds or Deadbeats, most VTube fans are united by a drive to protecc and
support. By its very nature this new interactive medium
widens the gap between performer and persona, without making the audience feel *detached*
from either. And I find that layer of accepted unreality makes certain enduringly popular
game commentary “genres” a little more enjoyable, at least for me.
Take horror games; it is just plain fun to watch people wander nervously down dark hallways
and get jump scared, but most of these games leverage tropes and follow patterns that get…
old after a while. You become desensitized to these kinds of scares. And when real, 3D
streamers make them their bread and butter, it gradually becomes harder and harder to
believe their reactions are completely genuine. They know you’re here to watch them panic
and make loud noises, and of course they’re gonna give the people what they want.
In my eyes those performative overreactions just… fit larger than life *characters*
like Okayu, Pekora, and Gura a lot better; you’re already primed to expect them to
perform. Screams that would sound obnoxious coming from a real human being… still sound
pretty obnoxious, honestly, but they feel like something an anime girl would naturally
do. And thanks to the collaborative nature of these streams, you do also get some…
very genuine reactions when they drag their less brave friends into a multiplayer spookemup.
But it’s another age-old youtube gaming staple – Minecraft Roleplay – that benefits
most from the suspension of disbelief that VTubers encourage. I have NEVER been able
to get into this kind of content before – as someone who waxes poetic about anime on the
internet I’m in no position to call anything “cringey,” but “in character” Minecraft
gameplay just doesn’t sit right with me… unless it involves vtubers.
There’s a powerful appeal in seeing all of these characters I enjoy inhabit a persistent,
shared space. It’s a solid compromise between my craving for continuity and my desire to
switch my brain off with truly pointless entertainment. And because I’ve already bought into their
*performance,* I’m not put off when they break into skits, or play along with “Pranks”
that likely wouldn’t make sense if I thought too hard about them.
I know that’s not a problem for everyone – we are talking about one of the most popular
youtube content formats ever here – But for me, as someone whose interest in Minecraft
has only ever extended to crazy redstone builds, it’s exciting to have that barrier broken
down. And it’s not just the new – to me – stuff
that’s more exciting when VTubers do it. Their crazy personalities make among us collabs
endlessly fun. And even games I’ve played and seen played a million times over, like
Super Mario Bros. and Banjo Kazooie somehow feel fresh and fun again in the hands of Korone
and… well, mostly Korone. I dunno man, there’s just something about her simple, universal
expressions of delight, exhilaration, and frustration that just… brings me right back
to discovering these games for the first time. She just… gets video games, you know?
“AHH, WOW!” “CHAINSAW WOW!”
“CHAINSAW! CHAINSAW! CHAINSAW! CHAAAAAINSAW!” “Wow… WOW!”
Her enthusiasm is infectious, and clearly authentic, even if it is being channeled through
a convincing performance as an aggressively excitable cartoon dog. Actually that might
be part of the nostalgia trip too. I can’t be the only one who gets, like, soft scooby
doo vibes from Korone, can I? Can’t you just see her going “reeheeheeheehee?”
Which I guess would make Okayu… Shaggy? Pekora’s gotta be Fred. Y’know. Traps
and all that. Hachaama’s scrappy, obviously. That’s about as far as I’ve thought this
out, but maybe someone out there will do something amazing with that scrap of an idea. It’s
not out of the question for the VTube Community. New and wonderful cartoons, compilations,
remixes, and illustrations inspired by these characters pop up all over the internet every
single day. These girls are inspiring creatorsof every stripe to express themselves, and the
quality and quantity of fun, beautiful, hilarious original and remixed content coming out of
this fan base is nothing short of inspiring. I mean, shoot, just look at all the reinterpretations
of that one Eekum Bokum cartoon. It’s so cool seeing a whole community of artists bouncing
off each other like this. It feels like a more internationally accessible
version of the vocaloid community – and there are even some miku miku dance animators
putting their considerable talents to use in the space.
Of course, I can’t talk about fan creators without acknowledging the IMMENSE contributions
that Fan-subbers have made to VTube as an international community. Before Hololive English
was a thing, these guys made it possible – almost singlehandedly – for the rest of us to be
VTube Fans at all. And even as the international market has grown and become more accessible,
their creative editing and subtitling choices have ensured that their compilations and clips
remain distinctly enjoyable in their own right, even if you’re tuning into streams daily.
Y’know, it’s one thing to watch Pekora deceive and betray her friends live. It’s
another to enjoy the highlights, with the correct combo inputs for her laugh annotated
on screen. “Ha ^ Ha v Ha > Ha < Ha ^ Ha.”
I don’t think the community would be anywhere near this vibrant if VTubers weren’t so
enthusiastic about encouraging their fans to create. All of them share fanart, edits
and animations on twitter, and some do entire streams focused on fan creations – Calliope’s
“Remix Party,” where she spotlighted the ten best remixes of her debut single, provided
a substantial buff to our driving playlist, and even taught me a thing or two about music
production. That’s the other thing – many of the Hololive
girls bring some serious artistic talent to the mix themselves – beyond the baseline
it takes to bring their avatars to life, I mean. As a hundred thousand plus people just
found out live a few weeks back, Gura’s got some SERIOUS pipes on her.
*Singing “Departure” by Masatoshi Ono* And Ina, for her part, is an exceptional illustrator.
Also her dad jokes are second to none. “Sorry I’m late.”
“Hi Late! I’m Ina~” I don’t wanna discount Amelia’s gaming
skills and showmanship, or Kiara’s ability to get other streamers to open up. Everyone
in the hololive stable is talented in their own right. But of course artists are going
to better appreciate the work that fans put into art AND understand the satisfaction they
get from making it. And that understanding created one of my favourite
moments in Hololive history: “I’ve also heard that…”
“A lot of people have been picking up drawing again, or picking up their hobbies again after
watching my stream…” “And uh…” *sniffles*
“AH! I’m sorry!” “It really makes me happy because... “
“That’s one of the biggest reasons that I wanted to do… Well I wanted to become
a Vtuber...” There’s nothing quite like being told that
your art has inspired someone else to create. In that clip you can see, in real time, a
real person’s life changing for the better. Not just in a material, “lotsa superchats”
way, but on a powerful, emotional level. Even behind an anime puppet.
I don’t wanna psychoanalyze anyone here, but that seems to be something Ina’s in
this for – making that connection with her audience, and fellow streamers. She even tells
her fans to save their superchat money so they can rent movies for watchalongs, which
is just… super cool of her. Despite the inherent distance between performer
and persona, in these long, improvised broadcasts it’s inevitable that the authentic human
being behind the vtuber bleeds through. And in a weird way, it can feel… more real than
a real person “just being themselves” in front of a webcam. Like, by adding the
filter of the avatar, the performance, you take away some of the more… deeply ingrained
filters that govern how we interact. Korone definitely plays up her attachment
to Okayu as a bit “I love you, too.”
*DESPERATE SCREECHING* “Okayu…”
“Okayu…” “Okayu!”
“Okayu!”
“Could you move more to the right, Subaru-chan?” “Sorry I mean to the left.”
“Just a little more!” “Just a little more!”
“OK! OK!” “HEY YOU!”
But there’s clearly a genuine friendship underpinning the kayfabe. When Korone talks
about how good Okayu is at reaching out to her and helping when she’s feeling down,
and when Okayu relates anecdotes about Korone getting… a bit clingy… it’s just so
personal and specific and relatable. I dunno, it makes me happy.
Though not as happy as watching them – and mio – be happy for a teary-eyed Fubuki when
she hit a million subs live on stream. “Sorry, it’s kinda awkward saying this
with this timing… As I was playing with everyone, I reached a million subs!”
*Evangelion “congratulations” circle* “Thank you! My tears are welling up!”
*laughter* “Sorry, I was wondering if I should say
it or not* “Of course you should tell us!”
*EVA climax continues* For all we joke, and “Joke” about Simping
for 2D waifus… I think it’s those human moments that draw most of us to VTubers and
keep us coming back.
They give people something personal to connect to. And without that connection, Vtubers lose
a lot of their power. There’s a reason Kizuna Ai isn’t at the forefront of this conversation
anymore: The Multiple AI Project. Activ8, the suits who own her image, tried to “duplicate”
Kizuna – creating different versions of the AI idol with different voices and designs.
Perhaps simply a measure to reduce the original’s workload and sustain the brand if something
happened to her… though suspicions began swirling that their true aim was to reduce
her control over the character. Either way, it backfired. For those who weren’t
super invested in Kizuna already, the change in direction made her seem less and less like
a character and more like a brand. And for those who were invested, the perceived sleight
against the soul of their favourite online persona… didn’t go over super well. Streams
began hemorrhaging viewers, speculation about the issue was banned from chat, and in an
effort to salvage things, Activ8 eventually created a new, dedicated management agency,
Kizuna Ai inc, with her officially-revealed original actress, Nozomi Kasuga, serving in
a highly-publicized advisory role. The lesson is clear: being virtual doesn’t
make vtubers replaceable; acting like the actor behind them is irrelevant does just
as much to break the parasocial spell as calling too much attention to them. And it takes away
the fans’ main reason to support them.
Vtubing allows people who might be self-conscious, or anxious, or otherwise averse to streaming
on camera to break out of their shell, find an audience, and maybe even make a living
in a way that wasn’t possible for them before. And it feels really good to be part of that,
even if it’s just as a spectator. Though of course, a lot of folks are gonna feel compelled
to contribute more directly, be it financially, or creatively. In the form of a superchat…
or an overlong video essay. It also feels good, of course, to connect
with other people who appreciate the same stuff you do. I’ve put my feelings about
VTubers out there, but this is a phenomena that transcends language, culture, and nationality,
so I know there are a million perspectives on it that I’ve never even considered…
so I’d love to hear your perspective in the comments below. And while you’re at
it, if you’d consider checking out one of my other video essays about less interactive
anime before you dive back into the endless ocean of Vtube content, I’d appreciate that
too. I’m Geoff Thew, Professional Shitbag, signing
out from my mother’s basement.