Virtual YouTuber, or VTuber, is a cultural phenomenon in recent years. It is widely accepted that Kizuna AI is the first YouTuber. From the beginning, they are just some individuals putting videos on YouTube using some kind of avatar. Now, there are several companies that are publicly traded in the VTuber industry. And you can even get VTuber collaboration goods at NFL events. It will be interesting to go deeper into this topic.
I didn’t watch much VTuber content, so the following are just my impressions on VTuber and not well-researched.
The beginning
Kizuna AI (キズナアイ), who first appeared in December 2016, is widely accepted as the first VTuber. I also watched some of her videos through YouTube recommendations. It’s funny at the time, and it’s really new. I will define VTuber in this era as some 3D characters acted by a real person via motion capture. And the focus is mainly on videos and not streaming. The motion capture technology partially came from the VR boom in this time period.
There is something called The Four Heavenly Kings of VTuber (バーチャルYoutuber四天王) in this era, including Kizuna AI (キズナアイ), Kaguya Luna (輝夜月), Dennou Shojo Siro (電脳少女シロ), Virtual Noja Loli Kitsunemusume Youtuber Ojisan (バーチャルのじゃロリ狐娘Youtuberおじさん) and Mirai Akari (ミライアカリ).
From this definition, we can even vaguely classify the animation gdgd Fairies (gdgd妖精s) in 2011, by Kotaro Ishidate (石ダテコー太郎) from YAOYOROZU(ヤオヨロズ), as a predecessor of VTuber. Parts of the anime are unscripted and all depend on the voice actors’ live actions. Kotaro Ishidate continues to produce more anime based on this concept with varied success. For example, Tesagure! Bukatsu-mono(てさぐれ！部活もの) in 2013 and Minarai Diva(みならいディーバ) in 2014. It’s coincidental that the animation director of Tesagure! Bukatsu-mono is Tatsuki(たつき), who will later be the famous director of the phenomenal anime series Kemono Friends (けものフレンズ).
There’s also a collaboration between NTT DOCOMO and China Mobile Migu to create a series called Live Animation Heart X Algorhythm (生放送アニメ 直感×アルゴリズム♪), which is still active as Tacitly now. (Might be the largest corporate VTuber if ranked by market cap of the parent companies.) By the way, Minarai Diva is also supported by NTT DOCOMO. What a circle!
Lots of VTuber at this time is actually run by a company with venture capital but hiding the fact, as we will see later.
Great success without a clear definition
With the greatest success of the beginners, a lot of people try to do similar things. However, the 3D modeling seems too expensive for individuals to start, so many VTubers at this time adopt Live2D, a technology mainly used in GALGAME at the time, to put an animated avatar as the characters. The now-famous Nijisanji started as a motion capture and streaming phone app, and the rest is history.
To catch the VTuber boom, there are many attempts by more traditional companies. Suntory created Suntory Nomu(燦鳥ノム) as their marketing character. Anime VIRTUALSAN - LOOKING (バーチャルさんはみている) was aired in 2019 but received terrible ratings. There is also a drama called Watanuki-san Chi No (四月一日さん家の) aired in 2019 with VTubers as actors.
The fuzzy definition of VTuber also causes some problems with itself. I think companies at this period still see VTubers as similar to anime characters that they have complete control over, which will be deemed wrong later. The company behind Kizuna AI, Activ8, created more characters, calling them variants of Kizuna AI. With the reduced appearance of the original Kizuna AI, fans began to question whether the company wants to replace the original actor. The incident makes fans realize that Kizuna AI is fully controlled by the company, and what they really love is the actor behind the VTuber, not the script writer or the company. In short, fans treat VTubers as their idols, and companies treat VTubers as their creation. The difference between what companies want to do and what fans want to see creates great controversy, resulting in the long break period of Kizuna AI.
The Chinese variants of Kizuna AI also run into some political problems. Hololive also tried to expand to China and then got entangled with sensitive political issues, which resulted in the abandonment of the Chinese branch and the retirement of Kiryu Coco(桐生ココ). Coco later debuted as kson, doing both VTuber style and real streaming. Reflecting the fuzzy definition of VTuber. The politics-related problems will continue to doom the Chinese expansion of international VTuber companies to the present day.
The streamer era
The elephant in the room is the global lockdown due to the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak. People are suddenly stuck at home with nothing to do, and have few social interactions. Gaming, streaming, and other entertainment industries filled the gap and saw incredible success during this time. It will also cause problems with the production of more video-based VTuber content, as the required motion capture needs to be done in specialized studios.
More VTubers will focus on livestreaming, using phones as motion capture devices, and streaming from their own room. It becomes rare that you see a VTuber who is more focused on videos. VTubers became more like other streamers and are not limited to YouTube, but expanded to other streaming platforms like Twitch. This is natural, as most VTubers have previous experience with streaming on Niconico Live (ニコニコ生放送) or other platforms. VTubers got more international recognition at this time and expanded to more countries and languages. To the point that we even get a hololive night at Dodger Stadium. The once-famous The Four Heavenly Kings are relatively minor compared to VTubers from hololive or Nijisanji these days.
Controversy
What will a bunch of people hanging around on the internet create? Controversies. With complex interactions between the actor, the company, and fans. From the early days of individuals to current-day public-traded corporations like Hololive and Nijisanji, the history of VTubers is filled with controversies. Fans will generally lean towards the actor while also treating them as idols. Sometimes, it backfires when the actor misses fans’ expectations of an idol. There is an extreme case when Mikeneko (みけねこ) argues with others online and works under several different names.
I also experience controversies with my favorite unit, UNICreate. UNICreate started as a studio providing motion capture and other VTuber-related services. Akatsuki UNI (赤月ゆに) debuted in April 2018 as the company’s president. The main activity includes daily videos, “Today in history” on Twitter, and a weekly radio program. Mochizuki Himari (餅月ひまり) debuted in October 2019 as an independent VTuber and later joined UNICreate in April 2020. Her main topic was adult gal games, and her preference is relatively hard-core even in adult games. Their contents are mainly full-motion captured videos, and they call themselves YouTubers. I started subscribing to them in 2020, as their topic is funny.
The issue started in about 2022, when the CEO of UNICreate came forward and reported that their audition had no candidates pass. Zutsuki Tsukuru (図月つくる) will later join UNICreate in April 2022, scouted by Himari. Her video will be mainly DIY focused. UNICreate will then form the group Liverary to separate it from the VTuber service branch. Then, there is some staff change in the background, and the schedule miss became more frequent with less activity from Uni. Mutsuki Memori (無月めもり) then joined Liverary in February 2023, and her topic was mainly about conspiracy theory and extrasensory perception. At this time, there are some issues with the crowdfunding project of Himari. The main helper, Bamboo from OVERDRIVE, openly criticizes the practice of UNICreate. The schedule is becoming more tiring, with fewer appearances of Uni and Himari and an increasing rate of missing the timetable. Then Uni will reappear later in June. However, it is noticed by fans that the actor has changed.
The whole situation will intensify as the talents exit one by one in 2023. With the crowdfunding project still in progress, the staff from UNICreate will come out blaming the actor of Himari, and even get an interview with Shūkan Bunshun (週刊文春). But fans have lost their trust in the company. Staff continue to argue with fans on its official channel. The leaked information from the heated exchange shows that the company made a mistake similar to Kizuna AI, thinking the success of VTubers is from the script, and the actor can be replaced. It also reveals that Mochizuki Himari comes from a failed project by Dentsu (電通), and UNICreate brought the related IP. UNICreate gradually dissolves while finally delivering the crowdfunding project CD in 2025.
Ironically, the most famous video from Uni is a video about how VTubers will get into controversies and break down, but later herself resulted in a similar ending. As a comment said:
Sometimes knowing everything that can go wrong cannot prevent it from happening anyway.
― Video comment
All previous Liverary members have reappeared on YouTube, as Amane Kokon (狐今あまね), Fuyu Kurumi (胡桃ふゅ), Mizuno (みずの), Michiru Kitazima (喜多嶋みちる) and Rami Mirai (未來らみ), with varied topics. Best wishes to them.
Future look
The foundation of this industry is laid by the boom of VR and small companies. Now it’s mature enough that everyone can get started with relatively low cost. There seems to be a recent trend of large VTubers exiting the company, restarting as an independent VTuber, and bringing their fans with them. It’s understandable as the basic activity is just like streamers can be done by oneself, as the viewer doesn’t expect to see 3D motion characters. The actor can have a higher cut and more freedom in their schedule. Just like Vocaloid enabled more people to be musicians like Hachi. The technology around VTuber enabled more people to be streamers and content creators without exposing themselves. However, streaming itself is a challenging job. Talking to a camera and finding interesting topics on the run is not easy, and the audience can be very harsh. The constant entry and retirement are inevitable. As a viewer, I could only suggest following the old saying.
Ichi-go ichi-e (一期一会) - Treasure every encounter, for it will never recur.
― Sen no Rikyū (千利休), 茶湯者覚悟十躰
VTuber recommendation
After all this talk, I want to recommend some of my favorite VTubers.
- Clear Usui (宇推くりあ): VTuber that focuses on space and rocket-related stuff. Do rocket launch streams and explanations of technical details in Japanese. Have collaborated with space-related entities like H3 Rocket, Quasi-Zenith Satellite System, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and the Cabinet Office of Japan.
- Uparu Anew (亞生うぱる): Sony VEE member. Video topics are fishing, DIY, and cooking. Kind of Denpa-kei.
- Hairpin Mamire (ヘアピンまみれ): Video-based VTuber with a topic mainly about DIY and very educational.
- Neurosama: I don’t watch many of its streams, honestly. Vedal has definitely shown the world that it is possible to create AI content that is loved by people. His constant effort is what makes Neurosama special.