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So @Grim Theft Auto told me to make this. And I'll have to give an introduction for anyone who doesn't know what we're talking about.
Basically, VTubers are streamers who use animated avatars and play to a specific character.
In a weird way, it's like wrestling - there's deeply-entrenched kayfabe, it's entertainment that happens in real-time and acknowledges its audience, and the line between the character and the performer can often be blurred. There's also companies that have a certain degree of rivalry - and as we've seen recently, there's the possibility for streamers from one company to end up in another.
The primary companies involved in VTubing are as follows:
hololive (Japan)
The Big Daddy of them all. If you've heard of a VTuber not called Kizuna AI, they're probably from here. hololive has often been identified as sticking strictly to the "idol" culture of Japan - basically, pure perfect multitalented women that are viewed as available, to maximise the obsession factor. As a result, pretty much every member will have made an original song of their own, and to avoid nutjobs speculating, the male members have historically been segregated off in a separate unit called holostars. Japanese, English, and Indonesian-speaking, though most of their ID members don't speak Indonesian regularly on stream until recently.
Nijisanji (Japan)
The other major VTuber company in Japan. They've been characterised by their major rapid expansion, having VTubers whose primary languages are Japanese, English, Korean, and Indonesian, and had a brief run with a branch in India. They were slower to adopt English-speaking VTubers than hololive were, but they've now got nearly double the number.
VShojo (USA)
Being the first major VTuber company that originated in the USA, they're easily the edgiest and least prudish of the lot, to say the least. (When one of your founder members openly does porn as a "Virtual Camgirl" on the side, that's natural). Mostly stream on Twitch as opposed to YouTube live streams. Mostly English-speaking, though they recently added two Japanese speaking members, who by their voices and mannerisms have been easily identified as former hololive members! It's the Monday Night Wars all over again.
idol corp (a bunch of places)
Minor VTuber company that's known for (1) having the median height of their talents be 4 ft 7 (bunch of microbes, I tell you) and (2) being the one that contains the shark-loving failprince herself, Rin Penrose, who became megapopular doing shorts and then doubled down on making her content even MORE niche. We love it.
There are other smaller companies, including WACTOR, Phase Connect, Re:ACT, production kawaii, and more. There's also a thriving independent scene featuring VTubers who aren't affiliated to any company.
So, what to discuss here? Recent happenings in the VTuber world, debuts, reveals, clips you particularly liked. Just be respectful, and don't try to dox the talents
Basically, VTubers are streamers who use animated avatars and play to a specific character.
In a weird way, it's like wrestling - there's deeply-entrenched kayfabe, it's entertainment that happens in real-time and acknowledges its audience, and the line between the character and the performer can often be blurred. There's also companies that have a certain degree of rivalry - and as we've seen recently, there's the possibility for streamers from one company to end up in another.
The primary companies involved in VTubing are as follows:
hololive (Japan)
The Big Daddy of them all. If you've heard of a VTuber not called Kizuna AI, they're probably from here. hololive has often been identified as sticking strictly to the "idol" culture of Japan - basically, pure perfect multitalented women that are viewed as available, to maximise the obsession factor. As a result, pretty much every member will have made an original song of their own, and to avoid nutjobs speculating, the male members have historically been segregated off in a separate unit called holostars. Japanese, English, and Indonesian-speaking, though most of their ID members don't speak Indonesian regularly on stream until recently.
Nijisanji (Japan)
The other major VTuber company in Japan. They've been characterised by their major rapid expansion, having VTubers whose primary languages are Japanese, English, Korean, and Indonesian, and had a brief run with a branch in India. They were slower to adopt English-speaking VTubers than hololive were, but they've now got nearly double the number.
VShojo (USA)
Being the first major VTuber company that originated in the USA, they're easily the edgiest and least prudish of the lot, to say the least. (When one of your founder members openly does porn as a "Virtual Camgirl" on the side, that's natural). Mostly stream on Twitch as opposed to YouTube live streams. Mostly English-speaking, though they recently added two Japanese speaking members, who by their voices and mannerisms have been easily identified as former hololive members! It's the Monday Night Wars all over again.
idol corp (a bunch of places)
Minor VTuber company that's known for (1) having the median height of their talents be 4 ft 7 (bunch of microbes, I tell you) and (2) being the one that contains the shark-loving failprince herself, Rin Penrose, who became megapopular doing shorts and then doubled down on making her content even MORE niche. We love it.
There are other smaller companies, including WACTOR, Phase Connect, Re:ACT, production kawaii, and more. There's also a thriving independent scene featuring VTubers who aren't affiliated to any company.
So, what to discuss here? Recent happenings in the VTuber world, debuts, reveals, clips you particularly liked. Just be respectful, and don't try to dox the talents
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