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[VTuber] thread: Yep, she's a duck; she's an orca; no, she's not a cat
MrBlarney
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
VTubers are online streamers who present themselves in the form of animated avatars. Everything that your typical YouTube or Twitch streamer does, you'll also see VTubers do.
Gaming streams? Of course.
Chat streams? Yep.
Art streams? Indeed.
Singing streams? Lovely.
So in terms of content and activities, there's really not much difference between virtual streamers and other traditional streamers. There are also cases where streamers have switched between virtual and real modes, or who actively stream using both modalities. One big benefit of the virtual streaming mode is that the virtual avatar allows for a streamer to have a distinct break between the performance they put on stream and the rest of their life they have off-stream. It can also provide a mask to let people who would otherwise be too shy or afraid to stream to be able to connect with others. A VTuber avatar can also act as a gateway to fantasy and provide an escape from the bounds of the ordinary world.
There's enough VTuber content being produced out there to fill an entire thread, and here we are. Share your favorite clips, promote current and upcoming streams, and spread the fun that can come with this new form of entertainment. Welcome to the rabbit hole, and enjoy your stay.
If you're coming into VTubers in the English-speaking world, it's probably going to be through one of the following three groups: Nijisanji, hololive, or VShojo.
One of the two major Japanese-based VTuber agencies, Nijisanji made its mark as a major force in establishing the current formula for VTubers: entertainers who broadcast live-streamed content using 2D avatars. It is also the largest agency by way of number of talents, numbering as of this post more than 170 across both their domestic and international branches. Notably, while most popular groups are generally composed of female-presenting avatars, Nijisanji has a large contingent of male streamers under their umbrella, a number of whom are among their most popular talents. While most VTuber groups will have male-biased fanbase, Nijisanji's leans much more equal in terms of supporter genders.
On the other hand, Nijisanji's international presence has been painted black with controversy. Throughout 2023, there have been a gradual stream of graduations (character retirements, in VTuber community terms) from both the English and former Indonesian branches. In February 2024, the English branch carried out an extremely contentious termination of their most popular female talent, Selen Tatsuki. The surrounding news and rumors suggest a major lack of support given to international talents, such as in managing opportunities and projects, or in maintaining positive relationships between talents. As of current writing, the reputation of the Nijisanji English branch is at a major nadir. Whether or not it will be able to put in the massive undertaking to raise its reputation back up is yet to be seen.
The other major Japanese-based VTuber agency is hololive, and is the agency with the largest international reach. Overseas clip translations, English-language interaction through bilingual talent Kiryu Coco, and the opening of their English-speaking branch in September 2020 has established hololive as many international viewers' reintroduction to VTubers outside of Kizuna Ai. (Kizuna Ai is the first major VTuber, who shaped the modern idea of a virtual streamer, and is the origin for the "Virtual Youtuber" name.) The "idol" moniker given to their talents might bring to mind singing, dancing, and variety shows. This isn't totally wrong: hololive has a much higher emphasis on music and performance than most other groups, and hardly a day goes by without some kind of variety program or music release, both in the form of cover songs and original songs. However, in terms of general activities, most of hololive's talents are not particularly different from other VTubers. The "idol" label does mean that they play things a bit safer than other major groups, but it also makes them a gentler starting point if you're getting familiar with what VTubers do.
Side note: while hololive is most-known for their female streamers under the hololive name, the agency also has a male streamer branch, holostars. In July 2022, holostars opened up an English-speaking group of male VTubers.
VShojo is an English-based collective established in November 2020. The agency carried a lot of presence straight from its inception, as most of its founding talents were already known from their independent VTubing activities and close associations with one another before the group was formally announced. Unlike other agencies, its opening talents maintained their original VTuber identities and personas when joining the group; the members who have left VShojo have also kept their IPs when departing. VShojo members usually livestream on Twitch, with their YouTube channels generally focused on archives and clips. VShojo also has a bit of a reputation for being quite a bit spicier than the two other Japanese-based agencies highlighted above.
There are dozens of VTuber groups out there beyond the three groups above. To briefly summarize a few select groups:
- JP: Brave Group produces multiple VTuber subgroups. The largest of these is VSPO!, whose members are focused on gaming and eSports.
- JP: 774 (nanashi) inc. is an assembly of multiple groups, which included Animare (animal-themed avatars), HoneyStrap, and Sugar Lyric (both demoness themed groups).
- EN: Prism Project, Phase Connect, and Production Kawaii are English-first agencies who popped up in the first half of 2021, riding the growing wave of interest in VTubers in the west. Interestingly, Phase Connect has recently made a play in the 'opposite' direction in terms of language focus, debuting a generation of Japanese-language talents in January 2024.
- HE/EN: Idol Corp does not shy away from the 'idol' branding of VTubers, the word being literally in the agency's name. At its outset in March 2022, Idol's first generation were a Hebrew-focused branch. However, their English-speaking branch, opened in November 2022, has since found a much larger foothold in terms of overall numbers.
Even beyond smaller groups and individual corporate VTubers, there are thousands of independent streamers who choose to present themselves with a virtual avatar. While there are still costs to be had in avatar artwork, model rigging, and software, those costs are not so insurmountable that VTubing is limited to an exclusive group. It is increasingly becoming just another style for content creators to put a face forward to their audience. Many artists for VTubers have created avatars for themselves and stream as VTubers in their own rights.
For the spotlighted groups, you can find links to their group pages in the introductory paragraphs above. But there are way too many other individuals and groups to link more comprehensively without the post getting too bloated or inevitably leaving some notable VTuber out. (I've already had to make many editorial decisions on who to highlight above.) There is a Virtual YouTuber Wiki on fandom.com, but that's a jungle to navigate.
For the most part, discovery comes from word of mouth; in this thread, we're mostly sharing streams and clips of our favorite talents -- not just from the major groups, but from smaller groups and indies. Stream links and clips are an invaluable resource for VTubers outside of the major groups to get discovered and gain visibility to a larger audience. Post your favorite indie, and maybe you'll give them a much appreciated new viewer to enjoy what they do.
You might also try diving into holodex.net, which provides a directory to current and upcoming VTuber streams. While it started out as a hololive-centric resource, it now covers Nijisanji and many smaller-group and independent VTubers on the YouTube platform. It's also a useful resource for those who are well into the VTuber rabbit hole, for watching multiple streams at the same time, such as during collaborations.
Minimize discussion of VTuber identities - In many cases, the Vtuber character exists as a separation between the streamer's front-facing entertainer persona and their private life away from the screen. Other VTubers will retire a persona to take up the mantle of a new character, as is often the case when someone joins a VTuber group or changes groups. A general rule of thumb used by the community at large is to put any discussion that connects an individual talent to their alternative faces in spoiler tags. People interested in VTubers will have different levels of engagement and desire in that kind of information, in some ways maintaining the escapism appeal of VTubers. The talents behind the characters themselves will also have different levels of personal connection between their roles, and different desires to connect their output streams together. It is often more exceptional when a talent puts up a low or no barrier between their different lives. If you're interested in a talent's work at large, that's research you can put in on your own time.
Keep content VTuber-relevant - It's a VTuber thread, so this point can feel a bit obvious. But in keeping within the ideas of the previous point, some content creators produce non-VTuber work that is disconnected from their VTuber content. Certainly, it can feel exciting to share all that a content creator is producing, in all its forms. However, there are likely more appropriate contexts for their non-VTuber output than this thread, so think about its relevance before you post. (If a content creator uses the same name and persona for VTuber and non-VTuber work, it's much closer to being fair game for this thread.)
Be thorough in your post's context - In the direct sense, this guideline suggests that you shouldn't just post a video link or social media content on its own. Make sure you add something to your post to let others know why they might be interested in what you've posted. In an indirect sense, the internet has strange incentives and is sometimes broken. Videos often have clickbait titles or thumbnails that are built towards The Algorithm. Twitter (or X, nowadays) no longer embeds properly, so you should be encouraged to post a transcript or screenshot of the post you want to share.
Source your translations - A lot of the most prominent VTubers hail from Japan, and so naturally stream and post on social media in Japanese. If you're posting a translation of a VTuber tweet, try to source your translation. This is especially important if you're relying on a machine translation: while services like Google Translate and DeepL have made great improvements in recent years, they still have lapses in context that can mislead or misinform. In addition, different clippers and translators have varying levels of individual proficiency with the languages they're going between. Citing your sources can be useful so that an appropriate weight can be put on how valid the translation is.
Avoid spreading unconfirmed rumors - Entertainment and being in the public eye brings with it the potential of unwanted drama, whether you're behind a virtual avatar or not. So if you want to discuss something of a serious nature, double-check that you're taking from reliable, and ideally, direct sources. Serious news is already tough enough to deal with on its own, but having it come from a place of uncertainty or rumors can bring about an needless and unnecessary rise in emotions. Remember that there are real people behind the avatars that have lives beyond the content that they put out!
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MrBlarney on
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There was a big EN/ID Crab Game collab a couple hours ago. #KroniiSweep
I do think there are some cheaper options, but the real question is if those places have a viable workforce. Generally speaking your better talents tend to move to the big gathering points for their field. So usually a fair bit of the remainder are leaving something to be desired in their output and it's why they are still there. Mind you, it's not all, you do get some that are solid and content with their current location or love their current location so much that they are willing to eat a pay cut to stay.
I would also argue that one advantage that Cover or really any Vtuber agency that gets big enough to setup an office in NA, has going for them in such an endeavor. Is that right now there isn't really a vtuber studio hub in the US. Yes, there are some areas they have great synergy with, but the industry is both fairly new and is currently very remote work friendly. So if they wanted to take the gamble, they could look into one of the cheaper locales and start integrating in as a key business. So locale X might not have the best setups now, but if a company plays their cards rights, it could be a very solid location in a few years. There is something to be said for the whole idea of "If you build it, they will come." That is certainly something we would see happen, where if someone build an office, you'd start to see people interested in the industry moving to the location. In fact, it might be a preferable move so that you don't have to compete with the more established industries for some of your workforce.
https://twitter.com/SocksAgency
I can't say I saw this one coming.
EVERYBODY WANTS TO SIT IN THE BIG CHAIR, MEG!
Bonus points for SrGrafo as art papa.
Anyways, have some Miosha in Phasmophobia:
Twitch | Blizzard: Ianator#1479 | 3DS: Ianator - 1779 2336 5317 | FFXIV: Iana Ateliere (NA Sarg)
Backlog Challenge List
korone turning technical difficulties into another legendary stream
lol snake on title.
By now the picture seems clear. They really let everybody fend by themselves with almost no support, so the whole thing went full Lord of the Flies.
Fucking Christ.
Fauna and Mumei were struck unprepared for Edward's powerful Spider Monkey techniques.
And could not resist the hypnotizing effects of the New Moom.
Now they look like this:
Nerissa and Iofi are are already converted to the ways of the Cullens, but Shiori will be starting fresh... is she going to be okay? Are we?
tl;dr, Twilight (1) watchalong tonight on Nerissa's channel with three members. New Moon two days from now, on Shiori channel. Once they're caught up, the Z fighters will all team up to face Parts 3 through 5 together.
Well that's a sign that Anycolor isn't likely to recover. It's not just an indication that there are more fires yet to be revealed from the depths of Nijisanji EN, but also a sign that the gloat of departures we've seen might just be the beginning. I mentioned earlier that once some stuff got out, I got a real vibe that the people with clout were essentially getting a free ride off the backs of everyone else. So things probably collapse with a huge exodus; especially, when the resources fall below what's needed to sustain everyone that had earned favor in Nijisanji EN's very toxic workplace. Sure they could in theory replace the lost work by getting a wave of suckers, but they are still losing the institutional knowledge, the new folks likely will have less vested in time that makes them willing to put up with the shit and people probably start turning on one another to ensure their career is the least impacted.
I'll say it again, anyone that is decent left in Anycolor, should absolutely look into getting the fuck out as quickly as possible because this probably gets even uglier behind the scenes. Mental well being is really important and the workplace there seems to be imbued with a rather malicious kind of toxicity.
Irys
Calli
Wosemi
Nah, she has a point here. If you're at home, eating popcorn with a spoon (or even better, imo, with chopsticks) leaves your hands clean to use your phone or the remote or whatever. Otherwise, you need to pause the movie to go wash them or leave a free hand to touch stuff with (or be super gross and cover your phone with butter and oil...)
Smart and keeps your hands clean to handle electronics.
EDIT: On departures from Niji, it has long been suspected that graduations were being delayed in order to make things not look as bad as they are, given that former talents talked about months before the actual graduation, and, if that's the case, then that goes double for everybody trying to leave after this.
Anyway, A-Chan got some new threads for her birthday.
But what is even the point of having popcorn at that point.
Granted, if I were one of the more recent waves and I wasn't seeing much benefit from staying and I absolutely did see what Anycolor is doing. If I was close enough to contract renewal, I might stay mum about wanting to end the contract. Maybe come up with some viable excuse to not resign before my last day. Then tell my viewers at the last minute that I'm not renewing my contract with Nijisanji EN because it's not in my best interests and that I'm sorry that things weren't conducive to giving them advanced notice and having a graduation stream. Once the contract conclude, there is fuck all that Anycolor can really do in the way of retaliation.
I mean, sure a talent could state up front they aren't going to resign, but I have this hunch depending on how things go. That Anycolor could do something really shitty and find some bullshit reason justify terminating someone early. If we look back at Zaion, Merei and Selen, we see that Anycolor can and will find a way to have a reason for either outright terminating someone or making them graduate early. I'm going to put odds on Anycolor being a petty enough, that ending a contract ends up being punitive for the talent involved. Also would not put it past them to hold the graduations hostage to force talents into agreeing to a pretty shit deal on the way out.
So I'd be surprised if Anycolor didn't find some way to dick with an entire wave where either all of them decide individually or in solidarity, to not renew. Not only to avoid having a more than one talent dip in a very short period of time but also losing face, while not getting to fuck them over one more time. Granted, they might suspect things if people aren't renewing, but they also might get distracted long enough by all the fires that they forget someone's contract is up for renewal and they haven't renewed.
I think Fuwamoco miss their streams more than the Ruffians do, Twitter Space right now.
man I really just love how much she is all about "I'm an office worker and my online persona is an office worker, so of course my background could be anything and I've chosen an 'ideal' version of an office worker's apartment and that's it'