Virtual Youtubers - it's okay to be a simp for 2D, just don't thirstpost

[samuraicrack]

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- @5t3n0g0ph3r

"A virtual YouTuber (バーチャルユーチューバー, or VTuber) is an online entertainer, typically a YouTuber and/or live streamer, who is represented by a (usually anime-inspired) digital avatar generated by computer graphics."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_YouTuber

Anyone else been down into this rabbit hole? It first started with this meme video where an anime girl sings Scatman.

And from there on I watch like half of these streamers whenever I get bored or just watch the translated clips on YouTube.



Anybody else been getting into Virtual Youtubers as of late? Who's your favorite?

Friendly FAQ by @Deluxe:

Here's some questions that get asked all the time:

>Are they all actually men with voice changers?
All the popular ones are the gender they portray themselves as. There are male and female vtubers. Female vtubers are generally more popular. Getting away with faking your gender is very difficult to achieve for long periods of time, even with an anime avatar. Viewers already knew the streamer known as Noracat was a fat dude before the infamous video "outed" him. Nobody was tricked.

Some men do use female avatars, but they don't try to hide anything. They're called babiniku.

>Are they all Japanese?
The biggest ones are Japanese but there are bilingual and exclusively English speaking ones too. There are also indonesian, russian, chinese speakers that have smaller audiences.

>Why are they all lolis
Most of the popular ones aren't.

>Are they all pretending to be your girlfriend?
Some are, some aren't. Parasocial relationships are just as common as normal streaming. Some companies implicitly maintain idol conventions like Hololive. Other companies don't care and let their streamers date openly. Independent streamers can do whatever they want.

>Why do they hide what they look like IRL?
It depends on the streamer. Maybe it's part of their brand. Maybe they're shy. Maybe they value their privacy. Maybe they have a face fit for radio. Some don't care at all whether people know what they look like IRL. Vtubing is just an intermediate step between streaming without a facecam and streaming with one.

>What do they actually do in streams?
Not that different from your average twitch streamer for most. Mainly talk to the viewers, play games, collab with each other. Many of the popular ones produce ancillary content like music videos, 3D streams (streams using 3d motion capture) and even live concerts. The most popular vtubers in Japan are basically celebrities at this point and do press releases, tv appearances and marketing promotions.

>Who watches this shit?

For the largest Japanese corporate vtubers, the viewer demographics are predominantly single men, 18-30. Some vtubers have a high proportion of female fans though. People watch this shit for a variety of reasons that are too long to list, but for the casual viewer, it's because vtubers put out long form content that can be consumed passively that is currently in demand thanks to the current pandemic accelerating the atomization of modern society. Either that, or "lol funni anime girl said the n word".

 

[Guts Gets Some]

No, I've never heard of such things. And I'm horrified.

 

[samuraicrack]

No, I've never heard of such things. And I'm horrified.

They aren't bad.

 

[CivilianOfTheFandomWars]

Projekt Melody

 

[MemeGrey]

I like Korone, Pekora, Rushia, Shion and Elite Miko. I can't speak zipperhead so I only watch the translated clips.

Edit:

Korone's resident evil 4 playthrough is good

 

[MoffAlbert]

Partial to Kizuna AI, myself.

 

[epigenes]

I considered doing it myself but I refuse to use a shitty anime avatar and I don't want to learn Maya to animate my own cartoon character because that's far too much effort for YouTube

 

[samuraicrack]

Partial to Kizuna AI, myself.

Do many people even watch her that much anymore? She kinda died off in popularity a lot last I checked.

 

[MoffAlbert]

Do many people even watch her that much anymore? She kinda died off in popularity a lot last I checked.

I'm not sure, tbh. I haven't been paying attention to her numbers. I still watch her time to time, but definitely not as much as I used to.

 

[The Pink Panther]

Not weeb shit.

 

[millais]

Isn't there a funny video where the guy running one of these 3D anime girl stream things has a software glitch and it literally shows the man behind the curtain without the voice changer and anime render?

 

[MrWhoDat]

Isn't there a funny video where the guy running one of these 3D anime girl stream things has a software glitch and it literally shows the man behind the curtain without the voice changer and anime render?

I HAD to look that up, found it with "anime girl stream glitch" im sure the original is out there somewhere, timestamp video below

 

[XYZpdq]

I HAD to look that up, found it with "anime girl stream glitch" im sure the original is out there somewhere, timestamp video below

this is basically a cybertrap of the hyperfuture

 

[inexplicable ethos]

Personally I can't get through the day without listening to Watame no Uta.

 

[CakeCutey]

I see these everywhere. Not really my cup of tea.

 

[Bland Crumbs]

That scatman thing may be the most annoying thing I have ever heard and thus it is now my ringtone.

 

[Namesarehardtocomeupwith]

I like the fact that whatever shit happens, their face is just : D

 

[TardBows]

Elite Miko's my favorite. Her fail moments are pretty funny.

 

[DecimatedFerret]

Yubi yubi

 

[KiwiJoe]

My brother always watches this shit from a few rooms away on max volume and it always sounds like cats dying.