![伏見ガク](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/%E4%BC%8F%E8%A6%8B%E3%82%AC%E3%82%AF.png)
A , or , is an online entertainer who uses a virtual
avatar
Avatar (, ; ), is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means "descent". It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, goddess or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appearanc ...
generated using
computer graphics
Computer graphics deals with generating images with the aid of computers. Today, computer graphics is a core technology in digital photography, film, video games, cell phone and computer displays, and many specialized applications. A great de ...
. Real-time motion capture
software
Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work.
At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...
or technology are often—but not always—used to capture movement. The digital trend originated in Japan in the mid-2010s, and has become an international online phenomenon in the early 2020s. A majority of VTubers are English and Japanese-speaking
YouTuber
A YouTuber is an online personality and/or influencer who produces videos on the video-sharing platform YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006.
Influence
Influent ...
s or
live streamers
An online streamer or live streamer is a person who broadcasts themselves online through a live stream to an audience.
History
Streaming arose in the early 2010s, originating on sites like YouTube where users could upload videos of themselves i ...
who use avatar designs. By 2020, there were more than 10,000 active VTubers.
Although the term is an allusion to the video platform
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
, they also use websites such as
Niconico,
Twitch
Twitch may refer to:
Biology
* Muscle contraction
** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation
** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction
** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle con ...
,
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
,
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
and
Bilibili
Bilibili (stylized bilibili), nicknamed B Site, is a video sharing website based in Shanghai where users can submit, view and add overlaid commentary on videos. Since the mid-2010s, Bilibili began to expand to a broader audience from its origi ...
.
The first entertainer to use the phrase "virtual YouTuber",
Kizuna AI
is a Japanese virtual YouTuber (VTuber) currently part of Kizuna AI Inc., a subsidiary of digital entertainment company Activ8. From her debut in 2016 until 2021, she was the most subscribed VTuber on Youtube, with more than 4 million subsc ...
, began
creating content on
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
in late 2016. Her popularity sparked a VTuber trend in Japan, and spurred the establishment of specialized agencies to promote them, including major ones such as
Hololive Production
is a virtual YouTuber agency owned by Japanese tech entertainment company Cover Corporation. In addition to acting as a multi-channel network, Hololive Production also handles merchandising especially in music production and concert organizati ...
,
Nijisanji
Nijisanji (Japanese: にじさんじ) is a virtual YouTuber agency owned by AnyColor Inc. (formerly Ichikara Inc., changed 17 May 2021) The agency was founded in 2018 with the purpose of promoting the use of Live2D models and streaming as oppo ...
and
VShojo
VShojo (officially VShojo, Inc.) is a VTuber company based in the United States. VShojo bills itself as a "talent first" VTuber agency, oriented towards providing resources (such as models, merchandising, and advertisement opportunities) to ...
.
Fan translations and foreign-language VTubers have marked a rise in the trend's international popularity. Virtual YouTubers have appeared in domestic advertising campaigns, and have broken livestream-related world records.
Overview
![Mirai Akari](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Mirai_Akari.png)
Virtual YouTubers (although more commonly referred to as VTubers) are online entertainers who are typically
YouTuber
A YouTuber is an online personality and/or influencer who produces videos on the video-sharing platform YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006.
Influence
Influent ...
s or
live streamers
An online streamer or live streamer is a person who broadcasts themselves online through a live stream to an audience.
History
Streaming arose in the early 2010s, originating on sites like YouTube where users could upload videos of themselves i ...
. They use avatars created with programs such as
Live2D
Live2D is an animation software developed by Live2D Ltd. It can be used to generate real-time 2D animations, usually anime-style characters, using layered, continuous parts based on an illustration, without the need of frame-by-frame animation ...
, portraying characters designed by online artists. VTubers are not bound by physical limitations, and many of them engage in activities that are unconstrained by their real-world identity.
Some VTubers, particularly those from
marginalized
Social exclusion or social marginalisation is the social disadvantage and relegation to the fringe of society. It is a term that has been used widely in Europe and was first used in France in the late 20th century. It is used across discipline ...
communities, choose to use avatars to reflect their
online identity
Internet identity (IID), also online identity or internet persona, is a social identity that an Internet user establishes in online communities and websites. It may also be an actively constructed presentation of oneself. Although some people cho ...
for personal comfort and safety reasons.
Transgender
A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...
VTubers may use their avatars as a means to better reflect their preferred presentation to their audience.
VTubers often portray themselves as a
kayfabe
In professional wrestling, kayfabe, as a noun, is the portrayal of staged events within the industry as "real" or "true", specifically the portrayal of competition, rivalries, and relationships between participants as being genuine and not staged. ...
character, not unlike
professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...
;
Mace, a
WWE
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...
wrestler who himself began streaming on Twitch as a VTuber in 2021, remarked that the two professions were "literally the same thing".
VTubers are associated with
Japanese popular culture
Japanese popular culture includes Japanese cinema, cuisine, television programs, anime, manga, video games, music, and doujinshi, all of which retain older artistic and literary traditions; many of their themes and styles of presentation can be ...
and aesthetics, such as
anime
is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
and
manga
Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...
,
and
moe anthropomorphism
is a form of anthropomorphism in anime and manga where '' moe'' qualities are given to non-human beings (such as animals, plants, supernatural entities and fantastical creatures), objects, concepts, or phenomena. In addition to ''moe'' feature ...
with human or non-human traits.
Some VTubers use
anthropomorphic
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology.
Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...
avatars, non-human characters such as animals.
Technology
A VTuber's avatar is typically animated using a
webcam
A webcam is a video camera which is designed to record or stream to a computer or computer network. They are primarily used in videotelephony, livestreaming and social media, and security. Webcams can be built-in computer hardware or peripheral d ...
and software, which
captures the streamer's motions, expressions, and
mouth movements, and maps them to a two- or three-dimensional model. Both free and paid programs have been developed for loading models and performing motion capture, with some capable of being used without a webcam (albeit with pre-determined animations), and some also supporting
virtual reality
Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), educ ...
hardware, or
hand tracking
In the field of gesture recognition and image processing, finger tracking is a high-resolution technique developed in 1969 that is employed to know the consecutive position of the fingers of the user and hence represent objects in 3D.
In additio ...
devices such as the
Leap Motion Controller.
Some programs use
iPhone smartphones—particularly, those that include
Face ID
Face ID is a facial recognition system designed and developed by Apple Inc. for the iPhone and iPad Pro. The system allows biometric authentication for unlocking a device, making payments, accessing sensitive data, providing detailed facial ex ...
—as an external webcam, using their
infrared
Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from around ...
-illuminated sensor for more precise motion capture.
The animation software
Live2D
Live2D is an animation software developed by Live2D Ltd. It can be used to generate real-time 2D animations, usually anime-style characters, using layered, continuous parts based on an illustration, without the need of frame-by-frame animation ...
is typically used to
rig two-dimensional models constructed from drawn textures, while programs such as VRoid Studio can be used to create three-dimensional models.
Commissioned models can cost as high as
US$
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
2,000 depending on their level of detail.
By contrast, some VTubers, colloquially known as "PNGTubers" (in reference to the
PNG image format), use static
sprites as opposed to a rigged model.
Agencies and commercialization
Major VTubers are often employed by
talent agencies
Talent has two principal meanings:
* Talent (measurement), an ancient unit of mass and value
* Talent (skill), a group of aptitudes useful for some activities; talents may refer to aptitudes themselves or to possessors of those talents
Talent may ...
, with business models influenced by those used by
Japanese idol
An is a type of entertainer marketed for image, attractiveness, and personality in Japanese pop culture. Idols are primarily singers with training in acting, dancing, and modeling. Idols are commercialized through merchandise and endorsements b ...
agencies. Streamers are employed by an agency to portray characters developed by the company, which are then commercialized via merchandising and other promotional appearances, as well as traditional revenue streams such as
monetization of their videos, and viewer donations. The use of the term "graduation" to refer to a streamer retiring their character and/or leaving an agency, is also a holdover from the idol industry.
History
Predecessors
On 12 February 2010,
visual novel
A , often abbreviated as VN, is a form of digital semi-interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with and used in the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with sta ...
maker
Nitroplus
Nitroplus Co., Ltd., currently styled as NITRO PLUS, formerly stylized as nitro+, and formerly known as "OKStyle", is a Japanese visual novel video game developer that has developed a number of visual novels, including eroge. They also have been ...
began uploading videos to its YouTube channel featuring an animated 3D version of its mascot
Super Sonico, who would usually talk to the audience about herself or about releases related to the company. On 13 June 2011, UK-based Japanese
vlogger
A video blog or video log, sometimes shortened to vlog (), is a form of blog for which the medium is video. Vlog entries often combine embedded video (or a video link) with supporting text, images, and other metadata. Entries can be recorded in ...
Ami Yamato
Ami Yamato (born October 26 in Tokyo, Japan) is a Japanese virtual YouTuber, virtual YouTube vlogger. In her videos, she vlogs from the perspective of a 3D animation, 3D-animated character who does not seem to realize that she is animated. She is ...
uploaded her first video, which featured an animated, virtual avatar speaking to the camera.
In 2012, Japanese company Weathernews Inc. debuted a
Vocaloid
is a singing voice synthesizer software product. Its signal processing part was developed through a joint research project led by Kenmochi Hideki at the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, Spain, in 2000 and was not originally intended to b ...
-styled character called Weatheroid Type A Airi on SOLiVE24, a 24-hour weather live stream on
Nico Nico Douga, on YouTube and their website. In 2014, Airi got her own solo program every Thursday and began live broadcasting with
motion capture
Motion capture (sometimes referred as mo-cap or mocap, for short) is the process of recording the movement of objects or people. It is used in military, entertainment, sports, medical applications, and for validation of computer vision and robo ...
.
In 2014 the FaceRig indie software launched on Indiegogo as an EU crowdfunding project, and later that year it was released on Steam becoming the first software suite that enabled live avatars at home via face motion capture that started being actively used on streaming websites and YouTube. The Live2D software module enabling 2D avatars and was added one year later in 2015 in collaboration with Live2D, Inc.
Breakout
![VShojo Logo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/VShojo_Logo.svg)
In late 2016,
Kizuna AI
is a Japanese virtual YouTuber (VTuber) currently part of Kizuna AI Inc., a subsidiary of digital entertainment company Activ8. From her debut in 2016 until 2021, she was the most subscribed VTuber on Youtube, with more than 4 million subsc ...
, the first VTuber to achieve breakout popularity,
made her debut on YouTube. She was the first to coin and use the term "virtual YouTuber". Created by digital production company Activ8 and voice-acted by Nozomi Kasuga,
Kizuna AI created a sense of "real intimacy" with fans, as she was responsive to their questions. Within ten months, she had over two million subscribers and later became a culture ambassador of the
Japan National Tourism Organization
The , JNTO, provides information about Japan to promote travel to and in the country. It was established in 1964 and its headquarters are in Yotsuya, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo. The JNTO operates Tourist Information Centers (TICs) as well as a website. ...
. Kizuna Ai's popularity can be attributed to the oversaturation of traditional webcam YouTubers and for aspects of characters that the audience would not expect. For example, despite having a friendly appearance, Kizuna Ai often swears in her videos when she gets frustrated while playing a game.
The VTuber trend
Kizuna AI's sudden popularity sparked a VTuber trend.
Between May and mid-July 2018, the number of active VTubers increased from 2,000 to 4,000.
and followed Kizuna as the second and third most popular VTubers, with 750,000 and 625,000 subscribers respectively. and , two other early VTubers, each gained followings of 500,000 in six months.
In the beginning of 2018, Anycolor Inc. (then known as Ichikara) founded the VTuber agency
Nijisanji
Nijisanji (Japanese: にじさんじ) is a virtual YouTuber agency owned by AnyColor Inc. (formerly Ichikara Inc., changed 17 May 2021) The agency was founded in 2018 with the purpose of promoting the use of Live2D models and streaming as oppo ...
. Nijisanji helped popularise the use of Live2D models instead of the prior focus on 3D models as well as the shift towards livestreaming instead of edited video and clips that was the standard for VTubers like Kizuna Ai. Cover Corporation, a company that was originally developing
augmented and
virtual reality
Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), educ ...
software, shifted its focus to VTubers by establishing
Hololive
is a virtual YouTuber agency owned by Japanese tech entertainment company Cover Corporation. In addition to acting as a multi-channel network, Hololive Production also handles merchandising especially in music production and concert organizati ...
.
After their initial success in Japan, the trend began to expand internationally via their appeal to the
anime and manga fandom
Anime and manga fandom (otherwise known as fan community) is a worldwide community of fans of anime and manga. Anime includes animated series, films and videos, while manga includes manga, graphic novels, drawings and related artworks. The anime a ...
.
Agencies like Hololive and Nijisanji created branches in China, South Korea, Indonesia, and India, as well as
English-language
English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...
branches targeting a global audience. Meanwhile, independent VTubers began to appear in many countries, from Japan to the United States. In July 2018, VTubers had a collective subscriber count of 12.7 million, and more than 720 million total views. By January 2020, there were over 10,000 VTubers.
The
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
led to an overall increase in viewership of video game live streaming in general in 2020, which helped contribute to the growth of VTubers into a mainstream phenomenon.
Searches on
Google
Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...
for VTuber related content increased over 2020, leading towards the September 2020 launch of Hololive's English branch.
In August 2020, seven of the ten largest
Super Chat
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most vis ...
earners of all time on YouTube were VTubers, including
Hololive
is a virtual YouTuber agency owned by Japanese tech entertainment company Cover Corporation. In addition to acting as a multi-channel network, Hololive Production also handles merchandising especially in music production and concert organizati ...
member at number one, who by that time had earned approximately (approximately
US$
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
in 2020). VTubers accounted for 38% of YouTube's 300 most profitable channels, with a total revenue of US$26,229,911 (roughly half of which being viewer donations).
At the same time, the popularity of VTubers continued to rise on
Twitch
Twitch may refer to:
Biology
* Muscle contraction
** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation
** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction
** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle con ...
, with a host of several notable English-speaking VTubers such as
VShojo
VShojo (officially VShojo, Inc.) is a VTuber company based in the United States. VShojo bills itself as a "talent first" VTuber agency, oriented towards providing resources (such as models, merchandising, and advertisement opportunities) to ...
members
Projekt Melody
Projekt Melody, or Melody ( ja, メロディー) for short, is a 3D anime-styled live streamer, or VTuber. She first appeared when her Twitter account opened in July 2019, and she has live streamed on Chaturbate and Twitch since early 2020. ...
and
Ironmouse
Ironmouse is a Puerto Rican-American VTuber and live streamer. Active since 2017, she is a founding member of the VTuber group VShojo launched in 2020. With over one million followers on Twitch, she is the most-followed English language VTuber o ...
.
Pokimane
Imane Anys (; Arabic: إِيمَان أَنِيس, born 14 May 1996), better known as Pokimane ( or ), is a Moroccan-Canadian Twitch streamer and YouTuber. She is best known for her live streams on Twitch, broadcasting video game content, most ...
also experimented with avatar-based streams using a model commissioned from a VTuber artist.
In September 2020, Anycolor created an "Aggressive Acts and Slander Countermeasure Team" to offer counselling to victims of harassment and take legal measures against perpetrators of harassment, specifically the online harassment plaguing the Japanese entertainment industry. This announcement came in the wake of Hololive's VTuber Mano Aloe's retirement after only two weeks of activity due to online harassment.
YouTube's 2020 Culture and Trends report highlights VTubers as one of the notable trends of that year, with 1.5 billion views per month by October.
On March 30, 2021,
Kizuna AI
is a Japanese virtual YouTuber (VTuber) currently part of Kizuna AI Inc., a subsidiary of digital entertainment company Activ8. From her debut in 2016 until 2021, she was the most subscribed VTuber on Youtube, with more than 4 million subsc ...
was chosen as one of Asia's top 60 influencers.
In May 2021, Twitch added a VTuber tag for streams as part of a wider expansion of its tag system.
In July 2021,
Gawr Gura
is a virtual YouTuber affiliated with Hololive English. She is a member of Hololive English - Myth (stylized as HoloMyth), alongside , , , and . She debuted on September 13, 2020, and has since become the most subscribed virtual YouTuber, ama ...
—a member of Hololive's first English branch—overtook Kizuna Ai as the most-subscribed VTuber on YouTube.
Cover's CEO Motoaki "Yagoo" Tanigo was selected as one of the Japan's Top 20 Entrepreneurs by
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
Japan in its January 2022 issue.
The following month, in the midst of a subathon event,
Ironmouse
Ironmouse is a Puerto Rican-American VTuber and live streamer. Active since 2017, she is a founding member of the VTuber group VShojo launched in 2020. With over one million followers on Twitch, she is the most-followed English language VTuber o ...
accumulated the largest number of active paid subscriptions of all streamers on the platform at that point in time, although still behind an overall record previously set by
Ludwig. According to data provided by parent company
Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...
, VTubing content on Twitch grew by 467% in 2021 compared with a year earlier.
Use in marketing
![Nebasei Kokoro](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/Nebasei_Kokoro.png)
Due to their popularity, companies and organisations have used virtual YouTubers as a method of advertising or bringing attention to a product or service. When
SoftBank
is a Japanese multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo which focuses on investment management. The Group primarily invests in companies operating in technology, energy, and financial sectors. It also runs the ...
announced the release of the
iPhone XS and XS Max in 2018, Kizuna AI appeared at the event and promoted the products on her channel.
In August 2018, Wright Flyer Live Entertainment released a mobile application allowing VTubers to live stream videos while monetizing them and connecting with their viewers. In a news conference in Tokyo, the head of Wright Flyer Live Entertainment stated, "just increasing the number
f VTubers
F, or f, is the sixth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounced ), and the plural is ''efs''.
Hist ...
is not that effective. We want them to keep on doing their activities.
o do that
O, or o, is the fifteenth letter and the fourth vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''o'' (pronounced ), plu ...
gaining fans and monetization are essential. So, we are providing a platform to support that". This followed Wright Flyer Live Entertainment's parent company
Gree, Inc.
is a Japanese Internet media company with headquarters in the Roppongi Hills Mori Tower in Roppongi, Tokyo. It has been operating the social network service GREE since its establishment in December 2004.
History
* Feb. 2004 Release of GREE al ...
's ¥10 billion ($89.35 million) investment in VTubers, as well as a ¥10 billion sales target by 2020.
On June 24, 2019, VTuber Kaguya Luna, in collaboration with
Nissin Foods
Nissin Food Products Co., Ltd. is a Japanese food company that specializes in the production and sale of convenience food and instant noodles.
History Founding and early years
The company was established in Japan on September 1, 1948, by ...
to advertise its Yakisoba UFO noodles, held a live stream with a smartphone attached to a helium balloon. By the end of the stream, the smartphone reached an altitude of above sea level and was noted by
Guinness World Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
as being the live stream recorded at the highest altitude, breaking the previous record of .
Some organizations and companies have employed their own VTuber characters as
mascots
A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fic ...
within marketing.
These include the government of Japan's
Ibaraki Prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Ibaraki Prefecture has a population of 2,871,199 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Ibaraki Prefecture borders Fukushima Prefecture to the north, ...
(which developed the character of Ibaraki Hiyori),
the streaming service
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
(which developed the character N-ko to appear in videos promoting its anime content),
Sega
is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...
(who planned to have in-character streams with
Sonic the Hedgehog
is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by Sega. The franchise follows Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games are platformers mo ...
and his Japanese voice actor
Jun'ichi Kanemaru
is a Japanese voice actor and singer employed by 81 Produce as of 2020. His roles included Hayato Kazami in ''Future GPX Cyber Formula'', Ryo Akiyama in ''Digimon Tamers'' and Sonic the Hedgehog in the eponymous series since 1998. He came in ei ...
), and anime streaming service
Crunchyroll
Crunchyroll is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Sony through a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex. The service primarily distributes films and tel ...
(which launched a YouTube channel for its mascot Crunchyroll-Hime in October 2021). The
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
The are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture. They compete in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) as a member of the Pacific League.
The team was formerly known as the Nankai Hawks and was based in Osaka. ...
baseball team has two VTuber mascots, named Takamine Umi (also known as Hawk Kannon Sea) and Aritaka Hina, both unveiled in 2020. They have their own
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
channel and their own
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
accounts. Occasionally, they make appearances on the
Fukuoka PayPay Dome's videoboard.
In 2021,
Hololive
is a virtual YouTuber agency owned by Japanese tech entertainment company Cover Corporation. In addition to acting as a multi-channel network, Hololive Production also handles merchandising especially in music production and concert organizati ...
English member Gawr Gura made a cameo appearance in an anime-themed ad by American fast food chain
Taco Bell
Taco Bell is an American-based chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired foods, includi ...
(which premiered to coincide with the
2020 Summer Olympics
The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July.
Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...
in Tokyo).
Good Smile Company
is a Japanese manufacturer of hobby products such as the Nendoroid and figma product lines, as well as scale figures. In addition to production and manufacturing, its business includes design, marketing and distribution. Its products are usuall ...
has begun producing
nendoroids of Kizuna Ai in 2018, with a full push for various Japanese and international VTuber PVC-made statues since the 2020s.
In 2020, Japanese VTubers Ayapan and Jajami were invited by the
Brazilian embassy in Tokyo,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, in November to present their content made for the Brazilian public and how VTuber works, where they had a meeting with Ambassador Eduardo Paes Saboia, being the first contact of VTubers with a Brazilian authority.
See also
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Aniforms
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Avatar (computing)
In computing, an avatar is a graphical representation of a user or the user's character or persona. Avatars can be two-dimensional icons in Internet forums and other online communities, where they are also known as profile pictures, userpics, ...
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Content creation
Content creation is the contribution of information to any Content (media), media and most especially to digital content, digital media for an end-user/audience in specific contexts. Content is "something that is to be expressed through some Medi ...
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Internet celebrity
An Internet celebrity (also known as a social media influencer, social media personality, internet personality, or simply influencer) is a celebrity who has acquired or developed their fame and notability through the Internet. The rise of social ...
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Japanese idol
An is a type of entertainer marketed for image, attractiveness, and personality in Japanese pop culture. Idols are primarily singers with training in acting, dancing, and modeling. Idols are commercialized through merchandise and endorsements b ...
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Japanese popular culture
Japanese popular culture includes Japanese cinema, cuisine, television programs, anime, manga, video games, music, and doujinshi, all of which retain older artistic and literary traditions; many of their themes and styles of presentation can be ...
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Video gaming in Japan
Video games are a major industry in Japan. Japanese game development is often identified with the golden age of video games, including Nintendo under Shigeru Miyamoto and Hiroshi Yamauchi, Sega during the same time period, Sony Computer Enterta ...
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Virtual actor
A virtual human, virtual persona, or digital clone is the creation or re-creation of a human being in image and voice using computer-generated imagery and sound, that is often indistinguishable from the real actor.
The idea of a virtual actor w ...
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Virtual character (for other virtual personality concepts)
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Virtual idol
In entertainment, a virtual band (also called a virtual idol, virtual singer, virtual group, cartoon group, cartoon idol, cartoon singer or cartoon band) is a band or music group whose members are not depicted as corporeal musicians, but animat ...
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Virtual influencer
A virtual influencer, at times described as a virtual persona or virtual model, is a computer-generated fictional character that can be used for a variety of marketing-related purposes, but most frequently for social media marketing, in lieu of hu ...
References
Further reading
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External links
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