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A VTuber(also known as a Virtual Youtuber or Virtual Streamer[note 1]) is someone who uses a 3D avatar of an Anime character to make videos or stream on either Youtube or Twitch. Originally starting in Japan, but became popular in the west during the pandemic around the end of 2020 when 2 of the main leading companies in this business, Hololive Productions & Nijisanji, opened their English divisions. Since then, this industry has been plagued with controversies. On one hand, many of them have bad sleeping and eating habits due to them being required to stream for alot of hours (Japan Timezone, in most cases) for these companies. On the other hand, the VTubers themselfs aren't saints either. Most notably the Corporate VTubers (or Corpos for short) and the big indie ones that want to be on good footings with them, are all a bunch of stupid edgelords.
They also like singing, playing video games, posting on New Parler (mostly stupid shit[note 2]) or do other things like spreading weird conspiracy theories[1] for example. It should come to no surprise that the majority of their fanbase are either weeaboos, edgelords, frog posters or other very fun groups who like to look up what they did before becoming a VTuber or posting private information, such as r/VirtualYoutubers on Reddit & /vt/ on 4chan. Both the fans and the bigger names in the VTuber industry are also guilty of spewing out hateful stuff like kink shaming, slut shaming, furry bashing, transphobia, homophobia, queerphobia, racism, anti-semitism, ableism, sexism & slurs.
YouTube seems to be perfectly okay with this since they have bigger fish to fry[2], while Twitch has banned some of them but only for a short time and either for something that goes against their ToS[3] or for other reasons[4].
But remember, it's all about wholesomeness! And normalizing Incel speech, degeneracy[note 3] & stuff from this list.
Origin[edit]
Its origins go all the way back to the 1980s with something called "Virtual Idols". A Virtual Idol is an anime character who's an idol singer in said anime they're in. Examples of such characters would be Lynn Minmay, EVE (a Virtual AI), Sharon Apple (an incomplete program whose appearance is projected as a hologram via a blackbox with a build-in red sensor) & Fire Bomber (a rock band) from the anime series Macross.
In 1995, Japanese Talent Agency Horipro created Kyoko Date; the first CGI idol with many advanced computer graphics. She was largely inspired by the success of aforementioned anime and several dating sim games[5]. Unfortunately, due to technical limitations like her movements (also known as uncanny valley) would result in her completely vanishing from the scene. Kyoto would reappear in 1999 under the name "DiKi", releasing her album Between in South Korea. She would eventually vanish again, after gaining no mainstream success from this album.
Audio manufacturer Yamaha would release a voice software program called "Vocaloid 2" in 2007. One month later, this would be used by Crypton Future Media to create a software voicebank and its own virtual idol mascot who would end up becoming very popular in the years to come, namely...
Hatsune Miku[edit]
On the 31st of August 2007, Crypton Future Media creates a mascot called Hatsune Miku. A 16 year old virtual 3D pop idol build with the Vocaloid 2 software, who would have her first Virtual live concert in 2009[6].
Originally, she was aimed at professional producers. What they didn't except, is that she would gain such a massive boom in popularity with the amateur industry aswell as with anime fans and, sadly enough, with the weeaboo crowd[note 4].
Her popularity led to many different kinds of merchandise, such as her own series of rhythm games called "Project DIVA", a freeware animation program called "MikuMikuDance", a racing motorcycle in 2013 for TT Zero, a sportscar in 2018 for the Fuji Speedway world tournament, another bike, a computer with a figurine of hers in it[7], backpacks and whatever the fuck this is supposed to be...
Her success would inspire others to take it a step further. In 2014, Holotech Studios would start a crowd fundraiser on Indiegogo for their new software program called "FaceRig"[8], which captured emotions and facial expression in real time via your webcam and would end up being released on Steam. The Live2D software was released in the year that followed. A company by the name of Activ8 would use this software to create the first VTuber in late 2016.
Kizuna AI[edit]
On 29 November 2016, Activ8 would create Kizuna AI; the first VTuber[note 5], voice by a woman named Nozomi Kasuga, to make her debut on Youtube & China's own Youtube called Bilibili. She's also the one who started calling herself a "Virtual Youtuber", leading to the term getting popularized and being shortened to "VTuber" later on.
Then COVID happened[edit]
Notes[edit]
- ↑ Those that, mostly or exclusively, stream on Twitch, prefer to be called "Virtual Streamers" since they hardly or never use Youtube in the first place.
- ↑ There's a group of VTubers, named "VTweeters", that do nothing else than posting on Twitter for no fucking reason.
- ↑ Both the VTubers AND the fans seem to see this as a compliment for some weird reason.
- ↑ A weeaboo is pretty much the incel version of an anime fan + that they are completely deranged from their own culture, obsessed with the "land of the rising sun", and hate the LGBTQ+ community & feminists (for some reason)...
- ↑ This title would actually have to go to a woman called Ami Yamato, but we'll get to her later...
References[edit]
- ↑ Yes, it's THAT one..
- ↑ YouTube’s Crackdown Spurs Record Uninstalls of Ad Blockers by Paresh Dave (03 November 2023) Wired.
- ↑ Twitch's zero-explanation bans continue to baffle streamers, this time a popular VTuber by Tyler Colp (18 August 2022) PC Gamer.
- ↑ Viral VTuber Marina gets banned from Twitch after adult policy change by Anushka Patronia (16 December 2023) Sportskeeda.
- ↑ First virtual Japanese Pop Idol - Kyoko Date (1997)
- ↑ Japanese pop star Hatsune Miku takes the stage -- as a 3-D hologram by Tiffany Hsu (10 November 2010) Los Angeles Times.
- ↑ Japanese custom PC shop builds the ultimate Hatsune Miku PC by Casey Baseel (20 November 2021) SoraNews24.
- ↑ FaceRig Unveiling Video