Lurker > UF8

Mega Man X3 (Super Nintendo)
Tetris Attack (Super Nintendo)

Nikki (Swapnote)
"Yancy" (Pokemon BW2)
Frey (FE Shadow Dragon)
Huey (Paper Mario Color Splash)

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (Super Nintendo)
Diablo (PC)
Tetris Attack (Super Nintendo)
Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War (Super Nintendo)

-(Isoleucine)-
B.T. Dutch
DNF FW15C

ah my bad, the overall date for the stream relay was already outlined (to be a few days from now so it's only specifying when things are and nothing's actually happening till then probably)

still

A couple of notable things today/tonight.

Today marks the 1 year anniversary of the first member of Holostars, Hanasaki Miyabi. An hour-long stream to commemorate it is planned for about two hours from now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlRfQpNAazM
A cover's dropping when it ends too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a67XEIAJopM

Also, Animare is celebrating its 2 year anniversary tomorrow. Last year they did a big 24 hour stream relay to celebrate, and this time they're extending it to 26 hours. I'm not sure if this stream detailing the schedule for it is going to be the start of it or not, but either way it's probably something to check on.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXQz31i5Puk

Coincidentally, it's also coming up on the one year anniversary for about half of PlivYou, the defunct group Shiromiya Mimi (now in Animare) used to be a part of. Mimi and 2 others made their stream debuts together about 2 hours after Animare's 1st anniversary hour proper. (technically speaking they all actually debuted a few days prior with some self-introduction videos but still), so it's like, a double anniversary really. Overall, the group had 6 members, with the first member actually debuting way back in like, October 2018 i think, but I'm pretty sure the PlivYou name wasn't a thing till they started. Probably. It's a bit hard to find info on this, the english scene totally glossed over the group. Oh yeah, by the way, that whole group shares the same designer as Rushia in Hololive.

The Merciless Savior
Megalovania
Earthbound MV

Earth is home, to be bound is to be stuck.

Also I just find match 2 hilarious for the matching poses

No Man's Sky

A bit harsh on it now but there's no hiding the backlash it did have

Resident Evil (Playstation)
Wave Race 64 (Nintendo 64)
Metal Slug (Arcade)
Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire (Nintendo 64)

+1 Shadowbringers
+1 Sand Canyon 3
+3 Bitbop
ssb

tough call

no scores because I don't feel like doing them

Mysterious Trap
Classroom

holostars minecraft building contest earlier:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IfCDOj8C6U main pov
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uds6BbWvb7E temma team
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N92F9oit6pY aruran team
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITJwg1c2T4Y kaoru team

other prior stuff:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIaqyNPjEXQ patracraft (774 server)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxpV3NCa0zA kanatacraft

current stuff:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vmtde7yIaTI camomicraft (774)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZU6EN8HAfZg Anko/Metcraft (774)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQlIASOgSdM this giraffe's 6 month anniversary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcyNilD7RLA ayame (kusoucode+)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sw1ABqNG-90 that asano ruri/tokino sora cover that i got the day wrong on yesterday oops
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tg0X4m6Q7zc nemukawa yumena video (kusoucode+)

incoming hour (actually it started by the time i finished the post oops):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-quZuE7l06A kotodama shoujo: microphone soul spinners episode 18
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjAumahKKlo nonomiya nonono 20k subs. New hairstyle (hanayori)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rOE3CCYFDU memex #interpretation disagreement stream
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gmXEz964e0 an ominous tatamaru stream
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XW7ZhzF_lAs watame birthday (hololive)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mc_sQ85y2Ec tenjin kotone new music video Erase

hour after:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaqkETOGRDs roppo rikuru birthday (floral)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YdKpf3ZzLY ichika/rene song collaboration
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJB5XcJk5h8 hoshimiya gumi takagi-san vr game
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAsWT8FDHEs hololive fortune teller contest
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1Z-b2SUz2E ribon gundam

hour after that:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIFxsttOop0 watame afterparty

after that:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMQEwntmYhQ kano your turn to die (hanayori)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zh5O3IdtgTg the clown in perpetual agony has lasted 2 years
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCk3fdIxf5I chimacraft (nijisanji)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvMEamFMnz0 miko doom (hololive)

UF8 posted...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVRiy72t5Go miococo english class (hololive)

highlights
https://youtu.be/Kxh2WlGU1NQ

ghost trick

i'm impressed it made it

the dark horse
https://thundervalleyfarm.wordpress.com/2017/08/14/midnight-lady-2/

Super Mario 64 (Nintendo 64)
Mega Man X3 (Super Nintendo)
Suikoden (Playstation)
Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals (Super Nintendo)

mnkboy907 posted...

What is terrifying or cruel about any of that

that a lot of people would talk about it as though it's not a game at all, just some overpriced filler accessory, potentially to the point that you wouldn't be able to find anyone talking about it without others coming in to dunk on it because those people comprise so many of the game's sales

this is the tragedy of orange juice games outside of 100% orange juice and not a fate xenoblade deserves

oops i forgot i didn't use my other point

+1 Chasing Daybreak (Rain)

having seen how that approach has worked for 100% orange juice tie ins with orange juice games

it'd likely work, but i'm terrified of the possibility that xenoblade will just become "that game you just buy to get that bonus item in new horizons"

never underestimate how cruel casual game fans are

the 4th hour

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPz-BDhWAmI ran drinking
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKvWxLiNAFU nyarlathotep academic test (cthululu house)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqFL2UmBo4c arurandis singing (holostars)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGbJAH3L7h4 ginga alice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uDe6XB9xQw okinawa club

the 4.5th hour

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTz9OrcJe8E yagi karaoke
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huHFOmvGdFU pekomaru radio (marble creators)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IYfsRzKtnk kotoe terraria

like i said, i'm subscribed to hundreds so this is just the result

if it makes you feel any better, i don't actually watch this many, i just figured i'd list all the ones in my subs feed that I'd consider worth mentioning. these are mid-evening hours in my time zone so it tends to line up with whenever i'm most free, and i tend to dump a fraction of these into a playlist on cytube to switch between. in this case, i've got the minecraft collab streams queued along with the clubhouse games one playing in the background while i have this gamefaqs tab focused.

also there are dedicated threads elsewhere where people post like 30 streams per hour at these times.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2S6lFJEfZAw cover that went up just before from alma gabriel

the third hour

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpVG-Dw2H0U kuriyama yanmi 8k subs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8dGf8hB-so annacraft (774)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UomzDLkRlwI patracraft (774)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYdzjy5lr-E izumicraft (774)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCVop2fELSI ouma yuu clubhouse games 51
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=St0KV1MzAgc himekuma ribon gundam battle operations 2 (re:act)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtMI9ZiIgPA machida chima new model (nijisanji)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2y7zGXsTmE senba crow mahjong
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkalxDna3HI okayu is convicted of crimes again, on mio's channel (hololive)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjwqgPwDfTI vsinger viankie's official theme song for some anime film

oh yeah, anyway, it looks like today's streams are picking up a bit now so i'll start posting them

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gwg03zL1rug kerin shitpost (upd8) [I recommend this]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gY9wwk1eH4g yukoku roberu playing some "game" about a school principal who keeps talking (holostars)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6iMzKFTRwE uruha rushia minecraft (hololive)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wYOM6aVmcQ kazami kuku minecraft (animare/774inc server)

EDIT: actually since there isn't that much more due this hour i'll just add them to this post

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CF-CiL27-nc amane kanata danganronpa (hololive)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUdQQoJ1hKE hitona kohigashi amagami (hanayori)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acaHusnN27g tokino sora ffx (hololive)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sw1ABqNG-90 asano ruri/tokino sora cover

a couple of quiet hours compared to the next one

called it

i can't say i'm familiar with doots but i'm going to automatically assume it is sakura miko, of hololive
https://twitter.com/opera_siawasena/status/1118584693547421696
https://twitter.com/opera_siawasena/status/1118585957798670337
https://twitter.com/opera_siawasena/status/1118586366491627520
she seems like the dooting type

there are many dumb dog girls out there (my favourite likely being the first one i linked in the post just now, souya ichika) but i'll also assume it is inugami korone, also of hololive

here's a full stream list for yesterday i totally didn't forget about until now

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6hrnazLU0g souya ichika minecraft (animare/774)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XM4YV_iOPo hinokuma ran, who forgot about a mahjong collab (animare)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8ss1ZZxF-E ichigo 1bitHeart (nijisanji)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MzABjvXpoA shito anon video (chucolala)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzbsPhkzymk shia sisters video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uts5zRrCgYU omesis video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56Y8BlkT90E sekishiro mico minecraft (honeystrap/774)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMYU1L9XeJY hashiba natsumi minecraft (honeystrap/774)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbcjdNBLhwc tokino sora chat (hololive)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mN_i7dTYGSM lee shion karaoke
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwR3wV1IHyY nicole kotone video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7djXPPF7nYA nicole kotone stream
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYlP9MNyF8c aiba uiha new model (nijisanji)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdAuR9lgy84 "fukasis" (members designed by fukahire) collab video (avatar2.0)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxOLshjv9j4 kmnz lita cover
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOZYRyNQANA bar robel with natsuiro matsuri as guest (holostars/hololive)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVRiy72t5Go miococo english class (hololive)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wA-pDRMWhS8 yunohara izumi minecraft (animare/774)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzLOdjo0z4k hirasaka mei beatcop
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1PnQ0lmx2c saionji mary minecraft (honeystrap/774)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHXHyGVI79k amakawa hano kuukiyomi video (re:act)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NutR7FLyC7o kurone yomi karaoke (re:act)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoUccl9mdQE the promised ran mahjong collab (with kusonoki shio, shirakami fubuki and tokoyami towa)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cg0e_gCJS9U osanai mei/hoshimiya gumi moving out collab
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62iV-tZj4Os yoruno tobari liar princess (kusoucode+)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIrVwI3DdrA roppo rikuru trials of mana (floral/nextsoft)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRxSgnFhbyI amai hiyo chat/planning
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIGBr64JTyI kojo anna cooking (sugarlyric)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCKXMtG12ME shishio chris minecraft (sugarlyric/774)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CetammqFi-4 akesato cover
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNLAOh_5nLc kazami kuku minecraft (animare/774)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7PR3aL_z2o memex cover
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNW661Jz39Y hitona kohigashi amagami (hanayori)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0fpdezQu1E inaba haneru mahjong (animare)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9v-II3DmoT0 himemori luna horror (hololive)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZANrl85jG_0 tange kotoe terraria
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yukDml6L_bc murasaki shion karaoke (hololive)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqSCNmGeg7o aragami oga asmr (holostars)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dI6D6pBKuS0 paule clown league of legends (iriam/i-live)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eC3LGB2WUEA izumi drinking (animare)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMVA6rzBeQg shimamura charlote minecraft (honeystrap)

7.7 Midnight Lady
7.2 Theme of E-102 Gamma
7.2 Kaine ~ Salvation
6.8 Chasing Daybreak (Rain)
6.5 Frey's Philosophy
6.2 CLASS::CIEL_NOSURGE;
5.7 Mirror Temple (Mirror Magic Mix)
5.6 Level 5: Main Theme
4.7 Jena Anderson

So this wildcard, unlike every other one thus far, lines up with with my favourites bracket wildcard selection, so i can talk about that for once. and the thing is... i kind of went with a fairly different approach to the favourites bracket regarding wildcards, so the result here is actually very different. I basically just went and looked at the song they would face (cloche) and kind of just went with whatever one I felt I would be most likely to vote over it, if any. Which uh, in this case not only isn't even one I'm voting for, but also isn't even in the top half for me. I do think that a part of that may well be because I'm actually just lower on ciel than i was at that time, but it's also a fact that I simply did pick ciel because it's just higher in whatever I'd consider a hymmrarchy than cloche, making it the most clear pick that I'd have over it (even though I'd ironically probably rate Cloche higher). Similarly, this is also why I picked Zadok for the B2 wildcard in my favourites bracket without even a mention of B2 Battle.

oh yeah also my highest here is lower than my average for B1 and B2 wildcard songs in general oops this bracket may not be very balanced

+1 Theme of E-102 Gamma
+3 Midnight Lady
+1 Kaine ~ Salvation

can i be worth 8 votes

one album from japan that i'm not sure i'll get at this rate

a replacement vita charger

pretty sure that's it

The Filthy Mind (Theme of the Hive Mind)
Rustling Throb ~ Cloche

Digital Pinball: Necronomicon (Sega Saturn)
Tetris Attack (Super Nintendo)
Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War (Super Nintendo)
Descent II (Playstation)

that male division of Hololive, Holostars, is up to a few things today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXTZN-06nzo they've got a group cover of this song from halyosy next hour, but in the meantime have been doing a couple of music streams

kanade izuru guitar-playing stream (that just finished) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3pfhmvWNVE
hanasaki miyabi anime song stream https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0X5aCnOrRs

and if hololive side m isn't your thing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_2Q0cYrmDM more camomicraft
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdBecQm-I58 tatamaru artstream (in 90 mins)

one's opinions are always only what one makes of them

synergy is a lie

might as well do a quick list of the streams from this afternoon up to now
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGzFKfzlhD0 kano
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zzs8i6V_MNk hanerucraft
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIA9RIm33MU micocraft
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cp8JGJC4Ee0 calico cat tatamaru

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (Super Nintendo)
-
Diablo (PC)
Pilotwings 64 (Nintendo 64)

azuarc posted...

Welcome to last year's champion.

(and vgmc9's first big blue victim)

Moonstruck Blossom
Battle! Giratina
Skyclad Observer

oh right i probably need to get around to filling out my toc favourites bracket lol. got a bit slack thanks to the erratic scheduling

also yeah seconding most of the deo remarks. probably would regard frey's at the bottom no matter what but yeah good songs, giratina's insane

weird, my personal counts differed a bit, i wonder where i messed up

either way i think thermal base had as many voters in the end as desire blue sky which makes the 4th place sting just that little bit more. If only so many of them weren't +1s...

vtuber highlight #4:
Collectively, the entirely of 774inc.
https://www.774.ai/member
774 inc. is comprised of four separate groups. Originally starting off as two five-person groups in Animare and HoneyStrap, a lot has happened with them over time.

Animare's been through a lot as drama constantly seems to afffect it, but it still has some of the best vtubers. Two of the original five members got fired. An additional five debuted over the last few months, but unfortunately one of them just got booted a couple of days ago (Haibara Akane, who you can still see on that webpage). If it's not obvious, they have an animal-eared maid cafe theme. My favourite is Souya Ichika, the blue dog, notable for mainly just doing chat and karaoke streams and not ASMR. Hinokuma Ran, the dumb troll bear is pretty fun too, though her regular streams of games like PUBG aren't really my thing.

HoneyStrap are a much more tightly-knit group with only one retirement to date about 2 years in now (and they weren't even fired). Suou Patra is easily the most popular member overall (though Animare's leader Haneru gets way more donations), though really everyone in that group is good actually. A very grounded group, despite their appearances. I don't watch enough of them really.

SugarLyric exists. They're kind of like HoneyStrap except marketed as being "cooler". Not actually as edgy as their music and appearances make them seem. They've only been around a month so I don't really know what to make of them yet.

And then there's the VApArt group. They're the group designated to be like... a brand separate from upd8, which all of Animare and HoneyStrap were in at the time, that existing vtubers could join. The first 3 members all started off as independents, and they were honestly some of the best people they ever scouted. They also filled 3 totally different niches, with Ando Uge being a somewhat dedicated pro gamer, Camomi Camomi being an artist and Kanade Kanon being a bassist. These days, all the groups have split from upd8 and as a result they've ended up getting closer to one another, so there isn't as much of a push for finding unique niche vtubers like them. Instead they just recruit people fresh now and other groups like Animare have started getting existing vtubers in.

Each group has its own character proxy for their management named Nanashi (literally meaning 774). They also all have group channels, though most of them aren't actually used.

In any case, they all tend to collaborate with one another very regularly now, which is why this is a broad rec. They recently opened up a company-wide minecraft server and even the ones who don't even tend to play any games on their channels have been actively involved with it, which has been neat to keep up with.

Speaking of, here's a couple of streams finally.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iS6wZqXCzk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dETzEc4KHq8

oh yeah for the record, most groups these days just play stuff like Apex Legends or ARK: Survival Evolved, neither of which I'm really that interested in, so 774inc is generally like a breath of fresh air since very few of them tend to at all.

if you count the sheer concept of anime characters streaming as a fetish then like 70%

if you don't then like... still 20% (asmr streams exist a lot though i actively try to not acknowledge them (and fortunately still only a fraction of them actually do them))

Virtual Cat
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w06xNDKotkA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QG7UYsEP1k4 just kidding he's not that important i just wanted to share virtual cat. he's a member of upd8, this fancy, but now very much dying brand that a lot of major vtubers predating the current streamer trends ended up joining since it was related to kizuna ai. he does weird artsy shitpost videos and also music that is pretty chill (i've posted a recent example of both from yesterday). There are a lot of virtual composers and singers out there, but none quite like the virtual cat.

Hatoba Tsugu
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXaLxqYlRNk is some super arthouse weird experiment thing that isn't actually that relevant now but almost hit mainstream like 2 years ago. used to be in the top 10 most popular channels overall, now barely in the top hundred but only really because the channel's not nearly as active as all the streamers that dominate the scene now. If the channel had been any more successful I think that a lot of things would've been very different now (maybe for the better, though the scene's honestly in a much better place than it was 2 years ago regardless).

so i guess i might as well also mention some of the other really major people out there now that probably should be mentioned

KAF
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1RIUrgJqWw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMKrECxEpq8 ... is the first member of Kamitsubaki Studio, and a virtual singer tied to notable vocaloid producer Kanzaki Iori. In the first year of her channel, she really exploded in popularity despite her solo status, thanks to the clearly ambitious music videos like these ones, the first of which I submitted for Raetsel's topic last year (which it won, subtle brag). After that, the company expanded considerably and there are now like... I dunno, like 20 artists listed under the Kamitsubaki label, about 5 of which are actually virtual youtubers. They're all generally targeting specific niches though so I don't consider them as worthy of mention.

Oh yeah, also there was this really big "one-man live" concert for her last year that was really really good. I very strongly recommend checking it out if you can find it on certain sites (because the whole thing was streamed at the time but they weren't officially archived)

Raka_Putra posted...

Though it should also be noted that there are also vtubers that retired/was discontinued, IIRC.

Here's one thing I've been interested in...how would you classify the production entities behind the vtubers? I know there are dedicated agencies. Then there are various corporations and organizations who joined the vtuber bandwagon. There are also indie vtubers. Would you say those are the three main categorization?

yeah that more or less covers it actually. some indie vtubers also form their own groups for all sorts of reasons, whether it's just because some artist decided to create a brand or simply because there was an actual group of friends who decided to start doing things together. for the most part there's definitely a commercial element there though. pretty much most successful ones, even "independent", aren't actually indie. But yeah in general, what you said is basically the full story

Also, again going back to this site, https://hiyoko.sonoj.net/search/streamer/ there's a lot of groups out there. Just try that filter by group feature and you'll see what i mean.

one site that I consider a godsend for keeping track of them all this this one here

https://hiyoko.sonoj.net/live/

oh yeah i guess now's a good time to start fleshing out the scene a little bit more

in 2020, there are two particularly notable virtual youtuber talent agencies out there. Nijisanji and Hololive.

Nijisanji started off back in like, early 2018, and they in particular are notable for constantly recruiting more members, though they've finally slowed down this year. In their incredibly large roster of over 100 virtual talents, they've been constantly at the forefront of the scene for the bulk of the last year and a half, and generally speaking, they mostly have hundreds of thousands of subscribers and thousands of viewers on every stream or video they do. They've pierced the japanese mainstream media more than any other group, getting several tv dramas and a lot of big events before any other group could hope to garner the numbers. They were also the first ones to start branching out internationally, and now have members from Indonesia, India and Korea if I remember right.

Hololive really started taking off late last year. A few members, arguably starting with the most popular member Shirakami Fubuki, actively started trying to appeal more to a more western fanbase with like the 3D anime meme clips already posted and random shitpost videos in general. Thanks to that, they're now really huge too and basically on exactly the same level as Nijisanji on youtube. They're also even more popular in China, and have also branched out there on top of Indonesia. They also have a male division that is not as popular called HOLOSTARS that's pretty good too.

In both cases, anything major they do is an event of major cultural significance. Any say, 3D Debut stream involving one of their members is basically guaranteed to be seen by at least 50k concurrent viewers, and miliions of people overall. Live events trend globally, and a couple have happened this year.

(by contrast, an average kizuna ai stream these days would likely get like... 2000 viewers?)

of course, they're hardly the only ones trying to break into the scene and there are still plenty of others seeing a lot of success

yeah, ProjektMelody technically does count as a virtual youtuber, though it's certainly not representative of them as a whole

vtubers, or virtual youtubers are, for the most part, youtubers (often streamers) who use anime models. Often custom Live2D avatars that you can operate using programs like FaceRig, though there are a lot of other methods. It's a niche scene, but one that's experienced huge growth. Tens of thousands of people are vtubers now, and not only on Youtube itself. There are even dedicated "vtuber" live broadcast apps out there for smartphones with their own self-contained communities filled with hundreds of streamers and thousands of viewers (i watch a few people on platforms like REALITY and SHOWROOM, for example), so it's a term that's gotten a little more loose over time.

still waiting on a replacement charger lol