By Naomi Wong

Virtual You-tubers, also known as VTubers, are online entertainers who use a virtual avatar generated from computer graphics designed by online artists and real-time motion capture technology. The use of virtual avatars is a digital trend that originated from Japan in the mid-2010s, and since 2020, has become an international online phenomenon. By 2020, there were more than 10,000 active VTubers, the majority being English and Japanese-speaking YouTubers or live streamers. 

A VTuber's avatar is typically animated using a webcam and software, which captures the streamer's motions, expressions, and mouth movements and maps them to a two-dimensional or three-dimensional model. The animation software Live2D is typically used to rig two-dimensional models constructed from drawn textures, while programs such as VRoid studio have sometimes been used to create three-dimensional models. Because creating the avatars can take a lot of time, commissions for creating a virtual avatar can cost as high as 2,000 USD (15,660 HKD) depending on their level of detail. 

Since VTubers are not bound by physical limitations, this lets them engage in activities without the constraints of their real-world identities – which also avoids scandals. VTubers are associated with Japanese pop-culture and aesthetics, such as anime and manga, since their avatars take inspiration from those art styles. They have begun appearing in domestic advertising campaigns in Japan, and broken livestream-related world records such as livestreaming with a smartphone at the highest altitude of 30km compared to the previous 18.24km record, or most viewed VTuber livestream. The top female streamer on Twitch Ironmouse is also a VTuber!

In fact, VTubers have become so popular that major VTubers are now often employed by talent agencies; if multiple VTubers are in the same company they collaborate often. The management of VTubers runs on a similar model to idol agencies since they are seen as entertainers and can be musical artists. These 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. VTubers can earn anywhere from 10,000 HKD to 130,000 HKD, and the agencies profit from the portion of income they take from superchats (chat function purchased by viewers), subscriptions, or composed music and merchandise. Currently the most known agencies are Hololive, NIJISANJI and VShojo.

NIJISANJI is a virtual youtuber agency owned by ANYCOLOR Inc. As of April 2022, there are 205 virtual youtubers signed under NIJISANJI, with over 170 of them still active in various overseas branches and partnered programs. Notable VTubers from NIJISANJI include Kuzuha with over 1.24 million subscribers, Kanae with 970k subscribers and Tsukino Mito with 850k subscribers. 

NIJISANJI helped popularize the use of Live2D and Live3D models as well as shift towards livestreaming instead of posting edited video clips like Kizuna AI, a VTuber who sings. Their company name NIJISANJI also represents this since it contains two words in Japanese: two-dimensional and three-dimensional. 

In June 2020, NIJISANJI officially opened the EN branch (English-speaking branch) and held auditions for people who wished to be a part of the branch. They also have a variety of other branches of streamers from other countries such as Indonesia, South Korea, and China. In May 2021, NIJISANJI debuted their first group of artists dubbed LazuLight, consisting of three female VTubers: Elira Pendora, Pomu Rainpuff, and Finana Ryugu. Their second group OBSYDIA also had three female VTubers: Rosemi Lovelock, Petra Gurin, and Selen Tatsuki. Then their third group included five female members: Nina Kosaka, Millie Parfait, Enna Alouette and Reimu Endou. On December 17 2021, NIJISANJI debuted their first boy group called Luxiem with five male members: Luca Kaneshiro, Shu Yamino, Ike Eveland, Mysta Rias, and Vox Akuma. Then most recently on February 26 2022, NIJISANJI debuted their second boy group Noctyx also consisting of five members: Sonny Brisko, Uki Violeta, Alban Knox, Fulgur Ovid, and Yugo Asuma.

Many may think a VTuber’s life is pretty easy, money can be earned without even once showing one’s true identity or face. However, the people behind these online personas struggle a lot before successfully becoming streamers. A VTuber called Mysta once explained in a livestream his struggle before joining the agency ANYCOLOR. He had to drop out of his first year in college due to familial and financial circumstances, giving up college for a job cleaning other people’s homes to pay off his rent. Unfortunately, Mysta was often unable to afford the rent and ended up moving around a lot due to being kicked out, thus he also didn’t make a lot of friends. Another VTuber Nina felt lonely and isolated at one point in her life and felt that they couldn’t talk to anyone, and to this day still struggles with mental health issues. 

In the end, the VTuber community has begun to come together and work as a team to achieve their current popularity and place in the world. Many have accomplished their dream of joining NIJISANJI, making friends, becoming more confident in themselves, and being more open to talking about certain things. All these virtual streamers work so hard for the audience to feel more comfortable and make them laugh, so they should continue to be supported!