choice. An entire generation of teenagers has seen more anime faces than human ones.

The new president has declared the USA a protectorate of Atlantis, a talking dog is the Japanese

Prime minister, climate change has been fixed and there are no more wars, obviously. 99%

of the world's GDP goes to superchats. And all in all everyone's pretty happy with

how things are going. Or else they get eaten by sharks.

So it's exactly as voluntary as what we have now.

Speaking of, 2020 is when now actually is; and the beautiful future I just painted in

your mind is but one possibility of many laid out before us. Its potential cause? The precipitous

rise to prominence of VTubers. Which I predicted in my Kizuna Ai video 3 years ago, hence why

you should believe in everything I just said without question.

Though honestly, I never could have guessed how far this whole thing would come, especially

over this last year. Kizuna's just another face in the crowd now – albeit a pretty

big one that's on a lot of billboards and televisions. But her charming outbursts of

English profanity have been superceded in our collective culture by EEKUM BOKUM and

A. There are plenty of VTube Streamers who rival – and even surpass – her viewership

now, and more and more viewers every day are falling past her into the bottomless abyss

of Hololives, Nijisanjis, smaller agencies, and the endlessly swelling horde of indies.

Virtual Youtubers are the new apex predator of the streaming ecosystem, and… pretty

much everyone I know is eager to welcome our new anime overlords. I know I am. But I don't

fully know why I am, so today, I'm gonna take a crack at figuring out what's so special

about this whole thing, especially the Hololive girls, since they're who I'm most familiar

with

But first, this Video is sponsored by Skillshare, an online learning community where creators

of all skill levels can… well it's kinda right there in the name… Between quarantines

and winter vacation, a lot of us have a lot of free time on the horizon, and that's

time that can be well spent paying artistic tribute to these virtual idols. And whether

you wanna immortalize your favourite VTubers in fanart, cut together a compilation of their

funniest moments, animate one of those moments for extra hilarity, or remix their songs into

new and funky forms, Skillshare is THE place to go to learn how to do it.

For instance, if you wanna compete in Mori's next remix contest, DJ King Arthur's course

“Remixing Dance Music: Digital Production Basics“ can help you figure out how to get

the killer mashup of your dreams out of your head and into your headphones. And it'll

teach you how to get it into other headphones, too, with a whole section on sharing and legality,

in case you wanna leverage those skills toward making music of your own some day.

No matter your field, whether you're a professional looking to up your game or an aspiring creator

wondering where to start it, Skillshare has a class for you, taught by experts. And they're

always launching new premium courses, so you always have new places to go on your creative

journey. There is a lot to choose from, but they keep the site curated with education

in mind – meaning there are no ads to get in your way – and it still costs less than

ten bucks a month with an annual subscription. But if you act now, you won't even have

to pay that up front. The first thousand people to sign up at the link in the dooblidoo will

get a free trial of their premium membership, so you can start learning the skills you need

to appease your new anime gods and explore your creativity today.

perhaps I'm getting a little ahead of myself. After all, some of you are probably here wondering

what the big deal with vtubers even is – and why your fealty to them is necessary and good

– in the first place. Why are they so popular all of sudden? Well… that much isn't hard

to figure out. VTubers have been around for years now, and

it's no coincidence that 2020 was the year of their ascendance. You know, on account

of the thing. A lot of people have been stuck inside, seeing less and less of their family

and friends – especially the far off ones they only see at cons - and more and more

of their TVs and computer screens, and while, believe me, I've tried, man cannot live

on video games and anime alone. We need human contact, or at least, an anime facsimile thereof,

playing video games. As Yazy said in our last podcast, being in

the chat of a big VTuber feels… oddly similar to the sense of anonymous inclusion you get

wandering around a con, or sitting in on a panel. For folks with social anxiety especially,

there's something really… cozy about being in a crowd like that, where you can exist,

express yourself, and participate in something without being really… noticed, you know?

Of course, in theory, any kind of streamer could fill that void, but VTubers have a particular

appeal that sets them apart: they're anime. And anime is inherently cooler than real life!

Also less real, which can help a lot with the anxiety. Where your typical twitch affiliate

seeks to create a vibe akin to hanging with your gaming buddies, VTube Streams – especially

collabs – better resemble the slice of life atmosphere of a Moe after school club.

Which can be easy to misconstrue, just like moe club shows. From the outside looking in,

it can look a lot like nerds simply simping for their 2D crushes. And that's definitely

a factor, especially when it comes to superchats and character merch. But we don't *just*

watch Moe slice of life stuff to see cute blobs jiggle. For most people, the true appeal

of these shows – and these streamers – lies in watching fun, larger than life personalities

have fun doing fun things. It's escapism at its simplest and most joyous, here made

interactive and immediate. Which isn't easy. If you're not already

into VTube, it's important to understand that these live2D avatars aren't just filters

over standard facecam. They're digital puppets, controlled by the streamer's expressions

– and a few hotkeys - and the top hololive VTubers, Gura and Korone, are both REALLY

good at exaggerating those expressions and their movements to make those puppets feel

alive. Successful VTubers also give their all to the vocal side of the performance,

to imbue their characters with more… character. It takes a lot of talent – and a keen sense

of comic timing – to do this job well. Have confidence. No confidence

These exaggerated, animated personalities give each VTuber and their community a distinct

vibe; and with the wide variety of characters out there, it's all but guaranteed that

any potential viewer will find at least one channel they can vibe with. A lot of folks

enjoy the chaotic, shitposty Bart Simpson energy of Gura's streams, some prefer the

laid-back, soothing atmosphere of Ina's drawing sessions, and others deeply appreciate

Amelia's patented blend of real gamer skill and real gamer toxicity.

“It looks like they're gonna try to go for the hunt and not for the kill because

what's the point they already won the game OH! looks like they are gonna go for the plant

even though it's pretty much in the bag for them no plant even needed THAT'S RIGHT

gonna take out the Sova what a surprise…” “My brain is mellllllltiiiing…”

Personally, I just appreciate no longer being the worst anime chess streamer.

Also she's definitely got the best taste in anime and manga out of the Holomyth squad.

Like, Mob Psycho, Made in Abyss, The Promised Neverland,*Deca-Dence.* Between Bubba and

Pipe that's some good taste in dogs too. Kiara's probably got her beat in JRPG taste,

and her open, positive personality mixes well with everyone she collabs with, and makes

it a lot of fun to watch her fail and learn in games on her own. Callie, uh, does a lot

of that too, with her own upbeat attitude. Though I think most people appreciate her

attitude and beats in a different context. “Trapped in a stasis- I hate this, I haven't

taken a life in like ages, okay. This is Heinous, but wait, look at me now! Try'na get souls

and I just found out how! Put up a shroud, Stream for the crowd, Play up the game and

the viewers could bow!” There's something for… pretty much everyone

between the five of them. And DEFINITELY everyone when you add in the dozens upon hundreds of

Japanese and foreign streamers under the hololive banner and beyond.

If you wanna revel in the simple Joy of gaming, it's hard to resist Korone's enthusiasm.

If you like clowning around – or whole-damn circussing around – then Polka's zany

gaming streams will delight you. It's especially fun watching her play Among Us because she

just… constantly seems like she's up to something. On the other hand, Pekora IS constantly

up to something. And everyone knows it, which you'd think would undermine her mischief.

But she knows how to turn that suspicion to her advantage. She's a master of psychological

warfare. “So where are you?”

“huuh, well, if I tell you, you might get even more anxious, maybe”

“Where are you?” “The foot of the snowy mountain. PEKO PEKO

PEKO PEKO Why don't you try your best and catch up? I'm looking forward to your VR

horror stream Peko peko peko” “Shut up! Damnit this is the worst!”

It's hard not to get attached to a favourite or two if you spend any amount of time watching

these girls stream. Though it's worth noting that there are a lot of fun, underappreciated

personalities on the male “holostars” side as well. Roberu the bartender has a pure,

direct charm that makes his English among us streams a lot of fun, and I deeply, DEEPLY

relate to his undying thirst for Pyra in xenoblade 2.

“Subarashi! *parched noises*” On that note, there's a practical benefit

to the wide range of VTubers, beyond appealing to a broad audience – it makes it easy to

avoid whatever aspects of the larger community *don't* appeal to you.

Most VTubers sit in a comfortable PG middle ground between all-ages and adult-oriented

content, where they can traffick in innuendo and double entendre for the sake of humor,

without doing anything suggestive enough to make anyone who's not *here for that* feel

uncomfortable. Of course, these are anime girls on the internet; some people are absolutely

here for that. And some of those people might be inclined to push that, through thirst chatting,

on viewers and streamers who aren't. Which is where more, uh, overt creators like Hololive's

Marine come in. “Senchou!!”

“Ahoy!” “Ahoy!”

“How are ya?” “I'm HORNYYY!”

“A.” They give the viewers who are “Woah, actually

horny?” a place to congregate, express themselves, share… fanart, and mingle with their own

kind. An outlet, if you will. And when these streamers collaborate, they can serve as the

butt of the others' “go to jail for horny crimes” jokes, subtly setting boundaries

for anyone who finds a new favourite through the collab.

It helps – quite a bit – that respecting these boundaries seems to be more or less

the norm among VTube viewers, when the opposite is so often the case in the world of streaming

and parasocial relationships at large. It's all too common for fans of online personalities

to become over-familiar with their faves, and expect really unfair things of them, but

VTube avatars serve as an additional barrier between creator and audience, and in general,

fans discourage each other from trying to break through that. Even if the true identity

of a vtuber's “soul” is an open secret, it's generally taboo to bring it up.

I don't know if that's motivated by respect on every fan's part, per se. I think it's

more likely that some of them just don't want others breaking the “illusion” of

the character for them. But the result is positive either way; obsessive, possessive,

intrusive fans are pushed to the fringes of the community, where – usually – they

do less harm. And because everyone's already invested in playing along with the character,

they're a little more inclined to play along with other rules too.

That's not to say the VTube community's free of toxicity and disrespect. Ha. Ha. It

is to laugh. But in general, the atmosphere is more positive and inviting than… most

online spaces I've been in. At least when it comes to big, “officially sanctioned”

streamers. It can be rough for independent creators who don't have a big audience or

an agency to back them up, but even then, the community is keen to welcome new voices,

and push back against the small but vocal minority of gatekeeping assholes at its periphery.

Be they Chumbuds or Deadbeats, most VTube fans are united by a drive to protecc and

support. By its very nature this new interactive medium

widens the gap between performer and persona, without making the audience feel *detached*

from either. And I find that layer of accepted unreality makes certain enduringly popular

game commentary “genres” a little more enjoyable, at least for me.

Take horror games; it is just plain fun to watch people wander nervously down dark hallways

and get jump scared, but most of these games leverage tropes and follow patterns that get…

old after a while. You become desensitized to these kinds of scares. And when real, 3D

streamers make them their bread and butter, it gradually becomes harder and harder to

believe their reactions are completely genuine. They know you're here to watch them panic

and make loud noises, and of course they're gonna give the people what they want.

In my eyes those performative overreactions just… fit larger than life *characters*

like Okayu, Pekora, and Gura a lot better; you're already primed to expect them to

perform. Screams that would sound obnoxious coming from a real human being… still sound

pretty obnoxious, honestly, but they feel like something an anime girl would naturally

do. And thanks to the collaborative nature of these streams, you do also get some…

very genuine reactions when they drag their less brave friends into a multiplayer spookemup.

But it's another age-old youtube gaming staple – Minecraft Roleplay – that benefits

most from the suspension of disbelief that VTubers encourage. I have NEVER been able

to get into this kind of content before – as someone who waxes poetic about anime on the

internet I'm in no position to call anything “cringey,” but “in character” Minecraft

gameplay just doesn't sit right with me… unless it involves vtubers.

There's a powerful appeal in seeing all of these characters I enjoy inhabit a persistent,

shared space. It's a solid compromise between my craving for continuity and my desire to