Hide your face but still watch over many worries
VTuber blooms in Japan
Temporarily stripped of her gentle personality, Mayu Iizuka began laughing, shouting, and waving frantically in a makeshift studio in Tokyo. Iizuka will voice an avatar who will appear on the live stream to interact with hundreds of fans.
Iizuka is the voice and animator for virtual YouTuber (VTuber) named Yume Kotobuki. People like Iizuka are turning an obscure Japanese subculture into a thriving industry. The top YouTube channels can make more than 1 million USD (equivalent to 130 million yen) per year.
The videos are designed to make fans feel like they’re interacting directly with their favorite cartoon idol. Some viewers are willing to pay hundreds of dollars to have their comments pinned to the top during a live stream.
Iizuka revealed to AFP news agency that when she plays a game on her channel and wins, her fans congratulate and give money as a way to show their support and appreciation.
The 26-year-old girl uses a laptop, webcam and motion sensors worn around her neck to appear onscreen as Yume. This character has facial expressions controlled by the producer.
With her bubbly voice, short skirt, and big purple eyes, Iizuka’s avatar is a popular image of Vtuber characters. They are similar in appearance to the heroines of Japanese anime films.
According to data company User Local, since its inception five years ago, the Vtuber world has grown rapidly with about 16,000 active streamers globally. Along with that, the fan base on platforms like TikTok and gaming site Twitch is growing.
Governments in some areas in Japan use Vtuber for promotion. Even. international stars such as Robert Pattinson and Zoe Kravitz in the movie “The Batman” recently had interviews with Japan’s top VTuber.
Mayu Iizuka is a VTuber who voices and animates the character Yume Kotobuki during YouTube live streams. Photo: JiJi
Make money from YouTube’s Super Chat system
Vtubers earn money in the same way as traditional streamers, including through the “Super Chat” system. This is a YouTube feature where the more money fans spend, the more attention their comments get.
In fact, the 9 highest earning YouTube channels in the world from Super Chat in 2021 are all VTubers.
According to data analytics website Playboard, all nine are affiliated with a Tokyo-based talent agency. Each earned between $700,000 and $1.7 million from cash gifts.
Most fans spend only a few hundred yen per comment, but crazy fans sometimes spend up to 50,000 yen (about $380) to post messages to their virtual idols.
Kazuma Murakami, 30, once spent 10,000 yen to have his comment highlighted in red for his favorite VTuber to see. “I really wanted her to realize I was there, visiting her channel,” says Murakami.
Another VTuber fan spent money to decorate the small room with posters, framed pictures and keychains featuring his favorite Mio Ookami character. He spends his time after work and weekends immersing himself in Mio’s videos and illustrating his idol.
Noriyuki Nagamatsu, a digital business expert at advertising agency DA Consortium, said he spends 5-10 hours just thinking about his idols. “She’s like my family,” he said.
Nagamatsu said Super Chat is essentially an extension of the long-standing fan culture of supporting idols by buying their merchandise. It’s also a way to get the attention of someone they admire. This also gives them a feeling of superiority over others.
Mayu Iizuka worries fans will be disappointed to learn the real person behind the cute online Yume character. Photo: JiJi
From virtual world to real life
VTubers often leave their real selves behind virtual characters. Like many other fans, Kazumi stated that his love for the character Mio is not the person behind her role.
But the line between the virtual world and the real world can become very thin. A Japanese court recently ruled in favor of a VTuber, who argued that the slander against her virtual character was also directed at her.
Kazuhito Ozawa, the plaintiff’s lawyer, said that VTuber can transcend gender, age or physique, but the important thing is to have a real person talking in real life.
For Iizuka, the professional voice actress for the character Yume, making the rare decision to reveal her identity after four years of making videos was stressful.
“Part of me is afraid that fans of Yume, who has big eyes and perfect body, might be disappointed to know what the real person is inside,” she said.
But so far, the reaction from fans has been very gentle. Yume’s frank, vivacious personality even gradually influenced Iizuka herself. She shared, “I used to be shy about public speaking, but Yume is an experienced streamer that makes being Yume help her speak more confidently.”
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