VTubers and how their community made the pandemic less lonely
© 2023 Morifae
Written by: Wrai
The year was 2019, and I had just graduated college. I was still full of hope and dreams, working at an Indie Game Dev studio that had just succeeded in gaining a small but promising budget. Things were looking good, and I had even gotten several interviews with other game studios around the area (though no good offers). But then, the pandemic struck. At first, it was just vaguely in the news, a part of something happening across the world. But as the virus spread, so did the fear. And so we entered lockdown, shutting down everything physical and turning all projects virtual. With it went most of my irl interactions with people non-digitally, and the start of a very long period of seemingly endless isolation...that is, until I discovered the world of Vtubers.
Vtubers, short for Virtual Youtubers, are online streaming personalities that generally use certain computer programs such as Vtube Studio, or Vroid Studio, to bring a 2D or 3D rigged model to life, rather than using the entertainer’s actual features. This allows for a diverse range of models, from catgirls and anime characters to eldritch monsters that could easily exist within the Lovecraftian lore. The Vtubers I’ll be talking about here are primarily those owned by corporations, such as Hololive, or Nijisanji. These Vtubers belong to the company, and often are themed under certain generations, each with their own often quirky yet loveable personalities.
So as the world settled into the COVID-19 lockdown, I began to fall down the Vtuber rabbit hole. From discovering Shirakami Fubuki of Hololive JP Gen 1 through translated clips on Youtube, to eagerly anticipating new waves of NijiEN. Each Vtuber brought new videos and clips to look forward to, and though many of their streams were in languages I knew nothing about, there was plenty of translated content I could consume via Youtube. Now it’s worth noting that I rarely actually spoke in chat, but even then, their streams made me feel alive. There was something so magical to finishing work for the day so I could watch a fairy play Metal Gear and gush over Solid Snake, or through watching an anime pirate captain who’s perpetually 18 sing karaoke with the prowess of a professionally trained singer. As I immersed myself into the Vtuber culture and community, I felt all the loneliness wash away. Anytime I felt like the world’s weight and isolation would crush me, I could put on a recording of Mysta playing Until Dawn. Maybe even put on a video to fall asleep to, like when Selen and Rosemi did VR Chat during the New Years stream. It sounds silly, but I truly think without Vtubers, the pandemic would’ve been a much harsher world to navigate.
It wasn’t necessarily their concepts or characters that pulled me in either, but rather how real they were. All of us were suffering, some like me from isolation, where life outside my apartment except for careful trips to the grocery store were basically nonexistent, others from their loved ones contracting the virus. Yet these streamers were able to still stream for us, playing Minecraft, Apex, and other games, often indie, for 5-10 hours a day. Even when I couldn’t catch them live, the VOD would be up for me to consume afterwards. Despite many of the Vtubers playing a type of character, there was always such a real nature to many of them that I grew to love - there wasn’t just a streamer persona. It felt like each stream they were here to talk to us, the audience, the chat, and be open with us. That was what got me.
In short, if you’re looking for a new fix, or even just feeling unmotivated, I heavily recommend checking out Vtubers, both indie and corporation owned! There are more and more indie talents who have started breaking out on Twitch and Youtube, and countless more waves coming from Hololive, Nijisanji, and the like! Find your niche and settle in, as once you embark down this rabbit hole, there’s no coming back :)
