A practice has now hit the explosive breakthrough phase: VTubers.
Specifically, the Japanese end of the scene is now expanding greatly. Over the weekend Nijisanji debuted their first three English characters--links below--and now Kadokawa is due to debut one of their own at 6 AM Eastern Time tomorrow morning. (16 hours from this post.)
At this point, I think that what we're seeing is the merging of another Japanese practice--the widespread use of cute mascots as brand ambassadors--with VTubing to create a new class of mascot. While Hololive, Nijisanji, and VOMS are entertainment agencies--as is the company behind Kizuna Ai--Kadokawa is a publisher and producer of anime. For them to put out their own VTuber girl really does look like someone convinced Management to use them as a mascot.
We'll see soon enough; I won't be awake to see it live, but maybe one of you will. If so do drop a Comment below. I'll catch the replay.
These are Nijisanji's new talents:
- Pomu Rainpuff: "NIJISANJI EN's super sunny fairy virtual liver, Pomu Rainpuff!"
- Elira Pendora: "I’m a dragon with many scales- I mean, skills! I love to sing, game and chat; especially with humans like you."
- Finana Ryugu: "A mermaid who spends my time with the tropical fish in the sea of coral reefs. I have a heart as clear and pure as the calm and beautiful sea." (She's also a mecha weeb. First agency-backed VTuber to be so.)
Nijisanji, like Hololive, themes their cohorts and like Hololive EN this is a "Mythological character as a cute anime girl" theme. There's only three, but let me tell you that being cute and feminine is a massive draw. They debuted last weekend and they're all over 50K in subscribers, with Finana at over 60K. They do the "I'm cute, I'm pretty, I sing like an idol, and yet I'm relatable like the girl next door" and thus they are totally in the Girlfriend Experience model of VTuber. I expect this to shift over the coming months as each girl gets comfortable performing and individuates more, just as we saw with previous cohort debuts in all of the agencies.
As for if this succeeds, we'll see when Super Chats and Memberships are enabled. That, more than anything else, showed Hololive that EN was a runaway success; some got far more Members, some more Superchat revenue, some more subscribers, but overall they raked in the cash and they're still growing. This is why Nijisanji's making this move, and I would not be surprised if Kadokawa follows suit should their new girl also hit like the fist of an angry god.
That means there is another step to follow, and it means merging the practice of voice actors--seiyuu--doing television appearances and radio shows to promote themselves and the anime they're working on as it airs or screens in theaters with VTubing. I would not be surprised if future promotional appearances for those anime shows and films involve the cast appearing as their characters in those promotional gigs, using 2D or 3D rigs of those characters. The technology is already there; all that awaits is someone with the guts to make that policy.
Yes, that's right, instead of Your Favorite Voice Actress doing interviews with Entertainment Media Hack, it's Your Favorite Character instead. If this has the consequence of depreciating the voice acting talent--making them cheaper and more fungible--then you can count on this happening sooner than later. If it does happen, then you can bet that (a) there will be legal fights and (b) Western animation companies and their owners will leap on this practice with supernatural speed specifically for the exploitative effects.
Right now, VTubing is a hobby for some and a fun--mostly innocent--business for others. This expansion of VTubers, especially those created by or backed by a corporation, has all the hallmarks of being turned into another cynical cult idol to weaponize and exploit to the detriment of a people already weary of predation.
It's the future, and only the underground is allowed to not suck. The radioactive wasteland is already here; it's just cultural instead of literal.
Turns out the Kadokawa video is an ad for something where the protagonist is a female VTuber. Could be worse, and still leaves open the use of VTubers as mascots. I'd call this a soft test to gauge reaction.
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