Japanese Vtubers Fans Spend Up To $1.5M A Year In Donations: “It’s Like I’m Part Of My Family” | Ruetir

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Vtubers, streamers who use an avatar to broadcast on Twitch or YouTube, have become popular stars that, according to a report by the AFP agency, are considered a small segment of Japanese subculture, being such a lucrative activity that some channels earn more than $1.5 million in donations a year, according to data analytics site Playboard.

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Since its appearance about five years ago, this type of stream already has 16,000 active content producers around the world, according to the specialized company User Local, with such popularity that even Japanese local governments sometimes use it to promote themselves or production companies. like those of the movie “The Batman”, they have scheduled interviews of their protagonists, Robert Pattinson and Zoe Kravitz, with a Japanese VTuber.

As Mayu Iizuka, a 26-year-old who lends her voice and gestures to a character named Yume Kotobuki, points out, when she plays live video games and wins, her fans congratulate her and send money “to show their support.”

Fans who sometimes also become toxic haters, taking this type of harassment to a previously unknown level since, in a somewhat blurred limit, Iizuka affirms that the online insults against her character were also attacks against her and took her case to a court ruled in his favor.

In this aspect, the virtual characters come to “transcend gender, age or appearance, but the important thing is that there is a real person behind who reads the comments,” said Kazuhito Ozawa, who is a lawyer for the plaintiff, who commented that such behaviors were one of the reasons why revealing her identity after “playing” Yume for four years made her nervous.

He was afraid that Yume fans “would be disappointed to see the real person behind it,” but “the reactions have been good,” he says.

According to Noriyuki Nagamatsu, who is part of the online advertising agency DA Consortium, the trend of giving money to their favorite Vtubers is similar to “an ancient practice where idol and animation fans expressed their support by buying tons of stuff.” “, being “a way to get the attention of the loved one, and to feel superior to other fans”.

Something that the AFP agency exemplifies with Kazumi, a computer scientist who only wanted to give his first name, who said that his fanaticism is such that he came to decorate his small apartment in Tokyo with posters, framed photos and key chains with his idol Mio Ookami, a half girl, half wolf character.

“I can spend five to 10 hours thinking about her,” he says. “It’s like she’s part of my family,” she said.

All thanks to just a webcam and a motion sensor around the neck, with which thousands of Vtubers bring their characters to life.

(Fuente)



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