Virtual YouTuber

On 12 February 2010, visual novel maker Nitroplus began uploading videos to its YouTube channel featuring an animated 3D version of its mascot Super Sonico, who would usually talk to the audience about herself or about releases related to the company.[6] On 13 June 2011, UK-based Japanese vlogger Ami Yamato uploaded her first video, which featured an animated, virtual avatar speaking to the camera.[5][7] In 2012, Japanese company Weathernews Inc. debuted a vocaloid-like character called Weatheroid Type A Airi on SOLiVE24, a 24-hour weather live stream on Nico Nico Douga, on YouTube and their website.[8] In 2014, Airi got her own solo program every Thursday and began live broadcasting with motion capture.[9][10]

Kizuna AI, whom many consider to be the first true VTuber

In late 2016, Kizuna AI, considered to be the first VTuber,[5][11] made her debut on YouTube, and was the first to coin and use the term "virtual YouTuber". Voice-acted by Nozomi Kasuga,[12] Kizuna AI created a sense of "real intimacy" with fans, as she was responsive to their questions. Within ten months, she had over two million subscribers and later became a culture ambassador of the Japan National Tourism Organization.[13] Kizuna Ai's popularity can be attributed to the oversaturation of traditional webcam YouTubers and for aspects of characters that the audience would not expect. For example, Kizuna Ai despite having a friendly appearance, often swears in her videos when she gets frustrated while playing a game.[14]

Kizuna AI's sudden popularity sparked a VTuber trend.[5][11] Between May and mid-July 2018, the number of active VTubers increased from 2,000 to 4,000.[15] Kaguya Luna and Mirai Akari followed Kizuna as the second and third most popular VTubers, with 750,000 and 625,000 subscribers respectively. Nekomiya Hinata and Siro, two other early VTubers, each gained followings of 500,000 in six months.[11]

After their initial success in Japan, VTubers spread overseas, with agencies creating branches in China, South Korea, Indonesia, and India, as well as English-focused branches. Meanwhile, independent VTubers began to appear in many countries, from Japan to the United States. In July 2018, VTubers had a collective subscriber count of 12.7 million, and more than 720 million total views.[16] By January 2020, there were over 10,000 VTubers.[1] In August 2020, seven of the ten largest Super Chat earners of all time on YouTube were VTubers, including Hololive member Kiryu Coco at number one, who by that time had earned approximately ¥85 million (~$810,000).[17] At the same time, the popularity of VTubers continued to rise on Twitch, a host of several notable English-speaking VTubers such as VShojo members Projekt Melody and Ironmouse.[18][19]

In September 2020, Ichikara, the management company for Nijisanji, one of the major VTuber agencies in Japan, created an "Aggressive Acts and Slander Countermeasure Team" to offer counselling to victims of harassment and take legal measures against perpetrators of harassment, specifically the online harassment plaguing the Japanese entertainment industry. This announcement came in the wake of Hololive VTuber Mano Aloe's retirement after only two weeks of activity due to online harassment.[20]

YouTube's 2020 Culture and Trends report highlights VTubers as one of the notable trends of that year, with 1.5 billion views per month by October.[21]

In December 2020, The Artifice launched vTubie, a platform for VTubers. [22]