we need a season 2 for her!

no no no see you misunderstand, thats exactly my point! When I make the comparison I don't mean to say "oh its all fake, its all scripted, just accept that, grr" but to bring kayfabe in as a way to understand whats going on here. No I don't think its scripted. We know that the actresses have a lot of input into their personas, and are no doubt mostly filtering their own genuine selves through the lens of that persona. But think of the dedication that takes, to do that 4-9 hours straight however many days every week! Particularly the ones who're doing a voice too. Like, in wrestling which is a whole other level of manufactured content I'll give you that, I think the thing is that no matter how much booking you put on someone or how favorable you want them to be seen by the audience no matter how good of a gimmick, it all comes down to the strength of the performer to make it work. Like, think of how memorable the Macho Man is so many years later, or like those fuckin, Da Vinky twins. Even if the vtubers persona is almost entirely 90 percent themself with a little gimmick, its ultimately still A Performance like anything is when you have an audience like that. And like I think I'm mainly talking about The Big-to-Medium Vtuber Companies here, the ones Engaging With Quintessential Vtuberness, not like small independent streamers who're just adding a little persona and doing their regular thing. Honestly this is already what streamers are doing but to the next level.

And this is why like, fan engagement like shipping and backstory is encouraged and made in a way that isn't creepy the way it is with like, those gross minecraft streamers or whatever. Because of the distance that is made, because there is a real effort to protect the identities of the actresses playing them, what people are engaging with here is this remarkable concoction of the original gimmick, the anime woman on screen, the streamer's personality being filtered behind the persona to varying degrees, the layer of performance, the streamer's genuine self as expressed through performance, and the context of the wider Culture of Vtubers around it.

And I don't think that's cynical at all! Rather, it's a pretty remarkable thing, no?

^Thanks for explaining more! I understand your views better now, and yeah you don't sound as cynical as I originally thought. It is honestly very remarkable how it all comes together. The only thing I can really add is that big company Vtubers also have a lot of leeway with their personas and how they choose to act, in a similar fashion as indie Vtubers. Main thing is that there are some lines they can't cross and a certain amount of red tape they have to deal with, basically the company owns the rights to their character and they have tighter restrictions while also gaining more protection/legal help and promotion. Which isn't too bad of a trade off honestly, since there's various restrictions every successful entertainer has to place on themselves. Being in a public spotlight and having everything you say scrutinized can be a swift demise if an entertainer plays their cards wrong any day of the week.

Anyhow, I think this has honestly been a good conversation, thanks!

Edit: One other thing is that joining a company does have some risks as well, but I imagine having professional legal help with matters such as DMCA must be such a relief. The DMCA strike nonsense seems to only be getting worse, and screwing content creators more and more. It's really unfortunate how things like that are so harmful.

last edited at Apr 25, 2021 12:44PM

Be careful Senchou, you wouldn't want Noel to go get her mace.

We all saw what she did to poor Subaru.

thought this was HibiMiku lol

Happy tree friends tag
They're already dead, huh?

last edited at Apr 25, 2021 1:23PM

Wow

Nice ^^

Go for the cute smol otaku

Didn't think I see KOF on here. Thanks for posting best girl Leona

touch

These ladies are so beautiful!

My OTP. Anyone knows where I can find Stars Fall at Dawn fanfiction by Kanzaki?

My OTP. Anyone knows where I can find Stars Fall at Dawn fanfiction by Kanzaki?

YES SetsuShio rights

@elevown https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/mermaid_line_ch06 this story and its sequel in chapter 7 involves a couple where the “boyfriend” decided to transition

just started watching Nijigasaki and I am kinda surprised there aren't more fanarts of this pairing here, don't get me wrong I get the preferred pairing for Yu, which I also like, just surprised there is so few for this one

boba girlfriend? more like BOOBA girlfriend

n-navel play

This is what started it all, them.

beautiful, stunning, magnificent

^Thanks for that- i have read it before but so long ago I forgot it existed! Its really good.

I don’t know who they are but I see Touhou I automatically react

I know nothing about One Piece but this meme will always be funny

@Azero25: There are a few other KOF posts here, actually.