The Timeline and Eras of VTubers

The VTuber Industry has had many drastic changes since Kizuna AI. Many influential figures came and brought about many eras so far, and in this video, we're going to do some history and talk about the general timeline of the VTuber industry. This video doesn't include the proto-VTubers like Ami Yamato or Eilene! Those have their own video.
Like and subscribe for more content! It really helps a lot. This channel's purpose is to archive important moments, history, and cultures in the VTubing industry. These include influential figures, memes, milestones, decisions, and trends. Basically, I'm a historian but for VTubers. If you think I missed something, drop a comment!
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#vtuber #holoen #hololive

[@narudayo5053]

You forget 2014-2017, the era of the first Vtuber Eilene, she is even the one who produced Mirai Akari who popularized Vtuber in Japan

[@CuriousNeon]

Man, I was excited before I watched this if he ever talked about her...

[@DepressedNousagi]

I actually considered putting this here, and even Annoying Orange, to be honest LMFAO. But I figured maybe not... ? The VTubing community and industry, as we currently know it as, didn't really 'exist' back then so my logic was "Since the industry didnt really exist before AI, therefore, there was no era." Edit: Thinking about it, maybe I actually should have made a brief mention about Annoying Orange and Eilene... Oh well. I'm gonna have to pin this comment for people to see.

[@narudayo5053]

@@DepressedNousagi I'm not sure about this... Ai debuted alongside Mirai Akari and many other 3d Vtuber around 2016-2017. She simply mix/put a word very later on to something that was already known as Virtual liver or Virtual youtuber since before then game companies were already using the tech to make their characters talk. Eilene was one of the first to do Vtubing as the way we know it now. A self-made indie Vtuber, without the set persona, acting herself. (And the fact that she also produced 2 impactful vtubers around Ai era - Akari and Yomemi). Edit: Talking about her would have atleast shown to people about someone in the back who also greatly impacted the industry, someone who was not a corporate. And that as an Indie, she also got herself out of poverty like that, from eating grass to currently having her own Vtuber company. Most of Vtuber from Kizuna Ai era are company made with the cost of it. Kizuna Ai and the most big were equal to Barbie with a set personnality and paid only to fill the role of a voice actor.

[@gampie13]

@@DepressedNousagi the original foundation of modern v-tubing was annoying orange and volcaloid, that is what made the foundation off modern v-tubing, atleast go back to the biginning, and not just the "modern era" off v-tubing as we know it today. (since you wanted to use "classical era etc.", you should have added in the origin era. yes i know there where by technicality more things in the foundation, but following this vids premise off made waves/set standards, throus 2 where the majour foundation layers)

[@j2_zero]

@@DepressedNousagi you can do a pre-era. Culmination of different elements put together to what we know now as vtubers.

[@NickFoggy]

Kiryu Coco may be the poster child of the "Golden Era", but can we just give shout-outs to Korone? Her English-speaking clips and the fan animations and memes with her were thriving as much as Coco's did.

[@tbk2010]

While she was important, I understand not including her for brevity. If he had included every v-tuber who contributed significantly to the rise in popularity the video would be 2 hours, so you have to make a judgment call on which to point out specifically.

[@ThePardner]

Korone was the one who introduced me to vtubers back in 2020. She's just a joy and a ball of energy!

[@Akerumaster]

We can give some credit to Fubuki too with her Scatman video an Miko with GTA videclips

[@NoxSuperNova]

Miko's clip should be added. You know which one.

[@Eisu]

@@NoxSuperNova That clip was shown in the video, just no audio and wasn't being mentioned by Nousagi. But I do believe that this clip was the first to bring a lot of english speaking people to the Vtuber scene when that clip appeared on 4chan as a meme (anime girl say n-word, haha), cos it was right after that clip's virality that I see so many english speaking people in the chat for japanese vtuber streams and then the Miko-Korone collab that pushed people to notice Korone and started going to her stream and so on and so forth. I have no data to back this up, this is just what I saw from my observation back then cos... *sigh* let's face it, I had time back then to watch all the streams which is something I sadly cannot do anymore due to sheer volume of vtubers now T_T

[@chuzu-thepinoygigachad2373]

I didn't thought I would get a history class in vtubers, thanks depressed nousagi

[@ManusiaKagakRusuh]

And this only tell you the Historical eras of Vtuber ... There's still a chapter of Pre-Historic era ...

[@crazy961234]

GigaChad Coco: -Interviewed as a manager -Overqualified -Hired as one of talents instead -Revolutionized the Vtuber industry -Helped developed Hololive EN -Became one of the main pillars of the Vtuber community -Leaves But honestly the Golden Era was the best time. The community was less toxic, everyone respected each other, and new types of content (AsaCoco, Meme Reviews and Bar Coco). I remembered waking up at 5am every day just to watch AsaCoco live. I miss those days.

[@namelessking111]

I'm honestly so happy to be one of the people to get into the vtuber fandom right as the "Golden Era" was kicking in. After Coco was gone, things really didn't felt the same anymore.

[@oujimandias6485]

It is toxic still, but it was the best time to reshape participation in livestreams both vtubers and streamers in general. Everyone paid attention to the oshii and not themselves. Small thing but a big deal.

[@crazy961234]

@@oujimandias6485 That's why I said less toxic.

[@jermfb]

I miss the Reddit reviews, no one could do those like Coco. I still watch them form time to time.

[@crazy961234]

@@jermfb Indeed those were the good times. She still does it but its not the same anymore.

[@Kaimine08]

Gotta admit, it's absolutely insane how fast this industry blew up. Hololive went from a girl and her friend asking Yagoo for help on becoming a virtual idol to the biggest vtuber brand in the world with over 50 talents in 5 years. That's insane.

[@ifdy1361]

I mostly watch hololive but I don't think hololive is as big as nijisanji

[@gendalfgrey6550]

this remind me Plague Inc

[@Kaimine08]

@@ifdy1361 The Brand (In terms of notoriety) outside of Japan is Hololive for sure. Inside Japan, that belongs to Nijisanji. If we're talking biggest by talents, that would be Nijisanji, they've merged ID with their JP branch recently so they certainly have their own issues trying to expand outside of Japan. They hit a gold mine with Luxium though.

[@beththedarkmage3359]

​@@Kaimine08 Outside of Japan I think a case could be made for VShojo. Ironmouse and Nyanners are huge and their numbers continue to grow at ridiculous rates.

[@kenhiyoko941]

@@Kaimine08 They merge the KR and ID branch into main branch so now is only Niji JP EN CN

[@seanlocke2228]

I think you forgotten to mention one key element that led to the boom of the golden age and that's Covid-19. With all the lockdowns, it led to many people looking for something to do and that led to watching vtubers. And I think Miko's "stay home" captured that moment well.

[@Syndicateeeeee]

seeing how the vtuber industry evolve in such a short time feels like ages to me. I started with kaguya since her avatar is soo mind-blowing in the earlier days.. the memories

[@Aryazaky]

I started with PPH!

[@ManjigumiVirus]

@@Aryazaky same. I still think she is cute

[@ZxosGamer]

Internet's like a pocket dimension to me; you'd feel like you've witnessed the progression of civilization that could've progressed in 50-60 years while it's only been 5-6 years IRL Sometimes I feel very old when talking about things on the internet that happened in the past VTuber is one of them

[@somethingrandomasmekevin4538]

the fact he uses Civ 6 theme is actually fitting

[@jaehaerys48]

Glad seeing Mito get attention, her contribution to the vtuber sphere is really played down in the west.

[@Dhabo_]

Such a community we are, thriving everywhere and spreading our words. Ah yes why not

[@thisissoooonotnew]

NODDERS

[@serene1931]

@@thisissoooonotnew kkkupl kl

[@dandanthedandan7558]

Like a plague we shall infect every corner of the internet

[@imtoolazyforaprofilepic4961]

What a community you are. As a reward, i shall give you my like

[@twenty-three7194]

Kobo's existence might just give way to more localized vtubers. I feel like Vtubers as of now has to more or less appeal to the anime fans side of things or just generally have more japanese flair in their stuff. But Kobo might have just changed the game forever

[@abdulcholik3341]

Yup, more localized market, next maybe EU or SA

[@aisukururimu7515]

What make Kobo is such a game changer is that Kobo attracted a large market of not just normies from Indonesia, but even worldwide in general instead of the usual otakus. So far 2023 is Kobo's era imo

[@samym1694]

I may be over 20 but me took interest of Vtubers was the closest thing my imaginative childhood dreams come true. I've always dream about interacting with cartoon characters IRL after watching films featuring live action cast and animated toons interacting like "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" and "Space Jam"

[@nickstarlingch]

Man, I wanted to make a 3D model and use Sony Online Entertainment face-tracking intended for MMOs to make KZbin videos way back in 2012, but I didn't capitalize on that plan. Then I saw Kizuna Ai and thought "dang, I don't wanna be derivative and she pulled it off better than I would've, anyways!" Now I'm 30 and after a decade of regret, I caved, withdrew from my retirement account and scouted out the best artist and rigger I could find. I finally debuted my vtuber channel about five weeks ago, and I'm improving gradually, but it's going so well. It's never too late to realize your dreams! I may be starting in the gold rush, like a trend-chaser, but I'm definitely not trend-chasing. Just executing a plan way, way late.

[@beththedarkmage3359]

You know, it's funny, because I always wanted to work on cartoons and be an executive producer of some kind. I wanted to write, draw, storyboard and character design. I even wanted to voice act after being inspired by Gravity Falls' Alex Hirsch. Creating a VTuber is making my dreams come true, too. So thanks for posting this comment, it really spoke to me and made me feel less weird for being autistic and obsessed with animation lol.

[@shaithis77]

@Super Succubi if you never have, look up Pumpkin Potion. She’s a vtuber in the style of OG animation. Really cool look.

[@ShadowDaPk]

I'm glad that Hololive branded it as Hololive English and not Hololive USA. The US is not the only English-speaking country with a fanbase and we may not have gotten a few of the current EN talents.

[@BeyondDaX]

Well Neat I guess.

[@IAMRiouLazlo]

Hololive usa is coco kaine

[@jomujomu7513]

For sure. Canada is as big as the US in terms of actual well-known active vtubers. Like half of NijiEN is from there, Kronii, and Ina(not confirmed).

[@merru-mun7414]

@@jomujomu7513 I'd even say that most "well-known" active vtubers are Canadian, at least, more than American. As you mentioned, Kronii and Ina are Canadian. On the Niji side, there's Elira, Selen, Rosemi, Enna, Millie and Nina (and potentially more that we don't know). That's almost half of the girls, and just under a quarter of the whole EN branch. I feel like Commonwealth countries, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK, seem to have produced more successful vtubers than other English speaking countries, which is somewhat peculiar to me. I'd assume it'd be the US.

[@gazelle_diamond9768]

And not only English-speaking countries have people in them that speak English. Like, Kiara would've never been part of HoloMyth if they stuck to the US.

[@N1ghtStalkerNL]

9:54 "And Amelia Watson was pulling out trends from her own ass." That one got me good Thanks for brightening my day Nousagi, kanpai!

[@FranzNF]

The phrase got me, and then the image killed me lmao

[@neglevin]

man, I remember the 4 heavenly kings era, good times. Nowadays, vtuber scene has become too hectic, sometimes I miss the simplistic peacefulness of those times

[@samehhh2023]

I remember watching Kizuna Ai and Kaguya Luna in 2019 and refuse to watch any of hololive because i considered them as "small vtuber which there's so many of" Now see how era has change:')

[@damianellnoir9318]

Well now they're the biggest coz Hololive has over 64 Million subscribers

[@hanzaryunosuke2832]

LoL that was also me 2 years ago. I'm soo invested to Kizuna Ai and even vow that I won't watch Hololive or Nijisanji 😂

[@Vasharan]

I hope that fans won't create needless artificial boundaries for themselves (and others). There is lots of good talent on all sides of the industry. I watch vtubers from HoloEN/JP/ID, Niji, Phase Connect, Kawaii, vshojo and quite a few indies, and wish them all the greatest success. And the more crossovers and collaboration between camps, the better, in my opinion (eg Bae x Miori, Calli x AmaLee, Bae and Calli with Ironmouse, recently watched a 50 vtuber Fall Guys tournament with too many names to list etc). I can totally understand getting very invested in a particular vtuber, but I think most of them would wish their contemporaries well.

[@Kaimax61]

Lol that argument, and you're pointing it at hololive, when nijisanji exists around the same time. XD well, atleast you've changed.

[@ZigZagKangaroo]

I remember coming across a few Vtubers including Subaru because I was looking for Vtubers with drunk hamtaro kind of voices.

[@soasertsus]

Man I remember watching Ai's videos when she first started and was genuinely confused about how it was possible. She claimed to be an AI so I wasn't sure if it was somehow computer generated or something, but she seemed way too human and expressive to be AI generated, and I also considered she was manually puppeting the model while talking, but it seemed too smooth for that, so I ended up settling on it was a human manually animating the model with a voice actor dubbing the lines like a pixar style 3d animation. But then I couldn't work out how she managed to animate and voice act a whole video every day. I never even thought about the fact that they are body tracking a real girl and overlaying a 3d model onto her for a while. I watched her for a while cause I thought the concept was cool but eventually fell off and didn't think about vtubers again until hololive blew up in 2020 and it was being spammed in my recommended so much I finally clicked on one. Crazy how much the industry has exploded.

[@lordvolsung1203]

I'm actually rooting for the OG's now. Maybe it's the changing times, but I find it sad that people forget about them to the point of even disrespecting them. I do hope Ai-chan returns stronger than ever, Akari and Siro stay strong as they are even now.

[@carlorielmendez6505]

To be fair, ai just got stretched too thin and already at the bare minimum of what a vtubers should be. Live streaming is a must now.

[@fca003]

I follow Kizuna Ai almost from the beginning (there were few videos, so I caught up pretty quickly). To be honest, her content became boring fast. But, there was no competition back then. Nowadays, it is different. They tried to re-invent the channel a few times and failed miserably. I don't think she is going to come back.

[@victoriazero8869]

From my point of view as V-Tuber fans before V-Tubing become hot shit, what Ai lacked is not personality or even her lack of livestream. It is the real life meta, which all V-Tubers pretty much spill out after certain time. The lores are not really important or relevant after the debut, the fleshy background surrounding the real person behind the character is the key. And Ai found herself exposed in the most unfortunate way, instead of dripping them out.

[@fca003]

@@victoriazero8869 There is a handful of old-school vtubers, that don't expose their real life and don't rely on live stream, but still relevant today. HimeHina comes to my mind.

[@victoriazero8869]

@@fca003 Yet they will never reach the same height. The VTuber growth has underlining parasocial subtext, which is why Vox and Rushia become the hottest shit of their group.

[@flambelk4489]

At some point around Coco's graduation I had the feeling that vtubing had finally "peaked", mainly because the subscription rates for Hololive had slown down and it seemed the novelty of it had faded. But one thing changed my mind, Kobo and HoloID. Kobo exploded in popularity with a demographic that's neither japanese or not english. There could be another Gura, another Kobo in Latin America, in Europe, in India, who knows where else, there is much to be done yet. I think the present is what I'd actually label the golden era of Hololive. Right now, it's a peaceful moment free of drama, Cover is no longer the inexperienced company it was in the past and in a technical level it's at it's peak, all branches have more live viewers than ever before (even though subs may not be growing exponentially as they did during Coco's era), Hololive is taking by storm on anime events worldwide with Hololive Meet, conventions WANT Holomems in their events because it brings them so many people, and in return, Hololive is introduced to so many people around the world. Let's hope it lasts.

[@johnapple6646]

some people consider Coco's graduation to be the end of the "golden" era, but I like the way you think. We are still in the best timeline there is.

[@glychtal]

Man, i would give all my money just for HoloSpanish

[@dawgtheundying5303]

In my experience, the golden age began when HoloEN 1 debuted, peaked when Coco graduated and Council debuted, and ended when Rushia retired. Since then, a lot of what's happened has been weird, like if you told someone from 2021 about the rise of Salome or Kobo, or Vshojo JP, or to a lesser extent, StarsEN, they'd think "what the fuck". But I wouldn't call it bad either.

[@victoriazero8869]

I mean, people kind of forgetting how Covid rocket boosted the streaming industry as a whole.

[@darkevilazn]

Peak isn't the right word here. Peak implies that they've hit as high as they could, it will go down hill from there. Though if you are talking about peak growth, that maybe true, since part of that fuel was covid restrictions. But, yeah, all those untapped markets out there just ripe for the taking. Theres anime fans and Otaku everywhere in every country who would love to see them speak in their native language, just so that they don't have to wait for clippers. It could literally usher in another golden age for every language

[@ysabelnella5393]

Ngl, I was expecting to see Kazuha at least here. He and Kanae are one of the most encouraging vtubers for the male vtubers that came about. They helped start the market for male vtubers, and with their efforts, they paved the way for Luxiem and the other waves. A lot of Luxiem members admire Kanae and Kuzuha.

[@ElJoeMama]

I thank all those who have painstakingly paved the way to what Vtubers are now. This reality may have not existed if it wasnt for them.

[@suparockr]

My prediction is the next era is going to have a much bigger focus on treading new ground. Recently Nijisanji and Phase Connect had their new generations filled with a bunch of talents in relatively untapped groups like Italy and Vietnam. Bluntly put, it was a bad idea to have so many talents in the same group acting in the same time zone bumping into each other. Look at Kiara, she's basically alone in Europe and someone somewhere has to be on a bad sleep schedule for her to collab with anyone in Hololive. A gold rush to smaller areas is a market that can and should be investigated.

[@BeyondDaX]

Nijisanji tried that with India once and Korea but perhaps it may work. We'll have to see.

[@MolotovKiller]

I hope this next era brings the spanish community to popularity.

[@Signout19]

tbf, Kiara was still living in Japan, where Calli also lives, when HoloEN started. Just sayin'.

[@sixthcairn]

They should really get more Europe based members so Tenchou isn't so alone; even a HoloSpanish member that happens to actually be in Spain instead of Latin America would be amazing.

[@1991gatto1991]

@@sixthcairn I would prefer groups more based on the region and not by language anyways. HOLO EU and HOLO SA for example.

[@lemmykoopa1379]

When you really get into it, you realize that VTubers are basically just KZbinrs, but with virtual avatars. The whole subculture surrounding VTubers is a little different, sure, but at the end of the day, they’re all just entertainers. The fact that people can now express themselves a virtual avatar, has made it so many more people can gather the courage to broadcast themselves online, except, without a face to look at. VTubers are people at the end of the day, and so is pretty much everyone else on the platform. That’s something I’ve realized through watching your videos.

[@Reymax164]

A new Nousagi Video, about Vtuber History‼️

[@weebman9762]

OG vtuber is annoying orange, change my mind

[@taroni_draws]

Gorillaz predated him

[@IAMRiouLazlo]

Imagine vtuber (annoying orange) existed way back 2010, before ai-chan at 2016

[@nicoleuswhite2192]

You're right

[@QRenjo]

OG in concept yeah, but Ai is the start of the industry. This video is right choosing Ai as the start of the video.

[@binzala]

With that kinda logic, the Muppets are the og Vtubers

[@wbl_unlimited]

I approve of your Mt. Rushmore of vtubers.

[@DepressedNousagi]

"The Mt Rushmore of VTubers" lmao. That's so perfect

[@cstinson207]

I'm glad you mentioned Tsukino mito, first vtuber I got into. I've heard of kizuna ai but wasn't really in into her

[@LeyvatenLoop]

13:26 I believe what's going to happen in this era is specialization. As the size of the vtuber comunity plateau after the vtuber boom, and each viewer starts to gravitate towards it's favorites, achieving massive general appeal and success like Gura and Ironmouse becomes harder and harder and it's starting to become clear that appealing for more specific audiences is a much more reasonable and achievable bet, as if you try to appeal to everyone and fail, you'll be just one more generic-ish streamer and won't stand out in any way, but if you have your niche, you'll always have that specific audience that you cater for. This also allows new vtubers to not shy away from doing very specific they enjoy, as that will bring it's own niche audience with it. The best way to visualise this is seeing how Cover, a company notorious for being extremelly good at picking talents, has organized it's waves of new talents: all of them have their own very unique appeal that don't overlap with each other, so instead of competing with each other for the same audience, each one goes after a different audience, and as they work together, they feed a little bit of their own audiences to each other. I mean, just look at the Tempus boys, they're all extremelly different from each other, all going with very, very specific styles and yet all of them got a solid viewership that, while it isn't massive like many of the girl's, it's still more than enough to make it a very worthwhile venture for both themselves and Cover

[@MrTigracho]

I think EN3 will have the same logic as Tempus. Diferent especialization but having good chemistry with each other.

[@c2dmkr252]

yeah as you mentioned with Tempus, you can see diversification on even more specific level, Altare seems to be going more for softer and less energetic love and sad songs which although popular in their own right are not really covered in the general Vtuber community, you can also see the same with Magni's art style which is a more western style that is surprisingly rare in the Vtuber community. These small diversifications of skills that have become more common in the community really spread a wider net for people to find something they will like. As you mentioned the waves of talents being different yet feeding into each other really works well, that is why any graduation and especially Sana's hurt so much as especially Council was playing to this effect where when all the girls get together they feel like a complete unit you would watch regardless of whether you would bother to watch their individual streams just because how well they bounce off each other.

[@MrTigracho]

@@c2dmkr252 Yeah. I would like to add that Vesper especializes into Chatting/Zatsudan as well covering games that are not well known in the vtuber conmunity, I have the feeling he will move later into doing very interesting things in his streams. Meanwhile Axel also tends to chat, and he is good at games, taking them in unconventional angles(His HITMAN 2 gameplay was basically Rambo), but his strongest point is his music. Unlike Altare, who sings english songs well, Axel has potential to be known as that Vtuber in EN who can sing J-pop songs. If he trains his singings skills enough, I will be willing to say he would be tied with Enna with being the best singer of EN.

[@c2dmkr252]

@@MrTigracho yeah, I would say Tempus really has some potential with these guys, singing and just sheer entertaining power. As you mentioned Axels unique way of playing hitman is reminiscing of Bigmooney's kill everyone challenge. Also as you mentioned Vesper who seems to have traits reminiscent of an EN Marine in being the boomer who can sit on their ass and talk for literal hours making gold standard content.

[@wowiwhwbw]

So many things that we know in this world have existed basically for as long as we humans have existed (or at the least the traces and strands of DNA that eventually evolved and became them have) so it’s honestly fascinating to be able to say that we are truly witnessing the undeniable genesis of a fresh, unprecedented concept and the evolution of it into a whole industry. This industry is still so young despite having grown extremely fast so it’s honestly just so exciting to think about the future of it and the endless possibilities. Really feels like the beginning of the future.

[@cyberqueen201]

Yagoo mentioned in an interview that he'd like to try tapping into the South American and European market with hololive so there's a chance we'll see that happen in this era or another.

[@KaoretheHalfDemon]

Such a wonderful history of vtubers! Thank you for making this! I learned a lot!

[@Just_Some_Guy_with_a_Mustache]

The time of Kiryu Coco, for all its up-and-downs, was an unparalleled time when the Rabbit Hole was a beautiful black hole from which no one could escape. Not only was it good for the viewers, but it was a great time when the term "idol" was truly being redefined, and VTubers could start acting more like themselves. I still break down a little when I rewatch her graduation, and it especially hurts when you can still feel her influence.

[@nikugrill]

i realize that this mostly covers the corpo side of vtubers, but i feel like it's so vital to at the very least mention how the indie vtuber scene in the early days (especially from late 2018 to early 2019) contributed to the technology and culture we have now. Despite how minor they were, vtuber like sahana, mochihyoko, and omega sisters were trendsetters in the DIY scene that showed that anyone could be a vtuber early on in the day and I feel like this part of the scene was worth a mention, or at the very least shown for a moment.

[@untega]

I hope himehina and omesis blow up again. KZbin destroying their translation/caption feature heavily hurt them from getting overseas views. Though they do still seem to be having fun with omesis do half-irl videos, and himehina started their own studio and release great music.

[@soranai4851]

Now THIS is a history class i can get behind!!! I usually sleep during history class hahaha

[@statz3697]

Am I the only who feels like this era is just a huge tournament arc?

[@DepressedNousagi]

lmfao now that you put it that way-

[@lionelk.y7233]

Kinda it's basically a square off between Nijisanji and Hololive and who can top the charts and innovate the most Whilst the underdog VShojo is making small and calculated moves trying to take a shot at the top 2

[@weebman9762]

@@lionelk.y7233 and then fuck up their PR While I understand their talents can be themselves without anything to stop them, its also hurting them alot cuz of PR nightmare side effect

[@lionelk.y7233]

@@weebman9762 Who said they acknowledge the fight? It's basically and arms length arms race no one knows who's there's a struggle to gain the most footing on this market

[@weebman9762]

@@lionelk.y7233 I never said they acknowledge the fight or anything, I know they also hate dramas and any form of hostility between other CCs But what Im saying is they have the most freedom ( that I know of ) out of all vtuber company, and sometimes this freedom creates unnecessary dramas or leads to some people hating on them Example is politics, dont get me wrong I have no issues with anyones political stand point as long as I like them as a person The moment you touch politics you will anger some of your fans no matter what side you are on

[@fwiffo]

What era will be long to Ironmouse? She started streaming before even Tokino Sora. She blew up in 2020 before Myth, leading the Vtuber charge on Twitch. She was also a dominant force in 2021. Her subathon was a seminal event, and she's arguably Vtuber of the year for 2022. She's arguably done as much as Gura for mainstream awareness and acceptance. But it's hard to understate the industry-changing effect of Luxiem. She's also the trailblazer for the opportunity Vtubing represents for the disabled. Obviously there have always been disabled content creators, but Vtubing expands the opportunity. Even someone who is severely disfigured could put on a new face. Someone home-bound can hang out with friends. She's also the only Vtuber who can collab with anyone, Holo, Niji, independent, non-Vtuber, etc.

[@JDxBlade]

I think you answered your own question. Mousey doesnt belong to an Era. She’s her own category. While others might have their own eras and time in the spotlight, she’s an Ancient God that’s still kicking.

[@saneira]

She transcends eras as well as time, itself. Mousey is satan after all. But in all seriousness, she has done so much for not only vtubers but specifically independent vtubers. It is amazing. She was a powerhouse before vshojo and even after joining she still shouts out and collabs with her circle of indie vtuber friends. I try to keep my parasocial levels to a minimum but she is quite inspiring.

[@sirempanada2468]

@@JDxBlade yeah because i think in that time the "vtuber" word didn't even exist

[@tanvoltz4623]

If we go by this she would be first Era along with Sora and Ai she just blew up way later just like how Sora was in the first era but never really broke through mainstream They are the old guard that keep on doing their thing because it’s their passion

[@rebeccameyer6612]

I was looking for her more in this. I would say she was one of the biggest lines between the "fleshy's" and vtubers. Since allot of Vtubers tend to just Collab with other Vtubers. That's how I got brought in by her a few years ago.

[@starlightmoonlight498]

Being someone who started off my vtuber journey watching Kizuna ai back in 2017. I'm amazed at how far things have come. I had only a few oshis Kizuna ai, Calli Coco and well kson and a couple others But that's a story for another time. This video really brought me back in time to the good ol days. Like watching an old VHS tape hidden away in my memory. I have my other oshis to support still but waitingforkizuna to comeback . Despite the highs and lows of the vtuber community. It really has grown alot. Thanks for unlocking a core memory for me again nousagi

[@Jay-hu3ol]

People credit Choco and Kizuna Ai for how the vtuber space is today, but everyone forgets Mito. She literally was the first ever vtuber livestreamer.

[@kenhiyoko941]

I think most of the EN audience didn't know Mito and Nijisanji before NijiEN. She even thinks overseas viewers would not be interested at her type of content.

[@qorqir5878]

"literally was the first ever vtuber livestreamer." no, sora stream since her debut, streaming isnt alien concept, it just matter of personal choice and nothing significant compared to bring l2d model to use which make many ppl can do vtubing without 3d model

[@kdingo]

Brings back a lot of memories. English vtuber fans were really hungry for content since before Coco we, at least for me, had like only Akai Haato, and Eilene family (Natsumi Moe), and even Deet who spoke English and basically relied on translation clips to watch. In my opinion after the English speakers came out less translators did Japanese content and contributed to particularly AI’s decline.

[@KoalifyMan]

It's nice that we have a channel that dedicates putting vtube contents together for new fans that wants to know more about it. Thank you!

[@jeffriart]

It feels like a quite long time, but when all said and done, this is still only around half-decade old. It's crazy to see how rapid this industry evolved, how a million subs becomes norm with bigger vtuber nowadays. It will be certainly interesting to see what the future holds for this industry.

[@itswickie8545]

Thanks for this history lesson, teacher Depressed Nousagi! As someone who is very new in the community and only became aware of it in 2020, video’s like this help a lot.

[@punkcanuck69]

Watson is incredibly undervalued by Hololive. she's started multiple trends, and hasn't stopped.

[@darkevilazn]

Ame is a content creating monster. She currently has the most influence in vtuber trends, though, being her, she probably wouldn't want to be considered that way. She's probably one of the reasons why obs had a major accessory update.

[@tnc7399]

Considering she was like the only one that had a physical mascot she doesn't feel undervalued

[@tribopower]

@@tnc7399 I mean... that's something she created, she has at least 3 mascots by now, smol ame, buba and buffed ame, the others simply don't have any. Gura had I think... bubble but that's something the company created but no one not even gura cares about it

[@tanvoltz4623]

Ame is far from under valued 1.She is Yagoo’s favorite out of myth 2.She is the only one out of the only member outside of Jp to get a mascot to walk around at a con

[@tnc7399]

@@tribopower even her lore makes her supposed to research all of the other teammates. She isn't undervalued, but some may be more valued

[@sayukiichi]

thank you for making this! witnessing all of these happening realtime is another thing but watching this video makes me appreciate the vtubers in the video more than ever... I wouldn't become one of them if not for their great influence 😆

[@Knorkrax]

Those past years have been a wild ride for sure. Thanks for covering this part of history!

[@Oriansenshi]

Thank you for another informative and educational video. Your content serves to catalog and remember vtuber history accurately for all to see. Thank you for what you do.

[@Xhashaseed]

Dude.. Hats off to you. Every time I come across your videos they are well presented, educational, and your passion for the material and media shows. I just want you to know I am a fan. Keep up the good work.

[@bonkiru9818]

Been there from beginning, this video is much much needed for the new vtuber fans out there.

[@TheZoobZoobs]

aw man this made me so nostalgic. God, I miss Ai and God I miss her best friend, Kaguya Luna. Luna could have been one of the biggest, but as this video put it aptly, her company at the time just didn't know how to manage. Such an amazing talent was lost.

[@Erebus_official]

This dude just became the best history teacher i've ever seen

[@fmaaru571]

This entire video is extremely well made, accurate and informative! I’m legit impressed

[@leogazebo5290]

Our community has grown, so much so that Vtubers are now discussed by eras like the bronze age with its heroes and legends. Now, all we need is to tell their story to the new wave... Waifus are truly immortal.

[@honeybeeami2654]

As someone who’s currently learning Spanish on my own I would love to see my language I’ve loved for so long spread in the Vtuber industry. Especially knowing how many Spanish speakers already love things such as anime and video games of the genre

[@Supernir]

it would've been Coco...she was doing Spaingo

[@iamabird6739]

I agree, when Gura did nothing revolutionary, the fact that she's very likable makes her rose in popularity very quickly which also thanks to the timeframe she debuted in. And when people discover Myth through her popularity that just adds to the popularity of HoloEN and Hololive (not saying Myth as a whole are not as popular) and opens the door to vtubers. If Mito revolutionize the industry, and Coco globalize it, Gura and Myth sets the standards

[@sirempanada2468]

revolutionary i would say making people mad just by looking at her(specially twitter) 😂

[@jomujomu7513]

I think at the very least, she’s revolutionary for how recognizable she is worldwide among vtubers. Ask a casual vtuber fan anywhere, and they probably know who she is. Gura’s success is a combination of great timing of Cover entering the EN market, great design, and a great personality who understands viral content and her fanbase well.

[@psudhani6991]

@@jomujomu7513 i think you and @Sir Empada doesn't align here lol The comment said "Mito revolutionized" Why is Gura?

[@ifdy1361]

@@jomujomu7513 don't forget she already had a BIG fanbase before joining hololive and she combined her western audience and hololive fandom

[@iamabird6739]

@@ifdy1361 Yeah that definitely adds to her popularity. Senzawa has a lot of fans just from her contents alone. Add that to the resource Hololive backs her with, and we have the current vtuber queen

[@ED-yy4te]

Precovidtubers had different types of issues back then. It was an experimental age, when many people don't clip and had mini wars over the subtitles submission.

[@RickySama240]

Great video analysis. I can't believe it's been the golden years of vtubing went by fast! Makes me feel old knowing all these points in time.

[@yorozuyawithoddjobs6590]

So when do I get to play as the Vtuber civilization in Civ 6? I want to get the culture bonus that gives me %50 tourism in all other Civs as well as use the unique combat unit: the simps.

[@yamiRic]

You summed it up perfectly. Kizuna Ai is the pioneer, Tsukino Mito expanded the potential, Kiryu Coco break the JP barrier and brought Vtubing to the international, and Gawr Gura become the poster child of overseas Vtubing scene. One note though that I could not find any info about Coco applied to be manager in Cover corp. It might be super old info, membership content, or even deleted content. I only know that Coco applied because of Haachama, who she recognized as the first one to start to open the door for non-JP viewers. Also you forgot to mention Covid pandemic era as the reason. The main reason why Vtuber started to re-callibrate in 2022 is because pandemic is basically over. Vtubing industries need to find another way to exist in post-Pandemic era, same thing with how Netflix, etc started to struggle. However, I believe as long as we can suppress the antis and negativity, Vtubing industries will still strive for long time.

[@Felidae-felicis]

No matter how much time has passed. The time with kaichou will always hurt my kokoro and it always bring tears to my eyes. Tho her time was riddled with controversies but it really was the golden age of Vtuber. She showed everybody that there's a bigger market outside of Japan and she broke the barrier for vtubing. She also became the mother of HoloEN. Oh man, what a legend. Here's a drink to you Kaichou! All hail Kiryu Kai!

[@pyroV12]

Spanish vtuper community born in the golden era thanks to a vtuber called "Nimu" a girl that make a lot other people start using a model and streaming or creating content and now days, Nimu is really big in the vtuber community in general being the 2nd most followed on twitter close enough to Gawr Gura.

[@ozuniscarlet]

Mucho antes de Nimu ya existian mas VTuber hispanos. Yo consideraria a Yadi Doll junto con Coloratura la que inicio la comunidad. xd

[@unitrioz6418]

Your content is really top quality....keep it up 🔥🔥🔥

[@riftfontain]

Man I love your video essays so much

[@Absolute__Zero]

The Vtuber Industry really has gone through a lot of changes in such a short time. I fell into the rabbithole early 2018, just the week after Fubuki debuted, and I’ve been a resident ever since :D This will be a nice time capsule to look back at several decades right now lol I’ll definitely be showing this to all the new blood who comes into the rabbit hole from now on xD

[@EnderKnight11]

Thanks for the Vtuber history lesson!

[@INSAne_DrUNkard]

Ah yes, my favorite History channel with another banger video.

[@Deathspark]

Man 2020 was amazing. I know a pandemic happened but I actually got into vtubers through nux. Who I first saw melody and nyanners through. Then I saw hololive and then nijisanji. There was so much new stuff I had to explore and with waves debuting left and right along with so many indies, it was insane. I still remember being at the debut streams for holoEN. As well as when vshojo became a thing. While I do wish I would've found vtubers sooner, im so glad I fell in the rabbit hole when I did.

[@dextokuyasu]

You weren’t kidding when you said “Civ inspired”. I’m surprised you didn’t somehow have a transition animation of unlocking tech tree like Full body 3D, Live2D, etc. Another great VOD! Thanks for the effort.

[@RemitheDreamfox]

The music selection in the video is 100% on point xD I loved the Civ 6 theme the most

[@ZigZagKangaroo]

Thank you for adding Kaguya Luna! She was my first favorite Vtuber.

[@angelquinones9201]

Great video, Thank you

[@mariogen7134]

Really great informative video! Your style of video presentation is impeccable! Would love to see you one day make a video on Ayame since her situation is a very interesting one to make a video on! Keep up the good work!

[@JohnTabasco]

I love how you talk about eras like it was decades ago x)

[@tribopower]

yeah same xD its wild, but things happen at light speed in the vtubber world

[@KuroGordon]

One of things to look out for the future of vtubing is the mainstream streaming embrace of vtubers. Since late 2021, there have been so many collabs of flesh streamers with vtubers, and I don’t think it will slow down. On a related note, it’s now very common to see vtubers do face reveals and have IRL appearances in conventions. It seems the community is starting to ignore the “character” element of vtubers and is accepting the fact that these are real people behind the models.

[@aru9656]

great video man, nice job

[@Sebbeneko]

Amazing video as always Nousagi ♥♥

[@MetalThrower]

was expecting this to be more of a passionate in-depth vid, but a general entry-level vid is ok for views i guess. slicing the period this way is definitely a simplification on many ends, since vtubing holds more fields of entertainment and everyone of us was connected through those fields of interest represented by various influential vtubers rather than a dominating one. heck if ure only into cutesy-chaotic moe persona like korone u probly wont be following vulgar-chaotic bold persona like coco at all, and we would still anticipate what the scene could deliver next regardless. nonetheless its a nice point of view to see, quite overseas-leaning. id say making it base on content meta would be interesting too, with who initiate and popularize which. that way more credits will be due, for example eilene and gamebu with the skits, also himehina and kaf with vsinger performances. brand personification vtubers would be also interesting to detailed on as the corporate attention grew like with suntory and netflix. nekomiya hinata with the fast awkward following along four heavenly kings should be an interesting mention too. theres just so much potential on this

[@curtailedbike4123]

As someone who’s been around since the early days of the modern vtuber aka 2017. Seeing it go from a small thing talked about in small groups in kizuna ai comments to this world wide thing is amazing. Is so amazing to see how far the industry grow

[@marcelostalker]

I remember when Kizuna Ai was becoming popular in the west around 2017, can't say for sure if she was the first of her kind but she was the face and biggest star of it for certain, she made the term "virtual youtuber" stick, it's why we call them vtubers even though the content is more streaming than usual youtuber video making. Back then I thought "hey, we do have the tech for this kind of content, thisis a great idea, heck, this could very well become a huge thing soon" and hooo boy did I get it right and wrong at the same time. Now if Kizuna Ai makes a comeback, we can't say for certain that whatever she tries will set a trend, or be a massive success etc, but the moment she does you can bet all the eyes of the vtuber world will be locked onto her, withelding their breath in anticipation, that's how large her figure is.

[@natalia-fm]

it makes sense 2020 being the golden era, I remember it was around that time all utaite started getting their vtuber characters

[@Archer957]

Side note the ABSOLUTE CHAD choice of using Civ 5's music for Kitzuna is perfect

[@joemommaoramma7090]

the civ 6 main theme was really funny

[@f1r3hunt3rz5]

Damn, as someone who actually saw and followed the start of Kizuna Ai & Co. era, it feels surreal when seeing the Vtuber history as a whole and comparing the old meta VS the new meta.

[@McDudes]

you forgot the pre historic era of twitter weather forecasting vtuber: "Weatheroid Type A Airi" from 2012

[@ConfusionUwU]

the man is here

[@ashchisalleh1454]

Finally good research from Despress Nousagi.

[@skylinefever]

Thanks for explaining the history of it. I didn't know when vTuber technology was invented. I didn't know anything about vTubers at all until Gawr Gura fans became common. I enjoy watching the other agencies. I like it because those vTubers can make jokes that aren't seiso.

[@0Rlalu]

Dang! Amazing video

[@natsukicabulosa768]

I still remember watching Kizuna AI playing PUBG in 2017 when the game was trending, back then I was really wondering if she was actually an Artificial Intelligence LMAO Crazy that what I was experiencing were the rise of a whole industry, I only got into VTubers at the end of 2021 and it definitively did not feel like enough time for it to grow that much

[@flashtirade]

Another contributor to the Golden Age is the KZbin algorithm recognizing the trend and putting translated clips into people's recommendations. There is no doubt that countless fans, myself included, would have never fallen into the rabbit hole if clips didn't exist and KZbin didn't use them as bait.

[@NightmareZV]

Depressed Nousagi, you're pretty much the historian for the important things of vtubers. Thanks for these awesome informational videos.

[@bamtato9273]

Sick vid. But u kinda forgot about the depressed nousagi arc, a pretty essential one of u ask me

[@user-ol7tk8te8l]

Oh a history class of vtuber leeeeezzzzz goooooooo grab some popcorn and enjoy

[@KatoGrinsihara]

Very good videos so far. If you ever run out of topics, then you could make a video about AZKi and her situation.

[@Senjo47]

this has now given me all the knowledge i need to become tuberV sensation thanks nousagi

[@TWLSpark]

I think what's coming next is either a Silver Age, or a repeat of the previous Golden Era if yet another Mito or Coco rises up to contest the status quo once again. I find it unlikely, so I'm betting on the Silver Age era -- one of specialization, further globalization to round out the regions, and later down the line, standardization.

[@DuBstepAnDa98]

I was introduced to what Vtubing was via KizunaAI and honestly I really miss that era of vtubing. I don't really care for livestreams and prefer the skits Kizuna, Mirai, and Kaguya Luna did. I only occasionally check out a handful of vtubers I like nowadays, and really only follow the "lore" of what's going on in the industry. This was a pretty cool video recapping what's happened so far. I think the biggest problem the industry has right now is that's its extremely oversaturated with little major innovations, the biggest imo being the tech being the same for the past 3-4 years. I could see HololiveES really blowing up if that becomes thing.

[@theanimedad1792]

Nice to see Sachi mentioned.

[@4sight858]

She was always with us, only this time she is a blonde gremlin

[@aisukururimu7515]

I feel like 2023 is the era of Kobo and SEA (South East Asian) vtubers in general so far. Because yeah, people are craving for newer and newer things now that EN & JP vtubers can't really afford atm SEA vtubers however still bring a culture that is atm are very foreign but interesting for the global market, and people are craving for that. Kobo is no doubt the pioneer for this. The fact that her monthly sub growth is still the biggest among all of Holopro in the recent month, despite her contents are mostly directed towards the ID market is a reflection to this new SEA fever trend imo. The recent HoloID cafe event also revealed that according to the HoloID members, they have quite a lot of outdonesians as their fans as well who don't even speak Indonesian

[@Sedkitgar]

This year also: " The Era Of Depressed Nousagi". I really love you content this year. Keep it up