VTubing: How a Japanese Phenomenon Is Going Worldwide

VTubing is an online activity in which performers use animated models to portray themselves onscreen. Software such as Live2D Cubism allows the animated avatar to echo the real-life movements of the actor behind the camera.

What once seemed like a niche form of online entertainment has proven surprisingly lucrative, especially in Japan. Based on the sales revenue of VTuber agencies in 2023, the Japanese VTuber market hit 80 billion yen, a 153.8% increase from the previous year.

Since Japan is where VTubing first took off, it’s not surprising that Japanese VTuber companies still dominate the industry. However VTubing is increasingly drawing new participants from all over the world, particularly from the US.

To gain more insight into how VTubing is evolving worldwide, I interviewed a range of industry professionals: a former hololive employee, an artist who works for multiple English-speaking (EN) VTuber teams, and several multilingual VTubers.

In brief: What is VTubing, and why do people do it? VTubing in Japan VTubing outside Japan The making of an EN VTuber The future of VTubing

In brief: What is VTubing, and why do people do it?

“I would like to change people’s perception of VTubers,” said Sakuraha Rua, one of the VTubers I interviewed.

Sakuraha, alongside Amikoto Ash and Tsunano Toro, debuted online together in December 2025 as “Omen,” the newest generation of talents from VTuber agency Astraline.

“As big as VTubing has become at the end of the day,” Sakuraha went on, “in the grand scheme of things, it’s still considered a niche. There are people out there who will see an anime avatar and just not take it seriously. . . . [They] think we’re hiding behind an avatar, when I think it’s just as much of a valid way to be a content creator and express yourself as showing your face.”

“The assumption,” said Sakuraha, “is that one chooses to be a VTuber to make up for something that they don’t have, when that’s simply not true.”

I know so many VTubers who are so pretty in real life that I think they would be more popular if they showed their face. It’s just a choice, right? You would prefer to have this character represent you, whether for privacy . . . [or] to perform as a character.

The draw of creating a character

A character typically has a name, backstory, and personality separate from that of the performer. VTubers may create and play multiple characters throughout their career, either for agencies or for themselves. If the VTuber is employed by a large corporate agency, the agency usually owns the character and any IP associated with it.

Creating and playing a character is the big draw of VTubing for Sakuraha’s fellow Astraline member, Amikoto.

“It’s easier to play a character,” said Amikoto, “when I’ve got the costume, the makeup, the mask, and the wig, as it were. . . . I could be a face cam streamer and still play a character, per se. But there’s something about VTubing and the extent to which you can change your appearance and become a character from an animation [that’s] intriguing, especially to me, as I’m ultimately a voice actor more than anything.”

I like the freedom of expression that you’re afforded when you’re playing a 2D character. You can be a lot more eccentric and expressive and a lot weirder with it.

What do they do?

It’s difficult to generalize what VTubers do with their digital avatar, since there are always interesting niches and exceptions to the rules. Typical VTubers, though, are known for three activities: livestreaming in character, creating videos, and performing at “live” concerts.

While remaining in character, many VTubers will host long livestreams, sometimes more than eight hours at a time, to interact directly with their fans. Usually they play video games while chatting with viewers, but they may also watch TV shows, share their backstory or lore, and collaborate with other VTubers.

VTubers will also create videos for their channel that feature them singing covers or original songs and performing short skits, again frequently in collaboration with other VTubers. The ratio of livestreaming-to-video-creation varies: some VTubers focus more on streaming, others on content.

Particularly in Japan, prominent VTubers—mainly those affiliated with the two biggest agencies, hololive and NIJISANJI—use 3D motion capture technology to hold live concerts and other “in-person” events. Event participation numbers can be quite high: at the two-day hololive SUPER EXPO 2025, they estimated around 35,000 people attended.

While Sakuraha and Amikoto can speak Japanese, they aren’t originally from Japan. However, their fellow VTuber Tsunano Toro is a Japanese national who grew up observing the activities of professional VTubers.

“I was more of a viewer,” she said, “watching hololive and thinking they were cute and cheering them on, rather than wanting to do it myself. . . . I’ve admired people who upload songs and are active on YouTube for maybe 10 years, since I was a student. But, you know, it costs a lot of money.”

Then Merryweather [Astraline’s founder] asked me, and I thought, if I start this activity, maybe I can fulfill the things I wanted to do 10 years ago. . . . You only live once, and I thought that this opportunity must be fate or destiny.

VTubing in Japan

As Tsunano indicated, VTubing is well-established in Japan, which isn’t surprising given that the initial VTubers were Japanese.

Curiously enough, the very first VTuber is Japanese, but performs in English. Ami Yamato, a Japanese native living in London, debuted her animated vlog in 2011 on YouTube. Currently her channel has around 140,000 subscribers.

The first VTuber to go viral though—and to use the expression “video YouTuber”—was Kizuna AI, who debuted on YouTube in 2016. This time, Kizuna was not the work of a single person, but a persona created by the digital production company Activ8. Kizuna AI’s avatar is 2D and heavily anime-influenced, as are most VTubers now.

Since then, VTubing as an industry has grown exponentially. By the end of 2024, there were roughly 60,000 VTuber accounts in Japan.

“I think [the number has] gone up,” Sakuraha told me, “but they just don’t get seen because the competition is so high.”

It’s almost impossible to stand out unless you join a corpo, or you get really lucky and get a viral hit. But that’s like winning the jackpot.

“Corpo” VTubers

By “corpo” Sakuraha is referring to the major corporate VTuber agencies, two of which in particular dominate the Japanese industry.

In 2017, Japan’s Cover Corp launched a VTuber agency, hololive, which now features over 80 talents in Japan, Indonesia, and English-speaking countries. ANYCOLOR Inc. likewise started NIJISANJI at around the same time, and employs over 200 talents total. These two corporations alone accounted for 40-45% of global VTuber revenue in 2025.

To learn more about how the big agencies work, I interviewed “Yuki,” a former employee at hololive who agreed to contribute their experience anonymously.

A top-down management style

As one might expect, the big VTuber agencies are as profit-driven as any other talent management agency in Japan. Their attitude toward the talents is “Do your job and get on with it,” said Yuki.

That message goes over better with Japanese VTubers than with those from overseas. In fact, according to Yuki, many of the local talents welcome the direction.

Japanese Vtubers are much more aware of Vtuber culture stemming from idol culture. You’re being hired to do a job. That job is very creative, passion-driven, and fun most of the time, but you’ve got to do what you’re told.

However, “Ninety percent of the time, that does not mesh well with overseas VTubers.”

To facilitate their international expansion, hololive formed two groups speaking other languages, hololive English and hololive Indonesia. NIJISANJI meanwhile has NIJISANJI EN (English-speaking) and VirtuaReal (Chinese-speaking) VTuber groups. NIJISANJI also had Indonesian and Indian groups but closed them in 2023.

Many of these overseas VTubers, according to Yuki, felt personally invested in their characters and their audience.

They wanted more creative input, but “it doesn’t feel very creative to convince four layers of Japanese managers to do something.”

Of course, there are also significant benefits to working for a big “corpo” agency. Exactly what percentage of the take agency VTubers earn isn’t clear, but in 2024 top hololive talents like Usada Pekora, Minato Aqua, and Houshou Marine were estimated to generate several million dollars each from Youtube super chats and ad revenue alone.

Yuki pointed out that bigger agencies also mean better technology. For example, hololive has its own bespoke Live2D program, and its parent company COVER Corporation also built the biggest 3D motion capture studio in the country, which is what enables hololive VTubers to “perform live” in concerts.

Doing big business

Another advantage of being “corpo” is the greater chance of seeing your name in lights. NIJISANJI, hololive, and their VTubers have become regular players in Japanese entertainment and business.

“You see VTubers on McDonald’s adverts,” said Yuki.

One thing that stood out to me was how frequently VTubers were featured on company goods. . . . You could go to any convenience store and buy merch or products with VTubers on it.

Because VTubers are widely accepted, the cooperation extends both ways. “In Japan,” said Yuki, “You can approach a brand and say ‘We want to stream your game,’ and they’ll say, ‘Yeah that’s cool.’” Overseas game companies are much less accommodating, in Yuki’s experience, partially because they’re not familiar with these companies that have become household names in Japan.

One reason it’s been easy for Japanese corporations to accept VTubers is the country’s preexisting fan culture. “[VTubers are] an extension of idol and anime culture,” Yuki said.

Probably to the [collaborating] company, they just see, ‘Oh, it’s an IP.’ They don’t care if it’s a VTuber, an anime, or a manga.

Small agencies and indie

Smaller Japanese agencies also exist, though they claim a correspondingly smaller share of the market.