VTubers under Companies

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Upd8

Upd8 is a project under the company Activ8, that supports virtual talent by offering industry connections and services. According to their twitter, there's over 50 talents underneath their project.

Looking into their talents, it seems many of the creators maintain control of their content, appearance, etc. There seems to be no subscriber minimum to achieve before being accepted (some having less than 1000 subscribers), and talents of all types are included such as singers, gamers and bloggers. To note, all the VTubers I could find do have higher quality 3D models and visuals in their content, which may have been a requirement. I couldn't find any examples of 2D VTubers under their talents.

Examples under upd8:


Nijisanji

A company that employs only 2D Vtubers, that also go by Virtual Livers because they post outside of YouTube as well to sites such as Nico Nico Douga and Bilibili. Nijisanji have their own streaming app that connects to these websites to help their talents, but are limited to tracking facial features and is notably inaccurate at times.

Examples under Nijisanji:

  • Tsukino Mito (313k, gaming/vlog channel, debut 2/01/2018)
  • Elu (98k subscribers, gaming/streaming channel, debut 2/16/2018)
  • Fushimi Gaku (42k subscribers, gaming/streaming channel, debut 3/05/2018)
Because these examples are all under one company, many collaborate and potentially share subscribers.

.Live

.Live or VRLive is another agency created by App Land, Inc that produces VTubers, notably the Idol Club. Also noted to be strict regarding the time and amount of time their talents can stream.

Examples Under .Live:

  • Computer Girl Siro (597k subscribers, gaming/vlog, debut 06/23/2017)
  • Baacharu (97k subscribers, gaming/vlog, debut 7/20/2017)
    • Notably stopped activity in September 2017 due to unpopularity, but revived after Siro became popular
  • The Idol Club
    • All members began in 2D before getting 3D models
    • Feature many collaborations with other VTubers under their label
    • Are all gaming/vlog related channels

Examples under Other Companies:

  • Mirai Akari (734k subscribers, vlog/game/singing channel, under ENTUM, debut 10/27/2017)
  • Nekomiya Hinata (461k subscribers, gaming channel, under ENTUM, debut 2/11/2018)
  • Kaguya Luna (898k subscribers, vlog channel, under THE MOON STUDIO, debut 9/12/2017)
  • Tokino Sora (215k subscribers, vlog/gaming/singing channel under Cover Corps/Hololive, debut 9/07/2017)
  • 22/7 - Singing group under a collaboration between Yasushi Akimoto, Sony Music Records & Aniplex
    • 8/11 members have extended to have YouTube Channels

Retired VTubers

If a virtual YouTuber has to stop producing content for outside reasons, they are considered "retired". Most vtubers are only considered retired if they make an announcement that they are stopping activity. It's difficult to account for lulls in activity meaning "retirement" or just massive delays in production. Thus I'll only list examples of Youtubers that had to cease activity and also announced their retirement.

Tsukimi Yumeno

A 2D singing/gaming VTuber that was part of ENTUM. They had to leave the company considering "a change in living environment, making production difficult". Tsukimi Yumeno's channel was only active for 4 months, making it unlikely the channel was dropped due to lack of popularity and failing to reach a subscriber goal.

Akunetty Games

Akunetty was a VTuber whose Youtube avatar/brand mascot was based on an outside artist's concept. Although initial permission was obtained to use their art in their videos, issues began when the influencer started to become popular and use the art for their merchandise outside of their original usage agreement. Following community backlash, the entire channel and other social media was deleted.

Although an entirely different manor of being retired, I felt it fitting to include.

Failed VTubers

I consider "failed" VTubers to be company-run projects that were dissolved and retired early. I found it difficult to find failed channels of Virtual Youtubers due to the potential for them to merely fade into obscurity without officially ending the channel or just have a lull in upload time. It could also be company practice to delete the channel entirely, making it difficult to find information about the content that was posted.

Because the companies backing many of these idols remain in the dark for better or worse, I can only list a few examples of VTubers that have released final videos.

Kiki Akemiya

A music focused Youtuber that was shut down due to failing to meet the subscriber minimum set by their company. This channel debuted in July 2018, but was shut down on November 7th. The minimum requirement was 10,000 subscribers, while the channel has only around 4.7k currently. The channel has been left up for posterity and for the original music videos posted.

Sasaki Saku

A Let's Play and streaming focused channel under Nijisanji that was shut down on November 11th, 2018. The project appeared to be shut down due to copyright issues with uploading game play footage. With the channel unable to make the content it was created for, the channel was shut down temporarily.

On January 16th, the channel was restarted after the issue appeared to be solved. The timing coincides with the ending of the Nintendo Ambassador program, but the connection is unconfirmed.

Amaryllis

Project Amaryllis was a group of 11 2D virtual YouTubers created by Bitstar Co. Inc, an influencer platform,.that began in April 2018. However in August, they closed down four of their members' channels and in September the entire group dissolved.

Because the channels that have resumed activity have been deleted, it's difficult to discover what type of content they had. But some of the group's members are still active today.

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