The world has now entered the great age of VTubers.
A new concept of broadcasting where virtual characters express the personality and actions of real people instead of them.
It hasn’t been long since VTubers imported from native Japan began to take root domestically.
It’s only been about five years since people started to recognize this phenomenon.
Considering that internet and personal broadcasting has flourished for nearly 20 years, the transformation can certainly be described as innovative.
Even now, there are people who reject VTubers, but it was even worse in the early days.
In addition to the mockery faced by traditional no-cam streamers, controversies about gender and voice modulation were rampant.
Given the nature of VTuber broadcasts, there’s no option for face cams, which can leave performers feeling frustrated and unjustly treated.
As of now, many of those issues have been resolved. VTubers have become a rather common element for most internet broadcasting viewers.
This is hardly surprising, considering the sheer number of them has significantly increased compared to before.
In fact, it’s become quite hard to find no-cam streamers who only broadcast with their voices. VTubers have practically taken their place.
Of course, there are major differences between the VTubers from Japan and those from Korea. One notable distinction is the lack of roleplay where they would strain their voices or change their speech patterns to fit a concept.
Perhaps because of this, the original fans of Japanese VTubers – the so-called purists – argue that Korean virtuals aren’t actually virtual. But hey, let’s say it’s localized for better acceptance.
Just like kimchi or curry, if you bring a local delicacy from one region to another, it’s unlikely that it’ll be properly appreciated. Some level of localization is essential.
Thus, in 2024, Korea is experiencing a VTuber craze, and if you take a little look at the giants of internet broadcasting, Twitch and Douyin, you’ll find that nearly half of them are virtual broadcasters.
The trend has already tipped. VTubers have become inseparable from internet broadcasting.
With a bit of exaggeration, it’s said that virtuality is the spirit of the age.
Not only in internet broadcasting but also in music broadcasting, virtual idols are frequently appearing and charting, making for quite a sight.
Not to mention, it was quite common to see virtual idols making appearances in music broadcasts and even charting.
It’s truly a situation where one could say they are leading the current trend.
“Virtual, huh…”
This sparked the curiosity of the trend-sensitive streamer Taker, who swiftly responded to changes.
Honestly, he was mostly clueless about what it even was, but still, Taker studied about virtual stuff whenever he had a moment to spare.
That was how he survived thus far, and how he would continue to live. Learning and changing was the only way forward for him.
“Mostly singing, lots of avatar features… VR chat…”
Taker wasn’t too far behind in broadcasting sense and learning ability, so it didn’t take him long to finish up his studies.
And the conclusion he reached was:
“I should create something as well.”
He too had decided to dive into this market.
*
It was a quiet early evening one day. Having taken a rare break from broadcasting, I found myself trapped, listening to someone’s lengthy lecture.
“So, virtual tubers are a rising force currently splitting the internet broadcasting scene. It’s already proven through statistics that interacting with some sort of virtual presence is much more competitive than no cam-.”
It was Taker. It wasn’t strange for him to reach out to me. He usually contacted me periodically about business matters.
Most of the messages were about wanting to do this sort of content, asking me to join, proposing collaborations, and wondering about joint broadcasts.
So, receiving messages like that was normal, but hearing his passionate rant directly for the first time made me just sit there and listen.
Yet, the trait of being a talkative person, felt even through text, didn’t vanish as he rambled on for more than ten minutes of just introduction.
“So what I’m saying is, when I look at virtual tubers, my thoughts were-.”
“Hold on, hold on, stop. I was trying my best to listen, but at this rate, I’m going to be up all night. What exactly do you want to say?”
“Oh, that’s the thing.”
In response to my request for brevity, Taker slowly chose his words and began to speak.
The Taker slowly picked their words and finally spoke up.
“I’m trying to create a crew filled with VTubers.”
“A crew?”
“Yeah, a crew or a group, like the Kayak Division led by Kayak.”
“But the Kayak Division is just a name people came up with. I don’t do that kind of thing.”
“Anyway, I want to create something like that.”
I see. But from just this, I didn’t quite grasp why they were telling me.
That question was immediately answered by the next words from the Taker.
“I’m planning to hold auditions and I’d like you to be one of the judges.”
“What’s an audition and what’s a judge?”
“So, you know how the concept is really important for VTubers, right? Do you know anything about VTubers?”
I didn’t know nothing but wasn’t exactly an expert either, so I listened to Taker’s explanation slowly.
“We’re trying to create a crew with a bit of an idol concept. For starters, it’s just the concept, but we also want to do cover songs and group performances.”
“That sounds more serious than I expected!”
“Yes, that’s why we’re holding auditions. Since it’s a concept, singing talent isn’t the most critical thing, but you still need to be able to sing to some degree. Plus, we’ll be able to gauge the charm of the people through the auditions.”
Taker continued explaining. They mentioned how virtual was on the rise and played songs from virtual groups that made it onto the charts. They didn’t expect to reach that level themselves, but were basically benchmarking that.
“But, I don’t know anything about virtual stuff. I sometimes watch VTuber broadcasts, but I haven’t studied it like you have, Taker.”
“That’s fine. Kayak, you’re being recruited to bring in the perspective of the average person, seeing VTubers through an ordinary lens. Just evaluate them honestly based on what draws you in.”
Hmm, still… Now that I knew how earnest Taker was about this content, I couldn’t take it lightly.
“You don’t even have to say much. Just showing your face will attract people’s attention, so that alone is enough.”
“Ah…”
In short, they planned to use me as some kind of attraction to draw in attention. It made sense, considering the excessive focus on me due to recent events.
Just the other day, forty thousand people watched me eat ramen while broadcasting the Abyss League. That’s a ridiculous amount of hype. I could pull in a crowd like nobody’s business.
“Forty thousand people watched the stream. That’s a sign of an abnormal bubble. It seems like I can really pull off this fluid recruitment thing.”
“I’m thinking about this amount for the appearance fee.”
“Lastly, the appearance fee I receive for being in the content.”
“At this point, there was no reason to refuse.”
“When is the content date?”
*
“Thank you for waiting, dear viewers. As previously announced, we will have the Iker Group audition today. What is the Iker Group? It is a VTuber group with an idol concept that operates under the Taker. If you join the Iker Group, I, your president Taker, promise to spare no support.”
[Ao what an absurd VTuber group lol]
[Gunhee, this is a bit…]
[Get out, you Iker]
[There are a lot of VTubers these days lol Looks like VTubers are the trend]
[It’s good to try various things ㅇㅇ This is Taker’s broadcast]
[Just play some games and aim for VTuber fame, what’s with this audition nonsense]
[Even the fluid ones are gathering to criticize Taker, poor thing]
The viewers’ opinions were not very favorable.
It was understandable because the concept of producing virtual groups or holding auditions had already been done and gone in the internet broadcasting world.
There wasn’t much freshness, and recently, criticisms pointed out the limitations of virtual groups created in the internet broadcasting scene. This was the reason the viewers were dissatisfied with the content itself.
However, Taker had prepared a cheat key to quell all these complaints.
“Now, let me introduce the judges for today’s audition. First, our pride of Twishi, the star of Twishi, the woman who turned down a hundred billion won salary proposal. Please welcome streamer Kayak!”
[Wait, Kayak came?]
[Wowwwwwww]
[That’s amazing lol]
[Great, you Iker]
[Gunhee, you did well on this one]
[Let’s just do it this way ㅇㅇ]
[To succeed, you gotta hop on the Kayak coin lol]
Taker secretly smiled at the anticipated reactions.
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