GoKawiilVTubing 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?
“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.
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