Notes

script aha

1. Good morning, I'm Yoyo and I'll be talking about the VTuber subculture.

2. So, what is the Vtuber subculture? First of all, Vtubers is the simplified term for Virtual Youtubers, mostly because the content started from Youtube, but the subculture has expanded to other platforms too. Virtual Youtubers are content creators and online entertainers on platforms like Youtube and Twitch using a 2D or 3D virtual avatar. This medium originated in Japan but has extended to the western world as well. Of the three models you see; the first is 3D, the second is 2D and the third is also 2D but shows that a range non-human avatars also exist in the community. 2D and 3D each have their pros and cons which i will get into later.

3. Content creators using virtual avatars existed before the term VTubers was used, for example, hatsune miku who is a virtual singer and Ami Yamato who was a virtual vlogger. But, VTubers became more known in 2016 through Kizuna Ai. Her Youtube channel and content exploded in Japan as well as overseas, engaging western fans in this new medium. Then in 2020, the VTuber topics trended again in the west with the debut of Hololive English, a subgroup in the Japanese Hololive company. This was huge in the western community because it opened a floodgate of content, created a new market of profit, increased the growth for english creators as well as led to other Japanese corporations also releasing primarily English vtubers.

4. The VTuber subculture is dominated by female creators unlike other genres such as Gaming with males. While this is amazing for females to find success, it also raises issues because the marketing strategy most commonly used is to create cute avatars, have anime-like voices and certain body types that appeal to a more male audience. While there are male Vtubers who have found great success, male vtubers in general have a slight disadvantage in this field. This then raises the common argument found mostly on twitch, a livestreaming platform where 'males have to work harder than females who get everything handed to them on a silver platter for simply being female, for wearing certain things, or other things along those lines. The Vtuber subculture also has a huge community of LGBTQIA+ creators because these creators can represent themselves through an avatar, a character, a persona they resonate with. For example, the voice behind Artemis is transgender and gay. Unfortunately, homophobia, trans phobia and all kinds of other harassments still prevail.
There is so much progress to be made within the community but Vtubing still offers a lot of variety and opportunities for everyone.

5. We can also apply functional Theory to the vtubers subculture. The definition for functional theory according it to school of thoughts in anthropology is every belief action or relationship in a culture functions to meet the needs of individuals. So what makes vtubers so popular as a new form of media and what function does it serve? Well a lot of vtubers are extremely talented entertainers and this technology is a new form of entertainment. Vtubing also acts as a creative outlet for a lot of artists and singers and Gamers and video editors and fun personalities who can all Express their creative Talent while still remaining somewhat anonymous behind an avatar. vtubing is also a form of self-expression where you can create your own persona and make the content that you want to see and are passionate about. vtubing creates a new market of business for both corporations and also expanding to indie creators therefore brings a lot of money. Vtubing is an escape, an outlet, a community for many.

6. cultural materialism can be seen in the vtuber subculture through the development of new technologies. for example 2D and 3D models. in the beginning 3D models were the go-to style as it provided much more flexibility in terms of movement and things that they could do with the avatars. but later on the community found 2D models also performing well. while 3D models are still frequently used 2d models seem to be the first choice for new and upcoming vtubers. 2D models are usually drawn part by part and animated through a program called live2d and face tracking through vtube Studio while 3D models are sculpted and rigged motions are captured through webcams and sensors. all models are expensive if you're looking for quality and uniqueness. an example of something that is now used less due to development of technology and demonstrates culteral materialism are the face tracking softwares used. like I mentioned vtube studio is now the most common choice as it offers a lot of customization and assets but before vtube Studio there was facerig and prpr live that are now less commonly used because of their lacking features.

7. finally I'd like to explore names or terms used within the vtuber subculture, the community likes to use titles for the jobs that people do to create models. the term mama is used to describe the artist or designer of one's model or character. the term Papa is used for the rigger or animator of ones model. these titles do not correlate with gender they only apply to the jobs. there are quite a few other titles for roles that people play within the subculture but these two are the most easily explainable. The term debut is used for the first stream a Vtuber does with their completed model where they do an introduction as well as premiere music, showcase art or play a game to showcase their personality. debuts are exciting events that people like to build hype for to be able to start off their streaming with a bang. And, of course, everyone plays a character when becoming a Vtuber: choosing a name, a theme, and an identity to present the content that they are making

8. and, that's all! here are the references used throughout the presentation. thank you for listening!