Vtuber Legend Review - Wholesome Vtuber Fun! But Too Much?

Written by Rei Caldombra 9/30/24 Video: https://youtu.be/lKtq7exB3r8

Hello everyone! Here’s my review of VTuber Legend: How I Went Viral after Forgetting to Turn Off My Stream. I’ll expand on what I said in my summer 2024 anime roundup and go into full spoiler territory. If you want to see my summarized non-spoiler thoughts, please read that first. I think this is a wholesome and funny show that lovingly portrays vtubers and the generally uplifting space they occupy. But it can go so far with its jokes, positivity, and authenticity that it could be a tough watch for people who aren’t already into vtubers, don’t like sexual humor, and want a deeper exploration on the vtuber space. This is an anime that appeals a lot to specific tastes, leading to it being great for the niches it is going for but questionable to those who don’t quite fit in. I am one of those vtuber simp degenerates who fit into its niches, so I did thoroughly enjoy it! But I do still think it has some issues.

We have seen more series recently that have vtubers in them or reference them such as Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night, but few I’m aware of have made it the main focus. This is by far the most passionate and authentic portrayal of the vtubing space I have seen when considering the positives of the space. The passion towards vtubers can be felt through the screen. That is one strong aspect of it that made me stick with this anime. It was not just a dedicated portrayal of a topic I like, it exploded with love and enthusiasm. This is not someone’s attempt to cash in on the vtuber boom, this is a love letter. There are references and love towards vtubing as a whole, but it is most focused on corporate vtubers like Hololive and Nijisanji who also act as idols.

This show follows multiple members of a corporate vtubing agency as they go about navigating their jobs and living their lives as vtubers. The main character is Awayuki Kokorone, a vtuber who struggled to gain as much popularity as her generation-mates until she accidentally forgets to turn off her stream properly. This broke her prim and proper facade, revealing that she is an unhinged alcoholic gooner.

But this accident skyrockets her popularity and ends up being exactly what she needs to feel truly happy and fulfilled with her role. We see all the major hits you often see with big vtubers- Talking streams, karaoke (these are the EDs), 1 on 1 collab with an established back and forth, big gaming collabs, variety show-inspired streams, art reviews. They even use real Live2D models in the show. The accuracy of the content you’d see from vtubers is very enjoyable. One compliment in this vein is that while it is imitating corporate vtubers, I don’t think any of the characters feel like direct caricatures of specific vtubers. You can make comparisons and see inspiration, but it is great that to me no one feels like a copy.

Her legendary stream hitting #1 trending isn’t a stretch, corporate vtubers have hit big trending on Twitter various times accidentally. The most famous one I can think of was 4 years ago when Houshou Marine and Shion Murasaki of Hololive overslept their early morning off-collab by 4 hours and Fubuki did a livestream covering the situation while they slept. That one hit #1 trending on Twitter and had 60k people watching at its peak. That stream hit the mainstream and was how some people discovered Hololive. This is what comes to mind to me for a real moment that could have inspired this. The obvious inspiration is the exact situation we see- someone forgetting to mute and end the stream, leading to them saying things they wouldn’t have said publicly. That is something that happens but is more of a fear than a common event with actual ramifications. But this situation has more similarities.

This anime exudes positivity towards vtubers as people. Everyone is super supportive of each other, no one chastises each other for their quirks, and everyone’s individuality is hailed as their greatest strength. This series is all about showing the positive impact vtubers can have on others and the fulfillment vtubers can get in this space. Generally, I would say this is accurate to what the space intends to be, and what we usually see. But there are some aspects of being a vtuber that are not portrayed by choice. This is not a complex study of vtubers, it is a work that aims to say that vtubers are awesome. This is seen most strongly in the compilation of real vtubers shown at the end of the series. This honestly almost got me to tear up with how sweet it was. They even show respect to the clippers, who have been integral to the spread of vtubers. They personally thank them and they even have some great gags that perfectly mimick the kind of editing clippers do.

The memes, lingo, jokes, etc are all completely on point with the real community. It is clear that the studio put in the work to get all the visual details to make it accurate along with portraying the source material, which is also well researched.

It's a notable choice to have the characters portrayed in their Vtuber personas even when we are seeing them outside of streams. They do mention their real names but they are always in their Vtuber form. I believe this is to keep the immersion and anonymity of vtubers, especially corporate vtubers who tend to act more in a persona than the average vtuber. This series is choosing not to acknowledge that they look different behind the avatar. This plays into the authenticity of the series that can feel like a true story of vtubers, but also to the detriment of ignoring reality and some negative aspects. The commitment can be so strong that it is alienating.

One aspect that plays into the accuracy that I enjoyed but could see putting people off is how thoroughly fetishy this anime is.

It captures the thirsty and insane nature that is very well known of the vtuber space. It is not true for all vtubers, but it is true for many and is the type of thing that gets clipped the most. The members are constantly sexually harassing each other, bringing up their fetishes, making sex jokes, and some things I never even heard of as a long-time degenerate and vtuber fan. The peak of that for me was Alice saying she would ask for Awa’s uvula so she could feel like she was getting oral sex from her. As a degenerate and vtuber fan, I mostly enjoyed these moments and gags. But I could see it weirding people out. Even I was a bit weirded out by how heavily it leans into the mommy and baby roleplay fetishes. I think these were covered a bit too much. This is the kind of thing that makes it go a bit above just jokes and feel like it genuinely indulges in fetishes. Which is a step up that even people who like sex jokes could get put off by. All the power to you if that’s your thing, but I think the anime went a bit too far stretching those out. But for the most part, this show is very funny. Outside of the sexual humor, there is a ton of referencial and meme humor that is super funny.

From Ao Oni to Weiss Schwartz, you see a lot more real properties and parody than in the usual anime, which I liked and made its humor stand out more. One minor detail that shows how well the production thoroughly understood what they’re parodying is when they play a game clearly based on Project Winter. While the characters are talking, a lot of them are pointlessly running in circles. This is exactly what people do when playing video games like this, they want to keep moving to keep themselves more entertained while talking. One thing I brought up in the roundup is that the depths of its authenticity can be a detriment. This anime feels so much like you are watching vtubers that it can make you question why you are watching this instead of real vtubers. I think this concern is valid, and I did feel it a little during moments like the Project Winter and Ao Oni collabs. There are times when the anime sticks to one particular scene for so long that it makes you feel like you are watching a stream rather than an anime. There is a novelty to this that can be enjoyed, but it can make you question if this is worth your time. I mostly enjoyed these scenes but I do think the anime has some moments of poorer pacing.

The main theme I want to touch on is about who is “the real you” and the nature of presenting oneself as a vtuber.

The most notable aspect of vtubing is that you are using an avatar rather than your real appearance or not using an appearance at all. Being a vtuber can come across as putting on a mask, but the reality can be the opposite. It can allow the person to be who they truly are. Free from the constraints of your real appearance. Putting on a mask does not necessarily mean you are masking personality-wise.

We see this the most through Awa. Initially, she does mask as a way of hiding her real self. She had less success than the rest of her genmates, but she didn’t feel confident about showing her real personality. The reason why the show treats it as fully positive could be because it was a negative situation that worked in her favor. Her real personality was shown by accident, but that accident allowed her to be truly free. And she found that she enjoyed herself more after that. 

The series ends with reminding us that the original vtuber member of their company who is practically deified, loved and respected by all (Sora from Hololive is the best comparison) is just another awkward person unsure of what they should do. Behind these crazy personalities, everyone is a normal, barely functioning person.

This is also an important point for all vtuber and their viewers to remember. Beneath the models and any level of acting, there is a normal person who should be respected the same as you. And for the vtubers, remember that this doesn’t have to be all of you, and it isn’t for your fellow vtubers. Sometimes viewers of vtubers and creators as a whole can forget that when they just see a snippet of someone’s life and personality through an animated avatar. It is good for the series to acknowledge this, but this likely could have been portrayed better if they did not choose to ignore vtubers having a different appearance in real life. If you did not watch all the way through and do not look with a proper critical lens, I could see someone thinking that this series reinforced them just being an anime person rather than real. But you could also say that focusing entirely on the persona is their way of saying that you should not snoop in on their real life. If they are only choosing to show their vtuber side, then that is what you should focus on. A positive of having a persona is that you can be exactly who you want to be. And there is no one defined trait people have that you always stick to. You can show just one aspect of yourself and not have that be false. The topic of self-presentation and distancing is a deep topic with a lot of room for interpretation. While Vtuber Legend does not go deep into this, I at least appreciate that it does.

This series is so positive in fact that you could make the argument it goes too far, ending up feeling like it wants you to believe there are no series problems with vtubers. This is not a series that is trying to portray the negative aspects of the vtuber space, such as the aforementioned disconnect between viewers and the person behind the model. You can make the argument that this series is worship, which I could understand weirding out people who aren’t into vtubers. It could come across almost as obsessive, which honestly can also be considered accurate to certain parts of the vtuber community. Whether this is a problem or not is nuanced and depends on your outlook on what media should be and the impact it can have. If you want a series focused on vtubers to bring up the good and bad, then this is way too biased. If you are more like me and don’t think everything has to take itself seriously and try to be some layered complex story, then it’s not as big of an issue. I think it is enjoyable for what it is, which is a work made out of love for the positive impact vtubers have had on some people.

One example of how you could view the series as too positive, there’s nothing critical about management encouraging her to drink for her streams and praising her for blowing up after forgetting to stop the stream. They described her instability as a feature rather than a flaw. You could view this as a wholesome thing because the company is encouraging her to be who she truly is rather than fit some set role that she is supposed to play, which fundamentally is a good thing. And it’s true that they can’t take back what happened, so punishing her would not accomplish much. But you could also see it as irresponsible as they aren’t discouraging potentially dangerous behavior that could put her and her job in jeopardy. Problems between corporate vtubers and the management has been a common issue, most infamously seen with Nijisanji abusing and taking advantage of their employees. And some smaller issues seen in other corps, such as talents feeling restricted in what they can do. Another point of contention is how the minor harassment she got after her mistake stream is quickly swept away, which you could say dampens the severity and is unrealistic. But is that unrealistic? The Hololive stream I mentioned also makes you think they could have gotten massive hate for sleeping through their job duties, but I don’t believe there was much serious hate back then. So is it truly unrealistic that the bad press didn’t matter in this story when the bad press there also didn’t seem to matter? That’s up to you. I don’t think it’s a big deal.

These sad but real aspects of being a corporate vtuber are completely absent at least in the anime. So if this is the type of thing you would want from a vtuber anime, it is not here. I think a series focusing on the negative aspects of vtubing and corporate culture could be great, but I also see the value of focusing on the positives to give a thoroughly wholesome experience and fit more into the iyashikei/healing genre. This fits with the general nature of corporate vtuber content. Corp vtubers generally fit with idols and their ideals, so they have the intention to create content that is uplifting. This series also aims to do the same thing. I think this synergy works in its favor.

If you are looking for a show that is gushing with love and positivity for vtubers, this is the show for you. You could make a comparison between Vtuber Legend and series like Love Live, which are not interested in portraying the more toxic aspects of the idol industry. If you are looking for something more complex and holistic at portraying a space/industry, more along the lines of Oshi no Ko, then this may not be for you. But if you just want to have fun with vtuber shenanigans and revel in the positivity of this community, then I highly recommend it.

This series celebrates vtuber culture, lovingly portraying all its quirks and shenanigans. For this, I enjoyed it as someone who loves vtubers and believes in this spce. I can relate to the opportunity being a vtuber gives you to express yourself as exactly who you want to be, and pays respect to vtubers as much as one can ask for. It is consistently very funny and wholesome, even if it has some dips and drags. But in its attempts to be entirely positive, it does miss out on portraying a more holistic view of vtubers by not including some of its issues. I do not see this as a huge issue for me as the intent of this show is very obviously to revel in the best this community has to offer. As someone who loves simple wholesome shows as well as emotionally complex ones, I don’t mind this being a sweet treat rather than a full course meal. I had a great time watching it, but it does have some issues that I felt are notable and would hurt the viewing experience for a lot of people. If you fit into the niche groups it appeals to, then you’ll probably like it a lot. Thank you for reading! And much love to all my fellow vtubers and vtuber fans out there! Let’s make this space as great as Vtuber Legend portrays it as.

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Summer 2024 Season Roundup: https://www.blogunderalog.com/blog-collection/summer-2024-anime-season-roundup