Everybody is prepared to hear some hearty banter when they tune into Ironmouse’s interview show, Speak Of The Devil. This time around, however, Aspiring VTubers and fans alike were taken aback by a hot take coming from Saturday’s guest, The Anime Man.
“VTubing fans only care about how the VTuber looks and not their personality. There, I said it,” the YouTube and podcast star claimed during the Twitch broadcast.
“Especially with there being so many VTubers out there now, especially in the indie scene. What’s the number one way you have to stick out? Obviously, it’s having a model that sticks out. I get it, you’ve got to stick out in the massive crowd.”
The response came as a shock to Ironmouse, who repositioned her model to give the impression of her sinking into her desk.
“People put so much effort into how their models look, that they completely neglect the fact that you have to be entertaining. And then all these VTubers wonder ‘why am I not getting big? I got a professional artist and [rigger] to make this model for me.’ Maybe it’s because you’re just boring. Have you ever thought about that?” The Anime Man posed to the aspiring VTubers in the audience.
“At the end of the day, you’re an entertainer. You have to be entertaining.”
The YouTuber compared it to content creators who buy expensive equipment and decorate their rooms in LEDs, only to wonder why they only have “20 subscribers.” The Anime Man named Twitch star Tyler1 as an example of someone who has seen great success in spite of not having the latest and greatest equipment. Tyler1 is known for adorning his iconic, budget-friendly pair of Logitech G432 headphones throughout his streaming career.
Agreeing with The Anime Man’s sentiment, Ironmouse shared some of the details of her early VTubing career.
“I started on the shittiest laptop. My laptop started as an airplane. It was overheating. I didn’t even have a microphone. When I first started VTubing, I had apple earbuds. I was using that shit as my microphone. I was putting that shit up to my mouth, talking into it. I used facerig, and I used the most stiffest model alive. Like I didn’t have anything fancy. I was just on a freakin’ laptop in a dark room, like a freakin’ goblin,” the mouse-themed VTuber said.
The VShojo-affiliated streamer then went on to add that she didn’t use any overlays, background, or BGM at the time either. She likened her VTuber model at the time to having a “cardboard cutout.” Ironmouse encouraged the aspiring content streamers in her chat to pursue their dreams in spite of their material shortcomings, telling them to “just start streaming.”
The two discussed that beginner streamers often focus on how successful streamers have the best VTuber models and microphones that the industry has to offer. Instead, they encouraged the audience to consider that the equipment comes as a result of achieving success over time, and is in no way the baseline requirement to start the journey as a VTuber.
“You’re watching an entertainer. You’re not here for a fashion show. The fashion should be a bonus, not the primary [content]. It’s fine if you have the same model for years because that’s what your audience is used to. That’s how you get your name out there,” The Anime Man said.
Ironmouse, in response to people telling her it’s easy to make blanket statements when she has already found success, asked the audience to remember whether they had heard of the name Ironmouse back in 2017 or 2018.
“What you need is an enjoyable personality which, as of right now, you probably don’t have because you’re just starting off. Nobody is entertaining from the jump. You gotta learn to do that shit. It’s like learning a language, it’s acquiring a skill,” the TrashTaste member said.
The Anime Man said he felt like a boring content creator when he started off, but that was to be expected. Similarly, Ironmouse shared she had gone back to watch one of her earlier streams, only to describe the experience as “cringe.” They both agreed that experiencing a little bit of discomfort when watching your older content only means you have improved since then.
For those of you wondering whether you should be taking a podcaster’s advice on how to be a VTuber streamer, The Anime Man shared a previously unheard story about his foray into VTubing during the interview.
The Anime Man said he had applied to NIJISANJI’s Japanese branch in secret two years ago, to see if he could make it through and to document the process for an upcoming video at the time. The YouTuber claims to have made it to “the last stage” of auditions. In the end, he decided it was not worth abandoning his current channel to pursue it. The video in question was never released due to “complications.”
While not experienced as a VTuber himself, it’s fair to say The Anime Man knows a thing or two about the industry.
Published: Feb 6, 2023 04:12 am