As a matter of fact, if you go back to just 2016, Japan had only one VTuber, Kizuna AI.
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On February 26, 2022, following the Kizuna AI The Last Live Hello, World 2022 event, Kizuna went on indefinite hiatus.
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This doesn’t necessarily mean that Kizuna is going full idol and dropping the laid-back VTuber part of her activities, though.
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With virtual YouTubers/VTubers having established a lasting space in the Japanese entertainment landscape, it’s easy to forget that there didn’t used to be nearly so many of them.