VTubers' transmedia capacity: narrative and content production expansion based on the intersection with fan-culture by the Hololive agency

Abstract

The present article proposes to analyze the transmedia capacity of VTubers, content creators, independent or under agencies, who interact with the audience via a virtual 2D or 3D avatar generated by computer graphics and controlled by human movement capture. For the course of this work, through the perspective of a marketing strategy composed of collective construction, the analysis found an opportunity to prove that, through the use of moe sentiments, kawaii aesthetics, and incentives towards the participative culture of other social actors, VTubers have the ability to expand their media market beyond that of their original live streams in media platforms. To prove such a hypothesis, case studies of the current portfolio of cultural products from Hololive, one of the biggest international VTuber agencies, and of the consumer/fan productions of these content creators under the Hololive brand were promoted. Other than proving the initial hypothesis, the results show that the agency’s interface with the consumers/fans, constructed via providing infrastructural and financial incentives by the company, takes it to promising corporate results, indicative that such actions represent the birth of a new transmedia perspective.