Gyokuyoutama

25: Vangumi

 

Really he should be lower since there's plenty of VTubers out there better than him, but I want to mention him and I'm not ranking more than 25.  He's the host of a Virtual Youtube talk show which is a boring format and so already he isn't great.  But I'll never forgive him for taking over Nekomasu's channel, even if it was done at Nekomasu's suggestion.

 

24: Mirai Akari

 

As one of the "four great kings" of virtual youtube, it might be a surprise to see her so low.  But honestly she was the most bland of the early stars, and she gets lowered for the same reasons that Vangumi does, i.e. taking over the channel of another virtual youtuber (in this case Eilene).  She is also by far the most corporate channel now, with many of her old videos privated for being too advertiser unfriendly and even getting a redesign to avoid showing off her midriff.

 

23: YUA

 

Not a lot to say here, she's even blander than Mirai Akari but she's never really anything to annoy me.  Her Engrish videos are amusing, otherwise there's not a lot to her.

 

22: Noracat

 

The virtual cat with a vocaloid voice who got exposed as actually being a guy all along and not a real catgirl.  There's not any huge issue with Noracat's content, but it's almost exclusively long livestreams of games and VRChat sessions, neither of which I'm into.

 

21: Azuma Lim

 

Decent variety of content, good motion capture, character design isn't annoying.  But nothing too exceptional either.

 

20: Laki

 

Pretty cute design I guess.  Might get you on a watchlist.

 

19: Siro

 

The next of the four great kings to appear on the list.  Similar to Mirai Akari in terms of how much she is getting pushed, but she has much better gameplay content, generally has better interactions with other channels and speaks in English sometimes.  Dolphin noises vary between being endearing and annoying.  Her heavy breathing can be great.  But her put on voice gets annoying pretty quick.

 

18: Tokino Sora

 

The mom of the VTube community.  Pretty decent singing voice, can be amusing, never really got on my nerves.  She probably just missed being one of the four greats due to the timing of the situation, but I don't think anyone hates her.

 

17: Natsumi Moe

 

The first (and only) English language channel on this list.  In many ways she's the platonic form a western fujoshi, but somehow I don't hate her.  She's better when she is interacting with the rest of the Eilene clan, but unfortunately that happens less and less.

 

16: Nanahoshi Suzu

 

This is the channel I go to to wonder what the hell is going on, especially since none of her videos have been subtitled.  She has a interest in weird parts of western culture, like the works of David Cronenberg, so much of the time I'm just confirming that she is in fact referencing what I think she is (even if I can't fully understand the reference).  Has made so many Watamote videos that this may as well be the second season.

15: Baacharu

 

His position on this work is not so much because I enjoy his videos, but because I can respect what he's done.  He was another early pioneer that didn't get recognition at the time despite being "the first male virtual youtuber."  His enthusiasm is always obvious.  More recently, he's essentially started acting as a VTube producer (most notably of Siro) and he seems to be doing a decent job of it.  It also makes it trivial for him to collabs.

 

14: Cocoa

 

(Or is it Coco? Kokoa? Who knows.)  She's mainly on here because she's a spin off of game club project, which we'll discuss later.

 

13: Omega Sisters

 

First Duo on the list.  I've always thought having a group can make things like Let's Plays more entertaining, since the people in the group can play off each other and keep a nice rhthym of the conversation going.  (Of course, you can get an even better product through using a premade script which is well researched and revised multiple times, but no one does that).  They gave us the "view 100 recommended videos in a row" technique which always leads to interesting results.  If you're not going to ask any questions about Rio, I'm not going to bring up that topic.

 

12: Moemi

 

The eternally 2D and eternally abused Virtual Wife.  Apparently the voice actress has gone through a lot of real life health issues, which has prevented her from appearing more often.  She works great as a straight man to the antics of others, but struggles a bit on her own.

 

11: Shizuka Rin

 

Aka that vtuber that sang "Country Roads" while playing a bus simulator.  I know that I've disqualified other vtubers for essentially just posting livestreams, and she does the same thing, so maybe she should be lower on the list.  Honestly, I put her higher mainly because it isn't hard to find highlight videos so that you don't have to sit through two+ hours.  I also like that she switches up her character design frequently.

10. Nekomiya Hinata

 

Probably the best of the VTubers in terms of gameplay skill shown in videos.  Additionally this is the only channel I know of which has the ears of the model tied in with the facetracking.  Adds a lot to see the ears perk up in surprise or droop down in sadness.  While this is another channel with corporate backing, she feels less like a spokesman for a channel and more like someone just playing a game.

 

9. Hime Hina

 

Another duo.  As usual you have the hyperactive one and the straightman.  Some sketches, some games, some songs.  They play off each other pretty well whatever they are doing.

 

8. Ruki Roki

 

I'll be honest: I could say almost the exact same things that I did for Hime Hina.  But they're foxgirls, so they get the higher spot.

 

7. Fuji Aoi

 

While she does a lot of stuff, you're here for the singing.  She undoubtably has the best singing voice of any VTuber, and it's no surprise that she was the first one to get gigs for public appearances.  Her channel has perhaps limited appeal in that her non song videos aren't very good, but when she is good she is better than almost every channel on this list.

 

6. Kizuna Ai

The big boss.  She wasn't the first VTuber, but there's no doubt that without her the fad wouldn't have become as big as it has.  Her success isn't accidental: she's a natural entertainer (despite being terrible at pretty much everything else she tries) and she is constantly adding new elements to her videos.  Even now rather than simply pumping out the same videos that have served her well, she is going forward with some weird plotline about there being 4 different Kizuna Ais.

5. Eilene

 

A VTuber denied her channel.  Despite being one of the pioneers in the genre, predating Kizuna Ai by over a year, there is no real home for her content. In fact Mirai Akari's channel is her original channel (you'll note that it is actually "bitconnect" which is mentioned in some old Eilene vids).  Luckily she originally posted to several channels in different languages, or she would be almost entirely gone.  Now you can mainly find her stuff on Natsumi Moe's channel (which used to be for English reuploads of Eilene videos) and Yomemi's channel (which she created and where she frequently guest stars).  Anyway, as for an actual review, Eilene's videos are obviously the product of someone passionate about making content, and who isn't afraid to push the boundaries.  You aren't going to see Ebola-chan on any of the major channels.  Eilene's channels were one of the few VTube channels to try to set up an ongoing plotine, as if it were a TV show, rather than simply mimicking the content of non-virtual youtubers.  It's frequently very rough, but clearly a product of love.

 

4. Game Club Project

 

This is a group of 4 characters.  This is essentially what you would get if you took Eilene's TV-show esque format (mixed with some let's plays) but actually put money into it.  I want to say that it's also more grounded and less extreme and bizarre than Eilene's work, but honestly there are some pretty weird videos (I've posted the one where Siro shows up and tries to eat half the cast, but it ends up being a ruse to capture Santa and drink his blood to become immortal.)  This channel reminds me the most of SPUF as well.

 

3. Yomemi

 

Essentially a replacement for Moemi, who has essentially become a replacement for Eilene.  Why Yomemi is up here is her enthusiasm and constant joy.  It's impossible to listen to her and not feel at least a little uplifted.  She also has a lot of bizarre experiment videos where she tries dangerous or disgusting things, never showing a hint of fear or revulsion.

 

2. Kaguya Luna

 

Really I should hate Moon-chan due to her forced zaniness and her inability to take anything seriously.  But somehow it's incredibly endearing.  It helps that she posts less frequently and doesn't go long in her videos, so it never feels like she's just extending the length to get a paycheck and go home.  I know this doesn't sound like a huge endorsement, but seriously, she's great.  It's just impossible to put into words why that is.

 

1. Nekomasu

 

If you've paid attention to me blabbing on about VTubers in the past, you know this was coming.  One of the "4 Great Kings", but the one which really came from absolutely nowhere.  In November 2017 he didn't think he'd have even a thousand subscribers, by January 2018, he was a superstar.  He wears his heart on his sleeve and you can see how much trouble it is for him to make his videos, which makes their high quality all the more impressive.  It also helps that his tastes are almost identical to my own.  He's essentially quit the VTube scene, and I understand why.  I'm still pissed about his channel being used for other purposes, but I don't hold that against him.

Okay, now the Monkey has to do the real definitive top 25.