[sunaookami]

That's what many western VTubers don't get, they see it as an "avatar" for themselves which is not what VTubing is. It's supposed to be a completely different persona with no connection to your real identity. It completely dilluted (and I would say even ruined) VTubing in the west.

[Dilettante_]

Maybe they do get it, but are choosing to lean more into the authenticity angle. An art form, a medium, evolves when new cultures and sub-cultures take it up and add their own stuff, both the creator and the audience.

Maybe from their perspective they're correctly doing it their way, instead of, as in your perspective, failing to do it your way.

[sunaookami]

They do not "evolve" it, they completely misunderstand and butcher it. You can't just take a concept, do it completely different (and we are talking about 100% different) and re-use the same name. That's just disrespectful.

[hgoel]

You might prefer things to be that way, but it's important to remember that's an absurd expectation. Especially in the west with how frequently vtubers graduate and show up under a different name. Even hololive JP, who push the entire persona thing very hard, have to periodically break immersion and remind fans that there are real people behind the avatar.

The "different persona" stuff is responsible for some of the most serious abuses the industry has surfaced, and the increasing treatment of VTubing as an avatar is a direct consequence of that.

[pjc50]

There's a massive cultural chasm here. I can understand why people want to hide themselves, and I can also understand the audience not wanting to see too much behind the curtain, but at the same time it feels unhealthy to not acknowledge that it's a performance with a performer, who should be able to get credit for their work if they want.

Hamlet dies on stage. At the end of the play, he gets up and an actor takes a bow. This does not detract from Shakespeare.

(aside: I think the possibilities for vtuber theatre have been under-explored in favor of musical performances, but that's probably just a matter of audience taste again)

[Cytobit]

Supposed by whom?

[mghackerlady]

Japanese idol culture and the first few vtubers, iirc

[sunaookami]

The people who literally created it.