How four top indie VTubers found family in VchiBan Supplied: VchiBanVchiBan didn\u2019t necessarily burst onto the scene like most VTuber groups. You could have maybe read between the lines and expected its creation. However what they\u2019re doing is anything but ordinary, pushing VTubing innovation to its limits. VchiBan\u2018s roots, you could say, were set in early 2020. The quartet of once-independent VTubers were known to each other in some capacity before then. Shia and Buffpup had been friends for years, having gotten into streaming together. Rosedoodle, being an early adopter of VTubing, got involved in Buff\u2019s circle by osmosis. But there was also AiCandii. The Australian streamer only moved into VTubing at the start of 2020 \u2014 much later than the other three \u2014 but had a mutual connection to Buff. So when they were invited to a New Year\u2019s VRChat party, they took the opportunity to actually make a formal introduction. It\u2026 didn\u2019t go all that smoothly. \u201cI was like \u2018oh, I\u2019m going to say hi, this person always talked highly of Buff,\u2019\u201d Candii reflected. \u201cSo I walked up to her and she was in her little orange dog model, and I was like \u2018oh hi! Nice to meet you!\u2019 \u201cAnd she was like \u2018do you want a picture?\u2019 And I was like \u2018yeah sure?\u2019\u201d The four of them exploded into raucous laughter at the memory, before Buff quickly jumped in to defend herself. \u201cNot only was I drunk, but I was under other influences because it was New Year\u2019s Eve! I have an excuse. I literally just got off from talking with 10 people who wanted photos.\u201d Candii continued the story: \u201cSo we took photos together and I think you were like \u2018also this is Shia\u2019 and Shia was like \u2018yeah\u2026\u2019 I kind of walked off and was like \u2018alright.\u2019 We didn\u2019t really talk much after that.\u201d But from there, the connection was set. Shortly afterward, Buff and Rose were setting up a Gartic Phone collaboration, and Candii came up as a candidate \u2014 after they made an impression for being \u201cso cool\u201d at that party. The projects racked up from there, and it was the start of a journey together, converging the separate and sometimes lonely paths before. The found family Before VchiBan, each of its members were outstanding independent content creators in their own right. All have been on Twitch for more than five plus years. In the case of Shia and Buff, it\u2019s been a decade or so. They were all early adopters of VTubing too. Rose got into VTubing in 2018 after a long stint as a faceless entity with \u201cblasty music and an art program\u201d, just streaming her commissions to the world. \u201cI saw someone on YouTube using a Live2D model,\u201d she mused. \u201cThey were not very advanced back then, but its mouth moved and I was like \u2018I want to do that! I want to be anime!\u2019 \u201cMe and my husband, we made a very janky Live2D model, we started using it, and people on Twitch back in 2018 didn\u2019t know what VTubers were, so they were like \u2018how are you an anime girl?! Is this a real person?!\u2019\u201d The story got a laugh out of all, because of how closely that interaction ties with their own initial experiences starting as early VTubing adopters. Buff did a similar thing and got a similar reaction, just as a cartoon dog, and Shia was sick of face cam streaming so he too got a model (initially designed by Buff). However that also fosters a sense of camaraderie and community. And so when Candii joined the fray in 2020 and got closer with the aforementioned trio, the found family started to form. \u201cWe were just sharing memes and whatever,\u201d Buff reflected. \u201cWe always did collabs, and it was funny because everyone in chat recognized us as family. Any time we would all hang out, they\u2019d be like \u2018family!\u2019 \u201cIt was like the Vin Diesel meme,\u201d Rose chimed in. \u201cThey started doing that, and made little emotes of our little boneless models doing a bounce and saying \u2018family!\u2019\u201d It is one thing to constantly collab and interact on socials and behind closed doors. It\u2019s another to take the plunge and put faith into your friends to go on a professional journey. A failed project led to the four coming together more officially in November 2022. They were close friends. They bounced off each other well on stream, and they were already doing the cutesy cross-promotion. They each filled a different skills void \u2014 similar enough to work well together, but unique in their own rights to not step on each other\u2019s toes. Buff, Rose, and Candii have art backgrounds; the latter also excels at graphic design and writing. Shia loves ARG and broader game development. And they all wanted to push their skills further. \u201cWe were bummed about it,\u201d Buff said. \u201cWe were sitting there and Candii was like \u2018we should just do it,\u2019 and I was like \u2018okay!\u2019\u201d Such VTuber groups, bringing together independent talents under a unified banner, have become more prevalent in recent times. Previously it was just agencies: you\u2019d debut under an agency, who in more cases than not would own all rights to the character you played. Stream teams were a thing, but often very informal. VchiBan\u2019s establishment six months ago was seemingly a catalyst for this change though, and there was good reason for it. Together, they could actually get more done to achieve their individual goals. \u201cWhen you\u2019re a content creator approaching companies as an individual, it\u2019s difficult to get in the door,\u201d Candii explained. \u201cA lot of companies will specify they only work with agencies rather than individuals. \u201cSo we presented ourselves similarly to how agencies might.\u201d It was originally just the four of them, but slowly the ambitions racked up \u2014 and so did the headcount. There were animators, then there were merch assistants, and then managers. \u201cWe had so many people in this Discord group, and at this point, I realized I had accidentally made a mini-studio with my best friends,\u201d Buff said. \u201cWe didn\u2019t know what was going on. We just started doing stuff and having meetings every Wednesday. It got to the point where we had checklists of stuff, and it was legit meetings. We would sit there for 8 hours.\u201d There was a different air around VchiBan from the very beginning, long before it was even called that. Most projects are very short-lived in content creation, and usually there\u2019s discussion on what the end looks like before even starting. None of VchiBan\u2019s quartet felt that way though. They wanted to make this work for the long run: for their content, for their friendship. \u201cMe, personally, I would get weird vibes like \u2018this won\u2019t work,\u2019\u201d Candii explained. \u201cBut with VchiBan, there wasn\u2019t really a time where I got cold feet because of how passionate Rose, Buff, and Shia are. \u201cI said at one point, and maybe this is too hoity-toity, it felt like a marriage. It is marrying our content together, and we all work to strengthen each other, and if there are things we can\u2019t do individually, we\u2019ll build it together in the interest of the relationship and lifting each other up. \u201cWe\u2019re always just looking for ways we can do more things in the space that isn\u2019t just streamed content, like events, cons and meet and greets.\u201d It was also something they could properly own together: \u201cIn previous projects, there were too many things out of our hands, and we wanted control over all of it,\u201d Shia said. \u201cWe have our hands on every aspect of it. \u201cWe work well as a team because we recognize each other, and we know each other very well, and I think that\u2019s a plus on our side because if we didn\u2019t, we wouldn\u2019t work as smoothly as we have.\u201d But even with all that being said, friendship trumps all. If VchiBan was to end tomorrow (spoiler alert: not the case), it wouldn\u2019t be because of a personal falling out. The four would rather preserve their relationship than push through and burn it all out professionally. This was emphasized by Candii as a need for anyone looking to create their own VTuber group. \u201cIf there\u2019s ever been points of tension\u2026 we\u2019re very accountable and present with each other. We even said, in a hypothetical scenario where VchiBan doesn\u2019t stay together, our friendship is paramount over everything else.\u201d A chance to Meet Your Oshi? VchiBan being together means they can collaboratively work on bigger projects than they\u2019d imagine individually. And while it\u2019s one thing to talk the talk, it\u2019s another thing to walk the walk. That brings us to Meet Your Oshi. It\u2019s a Five Nights At Freddy\u2019s-inspired fan game tied to the release of the hit franchise\u2019s movie in October. VchiBan\u2019s stars play the main four animatronic oshis you so desire to meet, and there will be cameos from friends too. \u201cThe whole idea is you\u2019re going to a convention to meet your oshi, but you\u2019re breaking in early so you can print out tickets,\u201d Candii stated. Fan games have taken a hold of VTubing, but games made by the VTubers themselves \u2014 or their company \u2014 rarely exist outside of a few projects. NIJISANJI\u2019s Pomu Rainpuff and Selen Tatsuki led the production of the Detective Pomu and the Tatsuki Manor Mystery game. Hololive created horror game ERROR featuring a glut of their Japanese stars, and are working on a metaverse project called Holoearth. For independent or smaller groups though, games are just out of the scope of what they can create. VchiBan is different though, given Shia\u2019s background. But beyond that, they also have the determination to prove VTubers in any situation can create innovative content. \u201cWe wanted to do other things other than debuting all the time,\u201d Buff said. \u201cWe wanted to look at the space, or the outside perspective of where we can implement things we want to do. \u201cShia made an analog horror game which all of our friends played. Everyone enjoyed it and had fun, and they noted it was cool to see their friends in the game. Shia was really nervous about it and very critical of himself, but everyone had a ton of fun, and that was before we did VchiBan. \u201cSo when we were tossing around thinking of what we could do next, Shia was like \u2018I have this game I started and I want to continue working on it\u2019 and I was like \u2018that\u2019s what we\u2019re doing next.\u2019\u201d Five Nights at Freddy\u2019s was easy inspiration for Shia and the rest of VchiBan. It is a bit of a cult classic in the content space. Horror is also a particular passion of Shia, noting his previous game. But bringing it to life was a bit more complex than what he had done previously. \u201cThere\u2019s so many fan-made FNAF games. I don\u2019t care how mainstream or big it is, I love it. There\u2019s so many spinoff games that are questionable to amazing. \u201cI mentioned that to Candii and they were instantly like \u2018gasp, ooh I like that idea.\u2019 Immediately, without thinking of any kind of semblance to the game, I modeled out an environment that would be fun for that. \u201cThat sat there for like a year, until only a couple of months ago where we made the choice when Candii was visiting. The new FNAF movie was coming out and I was like \u2018why don\u2019t we start working on it?\u2019 I started talking to Candii and said \u2018I could probably program it, I\u2019m not too worried about it.\u2019 I\u2019m worried more about it now that I\u2019m in it. It works! It\u2019s alright! But that was only a couple of months ago when we were like \u2018let\u2019s pick that back up.\u2019\u201d Shia got his community to sneakily fund the modeling software he lost access to under the guise of wanting to work on more side projects. They also outsourced some of the game\u2019s elements to other members or outside of VchiBan entirely. And with Buff having too much of \u201cthe \u2018too much\u2019 gene,\u201d it became more than just dropping an itch.io link with a full merch line and other side projects tied to Meet Your Oshi. However the project has been kept very tightly under wraps, outside of a few teasers in the lead-up. \u201cI was like \u2018okay now that we\u2019re making a game, we have to come up with merch and PR kits and this and that.\u2019 It becomes a huge amalgamation of what the f**k. Shia was like \u2018I just want to come out with a cute game\u2019 and I was like \u2018no, it has to be the coolest thing ever.\u2019\u201d Before you ask, yes Sawcon was considered as a name. Rose was the biggest proponent of the easy joke, \u201cbut there was already a fake website for one though so we didn\u2019t want to deal with that.\u201d Jokes aside, all of VchiBan is excited to see how people react to Meet Your Oshi. Except maybe Shia, who is too nervous to see his game play out to thousands on Twitch. \u201cWhen Shia did the game last time, it was so cool to see everyone\u2019s reactions, good or bad,\u201d Buff added. \u201cMouse playing it was so funny. Because she\u2019s one of our best friends, it was funny to watch her scream and be like \u2018oh my God, that\u2019s me!\u2019 \u201cThat\u2019s my favorite part \u2014 and this game will have it too \u2014 where we include our friends. It\u2019s always fun to see people react to their presence. Everyone is there to enjoy it and have a fun time. You don\u2019t see this happen a lot in this space, so when someone does it, it feels like a community of everyone being like \u2018woah look at this cool thing the community made.\u2019\u201d Expanding VTubing\u2019s creativity The creative projects aren\u2019t ending with Meet Your Oshi for VchiBan. The group is already working on a second game \u2014 which is already made but pending artwork. But they aren\u2019t just going to become the game development VTubers. They want to capitalize on all the mediums VTubing affords. It\u2019s a trend being seen across the virtual world. NIJISANJI\u2019s Vox Akuma just released a 55 minute feature film featuring top voice actors, tied to a new model debut. That was a first for the industry. Then you\u2019ve got a VTuber card game being made by Japanime Games. Called Oshi Push, they\u2019ve already announced some of Phase Connect\u2019s biggest talents as playable cards, and there\u2019s an open form inviting VTubers to join them. You could also argue Astraline\u2019s pickup of Fredrik Knudsen and Nick Nocturne, two of YouTube\u2019s premiere long-form video creators, taps into a new niche for VTubing. These are just three of many fields VTubers are expanding into. And VchiBan wants to keep pushing that envelope. \u201cOne thing we all agree on is looking outside of the space as well,\u201d Candii stated. \u201cIntroducing new ingredients from outside of VTubing is how you innovate. You need to look at what your peers are doing, but also what\u2019s not being done and where there\u2019s areas you can expand into. Rose agreed, noting how tiring it is to feel confined to a singular meta: \u201cI\u2019m not going to name names or be too specific, but there\u2019s a lot of groups or people who do the same five merch items, the same formats. They follow patterns people feel like they are tied to, and we\u2019re all tired of that\u2026\u201d Because all of VchiBan\u2019s members have been in content creation for such a long time, keeping it fresh is important to keep it interesting. \u201cWe\u2019re at the point of getting sick of being led around,\u201d Buff continued. \u201cWe want to lead and do things. There\u2019s been opportunities we\u2019ve had individually, but it\u2019s been people bringing it to us. It\u2019s time for us to make the opportunities for ourselves. \u201cEven if it\u2019s hard and we stay up late grinding, it\u2019s worth it in the end because not only are we doing something we like doing, we\u2019re very creative people so it fills that gap of wanting to be creative. You can only debut so many times before you feel like you\u2019re not creative anymore and getting sick of it.\u201d And, as has been harped on about through this hour-long call, formally joining forces fosters this creativity in ways they couldn\u2019t imagine doing solo. Their different skill sets complement each other, and while it can be a lot of behind the scenes work to juggle on top of VTubing, the result is worth the effort. They can rely on each other professionally and personally. Candii likened it to being \u201cthe lil husband going and doing his job, in the mines doing stuff for my family.\u201d If there\u2019s some graphics to do, Candii will do it. Same goes for art in Buff or Rose\u2019s corner. It makes it seem like everything is achievable as long as they\u2019re together \u2014 and they don\u2019t need a big agency to make it work. \u201cThe things we can\u2019t do, we have people we know, or people who know people,\u201d Rose continued. \u201cWe have this big expansive network of whatever it is we need. Whether it\u2019s animation or games or whatever project we have our mind on, I feel like we could do whatever we want with no end on the horizon. We\u2019re just stubborn.\u201d And at the end of the day, they\u2019re all VTuber viewers too. They\u2019re all fans. They want to make the experience better for everyone across VTubing, whether they\u2019re a streamer or a watcher. Having different points of view, and being inspired by what\u2019s happening in the space, motivates them to keep pushing new creative avenues. \u201cIf you love what you\u2019re doing, you have a very different way of looking at it,\u201d Candii said. \u201cYou can look at it like \u2018what do I want to see? What would be cool as a viewer?\u2019 You can participate with it from different points of view. \u201cI would point to what Buff did once for Valentine\u2019s Day, where you did the dating sim live with chat. Chat could pick different locations, which was improv mixed with chat integration. Stuff like that is really cool. \u201cShia used to do, and probably still does, ARG elements with debuts. He had a puzzle once with runes and things, and people had to decode it. He makes little apps. For one of Buff\u2019s debuts, he made a moon that was rising as chat was spamming a command.\u201d VchiBan might not be host to \u201cthe next innovative big idea.\u201d Things pop up on a weekly basis, such as the VirtualFace app all over Twitter. But by being on the forefront of innovation, pushing the needle and looking at what VTubing can become, VchiBan can maybe motivate others to pursue the idea they\u2019ve been thinking of. \u201cIn the VTubing space, there\u2019s a lot of tech that\u2019s been developed,\u201d Candii continued. \u201cAnd the more money and people there, there\u2019s going to be more innovation. Getting more people into VTubing, getting more creativity and more backgrounds [is important].\u201d The future of VTuber groups When asked about what got VchiBan\u2019s members individually into VTubing, most (except Candii) wanted the camaraderie and community. That is still their primary goal, and that\u2019s ultimately the catalyst for a project like theirs. \u201cA lot of people go into VTubing to talk to people and make friends,\u201d Buff mused. \u201cThat\u2019s the objective. Sometimes people lose that objective on the way, and that\u2019s not a bad thing, but people forget the core reason of why they started. \u201cI was the type of person that never talked to anybody, and the only person I spoke to was Shia. I got to a point where I was like \u2018I can\u2019t continue living like this, I have to do something.\u2019\u201d Even if it wasn\u2019t their initial goal like Candii\u2019s, it certainly became a healthy byproduct: \u201cAt the point I started VTubing, I had no friends and I hadn\u2019t had friends for many years. I [have] found people I care about and I\u2019ve become a better person. I became more myself. Less the person I had been twisted up into, and more the person I actually am.\u201d VchiBan is a testament you can have your cake and eat it too. Don\u2019t get it twisted; each of VchiBan\u2019s members were successful independently before joining forces. But even in those isolated journeys, they didn\u2019t set aside their friends in the quest for growth and fame. It was quite the opposite \u2014 when it came to take the next step, they leaned on each other. \u201cI remember at one point, we had one of our meetings and Rose mentioned \u2018holy crap, this is so much work,\u2019\u201d Shia reflected. Not a bad thing, just we stepped back and realized. \u201cEven on the professional side of figuring out all the heavy lifting that comes with creating a group, and the interconnected relationships we have with each other growing stronger because that\u2019s what is necessary, it happens naturally.\u201d It could have gone different; Candii was in a stream team years ago, but that wasn\u2019t meant to be a serious project. That\u2019s okay in its own right. VchiBan\u2019s members all agree there should be more groups in VTubing, whether they be casual stream teams or more formal entities. It doesn\u2019t always have to be agencies and glamor, it can just be friends getting together and gunning for a shared purpose. Their journey wasn\u2019t an easy one, but when is content creation ever easy? \u201cI wish everybody could have that experience of creating a group,\u201d Shia continued. \u201cOne of our main reasons for starting the group was showing we could do it, and do what we want in whatever capacity with an emphasis on quality. That\u2019s in every aspect.\u201d \u201cWe\u2019ve had this conversation so many times, but we\u2019re all still here, so we\u2019ve obviously decided that it is worth it in some capacity,\u201d Buff added. \u201cWhere I sit now, I\u2019m very happy we all stuck through it and worked so hard to get to where we are. Now it feels like, after the launch of VchiBan, we can do anything.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
How four top indie VTubers found family in VchiBan Supplied: VchiBanVchiBan didn\u2019t necessarily burst onto the scene like most VTuber groups. You could have maybe read between the lines and expected its creation. However what they\u2019re doing is anything but ordinary, pushing VTubing innovation to its limits. VchiBan\u2018s roots, you could say, were set in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63402"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63402\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}