Virtual-san wa Miteiru

Virtual-san wa Miteiru is an anime that brings Virtual YouTubers to life.

The term Virtual YouTuber, or VTuber, refers to a YouTuber who shows themselves as an animated character, hiding their true appearance but still bringing joy to viewers. VTubers featured in Virtual-san wa Miteiru include Hime Tanaka and Hina Suzuki, who together make the rhythmic music duo HimeHina; Siro, the cyber girl, who definitely, certainly, positively has never murdered anyone; the lazy, FPS-loving Hinata Nekomiya; the upbeat Akari Mirai who sexually harasses her juniors; and the lightweight Mito Tsukino, who has a serious superiority complex.

In every episode these VTubers perform nonsense together in skits filled with slapstick, puns and fourth-wall-breaks. From the parody space adventure "Virtual Wars" to the nameless skit about bouncing gorillas, these absurdly funny segments are brimming with excitement. Virtual-san wa Miteiru is a one-of-a-kind comedy certain to bring delight to any fan of Virtual YouTubers!

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Tsukino, Mito Main

Mito, Tsukino Japanese

Tanaka, Hime Main

Suzuki, Hina Main

Mirai, Akari Main

Nekomiya, Hinata Main

Hinata, Nekomiya Japanese

Dennou Shoujo Shiro Main

Tokino, Sora Supporting

Tokino, Sora Japanese

Virtual Gorilla Supporting

Sister Cleaire Supporting

Ootori, Kohaku Supporting

Kakumoto, Asuka Japanese

Kizuna, AI Theme Song Performance

HimeHina Theme Song Performance

Nayutan Seijin Theme Song Lyrics, Theme Song Composition, Theme Song Arrangement

Nakata, Yasutaka Music

Reviews

Mar 27, 2019

cuteisanarchy

Recommended

If you’re reading this review then chances are you have some idea what a Virtual Youtuber (hereafter “VTuber”) is. At the very least, you’ve likely seen a Kizuna Ai screenshot float across your screen at some point, and maybe even watched a video or two. For those living under a rock, some searching on Youtube might provide a better explanation than the brief one here.

In short, starting with Kizuna Ai in 2017 and expanding exponentially there’s been a trend of people who utilize VR technology to manipulate avatars to make entertaining videos. As the name suggests, these videos often live on Youtube. These people are ... the stars of Virtual-san, the first feature-length show dedicated entirely to VTubers. As with many trends there’s plenty of non-virtual money floating in the air, and popularity has combined with profitability to produce Virtual-san wa Miteiru.

(Before I go further, it may be worth noting that Kizuna Ai, who has been outspoken about staying on the platform after which she styled herself the first “Virtual Youtuber” for her videos, isn’t actually in this show, though she does sing the first version of the OP where she jokingly remarks that there “isn’t enough love” (that is, “not enough ai”).

For those who already familiar with the content (or if you’re not and are just going to watch it regardless), how does this first foray into an exclusive television feature fare? Putting the haters aside (and as the score for this show as well as the various negative reviews it’s received elsewhere indicate, there are more than a few), the answer will likely vary depending on who you are. If you’re someone who’s actively engaged with any of the wide cast of VTubers – and there are many here, including some of the most popular – you’ll likely enjoy seeing your favorites on screen. If this is your first time dipping your toes in the virtual pool, unless you’re particularly patient you’ll likely be lost.

The dividing line here is, funny enough, its faithfulness to the medium it’s reproducing. The comedic sketches which make up the show often adopt the same loose formatting as many VTuber videos, meaning a lot of ad-libbing among the more scripted segments. The directing style of some of the sketches is also loose and can also feel amateurish, with scenes oddly drawn-out even after the punchline has been delivered. Dedicated fans will likely take much of this in stride – in a medium populated by amateur talent where uneven delivery is the rule, Virtual-san will feel familiar. Whether this familiarity is a good thing is another matter and will vary by viewer, and there will be those who expect something a little tighter to suite a full-length TV show.

Something which is faithful but notably better than average is the animation – Dwango has used the Unity engine to create something which looks cleaner and smoother than many VTuber videos, and certainly better than the VRchat to which it’s sometimes compared.

But beyond the actual content of the sketches, part of the fun of Virtual-san is the look it offers at a distilled version of a growing cultural phenomenon. In addition to the main cast, we’re treated to a host of other VTubers around the edges. Whether it’s the rotating cast of guests on Tsukino Mito’s quiz show, the 30-second introductions from amateur VTubers in the “Minna no Virtual-san” corner, or those who might just walk through and say the name of the show in an eyecatch, the show does a good job in providing a snapshot of how big and diverse this trend is.

Regardless of the actual quality of the series, Virtual-san is important as a proof of concept, with a 20-odd minute show dedicated entirely to VTubers airing on television alongside other otaku fair. Yes, it’s a little rough in execution, and the often hit-or-miss subs by Crunchyroll don’t help – but much like the often rough-cut introduction videos of many VTubers themselves it’s not hard to see where its potential lies. And given that there are at least two shows and a movie starring VTubers on the way, Virtual-san looks to be just the beginning. In the end, it will likely be seen as an important first and predecessor to other, stronger works starring VTubers which are yet to come.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Jan 30, 2019

LeoPerdomo

Mixed Feelings

Preliminary (5/12 eps)

Obviously, this "anime" is for fans and people who know about the "Virtual Youtuber" trend, although the story may seem somehow messy and movements sloppy, you have to actually know the characters to really get into this series, I personally find it fairly amusing since I follow these characters on YouTube and it is obviously not vying for the title of "anime of the season", but I think it's mostly directed towards the people who already know the characters, and a way to introduce the characters to other people who may not even know who these "people" are, I can assure you that at least ... a person watched this and then went to YouTube to see more of these girls, aaaand, to be honest, their YouTube content is actually far better than this series, so go look for them on YouTube.
I'll try to introduce some of them to you.
Mirai Akari, the blond girl with blue dress, she's kinda average on her content, but she does some games and other trendy stuff on her channel.
Siro, the white hair girl with the long blue dress, she does playthroughs and other trendy stuff, she and Akari are among the first virtual youtubers and their channels have many subscribers.
Nekomiya Hinata, the girl with cat ears is actually known among the PUBG and Fortnite community, and she does a lot of videos about gaming, apparently, her favorite videgames are combat simulation like the ones I mentioned.
The others, the twins Hime and Hina and the other girl are not as "popular" but they also do YouTube, so go check them out.
And finally, all the other secondary characters have their own YouTube channels too.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Aug 28, 2021

realswagmoney

Not Recommended

Honestly, this anime had me thinking I was in 2018 and my friend was showing me the unfunniest vrchat video on the face of the earth, and they were thinking it was comedy gold.

Now I'm not a fan of any of the vtubers featured in this, the only one I had even heard of before watching was Unity-Chan, and I think it's definitely safe to say this anime really is not made for people who do not watch vtubers.
First of all, there was genuinely no story for the first half of the anime. None at all, and when they introduced just even a little glimpse ... of some sort of plot, not only did it not make sense in the slightest but it also felt incomplete, rushed and felt like just another one of their bits they did each episode. They also made it incredibly hard to be invested with each bit being about a minute or two since they were just jumping from bit to bit. Not to mention, each bit was not even funny- I don't think I even laughed once in the last 5 hours, and I honestly would've laughed more watching old minecraft roleplay videos from 2016.

As for the art and quality, this show genuinely looked like it was running on 5-10 FPS. A powerpoint slideshow run on my microwave would've been higher quality than this. And the art- the sad thing is, the 2d art in the opening actually looked ok, and yet it was only used in the opening. The 3d models honestly could've been alot better I feel, as the hair and arms were constantly clipping through eachother and the torso. Whilst I get these vtuber models can be hard to make and it is not as easy as it sounds, they still could've done alot better of a job.

The sound is one of the redeeming parts of this anime, as I honestly didn't have many problems with it whatsoever. The two openings were pretty catchy, and the ending was ok too. The other songs used fit the atmosphere, and the sound effects helped too, but the actual quality of the anime really just made the sound work almost unnoticeable.
And now the characters- After reading the discussion posts on this anime, it's easy to tell all the characters featured in this anime are real vtubers, and probably good ones too! But this anime does not portray them in a way that makes them interesting or in a way that makes me go "Oh, I might check out their channel!" Instead, I'm more uninterested in them than I thought could be possible. They have essentially no personality, and are all unoriginal and boring, repeating the same bits over and over again.

Overall, this is genuinely the worst anime I have ever watched. Again, it might just be because I am not a fan of vtubers! But either way, I feel if you have to be a fan of an outside source to enjoy an anime, it was never that good anyway. Spending five hours of my life just to watch this genuinely felt like torture. This anime is what they show prisoners on death row, and I would not touch whatever the creators of this anime were on with a ten foot pole.

And with that, I'm going to bed. Here's to praying those vtubers don't end up in my nightmares.

Reviewer’s Rating: 1

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Jan 9, 2019 8:24 AM by tsubasalover | Discuss (0 comments)

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Dec 18, 2018 6:15 AM by tsubasalover | Discuss (29 comments)

	Poll: Virtual-san wa Miteiru Episode 3 Discussion kramXD - Jan 24, 2019	13 replies	by RGreatDanton »» Feb 10, 7:06 AM
	Poll: Virtual-san wa Miteiru Episode 2 Discussion SeaVee - Jan 21, 2019	13 replies	by RGreatDanton »» Feb 10, 6:53 AM
	Poll: Virtual-san wa Miteiru Episode 1 Discussion Vader_ - Jan 9, 2019	46 replies	by RGreatDanton »» Feb 10, 6:44 AM
	Poll: Virtual-san wa Miteiru Episode 12 Discussion pacmen123456 - Mar 27, 2019	13 replies	by FelipeJoJo »» Dec 13, 2024 11:24 PM
	Poll: Virtual-san wa Miteiru Episode 5 Discussion Lairucrem - Feb 6, 2019	11 replies	by CathyFreyaMys »» Aug 2, 2023 5:19 AM