A VTuber, which is also known as a Virtual YouTuber, is an online entertainer designed with computer graphics and motion-capture technology. VTubers look like digital characters inspired by anime but they talk and move like real humans.
The origin of VTubers is the birth of Kizuna AI, a Japanese female online virtual character who identified herself as a Virtual YouTuber for the first time in the world in the first released video in December, 2016. After Virtual YouTubers became widespread, the word “VTuber” has been used in the wider sense including Virtual YouTubers and other virtual streamers based on various platforms.
The number of VTubers sharply increased in Japan especially around 2018, when some major VTuber agencies such as hololive and Nijisanji started managing their VTubers with investment from many enterprises and groups.
Each of VTubers has their own YouTube channel delivering live streaming of playing games and chatting while viewers send comments and social tipping like Super Chat. Some popular VTubers have millions of subscribers all over the world. They attract more audiences with collaboration with other VTubers performing in the same video.
Recently, a wider range of people from across the globe have been interested in VTubers, and the number of English-speaking VTubers has grown rapidly.
Let’s check out the best VTubers ever!
23. Hyakumantenbara Salome
Who do you think is the hottest VTuber around the world at the moment? Enthusiastic fans are paying close attention to a new star Hyakumantenbara Salome (壱百満天原サロメ), who launched her first live stream on YouTube on May 24, 2022. The number of her YouTube channel counted more than a million subscribers just after two weeks, which is by far the fastest pace of all time.
The Nijisanji newcomer started her VTuber life, dreaming to be a perfect lady. According to her introduction, her purple curly hair and unique voice tone are natural. She has a plan to try diverse game plays with extensive vocabulary. Let’s see what will happen to her from now on!
YouTube Channel: 壱百満天原サロメ / Hyakumantenbara Salome
Agency: Nijisanji
Subscribers: + 1,100,000 (As of June, 2022)
Videos: + 10 (As of June, 2022)
Illustrator: Wata
22. Yuki Chihiro
As a Virtual Liver of Nijisanji’s First Wave, Yuki Chihiro (勇気ちひろ) has led the agency toward success since her debut in February, 2018. Her natural state as a 18-year-old girl was transformed into the 10-year-old magical girl in exchange of the contract accepted to become it. However, she can revert to the original state and change herself into a boy called “Chii-kun” with magic. She is characterized by her lovely loli voice and blue magical girl dress and long twintails.
She likes streaming with chats and gameplays of first shooter games specifically Apex Legend. She also forms several units with diverse Nijisanji Livers and has recently focused on Kana-Chii-Kuzu, which consists of Kuzuha and Kanae to train for Apex. Quite a few fans have been drawn to their light and humorous conversations.
YouTube Channel: 勇気ちひろ
Agency: Nijisanji
Subscribers: + 500,000 (As of February, 2022)
Videos: + 1,100 (As of February, 2022)
Illustrator: asacrebleu (Existing)/cacao (Original)
21. Finana Ryugu
The major VTuber agency Nijisanji introduced a friendly girl with bright green hair named Finana Ryugu (フィナーナ 竜宮) as a member of LazuLight, the Nijisanji En’s first wave including Elira Pendora and Pomu Rainpuff. The tropical mermaid got active as a Virtual YouTuber in May, 2021, coming from under the sea of coral reefs.
Streaming lots of gameplays including FPS and role playing and chatting with her fans called “Ryuguards”, the trendy VTuber is earning more subscribers on YouTube. You can feel her heart as clear and pure as the calm and beautiful sea in her videos.
YouTube Channel: Finana Ryugu 【NIJISANJI EN】
Agency: Nijisanji En
Subscribers: + 230,000 (As of February, 2022)
Videos: + 200 (As of February, 2022)
Illustrator: Gilse
20. Nyanners
VShojo, a new VTuber agency founded in the United States in 2020, presented its front talent named Nyatasha, a.k.a. just Nyanners, in July, 2020. The pink-haired catgirl, introduced as an ancient evil creature, live streams on Twitch and her highlight videos are uploaded on YouTube. She reached a million subscribers on her YouTube channel in January, 2021.
She enjoys chatting while playing various video games such as Final Fantasy and Monster Hunter and watching some funny online videos. You will see her streams are totally different from other VTubers from Japan. Her fans around the globe cheer for her to accomplish her ultimate aim of conquering the planet.
YouTube Channel: Nyanners
Agency: VShojo
Subscribers: + 1,300,000 (As of February, 2022)
Videos: + 200 (As of February, 2022)
Illustrator: Nia
19. Tokino Sora
The leading Japanese VTuber agency hololive Production was founded by Cover Corporation with its initial Virtual YouTuber named Tokino Sora (ときのそら) in 2017, who is also known as part of hololive 0th Generation talents as well as Roboco, Sakura Miko and Hoshimachi Suisei. She debuted on a a Japanese video-sharing platform Nico Nico Douga and YouTube in September of that year.
The long brown haired idol girl, who likes singing and playing horror games, originally got active with her ambitious goal of having a live concert at Yokohama Arena. She got her first major break with Victor Entertainment in March 2019 and held her first solo concert titled Dream! in October of that year. Besides her singing and dancing videos, she live streams popular gameplays including the Pokémon series and Minecraft.
YouTube Channel: SoraCh. ときのそらチャンネル
Agency: hololive
Subscribers: + 900,000 (As of February, 2022)
Videos: + 500 (As of February, 2022)
Illustrator: Ordan (Existing)/Ikaki (Original)
18. Nekomiya Hinata
Some VTubers shows a high level of skill to play games like a professional gamers, and Nekomiya Hinata (猫宮ひなた) is one of the VTubers who surprise fans with her mastered FPS techniques, which doesn’t match her cute appearance. She released her first introduction video on YouTube, associated with Entum, and she is now active on freelance basis.
The pink-color hair girl with catears always wear a white tank top and speaks in a slow drawl. She enthralls audiences with first shooters like PUBG and other categorized games. On her channel, she introduced newcomers Kokage Inugami in December, 2019 and Kei Yahiro in April, 2021.
YouTube Channel: ひなたチャンネル (Hinata Channel)
Agency: Free
Subscribers: + 500,000 (As of February, 2022)
Videos: + 400 (As of February, 2022)
Illustrator: Unknown
17. Siro
Siro, who is also Cyber Girl Siro (電脳少女シロ), is one of the VTubers who claimed to be a Virtual YouTuber in the earliest stage as well as Kizuna AI. Associated with a VTuber organization .Live by Appland, Inc., she debuted with her first video uploaded on YouTube in June, 2017.
It’s known that she had released a video every single day until she reached a thousand of her videos in January, 2020. She enjoys playing lots of popular games such as PUBG and Minecraft, singing and dancing like an idol and doing collab videos with other famous VTubers.
YouTube Channel: Siro Channel
Agency: .Live
Subscribers: + 600,000 (As of February, 2022)
Videos: + 1,200 (As of February, 2022)
Illustrator: Kei
16. Uruha Rushia
Uruha Rushia (潤羽るしあ), one of the most popular female VTubers in Japan, debuted in July, 2019, joining hololive Fantasy, the unit of the hololive’s third generation, at the same time as Usada Pekora. She are active on YouTube and Bilibili, and the number of YouTube subscribers hit a million in March, 2021. The lovely streamer is also known as the one who earns the most Superchats in the world.
Uruha Rushia is a necromancer from the Demonic-Realm Academy, who has a cute light green hairstyle with two high buns. She is a little bit embarrassed around people and doesn’t want to be lonely, which leads to her chatting with spirits and corpses. Her fans are specifically delighted at her gameplays of horror games and ASMR streams.
It was very surprising that Uruha Rushia stepped away from her activities as a hololive VTuber in February, 2022.
YouTube Channel: Rushia Ch. 潤羽るしあ
Agency: hololive
Subscribers: + 1,500,000 (As of February, 2022)
Videos: + 400 (As of February, 2022)
Illustrator: Yasuyuki
15 Minato Aqua
There a lot of idol VTubers who are committed to singing and dancing in a professional way, Minato Aqua (湊あくあ) is one of the most famous and popular idol VTubers all over the world. As part of the second generation of hololive, she was introduced on YouTube in August, 2018. She has got the audience on YouTube and Bilibili since then.
The virtual maid with the style of a marine maid has purple-colored twintail hairstyle that looks like a red onion. Her goofy and clumsy personality has been loved by lots of fans called Aqua Crew. In addition to the serious activity as an idol, she always tries her very best to play games. She took the first and second place in the past two Mario Kart 8 Deluxe cups hosted by hololive.
YouTube Channel: Aqua Ch. 湊あくあ
Agency: hololive
Subscribers: + 1,500,000 (As of February, 2022)
Videos: + 400 (As of February, 2022)
Illustrator: Gaou
14. Watson Amelia
Watson Amelia (ワトソン・アメリア), a time traveling detective, has been much popular among international people since she debuted as a member of the hololive English first-generation unit Myth with Gawr Gura, Mori Calliope, Ninomae Ina’nis and Takanashi Kiara in September, 2020. She is also known as the ninth hololive VTuber who gained over a million YouTube subscribers.
The private detective was named after John H. Watson of the Sherlock Holmes series. The blonde haired humorous girl likes playing first-person shooters such as Apex Legend and Valorant and popular open-world games the like Super Mario series, getting lots of laughs by her fluent talks with jokes.
YouTube Channel: Watson Amelia Ch. hololive-EN
Agency: hololive English
Subscribers: + 1,600,000 (As of February, 2022)
Videos: + 400 (As of February, 2022)
Illustrator: Nabi
13. Mirai Akari
Mirai Akari (ミライアカリ) is well known as one of the earliest big four Virtual YouTubers, which includes Kizunaun AI and Karuya Luna. She made her debut with her YouTube channel Mirai Akari Project in 2017, taking over from the predecessor channel of Eilene, one of the first Japanese VTubers starting from 2014. Her affiliation was Entum and is now the new Japanese label Goom Studio, supported by Zizai Inc.
The bright and friendly girl with blond hair in a side ponytail wears a blue and white costume. Her detailed background remains unrevealed since she lost her memory. In addition to funny videos of dancing, gaming and other exciting actions, she is famous for her original songs released since 2018.
YouTube Channel: Mirai Akari Project
Agency: Goom Studio
Subscribers: + 700,000 (As of February, 2022)
Videos: + 400 (As of February, 2022)
Illustrator: Kei
12. Inugami Korone
There are varied animal-themed VTubers debuting ever, and Inugami Korone (戌神ころね) is one of the representative VTubers with the theme of dog. In April, 2019, she started streaming on YouTube as part of hololive Gamers, a gaming unit inside hololive, with a catgirl named Nekomata Okayu. Her YouTube channel hit a record of more than million subscribers in November, 2020.
The dog-eared girl with brown hair speaks in the dialect of the Tohoku Region, the northern part of the Japan’s main island. She introduces herself as a dog playing video games while looking after a bakery shop. Her gameplays cover from retro platform games to latest FPS games have attracted lots of fans around the globe.
YouTube Channel: Korone Ch. 戌神ころね
Agency: hololive
Subscribers: + 1,700,000 (As of February, 2022)
Videos: + 500 (As of February, 2022)
Illustrator: Fukahire
11. Shirogane Noel
Shirogane Noel (白銀ノエル) is a popular VTuber who made her debuted from hololive in August, 2019 and reached million YouTube subscribers in April, 2021. She is a member of the hololive third generation unit Hololive Fantasy, which consists of Houshou Marine, Shiranui Flare and so on.
The silver-haired girl is easy going but sometimes showcases her muscle power is the need arises. The female knight entered into the world of VTubers for training. Shirogane Noel has become increasingly popular worldwide especially for her ASMR videos that stimulate ears of her fans.
YouTube Channel: Noel Ch. 白銀ノエル
Agency: hololive
Subscribers: + 1,400,000 (As of February, 2022)
Videos: + 500 (As of February, 2022)
Illustrator: Watao
10. Shirakami Fubuki
Shirakami Fubuki (白上フブキ), who has been responsible for the success of hololive since the earliest period, has enjoyed much popularity since she began her activity in June, 2018. Her fame has been achieved by her streaming on YouTube and Bilibili on an almost daily basis as a member of the hololive first generation and a unit named hololive Gamers.
Shirakami Fubuki can be easily distinguished with the VTuber icon kemomimi (which describes animal ears and is sometimes broadly interpreted as animal-like features). The shy, quiet girl actually likes talking to others and is in a good mood when she gets attention from others. Her well-watched live streams are composed of desultory chats, drawing, gameplays of various genres. She also sings songs of anime and Vocaloid in her videos.
YouTube Channel: フブキCh。白上フブキ
Agency: hololive
Subscribers: + 1,800,000 (As of February, 2022)
Videos: + 1,300 (As of February, 2022)
Illustrator: Nagishiro Mito
9. Kanae
As one of the top male VTubers, Kanae (叶) has led the virtual streamers on YouTube since his debut from Nijisanji Gamers with Akabane Youko in May, 2018. He formed a male duo unit ChroNoiR with Kuzuha in July, 2018, also known to have streamed every day for about three and a half years until November, 2021. Finally, he gained a million YouTube subscribers in May, 2022.
Kanae is a good-looking young man with ash-brown hair, who has captivated lots of fans with his fluffy, sweat voice and madness that he sometimes shows. In addition to interesting slice-of-life chats, he presents game playing streams and a huge variety of collaborations with other VTubers and gamers.
YouTube Channel: Kanae Channel
Agency: Nijisanji
Subscribers: + 1,000,000 (As of February, 2022)
Videos: + 2,500 (As of February, 2022)
Illustrator: U-suke
8. Kiryu Coco
Kiryu Coco (桐生ココ) is one of the legendary VTubers who left her mark on history. The kid dragon girl made her debut as a member of Holoforce, the hololive unit consisting of the fourth gen mates like Amane Kanata and Tokoyami Towa, on YouTube in December, 2019. In July, 2021, she graduated from hololive after her final graduation stream.
The female dragon with long orange twintails, who has horns and a tail, introduced herself as a language exchange student from a different world. In addition to her fluent Japanese and English skills, she was famous for the morning show AsaCoco Live News that made her and hololive itself much more popular among both Japanese and foreign people. Kiryu Coco is also well known as the most Super Chatted person around the world in 2020.
YouTube Channel: SoraCh. Coco Ch. 桐生ココ
Agency: hololive
Subscribers: + 1,400,000 (As of February, 2022)
Videos: + 700 (As of February, 2022)
Illustrator: yaman**
7. Mori Calliope
For VTuber fans who live in English-speaking countries, Mori Calliope (森カリオペ) is one of the most popular female VTubers who communicate with them through her streams in English. She is also called just Calli by her fans and other streamers. The apprentice of the Grim Reaper with pink-colored hair wear a black outfit.
Her activity as a hololive English Vtuber began in September, 2020 at the same time as other Myth talents including Gawr Gura, Watson Amelia, Ninomae Ina’nis and Takanashi Kiara. Her YouTube channel subscribers reached a million in January, 2021. She enchants lots of people with her sweet voice and rapping techniques, which is why she introduces herself as “HoloEN’s Rapping Reaper”.
YouTube Channel: Mori Calliope Ch. hololive-EN
Agency: hololive English
Subscribers: + 1,900,000 (As of February, 2022)
Videos: + 400 (As of February, 2022)
Illustrator: Yukisame
6. Usada Pekora
In July, 2019, The large VTuber agency hololive introduced a pretty girl with a motif of a bunny girl Usada Pekora (兎田ぺこら) as a member of its third generation that is also known as Hololive Fantasy as well as Uruha Rushia. She has liked Japanese female idols since before, which made her decide to become a VTuber to be someone like them.
The rabbit-eared girl with long braided twintails colored by light blue, who gets lonely easily, likes carrots enough to always keep them tied to her hair. Her speech is characterized by Peko, a part of her name, in the suffix position. She offers live streams of playing games, singing and chatting, and her close communication with her fans draws much more viewers on YouTube.
YouTube Channel: Pekora Ch. 兎田ぺこら
Agency: hololive
Subscribers: + 1,800,000 (As of February, 2022)
Videos: + 800 (As of February, 2022)
Illustrator: Yuki Hagure
5. Kaguya Luna
Kaguya Luna (輝夜月) is known as one of the big four Virtual YouTubers in the earliest stage of the VTuber industry as well as Kizuna AI and Mirai Akari. The free-spirited and sparkling girl, who is over 100 years old, debuted in 2017 and reached a million of subscribers on YouTube in 2020. She is free to talk about a variety of topics and play interesting games on her videos while she released several original songs from 2018 and 2019.
She has been virtually considered to retire since her last video was uploaded on YouTube in August, 2020 or her fan club LUNAfam(β) was officially closed in November, 2021.
YouTube Channel: Kaguya Luna Official
Agency: Vic inc.
Subscribers: + 900,000 (As of February, 2022)
Videos: + 100 (As of February, 2022)
Illustrator: Mika Pikazo
4. Kuzuha
There are a large number of male VTubers in Japan, while female VTubers have grown to more prominence lately. Kuzuha (葛葉) is one of the most popular male Japanese VTubers, who debuted as an unaffiliated Virtual YouTuber in 2018 and joined Nijisanji Gamers later. Known as a member of the popular duo unit ChroNoiR with Kanae, he became the first male VTuber and Nijisanji Liver who reached a million YouTube subscribers in September, 2021.
Kuzuha is identified as a vampire gamer, over 100 years old but not immortal. Characterized by his silver hair, scarlet-red eyes and black tracksuit. He has a dream to be taken care of by an oil billionaire and a bad habit of getting rather carried away, which is a part of reasons why so many fans have loved him.
He streams diversified trendy game plays from FPSs like Apex and Valorant to online battle arena games like League of Legends, chatting with his highly developed sense of humor. In March, 2022, he released his first mini album titled Sweet Bite, having major debut under a record label Universal Music Japan Virgin Music.
YouTube Channel: Kuzuha Channel
Agency: Nijisanji
Subscribers: + 1,300,000 (As of June, 2022)
Videos: + 1,200 (As of June, 2022)
Illustrator: Honda Loalo
3. Houshou Marine
A lot of modern fans have liked Houshou Marine (宝鐘マリン) recently, who is one of the hottest female VTubers in hololive and other agencies. As a talent of hololive’s third generation, Houshou Marine debuted with Shirogane Noel and Shiranui Flare in August, 2019. She gained over million subscribers on YouTube in January, 2021, and the number is still increasing.
Known as the Senchou (Captain) of the Houshou Pirates by her fans, she acts as a VTuber to realize her dream to buy a pirate ship and hunt for treasure in the sea. The 17-year-old talkative girl with crimson red twintails wears a patch over her right eye and a pirate hut by default, which is just that she enjoys cosplaying as a pirate. Her yellow right eye is usually exposed, though.
She live streams play-by-play games, illustration, vocal performances and chats with a great variety of subjects including her background and sensitive things. Her frequent responses to comments by her fans also please them. There are many live streams of collaborations with other friendly VTubers on her channel.
YouTube Channel: Marine Ch. 宝鐘マリン
Agency: hololive
Subscribers: + 1,800,000 (As of February, 2022)
Videos: + 700 (As of February, 2022)
Illustrator: Akasa Ai
2. Gawr Gura
Gawr Gura (がうる・ぐら) is a new and top English-speaking VTuber, who has been loved by over three millions of fans and other VTubers. The adorable shark-themed girl just made her debut in September, 2020 from a popular VTuber agency hololive English, and the number of her YouTube channel’s subscribers reached a million in the next month, which is the fastest in all Virtual YouTubers. She also became the first hololive VTuber who gained over three millions of subscribers in July, 2021.
Gawr Gura, a member of the earliest hololive English unit named Myth, can be easily distinguished from other VTubers with her white hair highlighted with blue and her shark clothes and hats. She enjoys playing various games from Minecraft and Grand Theft Auto to rhythm games. She is also famous for her first single “Reflect” released in June, 2021, and its video has over ten million views.
YouTube Channel: Gawr Gura Ch. hololive-EN
Agency: hololive English
Subscribers: + 3,700,000
Videos: + 300
Illustrator: Amashiro Natsuki
1. Kizuna AI
There is no question that Kizuna AI (キズナアイ) is the best VTuber of all time, who acted as a pioneer of the Virtual YouTuber world from her debut in 2016. The cutest girl with long brown hair with pink highlights wearing a symbolic pink hairband was designed by a Japanese entertainment company Activ8 and now is associated with Kizuna AI Inc. with 3D modeling technology.
According to her first video on November 29, 2016, she proclaims herself to be an independent artificial intelligence and works hard as a bridge between human begins and cutting-edge technology related to AI and VR.
Kizuna AI has fascinated over three millions of her fans called “Kizuner” across the world, especially Japan, United States and China, performing various activities such as singing, dancing playing games, chatting with her fans, collaborating with other popular talents and so on for a long time. Her spin-off YouTube channel A.I.Games draws more than a million subscribers.
As a renowned artist, she has received praise from lots of people since her first original single “Hello, Morning” was released in July, 2018. In December, 2021, it was announced that Kizuna AI would be taking an indefinite hiatus after the final concert “hello, world 2022” on February 26, 2022.
YouTube Channel: A.I.Channel
Agency: Kizuna AI Inc.
Subscribers: + 3,000,000 /+ 1,500,000 (A.I.Games)
Videos: + 1,100 /+ 900 (A.I.Games)
Illustrator: En Morikura
Did you enjoy the list of the best VTubers of all time above? There are so many Virtual YouTubers across the globe now, and it’s too difficult to narrow down to those names like above. Nevertheless, those selected entertainers are worth watching their streaming contents! And, this list will be updated as needed.
If you want to check only English-speaking VTubers, this article will help you!
VTubers have been one of the most popular entertainments from Japan lately as well as other Japanese pop cultures such a[…]
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