Entertainment with anonymity
Villainous affectation echos from an animated, highly stylized avatar.
Its not a cartoon, nor is it AIits a person.
The era of the VTuber is upon us and Cimrai is the communitys latest promised child.
CimRai / Twitch
For anonymitys sake, she asked to simply be referred to by her VTube name, Cimrai.
Cimrai / Twitch
She hit the ground running on June 6.
“I could never, ever have predicted this success.
Anime, video games, and Disney helped with her creativity as the original trio of her affection.
Nerd culture was her comfort through it all.
The uneven relationship between creators and their audiences caused her to bow out.
It became too much to bear for the up-and-coming commentariat.
The parasocial paradox of being a front-facing content creator fizzled her spark, but not completely.
While our masks are animated, were still flesh and blood behind the computer screen.
Streaming was her next venture and what better way to mitigate parasocial excesses than a virtual mask.
Disrupting VTube
VTube is its own beast.
Other streamers dive into live streaming, but for Cimrai it was an entire production.
She spenttwo months building hypearound her debut on social media.
When she finally arrived on Twitch, her debut stream topped out at around 700 concurrent viewers.
A rarity among streamers.
Her character is more reminiscent of an MMORPG raid boss utilizing Western art styles.
This combined with her character-heavy interpretation resulted in an adoring audience.
Its not a symbol of her most authentic self.
It is a performance in the most literal sense.
CimRai / Twitch
“I very much created my persona as a character that wasnt me.
Cimrais art could mean anything.
She wants to continue pushing the limits of creativity, constantly putting on this kind of live-animated show.
The future is boundless.
“Appreciate Cimrai for what she is, which is an interactive performance.
It doesnt take away from when Im talking about topics like body positivity, or neurodivergence.
“While our masks are animated, were still flesh and blood behind the computer screen.”
