Vesper was the BBCposter all along
After Asuka Wrestling I'm not sure I can really blame her tbh.
Reading through this thread has got me thinking about how bad male vtubers got it if they wanna go corpo. In terms of corps, you either got Holo, where you're effectively banned from interacting with 4/5ths of your coworkers while still having to put up with the retarded schizos they profit off of (on top of the existing issues with working for Cover), or Niji where you have more freedom at the literal cost of things like 2% on merch and such. Mid tier corpos can't even consider opening a male branch lest their whales leave and they fold. Despite how people have scoffed at the idea, I'm becoming more convinced a male Vshojo branch would be the best option for an aspiring male vtuber. The girls there will acknowledge you and collab with you, you seem to have a good deal in terms of profits, and the culture there isn't so hostile to your very existence. Especially if the claim about Judge Magni 2 being canned by management, that often-maligned talent freedom could be very useful for creative people like Randon whose ideas were constantly getting shat on by perm issues and general JP autism. Not Lando though, I saw his Grimace Shake video he's an unironic
Realistically, you're always going to be at a disadvantage being a non-face streamer as a man. It's just part of the functional differences in the sexes and the way they interact. Thus, if you are going into the corpo scene, you simply have to take a different approach. Simply put, you have to be charismatic via voice and a little bit of model movement. This is distinctly different from Women playing the 2D role.
Since the Women's World Cup just ended, I'll use that as a reference point. Congrats to the Spain Women's National Team on their victory, but the reality is that the Under-16 team at a 2nd Division club could run circles around the team. Both literally & figuratively. The physical prowess difference is too vast that even the top Women's professional teams look incapable when competing at speed. That's sort of the playing field difference in the Vtuber space.
Realistically, the girls only need to maintain an interesting stream and sound engaged. They're appealing because they're involved in a heavily male activity, they look good on screen (when you look at the screen) and they're making interactions with either the Game or Chat. This is actually alien behavior in the "Meat Space", as that type of interaction would require a preexisting and extensive personal relationship between a Woman and a Man. This is a level beyond TV-type interactions and there's nothing actually relevant in the rest of human history to these types. Which is part of why "Streaming" just seems incomprehensible to a lot of people.
Vtubing is about 2 steps below being a Cam Girl (unless you're a Twitch Thot) and 1 step below
Ginza Hostesses. I bring up the Ginza girls because as much as everyone jokes/lives the "HAG LOVE", realistically it's the same profession and for the same reasons. They can hold conversation and keep things interesting, they're not 18 year old air-heads (minus Lumi) and they appeal to that weird space between companionship and just honestly interacting without the social cost associated with it. And the Ginza girls make bank, though they have to get drunk regularly and do run the gamut from hostess to full escort.
Side point: Choco, Mel, Noel or Kson could easily have spent time as a Ginza Hostess. Just as a thought.
This reality is why the Onion can be so incredibly popular when seemingly never pushing herself super well/being super introverted. And Ayame can stream once a month and still make bank. This isn't the male experience because that's not what the audience wants from a Male streamer. You either need high charisma or high game competence, plus being a good streamer. Vesper decided to channel his inner menhara and it, so far, hasn't gotten him killed. Obviously, there's the Vox Akuma route, but that leans in heavily to his voice and at the clear cost of his own mental health. (Men don't do whore as well as Women do.)
As Nijisanji JP has shown, though, that there definitely is space for very successful male vtubers, you just can't assume you'll be like the girls. You have to do things really different, and being hyper competent at something that displays well on Stream really matters.
