VTubers, or Virtual YouTubers, appeared seemingly out of nowhere in 2020 and have been a staple of streaming content ever since their popularity boom during the pandemic. Currently, there are three big talent agencies in the world of VTubing: NIJISANJI, Hololive, and Vshojo.
While Vshojo is currently trailing behind, with the debut of their Japanese branches, the agency is expected to grow to being particularly notable in size and significance. NIJISANJI and Hololive have remained the pillar of VTubing for quite a while now, and they don’t seem to have any plans on stopping.
This year has given viewers a number of VTubers that have boomed in popularity this year. Some of them come from the big three, while some are independent, meaning they’re not affiliated with any company. Here are the VTubers that experienced a popularity spike in 2022.
VTubers whose popularity exploded in 2022
Amemiya Nazuna
Amemiya Nazuna is a new face but an old voice. If you’re up to speed with VTuber news, you most likely know who Nazuna was before her debut. Nazuna is from the Japanese division of Vshojo called Vshojo NEXT. She streams on Twitch unlike most of the VTubers in this list and currently has around 100,000 subscribers and 248,000 followers. She plays a variety of games like Minecraft and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.
Filian
Filian is one of the independent VTubers in this list, which means she isn’t affiliated with another company. She mostly streams using her 3D model so her viewers can see all of her body movements. This sets her apart from most VTubers who mostly only stream with their 2D or 2.5D models. Her content revolves around VR Chat and chatting with her viewers as well as watching and reacting to videos with them. She generally has a chill vibe, which makes you feel like she’s someone you’ve known for a very long time.
And through this, she has amassed 484,000 followers on Twitch.
Kaela Kovalskia
Kaela Kovalskia is from the Indonesia branch of Hololive called Hololive ID. She’s become popular because of her calm demeanor and mature attitude. Recently, she’s been streaming a bit of Overwatch 2 and Phasmophobia. Her streams are also fairly long, with some of her audience commenting that her normal streams are usually the “endurance streams” of other VTubers. She currently has 517,000 subscribers on YouTube.
Alban Knox
Alban Knox is the only male VTuber on this list. Alban Knox describes himself as a phantom thief from NIJISANJI EN. From his GTA stream collab streams where he’s trying to blow up a rollercoaster because he wasn’t able to ride it and his friends were, to a clip where he continuously failed to spell “resemblance” his chaotic and lovable personality has shot him up as one of the fastest growing streamers this year. When you see this guy in a thumbnail of a clip, you know chaos is going to come down. That being said, his streams are always entertaining and, when the situation calls for it, very high energy. Alban currently has 573,000 subscribers on YouTube.
Vestia Zeta
Vestia Zeta hails from Hololive ID, the Indonesia branch of Hololive. She currently has 622,000 subscribers on her YouTube channel all waiting for her to stream a variety of games ranging from Gundam Evolution, Apex Legends, and Overwatch 2. She even had a chance to beta-test Street Fighter 6. Zeta has a calm aura around her, which makes you just want to hang out and listen to her talk. She can also speak four languages: Japanese, Indonesian, English, and Korean. This is a big boon for VTubers as this means that her audience reach is far wider than just knowing one or two languages. She sometimes streams in English and Indonesian.
Laplus Darkness
A VTuber from Hololive JP, Laplus Darkness is a beast—quite literally. Her character is a demon that wants to dominate the world but the opposite can be said during her collabs as her first collabs often have her being playfully teased by her seniors and even genmates. Because of this, her chat has slowly followed suit and teased her as well.
Her early streams consisted of her simply talking to her viewers because of her abysmal internet connection, quite fitting for someone from the abyss. After moving out, she finally got a decent internet connection and can properly play some online games. She currently has 864,000 subscribers on YouTube.
Shylily
Shylily is an independent VTuber who streams on Twitch and is popular for the range of emotions her VTuber model could do. Shylily has been around for a long time now, but 2022 gave her the renaissance she needed with the advent of her new VTuber model that for some reason is much more emotive than even Hololive’s and NIJISANJI’s. With around 934,000 followers on Twitch and about 6,000 viewers per stream, it’s fair to say she keeps her audience entertained while most of what she does is just chatting with them.
Sakamata Chloe
Chloe is a VTuber from Hololive who primarily streams a variety of games including Minecraft, The Quarry, and Resident Evil. Chloe shot up in popularity due to her cute voice as well as her chaotic nature. What likely endeared most people to Chloe is her outrageous stories from her childhood. Apparently, there was a time when she was a kid and was forced to go study abroad because her family was worried about her always staying in her room. Recently, however, she stopped streaming for a bit because, according to Chloe, her house is haunted.
A karaoke stream picked up an unknown woman’s voice which shook her mentally. This led to her pausing her streaming activities and immediately looking for a new place to live. Even Hololive’s management helped out; even her manager felt it when she went over to comfort Chloe.
She currently has 936,000 subscribers on YouTube.
Kobo Kanaeru
Kobo Kanaeru is another VTuber from the Indonesia branch of Hololive and has smashed records, reaching 1.6 million subscribers just from her first year of streaming. Kobo Kanaeru is a cute rain shaman that plays a variety of games that range from Dota 2 to Sims 4. She plays a lot of games, which means there’s something in there for anybody. Like Kaela, Kobo also streams League of Legends: Wild Rift, which seems to be very popular with her audience.
Hyakumantenbara Salome
If we’re talking about someone explosive, it has to be Hyakumantenbara Salome from NIJISANJI. Salome debuted in May 2022 and reached a million subscribers in just 13 days. She currently holds the record for being the fastest VTuber to reach one million subscribers. She currently has 1.69 million subscribers on YouTube.
Salome is a content gold mine regardless of if she intends to be. Her Resident Evil 7 stream is just the start; as she planned to stream Resident Evil 7 but downloaded the wrong game. So instead, she streamed herself naming Japan’s different prefectures on a map while she downloaded the game. After that, Salome continued to stream and probably has one of the most chaotic (and entertaining) streams I’ve ever run into.
