A few weeks ago, I spotted a new billboard on Broadway. On it, an anime character wearing a sailor suit clutched a microphone.
I couldn’t make out the words, so I came back later to take a photo. In a city where machismo and swagger dominate billboard ad space (think Frank “The Strong Arm®” Azar), I had to know more about this illustrated beret-wearing girl.
The billboard advertises Nyaruchuuu, a “virtual idol and variety streamer." It stands a couple blocks from the History Colorado Center, in prime view for several high-end apartment buildings nearby.
“Your relationships may not last,” it declares. “But this Eternal Shooting Star Idol will!”
Apparently, billboards aren’t just for personal injury law attorneys anymore. But I had to ask: What exactly is going on here?
Nyaruchuuu is a VTuber, so let’s start there.
Nyaruchuuu, or Nyaru, is a “VTtuber,” or someone who livestreams on internet video platforms while using a computer-generated avatar to hide their real identity. VTuber is short for “virtual YouTuber.”
VTubers use 3D animation software to translate video of their actual selves into animated avatars. They broadcast that cartoony image on streaming platforms like Twitch or YouTube Live.
(Ed. note: We were going to get an avatar for Paolo, but it was too expensive.)
The format is enormously popular — earlier this month, a VTuber broke the record for paying subscribers on Twitch.
Nyaruchuuu, from the billboard, is just one of thousands of VTubers operating on Twitch and YouTube. Her content varies — some days, she’ll play old video games like Team Fortress 2, or maybe she’ll do a karaoke stream. Her anime avatar narrates the action.
While she’s not in the upper echelon of VTuber society, she still has 13,000 followers who collectively pay to make billboards about her.
'Wouldn’t it be so cool if I got that?'
In real life, Nyaruchuuu is a woman who lives somewhere near Denver. And the billboard, as it turns out, is an expensive birthday present from her fans. Billboards have, oddly enough, become a common way for fanbases to show their appreciation for VTubers.
“[The audience was] originally kind of inspired by another VTuber community for a VTuber called Pipkin Pippa. They did a billboard somewhere randomly in Tennessee as a birthday gift for her,” Nyaruchuuu said. “And I was like, ‘Wow, that's so cool. Wouldn’t it be so cool if I got that?’ And I was like lightly talking about it, joking along in my chat, and then a couple months later they're just like, ‘Here you go. You want this? There you go.’”’
Three dozen members of Nyaru’s audience collectively raised over $4,500 to place the billboard at the intersection of Broadway and 11th Avenue.
Besides the legion of devoted fans, Nyaruchuuu is much like any Coloradan — she works remotely from home consulting for Japanese companies and enjoys semi-ironic trips to Casa Bonita.
This is not her first billboard in the city. Last year, fans raised $2,000 to plaster a RiNo billboard with Nyaru’s image and likeness.
“Alone?” the old billboard asked. “Good,” it declared.
Nyaruchuuu said the billboards, with their commentary about loneliness and relationships, are meant to be ironic. Other VTubers create “girlfriend experience” content, which encourages viewers to develop unfulfilled romantic relationships with the creator.
“Personally for me, that is not my vibe,” Nyaruchuuu said. “I am more of just a casual friend that you come play video games with.”
The moniker on the billboard, "eternal shooting star idol," is about how she wants to be.
“Shooting stars are always trailing off and they're always super bright and they're always running towards their bright dream,” she said. “It's a little bit cheesy, but I'm a big fan of cheesiness.”
Turning into an anime character is a way to practice that.
“I think it just helps me become who I wish to be. I’m very outgoing right now, and I know what I'm saying, I know what I'm doing. I sound really, really nice,” she said, appearing as her avatar. “In real life, if you were actually to meet me in person face to face, I would be a little more quiet, a little more reserved.”
What's next?
This year’s billboard cost more money because the fans put it in a higher-traffic area. In the two months it's been up, people tuning in to Nyaruchuuu’s stream have said they found her via the billboard.
“We like to make a joke, ... ‘Oh, the billboard claims another person,'" she said.
Nyaruchuuu said her fans are already scheming for the next billboard, and she expects it to be even splashier.
