At OffKai, Panel 2.

Bridging Gaps Between Unlikely Communities! Presented by AkaScarlett.

• First time giving a talk.
• Wanted to grow more and didn't see very many sport vtubers.
• Did final fantasy content before, but it was too competitive. Redebuted as a baseball vtuber in 2023, but didn't switch over to doing baseball content immediately.
• Wasn't sure if there was any intersection between vtuber fans and sports fans.
• The first year, still didn't see any growth. Started playing sports stuff, and was visited by Mills, a non-vtuber sports streamer. Mills liked what she was doing and tagged Aka in a post on Twitter.
• Tried to get the attention of the MLB by interacting with their socials.
• Made a marriage proposal video intended as a joke to ask the MLB TikTok admin to follow her on TikTok, and they followed her back.
• MLB stitched her video on TikTok with the TikTok admin eating lunch watching the video.
• This got her a lot of attention, growth, and increased viewership. Surprised by the sudden interest, didn't think anyone would be interested. Turns out sports fans were waiting for someone like her to come along
• Corey does a lot of in-person vtubing and collaborated with a sports team, making vtubing more established in the west.
• July 5th, 2024, the Dodgers hosted a hololive night. The event went really well. VTubers were now collaborating with the highest levels of baseball. Got some traction as a side-effect of that.
• Decided to branch out to hockey content.
• Got a DM on TikTok from the Anaheim Ducks (an NHL team), asking her what a VTuber was and then offered to collab with her on a ducks-themed vtuber model.
• Eventually found herself on the Jumbotron leading chants at the stadium.
• The following season, they were doing the intro for anime night at the Dodger Center (?).
• There are more sport VTubers now.
• Collaborated with Lake County Captains on four outfits.
• Started getting contacted by a lot of teams and players from the MLB, started playing games with MLB players.
• Was afraid of being judged and of people being mean to her, for being a woman and a vtuber. Got a fair share of "interesting" comments. However, the sports community has been one of the kindest and supportive communities she has worked with.
• If you are VTubing and there is a specific niche you are interested in but too nervous to do, just do it! People can tell if you love or don't like what you are doing, and they love it when you love what you are doing. Try something new, do something to stand out.

Q&A:

• Thinking about the different communities you've interacted with, what are the similarities?
  • Both vtuber fans and sports fans are really passionate. Vtuber fans collect cards of other vtubers and she collects cards of players. They are more similar than you think.
• Is there any way to use your influence to facilitate a trade of the player Tyler?
  • Thinks he should come back to Cleveland, it's been a little too long.
• You mentioned Corey as an inspiration. You now have so many opportunities, even from teams outside the US. How do you know which teams you want to collab with?
  • Doesn't think she would say no to any team, and that includes the Yankees who I don't like. It would still be an opportunity of a lifetime. If she had to choose, would pick the one she likes the most. Would never say no to anyone.
• I'm a sports VTuber too. When it comes to bridging that gap between sports and anime, what was the biggest hurdle? What worked for creating this space for people who didn't know but wanted to learn?
  • It was a mental challenge because she wasn't sure if anyone would like it. Took a leap of faith and started using social media more, and used that positive feedback to keep going. Made a video titled something like anime girl teaches sports.
• When you talk to sport teams, how do you answer questions about vtubers to "normal" people?
  • Tries to explain it in the easiest way. Usually says that she has an artist draw a character for her and has a face tracker. That typically seems to be enough.
• Some question about conflucting interests when it comes to the teams she is a fan of? Couldn't really follow, lots of team names mentioned.
  • Said she prefers teams that she vibes with more and doesn't care about geography.
• I used to do sports vtubing a long time ago. If i wanted to get back into being a sports vtuber, how would i go about doing that?
  • You should do it 100%! We need more sports VTubers.
• Not sure what the questions was.
  • It's something she wants to look into, but there isnt anything in particular. She just play games on stream. It's a good recommendation, she wants to look into that. Wants to do skits.
• What's the most annoying fandom?
  • The Yankees.
• What is your opinion of Lebron (?) going to the sixers?
  • Wants him to come back to his home team.
• What would you recommend to get a baseball fan friend into vtubers who currently isnt into it and isnt into anime?
  • Recommends spoon feeding anime content to friend, not sure. Depends on how open he is into it. Show him clips of sport vtubers
• I currently do military content, but I also like sports. Would you rebrand from military/tactical to sports VTubing?
  • If that's what you want to do, you should! You could also maybe combine the two.
• Is there any sport you havent done yet, would not do, and would it be possible to see you in sport-adjacent things?
  • Does cover motorsports sometimes. Done cricket and rugby content. There's not a sport she would say no to. Planning on debuting a golf model.
• (didnt understand context) How has that affected everything?
  • Collaborating with someone like Rey puts me in front of other VTuber fans. It's a different kind of vibe, one for vtuber fans and one for sport fans. But, both sports and vtuber communities have been so lovely and kind.
• What is it like working with sport content creators and how is it different from working with vtuber content creators?
  • Working with irl sport content creators is not much different from vtuber content creators. It's just a person at the end of the day.