English Dub Review: VTuber Legend: How I Went Viral after Forgetting to Turn Off My Stream “I Forgot To Turn My Stream Off, And Became a Legend”

Overview

Based on the Japanese light novel series written by Nana Nanato and illustrated by Siokazunoko. The story delves into a top-tier VTuber management company in the country simply known as “Live On.” Among their third-generation talents is Kokorone Awayuki, who struggles to stand out and grow among the countless VTubers…

Our Take

Going into this show with zero expectations, this pleasantly surprised me. As someone who isn’t particularly a VTuber fan but has interacted on live streams before, I found the proceedings both engaging and hilarious in terms of situational humor. Awayuki, at her core, is mostly funny with her unfiltered language, which adds to the comedic juxtaposition of her Disney-princess-like appearance to the unscripted stuff she says, and outrageous behavior.

The show also tackles the intriguing theme of real versus online personas since celebrities tend to put on a proverbial mask before an audience for the sake of establishing a brand. Yet the show asks its audience “What would happen if the mask came off at some point?” I should also note that the scenes with live chat interactions may require the need for subtitles due to the text-heavy content and text messages not being in English whatsoever and might be challenging for casual viewers to follow in terms of interactions. Awayuki’s newfound freedom and authenticity in terms of the words she uses (even bleeped-out words in both the sub and dubbed version of this episode) seems to consequently catch the attention of potential collaborations from fellow VTubers, and the absurdity of her manager only informing her to simply keep going with it may lead to some unique adventures down the road…

Overall, for the first episode, this left one hell of a lasting impression. Its unique take on the VTuber phenomenon, combined with effective humor and a unique blend of animation styles makes it enjoyable even for those less familiar with the the trend. It’s almost like that scene in the movie “Anchorman” where Will Ferrell’s character casually does that silly “Scotchy Scotch” bit not knowing he’s on live TV except it’s hilariously elevated on a global scale. The unique visual style of the Vtuber ladies not showing their real-life appearances when they leave outside their homes symbolically adds a layer of the proverbial blurred lines between their online and offline personas, and I’m excited to see how far this story goes!