Ninja VTuber voice Talents Ruri Asano will play the role of Karavis in the TV anime “Good Bye, Dragon Life.” I think about voice talents who start their career as VTubers.

© Hiroaki Nagashima, Alphapolis / “Sayonara Ryusei, Hello Life” Production Committee

Asano Ruri is a popular virtual YouTuber (hereafter: VTuber) who works as a ninja-type VTuber voice actor!
She played the role of Ecute in “Evil Girl Dropkick X” broadcast in 2022, making her the first VTuber to voice a lead role in an animated TV series.
This Ruri Asano will appear in the anime “Good Bye, Dragon Life.” which will start in October 2024!

TV anime official website: TV anime “Sayonara Ryusei, Hello Life” official website (dragonlife-anime.com)

The era of VTubers playing anime characters as voice actors

VTubers playing different characters… This can be a very confusing situation, so I would like to reiterate it!
I would like to discuss about VTuber starting voice actors.
By the way, if you’re thinking, “VTubers don’t have a middle man!” If you are saying, “VTubers don’t have any inside person,” I hope you will stop reading here! I’m sure you’re right, there is no one inside.

About Ruri Asano

Profile
Ruri Asano is a VTuber affiliated with Niji-sanji, and also works as a voice actor with the voice acting agency Crocodile.
She debuted in August 2019 and is gaining popularity for her clear, innocent voice and calm atmosphere.
In parallel with her VTuber activities, Asano Ruri has also been steadily building her career as a voice actress.
She has appeared in a variety of works, including anime and games, and her acting skills have been highly acclaimed. In particular, her performances that make the most of her characters’ personalities are highly praised by fans.

More and more voice actors are appearing with their faces on stage, but VTubers don’t have to show their faces

Recently, there has been a trend among voice actors to increase the number of face appearances, but a major feature of VTubers is that they can work on the premise that they do not have to show their faces. This has the following advantages

• Character’s visual consistency: VTubers always appear with the same visuals, so their character image is consistent for fans.
  
• Protection of privacy: VTubers can operate without disclosing personal information, thus protecting their private lives.
  
• Freedom of Expression: Since VTubers are not bound by their real-life appearance, they can express themselves more freely.
  
• Increased immersion: Fans can focus on the characters themselves, thus increasing their immersion in the world of the work.

If you want to focus on voice acting activities behind the scenes, you may want to start your career as a VTuber if you want to focus on voice only.

For aspiring voice actors, working as a VTuber can be an effective career path!

Skill Improvement
Through daily delivery activities, you can hone the skills necessary for voice acting by accumulating practical experience in such areas as improvisation and emotional expression.
Activities as a VTuber can be a valuable experience for aspiring voice actors, and may well have a positive impact on the career of those who wish to become voice actors in the future.
However, it is important to strike a balance between VTuber activities and voice acting. Balancing activities with voice acting, such as distribution, may be quite strenuous.

Building a community and network
By working as a VTuber, you will gain your own fan base. Building this fan base will make you an effective voice actor in terms of marketing, and may also improve the impression companies have of your work.
In fact, the number of followers on social networking sites and subscribers to YouTube channels can have a significant impact on casting decisions, as they can be used to determine the talent power of the voice actor.
You may also be able to experience voice work and collaboration in a variety of genres and corporate projects, not limited to anime and games.
The possibility of connecting with a variety of people and industries and building a network ahead of time, this is a major advantage of starting a VTuber career!

The path to voice acting is likely to become increasingly differentiated!

With the increase in idol content and many situations where voice actors sing and dance, we sometimes see news of voice actors who fall ill.
There are also those who really want to compete only with their voices and performances without showing their faces! There may be those who want to focus on their voice.
For those who want to concentrate on voice activities, it might be a good idea to start out as a VTuber and then explore the route of becoming a voice actor like Ruri Asano.
As a pioneer who is setting a precedent, we will continue to keep an eye on Ruri Asano!