In 2010, a Japanese visual novel
developer hit upon advertising their games on YouTube by having an anime character
promote their products in 3D-animated sequences. Other Japanese companies
followed suit on this breakthrough. But it was not until 2016 when another
character, Kizuna AI, debuted and popularized the phrase “Virtual YouTuber” or “VTuber.”
Kizuna’s YouTube videos where she covers songs, plays videogames and discusses
with her audience via web-chat pushed the phenomenon to the point that at
present there are over 10,000 VTubers. And now the streaming giant Netflix is
entering the fad, fashionably late, with its own virtual character to promote
their anime content.
The Verge tells us that Netflix has launched a Virtual YouTube
character to play the role of the streaming platform’s “Anime Ambassador.” Teased
since last week, the VTuber debuted Tuesday, April 27 in a video sequence that
is familiar to fans of the VTuber corner on YouTube. The character’s name is
N-ko Mei Kurono, and she is a silver-haired anime girl in a black dress with
the Netflix N logo and sheep horns on her head. That is because she, like many
other VTubers, is a half-animal hybrid; in her case, a “sheep-human from
California.”
N-ko (short for “Netflix-child”
in Japanese) is created much like Virtual YouTubers in general. Her form is a 3D
digital avatar animated on computers, which is then animated by a live actor
wearing a motion-capture suit whose movements the avatar follows, while a voice
actress provides the voice. In-character, N-ko describes herself as the Netflix
Anime Club manager, tasked to promote the service’s anime library of series and
films, some of which are Netflix-exclusive, on their official YouTube channel.
Besides shilling Netflix anime, N-ko will also feature videos of herself doing
other stuff VTubers are popular for, to generate fan buzz for herself as well.
The introduction of N-Ko Mei Kurono
as a VTuber Netflix anime ambassador can only come at the right time for the
streaming juggernaut. Netflix has already announced no less than 40 individual
anime titles being added to their library this 2021. They range from new
seasons of existing anime shows, an anime spinoff for “The Terminator,” and the
“Sailor Moon Eternal” anime films that released in Japan earlier this year. There
is speculation on whether or not N-ko might collaborate with existing VTubers, many
of which have large YouTube fan-bases.
Image from official Netflix website
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