© 七斗七・塩かずのこ/KADOKAWA/ 「ぶいでん」製作委員会
The legend, as they say, is just beginning. This final season of VTuber Legend doesn’t end with any big reveal or status quo shake-up. It briefly teases that, but what’s here is ultimately a reinforcement of everything the series has been doing since it began. It doesn’t even focus entirely on Awa; instead, it looks at her through Hareru’s lens (and vice versa) to ponder VTubing’s actions as a creative force. It’s a passion to try to convey to anyone who might have watched the entire anime and somehow still doesn’t quite “get” VTubing. It mostly works.
Hareru's concert and Awa's collaboration are the centerpieces of this episode, though not an entirely positive one. Much of the ending is skipped, with only the spirit of Hareru's special song before the team performance is shown at the end. That's probably for the best, as VTuber Legend could have instead devoted space to that conceptual and character analysis. But there's another choice that detracts from this episode feeling like a barnburner of a finale. They barely even burn the barnburner.
Still, what’s shown at the concert looks good. The artistic choices going on in the anime blur how “real” this performance is in the venue—Hareru and Awa seem to be using a virtual performance streamed online, like so many “real” Vtubers do. This allows them to play with established medium elements like the invisible drinks their characters pantomime and mine humor from Awa’s still-indispensable drinking habits. The jokes are spot-on if you’ve seen any real-life performances like this. And it’s interesting to see some of the VTubers in this show “upgraded” to 3D models, another sign of progress in the medium.
But that’s just expository nonsense—the core of this document is to figure out Hareru’s purpose and motivation for doing this concert, in this way, with Awa. The answer is perhaps unsurprisingly simple given what VTuber Legend has always been about. Hareru may have originally intended the performance to be a swan song, announcing her “graduation” and passing the baton to the next generation represented by Awa. However, since Awa’s influence is gone, she has passed on to Hareru how fun and engaging VTubing can be. The performance and the collaborative aspect between fellow streamers and the audience is its own compelling reward.
One interesting thing about the way VTubing is constructed in this anime is that its reverence for the medium comes from the perspective of the streamers themselves, not that of fans. There’s still a reverence for VTubers, evident in the final moments of the episode as it tours a series of real-life streamers who have defined the landscape of this new medium in its early history. But the appreciation is written through the eyes of the co-creators, inspiring each other, lifting each other up, and building on their success. The value of VTubing is in the creative space it provides these people. It gives them a community where they feel supported and can develop their art—with that “art” being the act of being yourself, whatever “you” actually is at that moment.
Building and supporting that community is Hareru’s primary motivation. The song’s framing flashback to how she and others started Live-On is poignant, but it also reinforces how important the collaborative aspect has been even in the beginning of this venture. After all, there’s a reason why collaboration is such a fundamental element of VTubing. That collaboration and inspiration transcends mentorship across generations, with Hareru confirming that the younger Awa inspired her to continue streaming. Hareru actually says that it’s more important to Awa than the recursive inspiration itself.
There are people in our profession who have impacted us and the creation of that profession, people who may never know that impact unless we actually speak out about them. It can be easy to decide to make a big final farewell to our careers and see that as a worthy legacy for those who have influenced us. But in fact, it is much more powerful to acknowledge everything our colleagues have done for us. Let that continue to propel us forward in our creativity.
The raw power of that reciprocal creative energy is so well-depicted that it often infuses a show that can seem silly on the surface. Ultimately, Awa continues to grow in popularity and hone her craft while inspiring others and being inspired herself. As the final cut shows, the VTuber lineage, from Ai Kizuna to Aoi Sakura, has already encompassed a lot even if it’s just getting started. I don’t know that VTuber Legend will be for everyone, at least if you don’t have any patience or interest in VTubing as an art form. But it’s a cool watch that shines brighter at times because of its genuine love for the material. I think it’s worth cracking open a cold Strong Zero to toast.
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VTuber Legend: How I Went Viral after Forgot to Turn Off My Stream is now streaming on Crunchyroll.
Chris actually tried streaming for a bit. It went about as well as you might expect. He has since resigned himself to the language. You can read more about it on his blog while watching Twitter for any posts affected by Strong-Zero is not recommended.
Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more companies mentioned in this article are members of the Kadokawa Group.