Unlike Hollywood, which seeks global blockbusters, Tokyo’s publishing and animation industries have historically ignored the West. And that neglect created a monster.
Just as the human idol model reached its breaking point, technology offered an escape hatch. Enter Virtual YouTubers (VTubers). Characters like Kizuna AI and Gawr Gura are 3D animated avatars controlled by real human "actors" (known as "masters" or "motoshi").