may

This discourse on whether PLAVE is a Vtuber versus drawing a clear line on what's a virtual idol and not - is hurting me a lot. 🥺 As a active fan of both communities I clearly see where both sides are coming from. So I'd like to add my two cents on this. For whatever it's worth, I still categorize PLAVE as Vtubers. But hold your horses and pitch forks, before you argue back hear me out. I see the term Vtuber as a general word encompassing all virtual entertainment forms, personas and whatnot. "Vtubers" as a term has evolved immensely, they're not merely describing those who stream on YouTube - we also got vtubers on Twitch, chzzk, and other streaming platforms yet they all are called vtubers. And before anyone says that vtubers merely play games on stream and receive donations thru these platforms, I'd like to give light to this that contrary to arguments presented by many PLLIs, yes traditional vtubers also: produce and write their own music, appear on music shows, hold concerts and do fanmeets or fan calls in the form of meet & greets. Some even do variety shows and have travel vlogs, and do 3D concerts! And I'd even argue that although the mocap technology of Vlast is very impressive, there is an aspect of Virtual concerts by Nijisanji that hasn't been adapted yet - which is looking 3D on any plane of view. Despite being seated on the side during Nijifes concert last May 2026, the VACHSS members remained looking 3D and not skewed or flat. A development I am waiting and hoping to come to Vlast too perhaps in the future (or maybe not since AR live tech operates differently from Unreal Engine based tech). Also, we do not have weverse but they communicate to fans thru membership chats. So although they mainly do streaming activities, they also dabble in these entertainment forms. But what about PLAVE then? If we PLLIs can remember way back in 2023 - before we had Lassgo plave, before concerts, before all these schedules - PLAVE livestream consist mainly of streaming and playing games on stream, they even received enormous donations and many of the funny clips circulating back then were the funny TTS voices of the donations - the very definition of a Vtuber. However, what has changed in the succeeding years is that Plave has evolved into breaking beyond these and moving mainly onto the side that does idol related activities. So whenever I introduce Plave to my non-PLLI friends, I say they're a 'virtual idol' much like a Vtuber but more a mixture of kpop idol activities. I see this as a spectrum or perhaps a graph where one side dabbles more on this, the other side more onto the other activities. What is disconcerting with the arguments going around is that it feels like being a Vtuber is looked down upon (especially the first posts that circulated) - making it seem like there's this air of elitism saying "don't lump us with the likes of you." Though I do understand as well that current activities of PLAVE fit more into a virtual idol than a Vtuber, I wish the reaction about being called or categorized as the same group wasn't so averse to the point of saying they'd file a complaint about being categorized as such. At the end of the day, we're all cut from the same cloth - we're all cheering for and following these virtual forms of entertainment. We may have varied tastes and preferences, but I hope these are raised in manner that is respectful and mindful, so that we all do our fanning activities happily~ And just like how I started as mainly a Vtuber fan before, there could be new fans out there who becomes curious of this side and becomes a new PLLI! 😊 💙💜💗❤️🖤 🌈 🌈 🌈 *I will be adding some photo proofs/tweet links below that I dabble heavily on both fandoms just to drive the point home. 😆