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The story
Manga artist Masakazu Katsura posted fan art on X (formerly Twitter) of a little-known independent VTuber with a tiny subscriber count, sparking discussion on a 5ch live-commentary board. In the post, Katsura explained the backstory behind a streamer known as “Ono Yoko-san,” who commentates on shooting games and other titles, writing that “even after she found out I was a manga artist, she treated me naturally, and it’s really comfortable being around her” — notably, this wasn’t some spur-of-the-moment joke. Reactions on the thread were split: some took it warmly, arguing that “people who bash VTubers are a minority,” while others grew suspicious, asking “where did he even find someone this obscure?” and speculating he might be “a friend or someone connected to her.”
What people said
Where the hell did he even find someone this obscure?
The person he drew is probably shocked too
She's not even streaming right now
What is this??
People who trash VTubers are seriously a minority
'Chin-art' really shouldn't be allowed lol
Oh, is this a sockpuppet post?
If this suddenly got dropped in among a bunch of amateur-level fan art, that'd be jarring
Does he just watch all kinds of streams?
She must have a popular video somewhere, so it's probably ranked by view count
Is she an acquaintance, or family?
Her subscriber count's gonna grow from here
She does have a moving avatar, but at heart she's a game-commentary streamer.
Even after she found out I was a manga artist, she's treated me naturally, and it's really comfortable being around her.
Some fan art I drew of her before:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GWtDpg8WcAAGsSu.jpg
https://x.com/MasakazuKatsura/status/1831632059888234844
but if he's genuinely simping this hard, that's creepy
Why?
People who bash VTubers are a minority, you should knock it off
so it's not that weird if he's into that kind of culture, or into idols
He's been an idol fan for ages
Same with fan support in general — chasing an underground idol just comes off creepier than following a mainstream one. Can't be helped
Maybe it's just that seeing people who are close to each other gets under your skin?
I think it probably reads the same way lolicon stuff does —
like he's not going after a big, established VTuber who can stand on her own and make her own calls, but instead scouting out someone weak who can't make it alone and has to depend on someone, snapping her up early before she's 'ripe'
His cool, quiet art style probably just doesn't pair well
with the image of a VTuber whose 3D model moves around energetically
Maybe YouTube's algorithm has just been pushing her into recommendations more
Is this the 'Torneko effect'? (a jokey nod to unexpected recommendation-algorithm boosts, named after the Dragon Quest character)
It's just a woman's voice behind an avatar anyway — what's he even expecting?
Background and discussion points
Masakazu Katsura is a veteran manga artist known for works like “I”s” and “Wingman,” and posting fan art on social media isn’t new for him. What made this newsworthy was that the subject was an independent VTuber with a tiny subscriber count — had he drawn fan art of a famous VTuber, it likely wouldn’t have raised any eyebrows, and that gap in “temperature” is exactly what split opinion on the thread. In his own post, Katsura described her as “a streamer who cheerfully commentates on brutally hard games” and someone who “treats me naturally,” which suggests the two are acquainted, though the text reveals nothing further about the relationship. On the thread, the view that “VTubers are already accepted by mainstream society” sits alongside the suspicion that “picking an unknown target makes people read more into it” — a twist fairly specific to fan culture, where the same act gets judged very differently depending on how famous the target is.
※This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyō G) thread “[Breaking] Star manga artist Masakazu Katsura posts fan art of a mysterious indie VTuber wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww” (the trailing string of “w” is Japanese internet shorthand for laughter, roughly equivalent to “lol”).
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