''VTuber Legend: How I Went Viral After Forgetting to Turn Off My Stream'', or ''VDen'' for short, is a Japanese

light novel A is a type of Genre fiction, popular literature novel from Japan usually classified as young adult fiction, generally targeting Adolescence, teens to Young adult, twenties or older. The definition is very vague, and wide-ranging. The abbr ...

series written by Nana Nanato and illustrated by Siokazunoko. The series originated on the novel posting websites Hameln and Kakuyomu in 2020, before beginning publication under

Fujimi Shobo , formerly , was a Japanese publisher that specialized in light novels, manga, Japanese role-playing games, role-playing games and collectible card games. Founded in 1972 and reorganized three times, it was at times an independent company and at ...

Fujimi Fantasia Bunko is a light novel publishing imprint affiliated with the Japanese publishing company Fujimi Shobo, a brand company of Kadokawa Corporation , formerly is a Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate based in Fujimi, Chiyoda, Tokyo. C ...

light novel imprint in May 2021, who have published ten volumes as of February 2025. The series is licensed in English by

J-Novel Club J-Novel Club is a publishing company specializing in the translation of Japanese light novels into English. It streams light novels and manga in regular installments before publishing finalized e-books. As of August 2021, J-Novel Club has licens ...

. A

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

adaptation by Roto Fujisaki began serialization in

Kadokawa Shoten , formerly , is a Japanese publisher and division of Kadokawa Future Publishing based in Tokyo, Japan. It became an internal division of Kadokawa Corporation on October 1, 2013. Kadokawa publishes manga, light novels, manga anthology magazines ...

's ''

Comp Ace is a Japanese computer game and manga magazine published by Kadokawa Shoten. ''Comp Ace'' began as a special edition version of another one of Kadokawa Shoten's magazines, '' Comptiq''. The first issue was released on March 26, 2005, and was p ...

'' magazine in August 2023. An

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

television series adaptation produced by TNK aired from July to September 2024.

Plot

Awayuki Kokorone is a third generation

VTuber A or is an online entertainer who uses a virtual Avatar (computing), avatar generated using computer graphics. Real-time motion capture software or technology are often—but not always—used to capture movement. The digital trend originated i ...

of Live-On who is struggling to catch up to the success of her fellow third generation colleagues. One night, she inadvertently showcases her unrefined side when she forgets to turn off her stream. As a result, she goes viral and experiences a sudden wave of popularity. Awayuki is determined to handle this newfound success alongside the rest of Live-On.

Characters

; : : The protagonist of the series, who is part of the third generation of VTubers under Live-On. Originally portraying herself as ladylike, she becomes popular after unintentionally showing her unrefined side to her viewers while drinking due to not turning off her livestream. Her unrefined side has been affectionally nicknamed by her viewers as , which she adopts as her alternate persona. She is fond of

Strong Zero −196 °C Strong Zero (commonly referred to as Strong Zero or −196) is a brand of chūhai produced by Suntory Global Spirits. It is currently sold in Japan, Taiwan, the Malaysia, Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. As wit ...

chūhai , an abbreviation of "shōchū highball" (焼酎ハイボール), is an alcoholic drink originating from Japan. Traditional chūhai is made with barley shōchū and carbonated water flavored with lemon, but some modern commercial variants u ...

. She is also openly a lesbian and expresses extreme erotic interest in her gen-mates, notably with Mashiro Irodori. She did not have a good relationship with her parents, who died in an accident shortly after she moved to Tokyo. Her real name is . ; : : A Live-On talent who is part of its second generation and specializes in racy content such as streaming

eroge An ''eroge'' (, ''eroge'', or , ''erogē'', ), also called an H-game, is a Japanese genre of erotic video game. The term encompasses a wide variety of Japanese games containing erotic content across multiple genres. The first ''eroge'' were crea ...

. She is a lesbian, and is openly dating Shion Kaminari. Her real name is . ; : : A Live-On talent who is part of its third generation and is the illustrator for Awayuki. She is close to Awayuki and has feelings for her. Her real name is . ; : : A Live-On talent who is part of its third generation and specializes in gaming endurance streams. Her real name is . ; : : A Live-On talent who is part of its third generation and specializes in

ASMR An autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR)Marsden, Rhodri (20 July 2012), ''The Independent''. is a tingling sensation that usually begins on the scalp and moves down the back of the neck and upper spine. A pleasant form of paresthesia, it ...

streams. Her VTuber persona has a tomboyish appearance. She is fond of relaxing in bathrooms due to easily becoming nervous. Her real name is . ; : : A Live-On talent who is part of its second generation and organizes collaboration streams between her colleagues. She is currently in a relationship with Sei Utsuki. Her real name is . ; : : A Live-On talent who is part of its second generation and specializes in introducing and streaming

kusoge In Japanese video gaming, a , , is an unenjoyable or poorly made video game. Though the label is usually applied disparagingly, there is a subculture of celebrating kusoge. Etymology The term ''kusogē'' is a portmanteau of and . Though it ...

. Her real name is . ; : : A Live-On talent who is the sole member of its first generation and is revered by her colleagues as the face of the agency, though her eccentricity can overwhelm first-time collaborators. Her real name is . ; : : A Live-On talent who is part of its fourth generation and holds a deep overwhelming adoration for Awayuki. Her real name is . ; : : A Live-On talent who is part of its fourth generation and has a knack of sharing both informative and vulgar animal trivia. Her real name is . ; : : A Live-On talent who is part of its fourth generation, wants to be treated like a baby, and dislikes working. Her real name is .

Media

Light novel

The series is written by Nana Nanato and illustrated by Siokazunoko. It originated as a web novel published on the Hameln novel website on June 22, 2020, then also on the Kakuyomu website on August 4, 2020. It was later acquired by

, who began publishing the series under their

light novel imprint on May 20, 2021. As of February 2025, ten volumes have been released. In March 2022,

announced that they had licensed the series for English publication.

Manga

adaptation was announced in June 2021. Handled by Roto Fujisaki, it began serialization in

's ''

'' magazine on August 25, 2023. As of June 2024, a single ''

tankōbon A is a standard publishing format for books in Japan, alongside other formats such as ''shinsho'' (17x11 cm paperback books) and ''bunkobon''. Used as a loanword in English, the term specifically refers to a printed collection of a manga that w ...

'' volume has been released.

Anime

television series adaptation was announced in January 2023. It was produced by TNK and directed by Takuya Asaoka, with scripts written by

Deko Akao is a Japanese singer and screenwriter. She has released 17 singles and 11 albums since her debut in 1994. Several of her songs have been used as openings and endings of anime and radio dramas. She has also written the screenplays of various anim ...

, character designs handled by Reina Iwasaki, and makes use of

Live2D Live2D is an animation technique used to animate static images—usually anime-style characters—that involves separating an image into parts and animating each part accordingly, without the need of frame-by-frame animation or a 3D model. This ...

, with Live2D design handled by Live2D Creative Studio, Live2D direction handled by Live2D Juku Online School and Live2D motion tracker handled by Nizima Live, as well as Live2D Cubism (episode 2 only),

Clip Studio Paint Clip Studio Paint (previously marketed as Manga Studio in North America), informally known in Japan as ,A clipping of the Japanese pronunciation of its name, ''Kurippu Sutajio Peinto''. is a family of software applications developed by Japane ...

and

OBS Studio OBS Studio (also Open Broadcaster Software or OBS, for short) is a free and open-source, cross-platform screencasting and live streaming app. It is available for Windows, macOS, Linux distributions, and BSD. The OBS Project raises funds on Open ...

. The series aired from July 7 to September 22, 2024, on AT-X and other networks. The opening theme song is performed by Awayuki Kokorone and Shuwa-chan (both voiced by

Ayane Sakura is a Japanese voice actress. She is affiliated with Aoni Production. Her roles included Natsumi Koshigaya in '' Non Non Biyori'', Shiromi Iori in '' Blue Archive'', Secre Swallowtail in '' Black Clover'', Ochaco Uraraka in '' My Hero Academia' ...

), while each episode features a different ending theme song performed by its cast.

Crunchyroll Crunchyroll is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service owned by Sony, Sony Group Corporation. The service primarily distributes fi ...

streamed the series worldwide except East Asia.

Medialink Medialink Group Limited is a content distributor and licensor based in Kowloon, Hong Kong specializing in the distribution of Japanese anime and brand licensing. Its offices are located at Mody Road, Tsim Sha Tsui. Registered from Hong Ko ...

licensed the series in East, Southeast Asia and Oceania (except Australia and New Zealand) for streaming on its Ani-One Asia YouTube channel.

Episodes

YouTube channel

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel called "Live-On" was launched on May 15, 2024. Promotional content, songs and more are posted on this channel to promote the anime and manga.

Notes

References

External links

* at Hameln * at Kakuyomu * * * * {{TNK 2021 Japanese novels 2024 anime television series debuts Anime and manga based on light novels Comedy anime and manga Crunchyroll anime Fujimi Fantasia Bunko J-Novel Club books Japanese comedy novels Kadokawa Shoten manga LGBTQ-related anime and manga Light novels Light novels first published online Medialink Novels about social media Seinen manga Slice of life anime and manga Television series about social media Yuri (genre) anime and manga TNK (company) VTubers