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Hi, KFP. Forgive me for a long, indulgent post. I’m not a regular here and this is probably my first post on this board unless I’m forgetting something.
I've wanted to find a vtuber I liked since I first heard about them years ago. Unfortunately I have a slight uncanny valley issue with some vtuber's voices, both in English and Japanese. Can't explain it, but for some reason it affects Gura and Ame, so I was a bit repulsed by Myth when they first appeared since they were the most visible English ones. A friend also sent me Mori’s music and I didn’t like it much. Didn’t know anything about Kiara at this point and was too passively engaged to check her out after not liking the clips of the ones I saw. After that I mostly gave up and would only come here occasionally to grab pics of some of the girls I found cute. It was only after Council debuted and I was somewhat charmed by Fauna that I managed to accidentally stumble into the masses of drama that this board generates. In hindsight it’s not surprising since vtubers are like idols on steroid in terms of opportunities to inspire psychosis, but I was still a little shocked and talked to a friend who knows vtubers about it. He reminisced about Myth drama and mentioned Kiara as a flashpoint, so I asked him about her and he explained some of it and sent me related stuff; I'm sure you anons are too familiar with the kinds of things I'm talking about. He was a little derisive about her.
I will be honest and say that my first impression was that Kiara's voice was incredibly nasal. But shortly after that came a wave of nostalgia; I spent part of my childhood in a German-speaking country, so her accent was familiar and comfy to listen to. For example, the way she can't handle 'th' sounds is such a classic native German speaker thing and it was unexpectedly satisfying to hear it. I checked her channel and I saw she often played JRPGs, my preferred genre. Naturally my curiosity increased: I watched some clips and short content, and despite being introduced to Kiara in maybe the worst way, I started to feel that maybe I actually liked her. Not in a way like she would be good if only she weren't X Y or Z, or if she did such-and-such differently, which is how I've felt in the past about vtubers. Since then I started watching her play Tales of Arise since I like the series and it's really comfy. Just watched her carve the pumpkin and I couldn’t stop smiling.
Is this what finding your oshi feels like? I feel the need to ask because I've had some hurdles with vtubers: the uncanny valley thing, as well as the immersion-breaking sense of tedium—frankly speaking, like I'm just watching a low effort egirl stream with anime girl attached to draw me in. I don't feel that way with Kiara. I like how blunt, assertive, and engaged she is. She has an infectious laugh that makes me smile. Her voice and antics are charming, and I feel warmth and sympathy towards her. Of course, I love her accent too. Have I lost my mind or is this just how it feels to become KFP?
