>>52471I never watched it so I don't know much, I think it's way too much of its own character to qualify. I mean, most vtubers are characters but the gimmick is you interacting with the character, AO was more like a cartoon character in a TV show.
There were plenty of people back then who would use avatars back then, though. They would use reaction images of specific character, screenshots from an anime or manga or video game fanart and use it to talk over some video they're commentating on. The image would change to pertain to their tone, or the subject.
Vtubers sounds like some brand shit or shit like "isekai", a new word to describe a new fad that's just a current trend for a way older trope
