>>66731122I understand your point, but I believe things are never black and white.
There are (few) vtubers who get 100% in character and practice the art of "stand-up anime," which is how I would describe vtubing to someone who has never seen it. Fuwamoco, as much as I dislike their style, are a prime example of "stand-up anime" done correctly. Haachama, Gura, Bijou are also good examples. In all cases it takes a lot of dedication and motivation to stay in character and entertain people with gags and shenanigans for hours on end. No wonder many experience burnout after a while.
There are also (many) other vtubers who will rather play the part of "needy e-girl" for lonely men, with little entertainment value beyond that. A lot are cold calculating grifters, but not all. Many come from a place of being sad/lonely girls themselves. Check out Hikanari Hina's latest stream for a very cringe but soulful example. Is it still wrong or sinful to do what they do, when they themselves are lonely people looking to find comfort in a parasocial relationship with their chat? (How much of that is acting, is hard to tell.)
You are correct, "emotional workers" are not any better than the other kinds of e-celebs we mentioned, in fact are probably worse. But most vtubers have traits of both types and fall somewhere in between grifter and entertainer.
