>>82042545I think the brand perception is a big factor in this, in that Nijisanji has a very strong "First Mover" advantage in that market.
They were the first corpo to have guys in the Vtubing sphere in any significant capacity, and they were put in there as a normal addition, without having to have special focus put on them. That worked for them because, of course, Nijsanji's original branding was
>Streamers, but with the Vtuber touchand since guys can be good streamers, guys could obviously be good streamers "under Nijisanji" as well. What everyone else said is also, of course, valid, that they had ties to successful streamers already and brought that with them, which helped immensely.
But now in the Hololive era of Vtubing, where everyone is kinda trying to go for the Hololive house style, they can't get any NEW super successful dudes, nor can anyone else (Not even Holostars) succeed in that market, because they all try to ape the Hololive house style. But that style isn't compatible with what the people like Kuzuha fans or Hal fans like.
TL;DR: Niji started the market for guys in any real capacity and it worked explicitly because it wasn't trying to be like Hololive, so naturally fans of that style won't transfer to Holo-style entertainers (which the majority of Vtubers, and ESPECIALLY Holostars, fuck themselves over by trying to do)