Filian’s VTuber Awards Ceremony & The Drama

VTubing is, without a doubt, an excellent source of entertainment. Unfortunately, unlike other forms of entertainment, the VTubers, don’t get the recognition they deserve. And that’s about to change thanks to an earlier announced VTuber award show hosted by the famous VTuber, Filian.

Now, as exciting as this news may be, it seems that the ugly side of the industry just couldn’t resist rearing its head once again – yes, we’re talking about the dreaded toxicity.

In this article, we’ll go into the details of the VTubers award ceremony’s announcement and review the backlash it received. So, let’s get into it.

Filian Hosts The First Ever VTuber Awards Show

The first-ever VTuber Awards show is set to hit the virtual stage in December 2023, and guess who’s hosting? It’s none other than Filian, a popular independent VTuber, teaming up with the talent management company Mythic Talent, founded by OTK members Asmongold and TipsOut.

In an interview, Filian shared her thoughts on the upcoming event. She emphasized the goal of covering a wide range of VTubers, with categories catering to both small and large creators. Picture Rising Star awards versus VTuber of the Year-esque honors. But that’s not all – they’re also considering how to organize awards for different languages and distinguish between corporate and independent VTubers.

According to Filian, this inaugural awards show aims to celebrate VTubers and delve into the history of the phenomenon, acknowledging those who paved the way for her and others. It’s a chance to recognize the creativity and efforts of virtual producers, especially as VTubing has reached a turning point and gained immense popularity over the past years.

As a talent agency, Mythic Talent has been heavily invested in the VTubing scene. They’ve been busy scooping up notable independent stars in the English-speaking market, including Filian herself, who joined the organization in May. William Lucas, CEO of Mythic Talent, expressed the shared goal of Filian and Mythic to spotlight VTubers and help the community grow. Award shows, Lucas believes, not only recognize achievements but also fuel competition and drive industry innovation.

The collaboration between Filian and Mythic Talent marks a significant milestone for the VTubing industry. With VTubing experiencing explosive growth in recent years, the addition of major award events, like Filian’s VTuber Awards, solidifies the industry’s integration. Fans can expect an unforgettable event that combines Filian’s expertise and influence with Mythic Talent’s experience, promising to be a remarkable celebration for the entire VTuber community. Get hyped, folks!

The Drama Surrounding Filian’s VTuber Awards Ceremony

VTubers are fuming over the news of an upcoming VTuber awards extravaganza. When it comes to ceremonies dedicated to honoring content creators, there should be only two things on the agenda:

First, let’s celebrate our beloved community and all its awesomeness. We’re talking about showcasing the talent, creativity, and sheer dedication that makes us VTubers the hottest thing since sliced bread.

Secondly, let’s have a blast while we’re at it. After all, these awards ceremonies are meant to be a jolly good time filled with laughter, excitement, and memorable moments. We’re here to revel in the camaraderie and cheer on our fellow VTubers.

Now, here’s the thing: when you start taking a subjective event like this too darn seriously, that’s when things tend to go downhill. We’ve all seen it happen in other spheres, where folks get all worked up, hurling insults left and right and turning the whole affair into a toxic wasteland.

We must remember the golden rule: represent our vibrant community in an entertaining and enlightening way. 

The Controversy Begins

Oh boy, do I remember the Streamy Awards debacle! Talk about a prime example of cluelessness when it comes to VTubers. It’s like they didn’t even bother to gather the most basic intel on the amazing content creators they were supposed to honor. Major facepalm moment right there.

But hold your virtual horses because we’ve got a fresh controversy on our hands. Feast your eyes on the latest VTuber awards ceremony that’s got everyone up in arms. This ceremony is the brainchild of none other than the fabulous VTuber Filian, who’s teaming up with the folks at Mythic Talents to pull off this grand affair.

Now, what makes this event extra special is that it aims to be an all-encompassing celebration of the entire VTubing Community. That means they’re leaving no virtual stone unturned when it comes to recognizing the incredible talents and contributions of our diverse VTuber fam.

But here’s where things get dicey. People are waving their pitchforks and torches because it seems like Filian and Mythic Talents might have missed the memo on some crucial details. Cue the collective gasp and sighs of disappointment.

Now, don’t take my word for it. Just take a look at the screenshot below, showcasing an array of fiery quotes from the furious masses. Yep, the anger is real, my friend.

It’s a darn shame when an event that’s meant to bring us all together ends up sparking such outrage.

The Reasons Behind The Outrage Against The VTuber Awards

Ah, now we’re delving into the nitty-gritty of the VTuber world, with the VTweeters at the forefront of this outrage storm. These folks are fired up about the whole collaboration for a couple of specific reasons, so let’s dive right in, shall we?

First and foremost, the anger is aimed directly at the host herself, Filian. The VTweeters are waving their virtual pitchforks, accusing her of being a racist. Their main ammunition? An edgy joke she made roughly a year ago. It seems this remark didn’t sit well with the VTweeters, and they’re not about to let Filian forget it.

But that’s not all, my friend. The VTweeters have another bone to pick with this whole shebang. They’re shouting from the virtual rooftops that this entire event is nothing but a big, self-indulgent party for the largest VTubers in the biz. According to their claims, the smaller, independent VTubers are being left high and dry, with no place to be found in the illustrious VTuber of the Year Awards. It’s a classic case of feeling left out, as if the ten-follower VTweeters don’t even warrant a mere mention.

Example Quote # 1

There are many angry quotes, and I thought we’d take some time to go through them. And we’ll begin with this one right here:

It says, “With the same old 10 to 20 girlies using unfunny humor misplaced AAVE phrases and jokes and boring ass storytelling and cringy delivery on the jokes. Yes, I cannot wait.”

Yeah! You can sense projection on this one. I feel like they’re having a little bit of a discussion with themselves, as usual, with a lot of these VTubers who get jealous very quickly. But honestly, I feel like this description summed up a very large portion of English VTuber—there’s a lot of cringe and unfunny jokes and enforce things. But that doesn’t mean that the lowest follower VTubers are somehow unique and break the mold of that.

This is true for almost every VTuber out there, whether small or large.

Example Quote # 2

Well, well, well, let’s dive into this spicy quote, shall we? It seems like we’ve stumbled upon some serious venting here.

This pre-debut was saying, “I’m highly skeptical about this. Will it really be an award show for all VTubers that will bring together the entire VTubing community,or will it be a circle jerk of those at the top and the VTubers in Mythic Talent?”

Just to clarify, Mythic Talent operates differently from VShojo. They’re more like a management group that provides sponsorship and other opportunities for VTubers. It’s not like they indoctrinate people into their agency or anything. That’s why you’ll find individuals, even from other agencies, working with Mythic Talent. Lately, they’ve been signing on a bunch of popular VTubers. So, these folks are concerned that this award ceremony might show bias toward their own talents.

But this VTuber will go on to say, “Need I remind you, Mythic Talent has signed on both TurfVeil and Veibleist, so forgive me if I’m skeptical when I see a tweet that starts with VTuber rewards with Mythic Talent?”

They go on to say, “Also, there will never be someone who brings the community together. It is impossible that there are those of us who are LGBTQ+ and minorities in the VTuber community who want to stay away from those who wish harm upon us.”

Who are you talking about wishing harm upon you? Is Filian wishing harm upon you? What about Silvervale, Veibe, or Mythic? Please show us evidence that any of those people or groups are trying to bring harm to these people. It makes absolutely no sense. And they go on to say, “And to put this tweet about bringing the VTuber community together right before Pride Month begins screams disingenuous and has no regard for us who don’t want to be associated with the racist homophobes, transphobes, and ableists of the community.”

I feel like they could have just added a few more “ists” and “obes” in there, but I find this very interesting.Yeah, we’re well aware of the insincere pandering that companies indulge in during the pride month of June. No surprises there. However, it’s rather baffling that the VTubing community is apparently prohibited from organizing any form of community-oriented event in June or even slightly before or after the month. It’s labeled as disingenuous, and oddly enough, this restriction seems to be tied to pride month somehow.

I must admit, I’m a bit perplexed myself regarding the connection between the VTuber awards ceremony and these particular groups, especially during Pride Month. When they mention the community coming together, it’s hard not to immediately think of pride month or the LGBTQ+ community. The whole thing seems rather confusing, doesn’t it?

The final note they made says, “Also, the fact that it’s being put together by the same racist Filian who made George Floyd jokes and called it edgy humor, yeah, nah, this VTuber rewards it’s gonna stink.”

Although you shouldn’t make fun of a case like George Floyd’s, people are way too comfortable throwing the word racist at people. I mean literally slandering them on a public stage with hundreds if not thousands of views on all these tweets. But is it surprising that people like this will fling words around? No, it’s not, but moving on.

Example Quote # 3

Here’s another one saying, “So excited to watch 15 big creators jerk each other off while the racist Giggles in the corner listing off the same winner you guys have every single time. Pretty sad; I hope people boycott.”

Ah, here we go again with the repetitive discussions about self-pleasure. As for the effectiveness of boycotts, we’ve witnessed how they played out in the case of Hogwarts Legacy, haven’t we? If that serves as any indication, one can only hope that the same approach will be taken with this awards ceremony. After all, boycotting it would undoubtedly generate yet another round of fantastic free publicity.

Example Quote # 4

Here’s another one saying, “Ready to see the same 20 content creators appearing we always see in these kinds of things? Like, I get it… but cmon! There’s gotta be a better format to shine a light on the content rather than numbers. So many up-and-coming creators with content that’d blow your mind.”

I’m not trying to flame this person. There’s a genuine concern about how they are going to be able to fulfill that mission of covering the whole VTuber community. It is an impossible task. There is no one out there who can represent the oversaturated market that is the VTubing scene. There are thousands upon thousands of VTubers out there.

Here’s the thing: there can be a ten-view VTuber who is the best content creator ever, but we have to be realistic. Do we feel comfortable putting a ten-viewer person next to someone like Ironmouse? Does that make sense? Is that realistic? No, it’s not! After all, this is an event, clearly!

They will try to pull in as many viewers as possible, just like any other event, and they will bring in names that people recognize.

It tends to be a pretty logical conclusion that if someone is very popular, they’re probably very good or at least entertaining at some level. Hence, it’s not a coincidence that the biggest YouTubers out there are going to be highlighted in the same award ceremonies over and over again. It’s just a function!

Now I hope they can bring in other smaller independent YouTubers. That’d be really cool, but you have to be realistic about this thing, right? And people keep saying, “we see this over and over again.” How many VTuber awards ceremonies have there been, like two? It’s kind of crazy.

Example Quote # 5

Here’s another person who’s saying, “Hah. By the entire vTuber community, they just mean the top 20 to 40. They might add someone from their own team on there as someone smaller. Sorry if it might seem negative. It’s just that this is definitely total BS. 0 interest in this whatsoever.”

Apparently, you do have an interest because you commented on their posts. I’m just trying to grasp your perspective, that’s all. There are already conspiracy theories circulating, claiming that they might replace the limited VTuber representation with one of their own members. It’s starting to feel a bit stretched like they’re going to great lengths to criticize or undermine this ceremony.

Example Quote # 6

Anyway, here’s another VTuber commenting saying, “Yes! Time for the same 10 to 15 VTubers’ names to be regurgitated through what will probably be the most unfunny show possible. and I doubt a VTuber known for their racist joke would be including “all” VTiubers.”

The Context To The “Racist” Allegation

Again, another racism allegation here, and I think it’s time to understand or give context to what these people are talking about.

It’s not a rocket science. About a year ago, Filian faced backlash for a joke she made during a stream. It went like this: While talking to her audience, she quoted the famous Keanu Reeves line, “You’re breathtaking! You’re breathtaking!” Then she jokingly added, “I’m pretty sure that’s a George Floyd quote.” Immediately after, she awkwardly laughed and apologized, acknowledging that it was an edgy remark.

Well, Twitter went wild, trying to cancel her and accusing her of being racist just because of that joke. Now, yes, it was an edgy joke, and it could certainly offend some people. But let’s not blow it out of proportion. It was just a bad joke, nothing more. I agree it was in poor taste, but her intention wasn’t to bring race into it, and that’s worth considering.

Multiple VTuber Award Shows Coming This Year

Another weird Fallout from all this is that, apparently, there are a lot of VTuber ceremonies coming this year. We already had the Streamy earlier. That wasn’t purely a VTuber Awards ceremony, but there was a VTuber of the Year category.

Takahata’s Award Ceremony

This VTuber, you guys might have heard of, Takahata, they are working behind the scenes on a VTuber awards ceremony.

Unfortunately, now it looks like things will get a little bit messy, and there’s no ill will here, but it was just to show us multiple VTuber Awards ceremonies are coming this year.

Hidden Gems, Small VTubers Award

Now, check out this tweet as a response to some of the criticism I often dish out to the VTubers we were just talking about. If you aren’t vibing with Filian hosting this ceremony, well, why don’t you step up and create your own? Because there are folks out there, who’ve done just that. Let’s give credit where it’s due. This one’s all about shining a light on those hidden gems, and honestly, I think it’s a fantastic concept.

It says, “Small VTubers! I invite you to nominate yourselves and your favs for the hidden gems small VTuber Awards.” And there’s a form you can fill out where you can nominate people for VTuber the year.

It clarifies that, apparently, the Benchmark is under a hundred average viewers. So if you want to support small VTubers, this is the route, and I’m seeing other people doing this. I just kind of hope there’s one solidified example of this. I think if there are like a million of these small VTuber Awards, it’s going to get really redundant and confusing for people. So I hope this is kind of the main one for small VTubers, and it stays that way, but we’ll see. 

Wrapping Up

At the end of the day, a whole lot of jealousy is fueling the hate being directed at Filian as well as Mythic and this award ceremony, and I think it’s going to be really good. And honestly, I’m glad we have someone like Filian who’s doing this ceremony.

She’s clearly very comfortable and knowledgeable with the VTuber community and is successful in that space. So it should be a good representation of the VTubing scene. I look forward to it.

It’s all the way to December. So if people are going to continue to rage about it, well, it’s going to get a lot of free promotion over the coming months.

That’s all, folks!