>>103417607
Most anime depict an idealized society: homogenous, tightly knit communities, low crime, economic equality, strong social cohesion with characters who do the "right" things because they know what is "right".
Vtubers are an extension of this fantasy. Audiences take what they learn in anime and apply it to e-girls who are maybe autistic or a little on the nerdy side (or at least willing to pretend they are). Fans believe in the idealized Japan painted for them by ojiisans jerking off picturing the 50's and 60's era Japanese golden age.
Some parts of Japan may really be like that, but you'll never be Japanese enough to live there. Instead the parts of Japan accessible to foreigners are filled with more foreigners, and their associated crime.
Vtubers are an idealized portrait of the world fans wish was real, streams become a communal ritual where viewers channel keyfabe with (sometimes extreme) desire for the fiction to become reality. A world where anime is real.
I miss Panko.