Tomari Mari - VTuber

Tomari Mari is a Japanese-speaking VTuber that was once affiliated with Upd8 prior to the project’s dissolution in December 2020. Mari is also one of the few popular “Babiniku” VTubers on YouTube. This term is short for a Japanese phrase that translates to “virtual girl incarnation” and is often used to describe a female VTuber that is voiced by a male person. While some may choose to keep this part of their character hidden, Mari is rather vocal about it and made it clear that they were a male using a voice changer in their original debut.

Tomari Mari Background

Mari is a rabbit girl VTuber that often streams a variety of different games on her YouTube channel. While she streams solo from time to time, most of her streams often feature other VTubers as well. Aside from her game streams, Mari is also an illustrator that has created several VTuber avatars for others as well.

Tomari Mari History

Tomari Mari would make her first appearance on her YouTube debut, which took place on July 1st, 2018. Her inspiration for becoming a VTuber came from watching Magurona the Demon King’s debut who, like Mari herself, was a male illustrator voicing a female character. Mari created her original design herself, though she would later receive several redesigns throughout her career.

Her first appearance in an event happened on October 31st, 2018, where she, Takehana Note, and Magurona participated in “Babiniku Nightclub in Shibuya”, a talk show that featured Babiniku VTubers and allowed audience members to speak with them. On March 27th, 2019, Mari would receive her first 3D model, which included several design changes and a new outfit. Later that year in September, she announced that she would be joining Upd8’s VTuber support project along with Magurona. Her model would later be upgraded once again on May 16th, 2020, which also included changes to her design and outfit.

Tomari Mari Physical Description

Although she has gone through several different design changes throughout her career, Mari is always portrayed as a young rabbit girl with a short, lean build; light red eyes; long, pink hair; and a pair of similarly pink bunny ears on top of her head. Her original outfit resembles a shrine maiden’s uniform and includes things like a red and white Japanese-style dress, matching thigh-high socks, red detached sleeves, and a Japanese rope tied into a bow behind her back. Although this is her original uniform, Mari would often wear a simple pink t-shirt with various Japanese phrases and words written on it. Mari would also later reveal an outfit inspired by Magurona’s design, which included several pairs of black and red horns and a black and white dress.

After transitioning to a 3D model for the first time, Mari began wearing a new outfit that consists of a red and black loungewear top, a baggy white zip-up hoodie with a black rabbit on it that is worn off of her shoulders, and a pair of red and white striped thigh-high socks. The hood of this hoodie is also shaped like a rabbit’s head and has long, exaggerated ears on it as well. The updated model she received in 2020 came with its own design changes and outfit. Her hair now has dark pink highlights in it and her twin tails are tied with black and pink ribbons instead of standard hair ties. This model’s outfit includes a black and pink dress with a multi-layered skirt, black thigh-high socks, and a matching hat.

Tomari Mari Personality

Despite often calling herself an oji-san (older man) fairly often, Mari has a cheerful, feminine, personality and often speaks in a notably polite manner to her audience. Although she enjoys a wide variety of different games, she is notably sensitive to horror games and is prone to jumping at any unexpected noises, even if they were made by herself. Mari is also quite sociable, which has led her to collaborate with a wide variety of different VTubers, whether they simply be other indie VTubers or VTubers from agencies like Hololive or Nijisanji.

Associated Company

Mari was formerly associated with Upd8, a company owned by Activ8 -- the company that created and manages Kizuna Ai. Although Upd8 is technically not an agency in and of itself, it is a project that supports VTubers in exchange for a percentage of their earnings. This support can come in various forms and can include things like event appearances, collaborations, marketing, and the like. This group also included VTubers like Shibuya Hal, Kimino Miya, and the Omega Sisters, among several others. In December 2020, Upd8 would cease all activities and be dissolved as a company, though most of the VTubers under Upd8 would still continue making content after Upd8’s closure.

Notable Releases

Although Mari does stream on her own, most of the streams on her channel involve playing various multiplayer games with various other VTubers.

Multiplayer Games

Perhaps due in part to her social nature, Mari tends to invite guests on her channel to play cooperative and competitive games with them. Some examples of the games she plays with others include Monster Hunter Rise, Phasmophobia, and APEX Legends. She has similarly featured numerous different VTubers on her channel, though some of the most recurring VTubers include Magrona the Demon King, Nakano, Ito Life -- many of which are Babiniku like Mari. Aside from these three, however, she has also collaborated with more popular VTubers like Natsuiro Matsuri, Inuyama Tamaki, and Amano Pikamee.