Kimino Miya - VTuber

Kimino Miya is an English and Japanese bilingual VTuber who was affiliated with Activ8’s Upd8 VTuber support project until it shut down in December 2020. Before, during, and after the project’s closure, however, Miya became known for creating content for a mainly English-speaking audience and includes things like Japanese lessons, introducing Japanese VTubers, and occasionally playing games.

Kimino Miya Background

Miya is a beckoning cat (maneki-neko; also called a fortune cat or a lucky cat) VTuber that provides a variety of content on her channel, though most of her videos involve taking Japanese language and culture and making it more accessible for an English audience.

Kimino Miya History

Kimino Miya would make her first appearance as a VTuber on her YouTube page on July 18th, 2018, where she uploaded a brief introduction video that went over who she was and her goals as a content creator. Two months later, Miya would reveal her buddy character -- an ancient fox spirit named Kokon. By the end of 2018, Miya would reach 100,000 subscribers, marking the first major YouTube milestone on her channel. To celebrate her channel reaching 200,000 subscribers, Miya would upload a short version of her first original song, “Hajimari wa Kimi no Oto”, on May 25th, 2019. The following month, Miya and her younger sister, Ootsuta Eru, would act as emcees for the Nagoya Vtuber Fes., an event that focused on VTuber subculture and featured VTubers like Oozora Subaru, Nakiri Ayame, Honma Himawari, and Kanae. On December 25th, 2020, Miya would reveal a second outfit for her model, making it the first alternate costume for her model since her debut.

Kimino Miya Physical Description

Kimino Miya is a young girl with black hair that is worn in long twin tails that are tied with two matching hair ornaments that resemble cat ears. The underside of the twin tails also has a twinkling pattern on them, making it appear like a starry night sky. Her eyes are also quite unique, as the irises are a dark shade of red while her pupils are a lighter shade of orange. True to her nature as a beckoning cat, she has several sharp fangs in her mouth that appear whenever she smiles. Her original outfit is a blend of a pink, white, and red traditional Japanese dress and a wide pleated skirt that is decorated with a floral pattern. Her outfit is also inspired by the classic design of a beckoning cat, which includes a large golden koban coin around her neck and orange and black calico spots.

On Christmas Day 2020, Miya revealed her new outfit, which is styled much more like a dancer’s outfit than a traditional Japanese dress. It includes a black and yellow short cut top and a black and pink jacket with very baggy sleeves that are worn open. Rather than a long, wide skirt, this outfit uses a pair of short black pleated shorts. Instead of twin tails, this outfit has her hair worn in a single ponytail and includes red and blue highlights.

Kimino Miya Personality

Miya is a rather energetic girl with a deep passion for Japanese culture and teaching it to others. Although many think that English is Miya’s first language due to her not having much of an accent, she is actually Japanese and was born in Nagoya. Aside from teaching others about Japan, Miya also enjoys dancing, singing, and collecting both t-shirts and goshuin (stamps from Japanese shrines that each have a unique design). While she is often happy and cheerful, there are also times where she seems a bit air-headed and forgetful and will trail off in the middle of a sentence.

Associated Companies

As a member of the “Japanese Hanjo! Vtuber Project”, Kimino Miya is associated with Chukyo TV Broadcasting Company and iDEACLOUD Inc., the two companies responsible for the project. Miya was also once affiliated with Upd8 before its dissolution on December 31st, 2020. This company was owned by Activ8, the company behind Kizuna Ai, and acted as a support program for smaller VTubers that needed help with various things like marketing, collaborations, and the like. In November 2020, however, Upd8 would announce that it would be ceasing activities at the end of the year, though the VTubers associated with the group would still be able to continue their careers independently.

Notable Releases

Although Miya creates a wide variety of content regarding the Japanese language and culture, some of her most popular videos include her “Otaku Term” series and her Japanese VTuber showcase videos.

Otaku Term Series

Miya’s Otaku Term series includes several different short videos where she introduces a variety of different words, slang, and concepts that are very prevalent in Japanese otaku culture. While each video focuses on the basic meaning of that video’s respective term, Miya also sometimes goes over the etymologies and uses of these terms as well. Some examples of terms that Miya explains in this series include terms like “moe”, “fujoshi”, and “kabe-don”, as well as common Japanese stereotypes like “tsundere”, “kuudere”, and “yandere”.

Japanese Vtuber Showcases

Beginning in October 2018, Miya would occasionally introduce various Japanese VTubers on her channel. In these videos, Miya will explain who each VTuber is, what their goals are, and what kind of content they create on their respective channels. In August 2020, she would start a separate series of videos that showcase a variety of different VTubers that specialize in singing. Examples of VTubers that have been introduced in these two series include Tokino Sora, Fuji Aoi, HIMEHINA, Mirai Akari, and many more.