Virtual YouTube personalities continue to rise in popularity in Japan, and the trend's biggest star is undoubtedly Kizuna Ai . The character is best known for her Let's Play videos and video blogs (vlogs) and she's garnered 1.4 million subscribers.

Characters like Ai and Kaguya Luna are created using inexpensive motion-sensing technology that converts the real YouTuber into their anime girl avatar. Typically, the people behind this virtual characters stay behind the scenes to keep up the illusion and maintain personal privacy. A relatively new character, Nora Cat, came onto the scene in December. The character's appeal lied in her gothic lolita styling, cat ears, and soft-spoken mannerisms. She even encouraged her followers that developed a crush on her, saying in a video If you want to fall in love with a virtual character, then you should. I won't betray those feelings. If everyone feels attracted to me, I will continue to be attractive, so it's OK.”

One of the YouTuber's gimmicks was streaming live for viewers, unfortunately for Noracat, a technology glitch unmasked her in front of a live audience.

Noracat's true identity appears to be just an average guy, not a cat-eared gothic lolita anime girl. The reveal received mixed responses from viewers. Some argued that Noracat's true creator's gender is immaterial given that plenty of attractive anime girls are drawn by men. Several commentors even said they were more interested in the character now that they've seen her true identity. Currently, Noracat is going 57,000 subscribers strong and released a new video yesterday, still streaming live.

[Via Sora News 24]