Nijisanji’s Kuzuha tops VTuber charts as YouTube star blazes past Hololive idols

There’s a new VTuber star to watch on YouTube, with Nijisanji’s Kuzuha topping the streaming charts in a report released by Stream Hatchet. It is the first time a male VTuber has atop the rankings.

Hololive’s crown as the premier VTuber talent agency has lost a little bit of its shine with competitors catching up to the pioneers. According to a report by Stream Hatchet, Nijisanji VTuber Kuzuha is leading the way in terms of hours watched.

Kuzuha topped the YouTube charts in terms of VTuber viewership, with nearly 9 million hours watched between July and September 2021.

While he might not be as big as some of his Hololive rivals, his daily stream schedule across the last three months ⁠— as well as a big music single release in September ⁠— propelled him to the top of the charts.

The Japanese Apex Legends streamer crested 1 million YouTube subscribers on September 2, as well as debuted a new Live2D costume that same month.

He has also played in a number of Japanese Apex Legends and Valorant tournaments alongside pro players and fellow VTubers like Shibuya HAL, who placed third on the Q3 2021 list with just over 6 million hours watched.

• Read More: What is Hololive? The VTuber group breaking the internet

Hololive were still represented in the top five, with Usada Pekora in second at 6.6m viewers and Sakura Miko at 4.8m in fourth. Nijisanji managed to round out the list with Kanae at 3.8m hours watched in three months.

Surprisingly, there was no representation from the mega-popular Hololive EN idols like Gawr Gura ⁠— who still tops VTuber subscriber count ranks with 3.45 million.

However, it’s not all bad news for Hololive. The agency still dominates the subscriber charts and social media, where Peko and Miko are rated in the top five in terms of social reach for all female content creators.

With Hololive’s second generation of English stars getting off the ground and collaborations lined up for the tail-end of 2021, the VTuber trend is here to stay.