/vt/ - Virtual Youtubers

>>30306561
It's not even a gaijin thing and there are plenty of examples outside of vtubing and outside Japan.
Take for instance, Superman. For the audience of three generations (whatever was left of the Silent one, Boomers and GenX) this man right here
>pic related
was THE superman.
But he took an arrow to the knee IRL, and Hollywood spent the best part of the past 30 years trying to find someone that can fill that role, unsuccessfully.

For some roles the VA is interchangeable. Mel Blanc Bugs Bunny is one of the most iconic characters in cartoon history, but the character had a staying power strong enough to survive even a change in VA.
For others, the actor ***IS*** the character, see William Shatner, that ended up becoming IRL Kirk in every single subsequent role he played after Star Trek.

But for the true special ones, like Coco and kson, or Superman and Reeves, or Kizuna and Non-Chan, the character and the voice are one living thing and splitting the pair kills both.