On October 27, 2024, the VTuber world witnessed a historic event. Yuki Sakuna (Sakuna Ch. 結城さくな) made her debut, immediately capturing the hearts of viewers worldwide. Her stream shattered records, peaking at an astonishing 383,139 Peak Viewers, making it the most-watched VTuber debut ever and putting it in the overall top three for virtual YouTuber broadcasts by the same metric.
This news came around a month after another VTuber — perhaps the most famous of them all globally — broke a legendary Twitch milestone. During her annual charity subathon, Ironmouse broke Kai Cenat's platform record as the most subscribed streamer ever, touching the 326,252 mark to join the influencer whose record she broke as the only two people to cross the 300K subscribers barrier.
[Braking News] Sakuna Yuki (Individual) has recorded the peak viewers (383,139) for her first stream. This is the 3rd largest ever in Vtuber history and the largest ever for a first stream.#Vtuber #Vtubers pic.twitter.com/hynWhNcnCd
— VSTATS・ジェネリック集計人（旧Holoデータ分析） (@Holo_Data) October 27, 2024
However, for those wondering how an independent VTuber whose channel was actually created years ago did so well with its debut broadcast, there's a simple explanation as to how she attracted so many viewers during her debut stream. Read on to find out.
Who is Yuki Sakuna?
She is actually Minato Aqua, formerly of Hololive, who has rebranded and re-debuted as Yuki Sakuna after graduating in August 2024. Minato Aqua was one of the most popular VTubers before she retired a few months back, with her farewell stream setting a record for concurrent viewership among VTubers.
For those unaware, a VTuber graduation usually means they have left the group or agency for different reasons, but usually on good terms. Also called retirement as they usually step away from the streaming business, some influencers do it for education, while others graduate for health reasons. Many do it to start solo careers as singers or actors, while a few just do it to go back to a normal life.
After her graduation from Hololive at the end of August, many rumors about Minato Aqua returning to her past life (when she lived as Yuki Sakuna) did the rounds. These claims ended up being true, with the Japanese online star rebranding all her social media accounts and keeping all her subs even as she re-debuted as Yuki Sakuna.
Intriguingly, Yuki Sakuna's avatar is pretty similar to Minato Aqua's barring some minor differences. Instead of blue, the new VTuber's uniform is pink, with her eye color matching her favorite hue. She also wears pink and blue-colored bows with cat clips in her hair to represent her longing to become a cat maid.
However, the person behind the screen remains the same, and that is why fans were so excited to see her re-debut. Judging by social media reactions, they are also eager for more content from the streamer, including music; she released her debut song just months before leaving hololive, and it quickly gained popularity and surpassed 1.3 million views.
It also seems that Minato Aqua had prepared for her departure from hololive a while back, with Yuki Sakuna's YouTube channel being created in April 2022, although the first broadcast only came on October 27, 2024. As per her profile, she is "a shy girl who likes games and singing. She's a bit of a clumsy maid, but she's struggling to become a first-class cat maid."
Her birthday comes on December 2, meaning she is a Sagittarius. Yuki Sukuna is also said to be 10,000 years old, but her personality is innocent and playful. Her peers also say that Sakuna is kind and responsible but extremely introverted while off-camera, only opening up while streaming.
Yuki Sakuna's unique appeal lies in her charming personality, captivating voice, and impressive singing abilities. With the added success of her debut song, this rapid rise to fame is a testament to her talent and the growing interest in VTubers, or Virtual YouTubers (they can also be part of other platforms like Twitch).
For those asking why she left Hololive, Minato Aqua cited that she decided to leave 'due to unresolved disagreements with the management.' It was later revealed that she graduated from the talent agency due to workload issues, with her move to independence giving her more control over her decisions and when she live streams. The internet personality also asked her fans to avoid speculating any further, with her colleagues also expressing remorse over her departure.
Little more about Yuki Sakuna's record debut
Her record-breaking stream is the most popular of any independent VTuber, and takes the top spot for a debut by influencers in this genre. The broadcast from last weekend is also the third most-watched VTuber stream ever.
Moreover, a few days before her first stream, Yuki Sakuna's YouTube subscribers count jumped from 61K to over 450K. At the time of writing, her channel has over 854K subscribers.
Most popular VTuber debut streams
| # | VTuber | Peak Viewers |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yuki Sakuna (Sakuna Ch.)
|
383.1K PV
|
| 2 | Koyori ch.
|
180.2K PV |
| 3 | Chloe ch.
|
176.1K PV |
| 4 | Iroha ch.
|
175.7K PV |
| 5 | Laplus ch.
|
167.3K PV |
Yuki Sakuna's success highlights the immense potential of VTuber technology to create engaging and immersive entertainment experiences. As the industry continues to evolve, we can expect to see more innovative and talented VTubers emerge, pushing the boundaries of virtual reality and digital performance.
