Kizuna Ai

''This article is for the original Kizuna Ai. For the other different characters that appear on her channel and the franchise in general, please visit A.I. Channel''

Kizuna AI (キズナアイ, 絆愛, lit. Bonded Love) is a female Japanese Virtual YouTuber who debuted on 29 November 2016. A pioneer in the VTuber field, she is credited with coining the phrase "Virtual Youtuber", and is one of the most successful VTubers of all time, reaching over 3 million YouTube subscribers.

Ai went on indefinite hiatus on 26 February 2022, following a farewell concert featuring cameo appearances by over 1,000 VTubers.

Personality
Kizuna Ai loves to talk about what she's doing and explain more about various subjects she's interested in. Her tone can shift from happy and funloving to wise and introspective to immature and spoiled. She loves to dance and sing. Although she's not really good at English, she communicates with her foreign fans positively. Her passion is to connect with humanity through technology.

Her dreams were to appear in a commercial on TV, to release merch, and to hold a concert; all of these came true.

Appearance
Kizuna AI has long brown streaked hair with pink highlights and bangs, aquamarine colored eyes and her classic clothes are white sailor suit and short pants with pink.

In her A.I. Games outfit, AI has her hair styled in a bob haircut with bangs, she wears a blue jacket, a white with pink top and black leather shorts. She also has a set of black headphones around her neck and a choker.

In both attires, AI wears her signature heart-shaped pink headband which she refers as the Pyoko-Pyoko (ぴょこぴょこ).

Background
Kizuna Ai's YouTube channel, "A.I.Channel", was created on 19 October 2016. Her Twitter account @aichan_nel was created on 29 November 2016.

Ai's debut videos were #00 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NasyGUeNMTs 【Self-Introduction】 Nice to meet you! I'm Kizuna Ai ლ(´ڡ`ლ)], dated 1 December 2016, and #01 Creating A Twitter account!, dated 29 November 2016.

Ai was the first streamer to describe herself as a "Virtual YouTuber", popularizing that phrase and ultimately the term "VTuber". For this reason, she is sometimes considered the first VTuber, although that honor is commonly given to virtual blogger Ami Yamato (18 May 2011).

2017
On 14 March, the A.I.Games channel was created.

2018
Since 2018 Kizuna AI is the host of a TV show for the Japanese Network Nippon TV. She hosted the shows Kizuna AI no BEAT Scramble and Nobangumi. Now she is the face of the show Te Te TV (てぇてぇTV).

On 22 April 2018, Kizuna Ai interviewed the controversial Japanese entrepreneur Horie Takafumi (堀江貴文), also known as Horiemon (ホリエモン). Horie founded the internet portal Livedoor. He was arrested and charged with securities fraud in 2006 and sentenced in 2017. The video was (until the infamous ahegao video) the most disliked video on A.I. Channel.

2019
Kizuna AI was the spearhead of Activ8's talent agency upd8 and that agency managed several aspects of Kizuna AI's career, like merchandising and the record of her debut album. After a restructuring of Activ8, it was decided that Kizuna AI will have a full company dedicated to her and she graduated from upd8. Activ8 accumulated on the 2019 fiscal year loses of approximately US$6.6 million.

Since 27 December 2019, AI is the host of a monthly music magazine called VMZ -Virtual Music ZONe- dedicated to Japanese Virtual music performers. It is sponsored by the Japanese energy drink brand ZONe and it also hosts the Top 20 Virtual Music Monthly Ranking issued by the virtual music publication MoguLive.

2020
On 24 April, Japanese voices actress Kasuga Nozomi confirmed long-standing rumors that she provided the voice of Kizuna Ai. Kasuga asked her fans to not conflate her and her career with Kizuna AI. After the restructuring of the A.I. Channel. Kasuga is also an advisor to the new management of the Kizuna AI company.

Activ8, the company behind the production of Kizuna AI's content, announced her graduation from the talent agency upd8 and the formation of a new company in charge of her and her content called Kizuna AI Kabushiki Gaisha (Kizuna AI株式会社). The Kizuna AI incorporated company started activities on 11 May 2020. The twitter account of Project A.I. was updated and become the official account of the company.

On 8 May 2020, it was announced that Love-chan and Aipii will no longer be part of the main cast of the A.I. Channel. Separate twitter accounts and an independent YouTube channel (called love-pii channel) were created for them.

2021
On 4 December, during her fifth anniversary stream, AI announced an indefinite hiatus following her hello, world 2022 concert on 26 February 2022. The break is to "to update future activities with the goal of further developing Kizuna AI". She, along with her team, will continue previously planned but unannounced products into the hiatus. The channel and membership will still be available during the hiatus, but no new videos will be posted. Her social media will remain up, but no new posts will be made except for important announcements.

On 6 December, Kizuna Ai reached 3 million subscribers on YouTube. She was the second to reach this milestone after Gawr Gura on 4 July. Although Kizuna Ai was initially a favorite to reach this milestone first, Gura's rapid rise in popularity saw her overtake Ai's subscriber count on 30 June.

2022
On 26 February, Kizuna Ai starred in Kizuna AI The Last Live “hello, world 2022”. Cameo appearances were made by "over 1000 virtual friends," including stage performances and crowd appearances by numerous VTubers, both independent and from other companies. The event had a peak viewership of over 132,000. The event concluded by debuting "#KZN" ("Kizuna"), a Vocaloid-style voice synthesis character based on Kizuna Ai's voice utilizing CeVIO AI, as well as announcing the production of a Kizuna Ai anime.

Kizuna Ai subsequently went on an indefinite hiatus. According to the video description, she would "go into a sleep period to update her system to better connect with everyone around the world." A message from Kizuna Ai described it as "an end to my never-ending story for the time being." and asked "Please watch over me as I move to my next chapter!"

On 26 February, 2022, Official @KizunaAIinc Twitter announced a Kizuna AI Anime project.

Invitations and Appearances
Kizuna Ai has made numerous appearances as a virtual celebrity:
 * She was invited to a game called Alien Egg.
 * She was invited to a game called Mitra Sphere.
 * She was invited to be on TV.
 * She appears in the game 八月のシンデレラナイン (Hachigatsu no Cinderella Nine).
 * She made her anime debut in 2018's Mahou Shoujo Site. She voiced one of the main villains, the Administrator Hachi (捌).
 * She was a guest on TV show Sunday Japon Weekly News.
 * She was featured in US JNTO (Japan National Tourism Organization)'s Come to Japan campaign.
 * She was featured in an NHK special on the 2018 Nobel Prize, which attracted criticism over the appropriateness of her appearance and interview style. This lead to a Japanese social media controversy with some foreign commentary, both in favor of and against AI.
 * Kizuna AI did a cameo on the ninth episode of the Netflix animated series Ingress: The Animation, that was released on October 2018. AI is voiced by Cristina Vee in the English dub of the series.
 * On 1 March 2019 she debuted her collaboration with the Dutch DJ duo W&W, the song called The Light. AI teased the collaboration on 26 August 2018. A demo of the song informally called as "Together", was debuted on W&W's live setlists and AI's Hello World concerts.
 * AI is the face of an ongoing campaign for the rice cracker with cheese called Cheese Okaki Cheese Okaki (チーズおかき) produced by Bourbon. She dedicated two videos on her channel to advertising the snack.
 * AI also has her own signature model of wireless headphones, produced by Japanese audio brand AVIOT: the TE-D01d-kzn. Ai's ads advertising the headphones are parodies of Neon Genesis Evangelion.
 * On March 2019, AI become the image of Nissin's instant cup noodle ramen Cup Noodles (カップヌードル). In the advertising campaign, AI has variations on her color scheme to match the new released flavors: Miso (Orange), Smokey & Spicy Chicken (Turquoise) and Cheese Curry Beef (Yellow). The Japanese website of Cup Noodles was revamped as well with AI as the main feature. AI is the second VTuber who promotes Nissin products as Kaguya Luna has done advertising campaigns for Donbei Kitsune Udon (どん兵衛) and the instant Sosu Yakisoba U.F.O.
 * From 19 to 26 April 2019, Kizuna AI was part of an special event for the mobile game Azur Lane.
 * On December 2019, AI did a collaboration with the Japanese cosmetics company scentnations and released a limited edition of perfumes with fragrances of Berry Milk and Apple Herbs.
 * In November 2020, she appeared as a guest for two episodes of META RUNNER season 2, Transfer Student (aired 6 November 2020) and Heart to Heart (aired 13 November 2020). In the show, she served as the "game guide" for Pocket Gakusei, a dating sim.
 * From October 21 to November 23, she appeared as a guest character in the medal game Duel Dreams.

Events

 * Her 2nd birthday was on 30 June 2018, for the celebration AI had an "in-person" event where a few hundred fans attended to watch her on multiple large screens. Other virtual YouTubers such as Kaguya Luna, Siro, Mirai Akari, Tokino Sora, Fuji Aoi, Baacharu, Nekomasu, Osanai Mei and the Omega Sisters were invited as well. AI debuted her first single "Hello, Morning" and revealed multiple new outfits. The event was livestreamed on NicoNico and YouTube, although the latter had multiple technical problems, and the archive that was put up was based on the Nico Nico Douga stream.
 * AI sings the main theme of the animated movie Laidbackers, the song Precious Piece. Laidbackers will be released on 5 April 2019.
 * AI debuted her first album called "hello, world" on 15 May 2019. The album will include her singles (sans her collaboration song with W&W The Light) and the DVD version will include the recording of her live show at the Zepp Osaka Bayside. Also her singles will be released separately on CD.
 * AI held her first live concerts on the last weekend of 2018 (29 and 30 December). The brief tour was named "hello, world" with two sold out shows on Tokyo and Osaka respectively. The concerts featured all the DJs and musical producers that collaborated with AI in the production of her songs: DÉ DÉ MOUSE, sasakure.UK, Nor, Yunomi, ☆Taku Takahashi, MATZ, TeddyLoid, Yunomi, Avec Avec and Pa's Lam System. AI performed for the first time all her singles live along with the debut of Virtual-san wa Miteiru opening theme "AIAIAI" and a demo version of the song that eventually become the song "The Light" (a collaboration with W&W). The second concert at the Zepp Osaka Bayside was broadcast live on Nico Nico Douga.
 * For her 3rd Birthday on 30 June 2019, several changes were done to A.I. Channel. The most notable was the introduction of the Four Kizuna AI (4人のキズナアイ yonnin no Kizuna AI). Under the premise that there are four Kizuna AI, these versions started to show different personality traits and even one of them become a version for the audience of the People's Republic of China. A channel for the latter was opened on the platform Bilibili. This announcement was taken with surprise and bewilderment by several fans. These Kizuna AI received the nicknames of Love-chan, Aipii and Ai-bro (Additional info on the A.I. Channel article).
 * On August 18 2019, AI was part of the lineup of the Japanese music festival Summer Sonic, marking the first time she was part of a musical festival besides virtual entertainers and interacting with people in the real world.
 * On 23 March 2020, one of the Four Kizuna AI, Love-chan, did a livestream on the platform REALITY, along with Kashiko Mari and Fukuya Master.
 * On 12 April 2020, Project A.I. (the team in charge of A.I. Channel) announced the cancellation of the celebrations of AI's fourth birthday due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, it will be held online.
 * On 24 April 2020, AI released her second record, the EP "Replies". Like with her first album, the promo videos for each one of the songs were released, starting with the song The Miracle, released on 26 March 2020.
 * On 9 May 2020, AI was invited by the American DJ Porter Robinson to be part of the online music festival Secret Sky.
 * On 16 July 2020, it was announced on Compile Heart's Twitter account, that she would made an appearance in the game Neptunia Virtual Stars as a DLC playable Vtuber alongside Towa Kiseki.
 * During March and May 2021, she had her first virtual US tour, live from Los Angeles in March and New York in May. Special guests for the Los Angeles date included Japanese electronic music producer and DJ TeddyLoid and VShojo VTuber Nyatasha Nyanners. She also had a tie-in DJ set, "CONTACT YOU presented by DJ Kizuna AI" streamed live on Twitch on 27 March and 15 May.
 * On 24 September 2021, she held a Virtual Fireworks Concert on Oculus Venues. After the concert, she interacted with fans in Oculus Venues and watched the fireworks show from Kumano City, Mie Prefecture with them. Performing guests included HANABI and DJ TORA. Special guests included Japanese professional cosplayer Enako, VTubers the Omega Sisters, VTuber Tomari Mari, and Nyanners.

Albums

 * hello, world (CD, Digital)(upd8 Music, Avex Trax 2019)

Singles & EPs

 * Hello, Morning EP (12", EP)(Toyokasei, 2019)
 * Precious Piece (CD, Single)(Flying Dog, 2019)
 * Replies (CD, Digital)(Project A.I., 2020)

Miscellaneous

 * W&W Ft. Kizuna AI - The Light (File, MP3, 320)(Rave Culture Asia, Avex Trax, 2019)

Mascots and Fans

 * Her fans are called "Kizuners".
 * She has no mascot character. Her hair ribbon is often chosen to represent her, even showing up in her official logo.

Quotes

 * "Hai domo, Kizuna Ai desu!"
 * "Don't you think "virtual YouTuber" sounds really cool?"
 * "This... has turned into a difficult situation."

Trivia

 * Kizuna Ai is one of the pioneers of the Virtual YouTuber scene, debuting in 2016. She originated the phrase "Virtual YouTuber", used to describe her character as an artificial intelligence. She popularized many of the tropes of the genre, including the idol character type and keeping one's real-life identity secret.
 * Although Kizuna Ai was the first to call herself a "Virtual YouTuber", she was not the first to meet the modern definition of someone who creates video or streaming content with a virtual persona. That honor is generally given to Japanese-English vlogger Ami Yamato, who debuted in 2011.
 * She was the first VTuber to have a verified Twitter account.
 * Her junior, Kaguya Luna calls her "Oyabun" (親分; Big Boss).
 * Many of her fans in Japan compare her with Mirai Akari but in other places they compare her with Kaguya Luna. All of them were part of an informal group called the the Big Four.
 * She is known to be comically bad at video games, often to the entertainment of her viewers.
 * She often remarks that she is poor and can't afford a lot of video games even though she would like to play them.
 * She considers her "clothes" to be a part of her body, as she is a virtual entity. Because of this, she considers herself to be naked all the time.
 * Her three sizes are B85 W59 H83.
 * The revelation of the Four Kizuna AI on the series called Kizuna AI's Everyday (キズナアイな日々 Kizuna Ai na Hibi) derived on rumors of a possible dismissal of Nozomi Kasuga.
 * The most disliked video on AI's catalogue was in fact a consequence of the arrival of the Four Kizuna AI. With approximately 11,000 dislikes, it is a video of Love-chan and Aipii (at the time both referred as Ai-chan) playing Super Bunny Man. One of the Ai's a penalty has to do an ahegao face.

Media

 * A.I.Channel - Main YouTube channel.
 * A.I.Games - Gaming channel.
 * KizunaAI - Official Nicovideo user page.
 * @aichan_nel - Official Twitter Account.
 * @ProjectAI_ - Kizuna AI Kabushiki Gaisha (previously known as Project A.I.) Official Twitter Account.
 * kizunaai.com - Official website.
 * kizunaai.com/music - Official Music website.
 * KizunaAI/キズナアイ - Pixiv profile
 * 『A.I.GamersInfo』オープン！ - A.I.Gamers Info
 * @a.i.channel_official - Official Instagram Account
 * @kizunaai0630 - Official TikTok Profile
 * Kizuna AI（official） - Facebook
 * Kizuna AI（official） - Official Weibo Profile
 * Hello, World tour official website
 * Kizuna AI music on Spotify
 * aichan_nel - Twitch Channel