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Kuroki Natsume (黯希ナツメ) is the VTuber persona of veteran utaite 96Neko (read "kuroneko"). A singer and livestreamer since 2009, originally on Japanese video site Nico Nico Douga, she began using a VTuber avatar in April 2019.
Introduction video[]
Natsume's first usage of her VTuber avatar.
Personality[]
96Neko is often considered more blunt and shameless compared to most female utaite.
Appearance[]
She has short blonde hair with an ahoge and a single red streak/highlight with light red eyes. She has a few piercings and also wears a collar.
History[]
Background[]
Prior to becoming a VTuber, Natsume's officially acknowledged prior identity is 96Neko (96猫), a veteran utaite or singer on the influential Japanese video site Nico Nico Douga. Her earliest known uploads include song covers of Hitobashira Alice and Yanderenka, posted under on 15 and 16 August 2009, respectfully.[1] On 17 August 2009 she opened co68322, one of the first Nico Nico Live communities.
On 14 September 2009 she began appearing on camera in livestreams, although as a token act to disguise her identity she wore a partial mask covering her nose until 23 September. On 12 October she adopted the name Hibiki Natsume for livestreaming, a name suggested by her mother. She used this name until 25 July 2010, when she adopted 96Neko as her primary identity for both streaming, renaming her community "NTM*96/cAt". On 5 June 2012 she became the first user on the site to reach Nico Community Level 256.
96Neko subsequently saw success as a musician, releasing her first CD album "memoReal" on 8 August 2012, which reached 6th on the Oricon Daily Ranking and 7th weekly. She produced a substantial number of song covers at Nico Nico, and later at her main YouTube channel, which was established on 8 May 2024. In 2016, she made her major label debut with Sonic Music Records and began work in the anime industry, including singing opening themes and a small number of voice acting roles.
Natsume's second YouTube channel was created on 17 November 2017, and was originally intended as a sub-channel for her gaming livestreams. She always used a static image that represented her avatar and sometimes used no image at all, and even used a 3D cat avatar.[2]
It wasn't until 31 March 2019 that she would use a 3D VTuber avatar. She announced in a tweet that she would stream under the name "V96".[3] The first usage of her VTuber avatar was on OPENREC.tv on 4 April 2019.[4]
Eventually, on a stream held on 5 October 2019, she decided the name "Kuroki Natsume" for her VTuber persona.[5][6]
2020[]
On 11 January, she started using a new 2D model.[7] She still uses the 3D cat avatar, especially when she's playing horror games[8] and doing endurance streams, usually with a goal of returning back to human (2D model) after achieving a certain amount of kills (commonly when playing APEX).[9][10]
2021[]
On 30 March, for her birthday celebration, she announced a version 2.0 of Kuroki Natsume's 3D model with the same illustrator in her previous 3D model.[11] She also announced in a stream held on 30 June that she would also have a version 2.0 for her 2D avatar, and shared a sneak-peek of it at Twitter on 5 July.[12] She commented that the changes also applies on the avatar's face, the model having a slight sharp look instead of the previous' design "pretty-charming" look.[13]
As of 9 July she settled to merge the personas of Kuroki Natsume and 96neko, expressing that she finds it 'limiting' (and other factors) and decided to perform all her activities under her utaite name 96neko, going back to it being her sub-channel. She said however, that people may still call her in whatever name they want, be that her VTuber alias "Kuroki Natsume" and asked them to not worry.[14]
On 31 October, she announced her new Live2D model,[15] and streamed using it the following day on 1 November.[16]
2022[]
On 10 January, she opened a Twitch account, 96_xxxx.
On 2 February, she reached 10,000 Twitch followers.
2023[]
2024[]
On 23 March, she reached 30,000 Twitch followers.
2025[]
On 3 January, she decided to consolidate her Twitter presence in her main account, @96__neko.[17]
Events[]
2020[]
- On 24 July, she participated in Apex Legends RAGE x Legion: Doujou Cup as "Team Utaite" along with Soraru and Amatsuki. The team placed 3rd in overall ranking.[18]
2021[]
- On 15 May, she participated in Apex Legends 5th Crazy Racoon Cup as team "Mou Yurushite" (もう許して) along with Amatsuki and Shaka (DeToNator). The team placed 5th in overall ranking.[19]
- On 22 August, she participated in Apex Legends VTuber Most Cooperatitive Tournament Season 3 as team "Neko-gami Ru Youchien" (猫神ル幼稚園) along with Annin Miru and Kanda Shoichi; with Ak1to (DeToNator) as their coach. The team placed 14th in overall ranking.[20]
Fans[]
- Her fans can be called Kuro Kara,「
96 クラ」, meaning "96 Club." - At the end of her streams, her fans send her off with "Baicha" 「ばいちゃ」.
Relationships[]
- She is part of the following groups:
- "Natsumatsurikkai" (ナツまつりっかい) - Natsume, Natsuiro Matsuri and Rikka of hololive, and Mayuzumi Kai of NIJISANJI.
- "Kurosorasuu" (くろそらすー) - Natsume, Soraru and Amatsuki
- The name was a joke parodying "kanachikuzu" (かなちーくず) during their RAGE x Legion participation.[21]
- She is close friends with hololive member Nakiri Ayame.
Trivia[]
Name[]
- The name "96neko" is a goroawase, or Japanese numeric wordplay. "96" is read "kyu roku" or "kuro," meaning "black." The name 96neko means "black cat."
- She describes the origin of this name: "I like black. I like cats. I like black cats."
- "Kuroki" uses "kuro," "black," after her utaite name "96neko," read "kuroneko."
- The name Natsume was inspired by Hyuuga Natsume, a character from the manga Gakuen Alice.
- Her mother suggested the name Natsume. She originally used it as an alias for her livestreaming work from 12 October 2009 to 25 July 2010 (as Hibiki Natsume), before reprising it as Kuroki Natsume in 5 October 2019.
Likes and dislikes[]
- She likes Kagamine Len.
- Her favorite Pokémon include Umbreon, Eevee, Wobuffet, Totodile, Pikachu, Goldeen, and Togepi.
Miscellaneous[]
- She sings the opening theme to the 2017 anime Scum's Wish, and the ending theme to Negative Positive Angler.
- She is famous for her many ear piercings.
- Other utaite YouTubers include Hanamiya Rica and Hanayura Kanon.
- She used to end her Nico Nico livestreams with a long "nyaaaaaaaaa."
External links[]
Media[]
- 【SUB】96NEKO-CHANNEL - YouTube channel
- 【MAIN】96NEKO-CHANNEL - YouTube channel (Music)
- 96_xxxx - Twitch channel
- @96__neko - Twitter account (main)
- @96_neko_sub - Twitter account (sub)
- 96猫/黯希ナツメ - OPENREC.tv channel
- 96猫/黯希ナツメ - Mildom channel
- Kuroki Natsume's official 3D model on THE SEED ONLINE
- 96猫 - Profile Card
- 96neko.jp - Official website
Hashtags[]
- #96猫 - General
- #おしゃべり96ちゃん - Live stream talk
#なつめ部→#ナツメ絵→ #96猫絵 - Illustration#ナツメ部clip→ #ちょき96 - Clips- #つかって96ちゃん - Thumbnail/Assets
- #みてみてちゃんくろ - Fans sharing something they'd like her to see
Further reading[]
Statistics[]
- 96_xxxx - TwitchTracker stats
- 96_xxxx - SullyGnome Twitch stats
- 96_xxxx - Social Blade Twitch stats
- 【SUB】96NEKO-CHANNEL - Social Blade YouTube stats
- 【SUB】96NEKO-CHANNEL - Playboard YouTube stats
References[]
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