open access

https://hdl.handle.net/2115/99158

Identity as Glitch in VTubers' Media Practices : A Case Study of Nekomasu and Hatoha Tsugu

日本語

2026-03-31

北海道大学大学院国際広報メディア・観光学院

The Journal of International Media, Communication, and Tourism Studies

40

25-44

20

Nekomasu experiences the reflexive return of the avatar within its rigidity and, from that constraint, explores new modes of expression; by becoming the object of his own desire, he builds a “short circuit.” His avatar is not his complete proxy: it is a multiply defined, nameless body. Across different dimensions and media, he negotiates and establishes new orders through the avatar. In doing so, he challenges the concept of the subject as autonomous, well-defined, and inherently given. Hatoba Tsugu can only be recognized through fragmented and divided reflections. She breaks through existing frameworks, liberating the body from enclosed symbolic structures. The overlapping spaces she inhabits expose inconsistencies among her multiple avatars. In this way, she resists a concept of the subject as unified, structured, and consistent. As “remainder” and “lack,” they demonstrate how the paradigm of “glitch” opposes anthropocentric norms within the symbolic order.

紀要論文

Version of Record

AA1224631X