In the 90s, SEGA created Sonic theHedgehog in direct competition with its rival company, Nintendo. The character ended up becoming one of gaming's biggest icons, who stood out in comparison to fellow mascot rival, Mario. His media appearances didn't stop at video games, as he's been in comic books, anime, and television shows for the past 30 years. With the series hitting its 30th anniversary, SEGA unveiled its next evolution of interacting with fans: Sonic the Hedgehog becoming a live-streaming Vtuber.
Vtubers, short for "Virtual Tuber," are a category of livestreaming personalities who use a digital avatar. These can range from 2D to 3D models, which are then rigged to the live streamer's face so that they can incorporate a range of expressions. Some of these range from a streamer using the avatar as a medium to interact with their audience, while others use them to play both a character while they livestream.
Sonic's Vtuber future was announced on the Japanese Twitter account on the franchise's 30th birthday, with an avatar drawn in a lively and colorful art style. This is similar to some of the more recent art for the series, like the upcoming Sonic Colors: Rise of the Wisps animated series. The tweet came alongside a video, with Sonic being played by the same voice actor the character had since Sonic Adventure, Jun-ichi Kanemaru.
The plan for Sonic's Vtuber debut first came from comments by Sonic Team artist, Kazuyuki Hoshino, who noted this idea to SEGA in the first place. Sonic being able to communicate with his fans in real-time was an idea that was welcomed by the fanbase. Outside of twitter, the Blue Blur made his debut on YouTube on the Japanese livestream, Sonic Station Live, where he addressed the hosts on the show, and mentioned the settings of the games he has been in, such as Station Square.
Sonic the Hedgehog is quite a popular franchise within Japan as well, with some of his fans being other high-profile Vtubers, such as Hololive's Inugami Korone. For the Japanese speaking audience, the performance of Junichi Kanemaru is the same as it has ever been since he started, and international fans have been loving the energy he brought to Sonic's Vtuber Debut.
Currently, it is unknown if this will be brought over to the West. The franchise has done similar things in the past, with Sonic's social media game being accentuated in the past few years, such as the "Twitter Takeover" events, where the series' Twitter account fielded questions from the fanbase. They then had voice actors from the series, such as the voice of Sonic Roger Craig Smith, answer them accordingly.