Kojinzei vs. Kigyozei: Independent and Agency VTubers, and What the Difference Means

The VTuber (a streamer who performs as an animated avatar) you’ve come to love has “kojinzei” in their profile. How does that differ from kigyozei? Here’s how the two labels distinguish activity structures, and how to check contact points and affiliation before you support someone.

What Kojinzei and Kigyozei Mean

Kojinzei (個人勢, “individual camp”) refers to a VTuber who runs things around themselves, and kigyozei (企業勢, “company camp”) to a VTuber who works under a company or agency. Zei (勢) is an internet suffix that groups people who share the same position or tendency.

A kojinzei VTuber can still commission illustration, modeling and video editing from outside creators, and a kigyozei VTuber may come up with plans and stream content on their own initiative. Don’t boil it down to “all one person” or “the company decides everything.” Even within the same kaiwai (fandom sphere), the reality of the setup differs quite a bit from performer to performer.

Where the Words Come From

As VTuber activity spread and agency-style groups and individually run channels stood side by side, the terms took hold as a way to tell forms of affiliation apart. They arose naturally by attaching the internet-style “zei” to “individual” and “company,” and the first use hasn’t been pinned down. The basic difference is also explained in resources like a guide to VTuber activity support (in Japanese).

Adding “zei” isn’t limited to VTubers. It has long been used wherever people want to gently mark off groups in different positions, as in gensakuzei and animezei, fans of the original work and fans of the anime.

Examples

• “Kojinzei ○○ makes all the plans and even the stream screen alone. Amazing.”
• “I found out about them through a big kigyozei project, and now I watch their regular independent streams too.”
• “The kojinzei I support is joining an agency! Excited for what comes next.”
• “I read the description box and they’re kigyozei. When the contact is written down, you don’t hesitate over where to send inquiries.”
• “With kojinzei, even equipment trouble becomes part of the live stream, which is somehow endearing.”

How It Differs From “Fully Independent” and Agency Affiliation

Contract terms, revenue sharing and rights to the model aren’t visible from outside. Avoid concluding that “they’re kigyozei so they have no freedom” or “they’re kojinzei so they bear all costs themselves.”

What to Look at When You Support Someone

Checking the official profile, the description box, the guidelines and the contact address shows the affiliation and range of activity. The channels for fan letters, gifts, clips, fan works and work requests differ by form of operation.

You don’t need to offer to help run an independent’s activity without being asked, or ask an agency VTuber about the inner workings of a contract. Give any support that’s needed through the person’s own call for help or the official contact.

The Order for Checking (Four Steps)

1. Read how the titles line up — If an agency or project name is listed alongside the name, that suggests kigyozei; if it’s complete under the person’s own name, kojinzei
2. Open the guidelines page — What’s written here is the final standard for whether clips are allowed, monetization conditions and the range to keep to in fan works
3. Look at the addressee for inquiries — Whether it’s a company’s contact desk or a contact method the person made public changes how fast they can reply and what they can answer
4. Check the date of the entry — Old explanations may remain. If the content is out of step with the latest announcement, go by the newer one

After a Move or Going Independent, Don’t Speak by the “Old Affiliation”

Form of operation changes through transfers, going independent and the end of projects. Don’t talk about a past contract as if it were still running, and check the profile’s update date and official announcements. Avoid contacting a new desk on the basis of a previous affiliation.

Some people resume activity under a changed name or model, but that story belongs to a different set of terms, zense, tensei and raise. Things go more smoothly when you keep talk of affiliation and talk of a person’s history separate.

Use Only the Public Contact Points

Even if the contact address is a personal email, fans can’t hurry replies about production or sales. Use only the company desk for an agency VTuber, or the contact method the person has made public for an independent, and don’t bring contracts or jobs in through private messages on social media.

Notes From The Oshi Lab: Affiliation Is a Table of Conditions, Not a Ranking

The Lab sees it as a feature of this field that the classification of affiliation has become everyday fan vocabulary. In television and music, viewers were seldom aware of differences in production structure. With VTubers, differences in stream frequency, project scale, collaboration partners and speed of merch rollout show up on screen every day, so many fans work out “this person seems to operate under this structure” without being told and choose how to support them accordingly. Few fields have audiences with this much insight into how the operation works.

Companies and local governments working with this field need the same insight. A request to a performer who works around themselves needs conditions designed on the premise that everything from production to progress rides on one person’s available time. A request to an agency VTuber comes with a contact desk and schedule in order, but more items to settle beforehand. Rather than asking which is easier to work with, ask which suits the nature of the project, and things go faster. Read affiliation not as a ranking but as a table of conditions for pairing.

Related Terms

Hako-oshi / Kaiwai / VTuber mama and papa / Zense, tensei, raise