Bao (birthday: November 9),[citation needed] better known online as Bao the Whale (formerly Bao Ch. 海の幽霊 and also known as Hikaru Station), is an American VTuber who streams exclusively on Twitch but also streams and makes music on YouTube.[citation needed]
Content[]
Bao's first videos were from 2015, where she would upload song covers as well as make her own original songs. She made a lot of anime OP covers, and would occasionally cover gaming OSTs, like Undertale's Stronger Than You[1] and Animal Crossing: New Horizons' Bubblegum K.K.[2]
She is proficient in playing the guitar, ukulele, piano and ocarina. When she started her channel, she went by the name hikarustation, and as a result most of her social media handles reference it. She was also known as "himitsubasa" to others. [citation needed]
Her original name is a reference to the movie 5 centimetres Per Second (dir. Makoto Shinkai) and she originally wanted to be named "hikari" (the Japanese word for light), but she "wanted to sound more androgynous" and dubbed herself "hikaru". She also used to stream under the name Bão, which was her middle name.[citation needed]
On October 31, 2020, she made her VTuber debut on YouTube,[3] and in the same month she released her first cover of an original song by a VTuber, which was Calliope Mori's "Excuse my rudeness, but can you R.I.P?".[4] Her next cover was of Doja Cat's "Say So", but in Japanese. Despite the fact that she herself had some knowledge in animation and motion graphics, Bao commissioned her friend, fellow YouTuber T3VY, to make an animated lore video for her. [citation needed]
Though her top streamed games are NieR:Automata, Night in the Woods and Minecraft, Bao has stated that her favorite games are the Zelda franchise, Animal Crossing, Elden Ring and horror games. However she despises Among Us "with a passion that burns even underwater". [citation needed]
Collaborations[]
bao calls Vienna her little sister[5] and Shoto her little brother.[6] She met Shoto at Anime Expo 2022 and has taught him Vietnamese.[citation needed]
bao has streamed Among Us with rpr, AmaLee, Froot, Zentreya, Rosemi Lovelock, Selen Tatsuki, Pomu Rainpuff, Vox Akuma, Vienna, Shoto and Haruka Karibu.[7] She has also streamed Labrynthe with Shylilly, Pikamee, and kson.[8]
Trickywi, Cimrai, bao and Yuzu played Phasmophobia together.[9] Others bao has played Phasmophobia with include Ririsya Music.[citation needed]
sharksprite has called bao her biggest inspiration and her "bestie".[10] On November 18, 2022, sharksprite, Rinkya, Artemis of the Blue, Sykkuno, bao, Cable, Aileen Hazumi and Taffie collaborated to play Among Us VR.[11]
She has numerous collaborations on Twitch with Numi and Shylilly.[citation needed]
On February 16, 2023, filian hosted a game show where Bao, Nekrolina, LaynaLazar, Lumi Kaneko, Miilkywayz, Elly, Hinabobina, Neuro-sama, Aroma Great and Saruei competed for Shylily's heart.[12]
Design[]
Her character designer is Hayamafair,[13] who revamped her design after it was found on Pinterest, with the help of aricelli.[14] Brian Tsuii[15] did her modeling/rigging.
Hayamafair also designed C9 Vienna.[citation needed]
Lore[]
Bao is a whale. She was born from seafoam to her knowledge is the last of her kind. She had explored all the oceans and lived through many wars. As a result, she was very lonely and longed for someone to listen to her voice.[citation needed]
Other[]
- She was born approximately 4.5 billion years ago.[citation needed]
- Her likes are singing into seashells, eating jellyfish, the color blue and hot fish girls but her dislikes are Michael Reeves, avocados, apartment sink water, cold showers and salami jar lids not fitting. She has also claimed to be "as old as the ocean + 1", which would make her around 4.5 billion years old.[citation needed]
- She and Yuniiho have a dog/whale hybrid child, Pestonini, who is also her mascot.[citation needed]
Records[]
During Fall 2022, bao was amongst top ten of the most-viewed American female streamers (#9).[16]
Partnerships[]
Bao had her own booth in the Offkai Expo.[17] She was a part of DreamHack 2022,[18] alongside SenZ, Merry, 2wintails, Yuniiho, LumiTuber and Lost Pause. On January 28, 2023, Weebcon announced that SenZ, Yuzu, Nihmune, FeFe, Onigiri, Chibidoki, Sinder, Rainhoe, FalseEyeD, Bao, Trickywi, Vienna and rpr, amongst others, would appear at their convention.[19]
She is partnered with Twitch, Discord and Throne.[20][21][22]
Personal life[]
She is of Vietnamese descent.[23]
She has an older sister and a little sister.[24][25] She has mentioned living with her parents, and has also mentioned that her dad is a Trump supporter.[26] Though they did not have a good relationship in the past, their relationship has improved since.[27]
She has an asthmatic cat named Mitzi and a blue wheeler-corgi mix dog named Macy (who hates everyone else than her dad). Her other pets include geckos and snails.[28] She used to have a hamster.[29]
Channel names[]
Her channel has undergone many renames. It has been formerly named Hikaru Station, Bao Ch. 海の幽霊 and bao.
Trivia[]
- She speaks English, Japanese and some Vietnamese.[30]
- Bao has cited Madeon and Harumaki Gohan as her inspirations for her music.[citation needed]
- Bao doesn't want her face reveal to be public, and has asked people who photograph her at events such as Anime Expo to censor it.[citation needed]
- She is also a huge fan of rapper Calliope Mori, and when Calliope followed her on Twitter Bao tweeted her appreciation for her. She is also a fan of Mumei Nanashi.[31]
- Her favourite anime is Made in Abyss and her favourite manga is Chainsaw Man.[citation needed]
- Her favourite game is Elden Ring. She made thirst tweets about Blaydd which caused his voice actor to notice.[32]
- She was originally going to be a clown VTuber.[citation needed]
- She has a crush on Rick Sanchez.[33]
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kA9HQmHm9c
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LH6IhCZP8tQ
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wRuGTDcXOc
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSa6UBU1ix8
- ↑ https://twitter.com/baovtuber/status/1498962220348178432
- ↑ https://twitter.com/baovtuber/status/796076106944315393
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXG_C01xquc
- ↑ https://twitter.com/shylilytwitch/status/1525194739783553031
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hyhpCGQW8I
- ↑ https://twitter.com/sharksprite/status/1585837363829379072/photo/1
- ↑ https://twitter.com/sharksprite/status/1593425244714303488
- ↑ https://twitter.com/filianIsLost/status/1625990809211310080/photo/1
- ↑ https://twitter.com/hayamafair
- ↑ https://twitter.com/arucelli
- ↑ https://twitter.com/BrianTsuii
- ↑ https://mobile.twitter.com/StreamsCharts/status/1582402877393289217/photo/1
- ↑ https://twitter.com/offkaiexpo/status/1486428745577775114?t=ylNd885aKzJBHf-uXEa2uQ&s=19
- ↑ https://twitter.com/DreamHack/status/1521958062269030401/photo/1
- ↑ https://twitter.com/weebcon2023/status/1619111242794409984/photo/1
- ↑ https://streamscharts.com/channels/baoo
- ↑ https://twitter.com/baovtuber/status/1384638568736325633/photo/1
- ↑ https://twitter.com/baovtuber/status/1609087175257214980/photo/1
- ↑ https://twitter.com/baovtuber/status/1550707813457899525
- ↑ https://twitter.com/baovtuber/status/1220920026670170112
- ↑ https://twitter.com/baovtuber/status/1176935999659761665
- ↑ https://twitter.com/baovtuber/status/796076106944315393
- ↑ https://twitter.com/baovtuber/status/796076106944315393
- ↑ https://twitter.com/baovtuber/status/1426343325628575747/photo/1
- ↑ https://twitter.com/baovtuber/status/796076106944315393
- ↑ https://twitter.com/baovtuber/status/1591636901626257410
- ↑ https://64.media.tumblr.com/ee8ff98e0a127931bfb73014130eb0fa/7433fcafafe9b214-8e/s400x600/6ac39c92def0de8c0fe2803447cac960c8482a97.jpg
- ↑ https://youtu.be/wlaelMQlUy8
- ↑ https://twitter.com/baovtuber/status/1567439861224996864