Is the internet “forever”? A recent indie anime plays with that concept, following the story of a livestreamer and her best friend, who get romantically close to one another, and kiss twice on the livestream channel. The Japanese title for the series is
Itoshi no Zako Haishinsha-chan 「
愛しのザコ配信者ちゃん」streaming on YouTube. That title has many different translations into English, including
My Beloved Underdog Streamer Girl,
My Beloved Weak Streamer,
My Beloved Low-Tier Streamer Girl (from
the site of voice actor Mochimiyu),
My Beloved Zako Deliverer (
Melon Books and
Niconi Commons),
My Beloved Zako Streamer (
Suruga-ya),
My Beloved Zako Streamer-chan, or
My beloved girlfriend is an unpopular youtuber (used in official subtitles).
This series director, Naoya Ishikawa, is well-known for his short series,
Kuttsukiboshi. Five episodes and four promotional videos for
Zako are available to watch
on the company’s YouTube channel and there have been
screenings in Tokyo. Firstly, this series shows the strength of indie anime, for which there are very few examples. The series
has official English subtitles, so users do not need to use the “auto-translate” feature.
The reality of COVID-19, and importance of stopping viruses, is clear from the get-go. I liked that it showed, in a respectful way, characters wearing masks. In the first episode, some characters even compliment each other on their masks. This is something
I have not seen in any animated clips or series, even though the COVID-19 pandemic began in December 2019. Many people sadly act like the pandemic is “over,” thinking they can go back to their “normal” behaviors. Others won’t even depict it at all.
Beloved Zako Streamer reminds people that the virus is here to stay and that you can, and should,
take precautions.
The series contains some commentary on YouTubers / livestreamers. Mamiko (voiced by Koyori Nohana) is a very unsuccessful streamer. However, the person who inspired her to become a streamer is Mikittan (voiced by Popura Sawano), a young woman who lives in a messy, dirty, and disorganized apartment. She might be a hoarder. She claims she knows where everything is and gets lots of comments on her stream. In the fourth episode, Shii (voiced by Yui Otogura) is completely overwhelmed by the deluge of comments that Mamiko gets on her channel and wants them to stop. It reminds me of a recent episode of Oshi no Ko, where an adult-oriented cosplayer criticizes a series online, almost bringing it down.
The first episode begins with Shii dreaming that she is in a compromising position with her childhood friend Mamiko, then kissing her. As she wakes up for school, she realizes she had a wet dream. Later that day, she thinks that Mamiko doesn’t realize she is in love with her. She is caught off guard when Mamiko declares that she wants to do a livestream with her, making her believe that her dream will come true after all. This somewhat implies that Mamiko has feelings for her as well. It takes until the second episode of this ongoing series for things to heat up. Mamiko and Shii sit naked in the same bathroom, and then the same bathtub. Somehow, Shii still believes that she could never have a sexual relationship with Mamiko.
Using a camera she borrowed from Ita, their school friend, Shii and Mamiko begin their livestream. Ita (voiced by Nadeshiko Komae) and Miseri (voiced by mochimiyu), are hinted as having feelings for each other. In one episode, one of them tickles the other with her feet. They are among the stream’s six viewers. In the third episode, everything goes off the rails. Shii pulls Mamiko to the floor. They lie together before Shii pulls Mamiko into the exact position she had dreamed about. She asks Mamiko if she would save her from a train, or five of her favorite YouTubers, in a classic description of the trolley problem. Consent should have been emphasized better. The consent should not have been dubious. Even so, when compared to other anime, including some yuri works, perhaps Beloved Zako Streamer is better.
Only seconds later, she kisses Shii. Mamiko encourages Shii to take the next step. As the calm music plays, they kiss one another again. Their kisses gain them lots of viewers. They are unaware their stream is ongoing. In the following episode, Miseri and Ita continue watching. One of them snaps a photo of Mamiko and Shii’s kiss. Eventually they get in contact with Mamiko and Shii, before they do anything racy and get banned. Both finally learn they were livestreaming this entire time!
In the last-available episode of Beloved Zako Streamer, Shii desperately tries to reverse everything by going back in time thirty minutes. She thinks that the fairy of time, Tokkie, will help her go back to when she pushed down Mamiko. Tokkie warns her that if she does so, her special relationship with Mamiko will be reset. She promises to confess to Mamiko in a better way. She soon awakens and realizes that meeting Tokkie was her imagination.
Apart from secondary coupling-of-sorts, Ita and Miseri, who spend time close to one another, in the last-available episode, Shii’s false assumptions are blasted apart. She truly thinks that
no one really watched the stream. When she returns home, her aunt reveals to her what she feared: she has become a celebrity-of-sorts. Someone snapped a photo of her kissing Mamiko, effectively publicly outing her. As she scrolls through the social media feed, she is horrified. She is worried that her “normal” high school life is over, meaning that she
can’t be with Mamiko in the way she originally envisioned.
Ratings:
Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Service – 3 or 4 (there’s some nudity but it is covered up by lens flares)
Yuri – 6 or 7
Music – 8
Overall – 8
Hopefully more episodes air this year, continuing my list of series that are yuriish. A preview at the end of the most recent episode hints that Shii and Miseri will begin their relationship for real. It seems that Beloved Zako Streamer will depict a growing, healthy relationship by two people under a lot of pressure as sort-of online celebrities.
Burkely Hermann is a writer, researcher, and former metadata librarian. His reviews can be read on Pop Culture Maniacs or his personal WordPress blog. He can be followed on Instagram, Bluesky, or on Mastadon communities such as library.love, glammr.us, genealysis.social, and historians.social.
by Burkely Hermann, Guest Reviewer
It is interesting that, with all those many titles, no one thought to use ones that – to me, at least – seem both more obvious and make more sense.
My Beloved Streamer-chan, Zako
My Beloved Streamer, Zako
My Beloved Zako is a Streamer-chan
This is why translation is an art, not a science.