Whenever I hear the words "paper boat" I'm put in mind of a certain [1] vtuber [2].
[1] https://youtu.be/pYVEIX7nSEs?t=769
[2] For those unfamiliar with the vtuber scene: This video is not AI generated. She's a legitimate content creator; the views and subs on that video are real and organic. She's a real human with a video camera and face tracking that maps her real human face's expressions and movements onto an anime character model in real time, broadcast on a livestream. There's a whole ecosystem of supporting software, specialized model artists and riggers, agencies that provide all sorts of support to individual creators in exchange for a cut of ad / superchat / sub / merch / event revenue...the vtuber rabbit hole goes quite deep.
What did I just watch... Alright, something for everyone, I guess.
The vtuber rabbit hole is very deep and interesting but this comment mentioning Saba seems to be very random, not related to the discussion at all. Left a bitter taste even on someone who knows a bit about vtubing. Not the best way to show off the community on hackernews
Sameko Saba/Gawr Gura/senzawa, the most popular/notable virtual youtube personality (vtuber) is what you just watched.
As a coincidence there are 3 ShowHNs on the front page right now all with “boat” in their name. Showboat, Rowboat and Paperboat.
Technically impressive, but that’s about it.
is this innocuous or does it have hints of child abuse like the whole loli anime scene?
Innocuous. Saba streams on YouTube; any NSFW content would get age-restricted or taken down. There's nothing immoral about a 20-something woman finding an audience streaming with a cute, petite anime cat girl avatar. (Or maybe 30-something, I have no idea her real age.)
You should be able to stream with an anime character of any body type you want, especially if it's your original character and you commission the art yourself, as Saba did. It's fantasy. When you choose your animated avatar's body type, it could match your real body type; be an aspirational body type you wish you had; or be a business decision responding to what kind of content has viewer demand. Who cares?
I guess? It's a little concerning when older men are fawning over a girl presenting her self as an overly young cutesey type. There's a reason the anime characters are always young girls and the audience older men