Over the past week in the VTubing scene, the most popular character has arguably been a woman who appeared once in her own stream and instantly left an impression on the internet. Here's how Pekomama became an immediate darling of VTuber culture.

Who Is Pekomama?

Pekomama is literally the mother of popular VTuber Usada Pekora, who has over 2.48 million subscribers at the time of writing. In 2020, when Pekora was still shy of a million subscribers, the literal person running Pekora promised fans that she would tell her mom that she was a VTuber live on stream once she reached 1 million subscribers. Later that year, Pekora hit 1 million subscribers, and Pekora's mom made her first appearance (in voice only) on the channel.

Years later, in 2023, Pekora's mom made a second appearance in PNG format during a cooking stream.

This set the stage for a now-iconic April Fools' Day 2024 stream that was hosted entirely by Pekomama, now fully animated.

Why Is Pekomama So Popular?

To put it mildly, the introduction of Pekomama made a fair number of viewers realize something about themselves, as evidenced by the deluge of fan art that emerged in the wake of her "debut." In essence, Pekomama is the first VMILF.

Pekomama has already acquired an active fanbase, going by the names Nousagi-san or Rabifami, while tweets in the "#ぺこママアート" tag (#pekomamaart) gain thousands of retweets and likes. To be clear, not every fan of Pekomama is supporting her due to their thirst. Some are finding it amusing that the character has immediately grown so popular, with fans joking that she could surpass the popularity of Pekora herself.

That seems unlikely for now, and it's unclear when or if Pekomama will stream again. Still, as a wholesome April Fools' stunt, Pekomama has clearly been a rousing success.

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For the full history of Pekomama, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.