VTuber Nuki has responded to criticism after revealing her avatar cost $27,000 and describing herself as “model siblings” with Ironmouse and Cottontail.
Nuki, who posts as k9labyrinth on X, said she has only been a VTuber for a couple of months, having previously streamed in VRChat. Her pink-haired avatar became the subject of a wider debate after she posted a video discussing its cost on October 12.
In the video, she acknowledged that the price was not normal, said she had saved to work with artists whose style was her “dream look,” and stressed that newcomers could find much cheaper models. Nevertheless, the cost and her references to Ironmouse and Cottontail drew criticism, alongside questions about her avatar’s mouth tracking.
Nuki says she is still learning her model’s settings
In her original post, Nuki wrote: “I’m model siblings with cottontail and ironmouse.”
She credited Kamo with the model art and Cypurrpunk with its rigging, which enables the avatar’s movement. Her “model siblings” description refers to shared creators, rather than a collaboration with either streamer.
VTuber Deja Wu criticized that emphasis, accusing Nuki of trying to “grow through association” and questioning the limited mouth movement visible in the clip.
Other responses focused on what newcomers might take away from the price. Artist Amaya warned that people starting out should set a budget rather than assume they needed to match larger creators’ spending.
“Don’t put yourself in an uncomfortable financial spot, and set realistic style expectations,” Amaya wrote.
Nuki addressed the tracking questions directly. After a viewer asked why the mouth did not open properly, she replied: “I’m new to vtubing and don’t know how to set up stuff lmao.”
In a separate follow-up, she said the attention had helped her learn about parameters and asked for help making the mouth tracking more sensitive.
“I was convinced camera tracking just sucked!” she wrote.
Several creators also defended her spending. LifuLifu questioned why others were upset about “how much someone spends THEIR money on something THEY wanna do.”
Nekomata Uriko similarly argued that Nuki should be able to commission an artist she liked if she could afford it, while pointing to extra toggles as a factor in model pricing.
In a later post, Nuki reiterated that she was new to VTubing and said she was learning there was more to it than she had expected. Her original video also emphasized that an expensive avatar alone does not make someone a streamer.
The discussion follows other disputes over virtual avatars, including Ludwig’s response to criticism of his VTuber debut and Ironmouse defending her frequent model changes.
