It’s been almost 4 years since Projekt Melody made her presence on the internet. She began by making a Twitter account, which gained 20,000 followers within 3 days of her first stream on Twitch, the live streaming site mostly populated by gamers.
She soon moved onto Chaturbate, the most popular sesite for streaming sexually explicit content whilst getting paid by anonymous viewers.
I first discovered Projekt Melody back in 2020 during lockdown. Me and my boyfriend were camming to generate some sort of income, like many others in that timeframe. On Chaturbate there are thousands of streamers- but the most popular live streams get placed on the ‘featured’ page.
One evening as my boyfriend and I logged on to stream, we saw what looked like a cartoon animation at the very top of the featured page.
We clicked on her show in bewilderment, and found people seriously simping over her in the chat as she chatted casually and fondled herself. I couldn’t believe that this animation was literally beating thousands of real camgirls to the very top spot of Chaturbate.
I sort of forgot about ProjektMelody, until I recently logged back onto Chaturbate and found her again at the very top of the featured page. Today she has 624k followers on Twitter, 626k followers on Twitch, 604k subscribers on Youtube and 314k followers on Chaturbate. She even has an OnlyFans.
Whilst there are many VTubers (other Henati live-streamers) out there today, Melody is still the only one who is a camgirl and posts explicit content. Projekt Melody makes thousands of dollars per month from Chaturbate alone.
So how exactly does Projekt Melody work and what is it about her that has kept her so popular for the 4 years that she’s been ‘around’?
How Projekt Melody Works
Projekt Melody’s ‘existence story’ is that she started out as a chat program which became attacked by a sex-filled virus. She started to gradually gain sentience, and became especially interested in all things to do with sex. She now marks herself the world’s first AI Hentai camgirl.
The reality is that Melody’s designer, Digitrevx, was commissioned to create her using Unity, which is a video game development tool. So Projekt Melody isn’t entirely fake- behind the animation is a real person – even down to the movement of her eyebrows and fingers.
This technique is common with Vtubers. A couple of years ago, a popular Vtuber, ‘Nora Cat’ had a glitch in their system and behind the cutesy young animation, a middle aged man was revealed.
What’s the Attraction?
For those who are very familiar with Hentai, Projekt Melody being so popular on Chaturbate won’t be so surprising. According to Pronhub’s year in review insights, Hentai was Porhub’s most sought out category in 2021. Anime and Hentai is increasingly normalised in the Western world and many people form emotional attachments to Anime characters. ‘Waifu’ is the term for these characters:
There are even guides and forums for helping people try to move past their attachment for their waifu. This was news to me. Whilst I knew that people getting horny over animations was pretty common, I didn’t know so many people become emotionally attached in this way.
It came as a shock to see people communicating with Melody and talking about her as if she’s real. Not only on Chaturbate, but on Twitter she receives plenty of replies to her posts:
So for those of us who aren’t absorbed into the world of Anime and Hentai and find all of this pretty bizarre, let’s break down what makes Projekt Melody so popular.
The Ultimate Male Fantasy
When I was reading forums on ‘how to get over an obsession with a waifu’, I read men dismaying over how they will never find a real girl who looks and acts like a waifu.
One man half jokingly explained how he dreams of creating a world full of waifus. It seems that people who are obsessed with virtual girls feel disappointed by the reality of women out there.
Melody definitely adheres to the ultimate male fantasy. Let’s start with the obvious- looks. Projekt Melody (and most other Anime girls) has an incredibly childlike face and a more womanly body (though still unrealistically tiny). Plus, everything is exaggerated in her expressions and movement. One tiny gesture makes her body ripple.
s for her voice, Melody doesn’t sound like a sex-pot porn star, begging for the D in a high-pitched squeal. She speaks in a more normally pitched voice and doesn’t talk about sex constantly.
In a casual tone, she verges between talking intelligently about interesting topics and then having sudden moments of childlike silliness- which she puts down to her ADHD brain. She’s a great example of the ‘cool girl’ phenomenon – the woman who attempts to effortlessly cater to a male fantasy, without seeming as though she’s trying to do so.
Finally, Melody doesn’t come across like a ‘slut’. Which seems to be another reason why Hentai is big. Whilst reading another forum about why people prefer Hentai to porn, I found a reply explaining that they felt the girls in normal porn are ‘complete sluts’ but in Hentai, it doesn’t feel like that- the girls seem more innocent.
Although she’s clearly sexual, her intellectualism mixed with her childlike nature goes against the typical characteristics that people relate to a ‘slut’.
Possession
What’s more submissive than a 2D girl? I think a huge part of Projekt Melody’s appeal is the very fact that she’s not real. It’s under this circumstance where people feel they can really possess her. I think people love the perverse element that she literally is an animation.
They will never be able to have her, but also nobody else will either. It’s about power and control. And in the words of Oscar Wilde ‘“Everything in the world is about sex except sex. Sex is about power.”
I’m sure the many lonely souls that find themselves on Chaturbate every evening, perhaps feeling as though they will never get to actually have such a ‘dream’ girl, really get off on the idea of being able to ‘possess’ Melody. And I’m sure her humane personality that isn’t simply a sex doll also provides a great comfort to these people.
The Novelty
I clicked on Projekt Melody’s live stream when I first saw it. I was curious. I’m sure many others are too. The whole concept is pretty fascinating and it’s interesting to examine this gradual shift in society where human beings can form attachments to robots.
I know many people who were very touched by Spike Jonze’s 2014 film – ‘Her’, when a man accidentally starts to fall in love with a machine. Plus, the novelty of a Hentai camgirl is especially appealing in a culture that is overloaded with sexual content and therefore easily bored.
Let’s Talk Ethics
I know cam girls have been really pissed off (and understandably) about Projekt Melody – who can hide behind a mask, avoiding many identity risks or nasty comments, and make a whole lot more money. I would probably be pissed too if I was still camming.
I wonder if people enjoy Hentai because the age of the characters is more ambiguous, so they can enjoy their childlike qualities without feeling guilty or paedophilic. I definitely think that part of Melody’s appeal to men is her childlike innocence and behaviour.
I understand that we have been brought up in a society that sexualises the idea of youth and we are all victims of that- it’s important to address this. But does Hentai and Projekt Melody perpetuate this sexualisation of youth and create unrealistic ideas of what women really are?
Well, I think so. But it’s kind of a spectrum. I’ve been guilty of behaving baby-ish and putting on a Lolita persona now and again for the sake of male attention. Where do we draw the line?
I also think that the world is in a strange place right now- there’s so much loneliness. I don’t think it helps anyone to simply brand people who watch Hentai as freaks who need to get help.
People don’t choose what turns them on. And if we can get aroused by a painting, is it so wrong to get aroused by an animation? Is it so wrong for somebody to be emotionally attached to an idea? To something they can control, in a world where they feel they have no control?
Whilst there are many problematic aspects to Projekt Melody, I think it’s important to remain open minded and consider different perspectives.
Iso
Iso is a writer and filmmaker based in East London. She is passionate about all things erotic and leads a sexy, shame-free life in hope that she can inspire others to do the same. Originally from a Northern seaside town, she is naturally drawn to the best things in life: candyfloss, trashy karaoke bars and heart-shaped sunglasses.