Bao, also known as Bao the Whale, is a Vietnamese-American VTuber, singer and streamer who debuted on October 30, 2020. Before she was Bao, she was already well known in YouTube’s cover-singing (utaite) scene under the name Hikaru Station. Today she has more than a million YouTube subscribers and is one of the best-known independent English VTubers.
Bao at a glance
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| VTuber name | Bao (Bao the Whale) |
| Former alias | Hikaru Station (cover artist) |
| Debut | October 30, 2020 |
| Affiliation | Independent |
| Nationality | Vietnamese-American |
| Languages | English, Vietnamese, Japanese |
| Birthday | November 9 |
| Fan name | Baoble Buddies |
| Oshi mark | 🐳 |
| Content | Music, karaoke, gaming, Just Chatting, ASMR |
| Face reveal | Not done as a VTuber |
Has Bao done a face reveal?
No official one. Bao plays with the idea constantly on X and TikTok, and her posts about “face reveals” are jokes built around her whale persona. In a 2022 interview with Dexerto she explained that she never felt comfortable streaming on face cam: she couldn’t focus while being aware of herself on screen, and the avatar let her “fully immerse” her audience in the character.
A screenshot that often gets labeled “Bao face reveal” shows the streamer Fuslie saying “hi bao!” in a TikTok. That’s Fuslie, not Bao. We don’t share leaked or unverified photos, and we’ll only update this section if Bao shows her face on her own channels.
Hikaru Station: Bao before VTubing
Hikaru Station was the name Bao used as a cover artist from 2015 onward. She started by posting acoustic covers on Instagram and moved to YouTube the same year, specialising in English adaptations of Vocaloid, anime and J-pop songs. Her English cover of “My R” passed 20 million views, and her catalogue of covers and originals built a large audience years before the whale existed.
By late 2019 she was burned out on that routine. Friends from the utaite community had started streaming and invited her to play games on stream, and VTubing gave her a new way to perform. She debuted as Bao in October 2020 and kept singing as part of her streams.
Bao’s character and lore
Bao is an ancient whale deity inspired by the real 52-hertz whale, often called “the loneliest whale in the world”. In her lore she is the last of her kind and wandered the oceans for centuries before finding company through streaming and music. The character was designed by arucelli and illustrated by hayamafair, and her first main Live2D model was rigged by Brian Tsui.
Career timeline
- 2015–2020: Builds an audience as Hikaru Station with covers and original songs.
- October 30, 2020: Debuts as the VTuber Bao.
- 2021: Grows on Twitch with regular streams and collabs across the English VTuber scene.
- 2022–2024: New models and outfits, more originals and covers, big group collabs.
- 2025–today: Still active, balancing music with streaming, with over a million YouTube subscribers.
Personality and content
Bao’s humour is loud and chaotic, which makes the contrast with her singing voice even funnier. Her streams mix games, karaoke, chatting and ASMR, and she collaborates a lot with other indie VTubers, including Yuzu and Camila.
FAQ
Is Bao the same person as Hikaru Station?
Yes. Hikaru Station was her cover-artist name before she debuted as Bao in 2020.
Is Bao part of an agency?
She is an independent VTuber, not a member of an agency like Hololive or Nijisanji.
Where is Bao from?
She is Vietnamese-American and streams in English.
More VTuber face reveals
Still waiting for Bao’s face reveal?
Bao hasn’t done an official face reveal. Here’s her latest video from her official channel while you wait.
Bao’s official social channels
These are Bao’s own accounts. Follow them there for streams, videos and announcements.
