Agnes Yulo Diego (born February 16, 1993), known online as Akidearest, is an American
YouTuber. She is best known for discussing
anime,
manga, otaku culture and
Japanese-related content on her YouTube channel.[3][4][5]
Early life
Diego was born in
Bakersfield, California, on February 16, 1993, to parents of
Filipino descent, and was raised in
Virginia before then eventually moving to
Las Vegas, Nevada. Growing-up, Diego got into creating
Anime music videos (AMV) and had a prior YouTube channel that hosted some of her work. She completed a degree in psychology at university, and later went to college again for graphic design. However, after her channel blew up, Diego decided to pursue YouTube as her career instead.[3][5]
Career
Diego created her second and current YouTube channel "Akidearest" on December 18, 2014, with a focus on discussing anime, manga, and otaku culture; her first video, "REACTION: DMMD Love Scene," in which Diego reacts to a scene in Dramatical Murder, was released on December 26, 2014.[6] Considered as her break-out video, "5 Songs That Will Change The Way You See Vocaloid," was released on January 12, 2016; the video delves into serious topics that fans to causal listeners of
Vocaloid might not expect.[3][5] On August 21, 2017, Akidearest hit one million subscribers.[7] From 2017 to 2018, Diego co-hosted a weekly
SBSpodcast titled, The Anime Show, with
Joseph Bizinger (The Anime Man), which ran for 68 episodes that discussed about anime, manga, and
otaku culture.[8][9]
In January 2019, Diego moved to Japan, at which time her channel expanded to include her experiences while living in Japan.[5][10][11] In same year, Diego also made an in-game cameo appearance in The World Next Door, by Rose City Games.[12]
Personal life
On November 4, 2016, both she and fellow YouTuber
Joey Bizinger announced that they were in a relationship.[13][14]
^Rowl, Taye; -Dixon (October 22, 2018).
"Verge Meets: Akidearest". Verge Magazine.
Archived from the original on July 17, 2020. Retrieved July 17, 2020.