Iwara.tv is niche website for MMD (MikuMikuDance) and R18 models. It has come a long way since its inception as Trollvids since 2014. After 10 years, it became one of, if not, the most popular space for creators to share animated shorts with 3D models. Lets take look of its history and future growth.

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What does Iwara mean?

Iwara may sound like Japanese but it doesn't mean anything in Japanese. Users have different speculations, some believe it means laugh in Japanese or animation in an African language. The founder never came out to make a statement on this matter, so I guess only the old guard on 4chan may know the answer.

The History of Iwara.tv

It all began as a humble and somewhat cheeky endeavor by English-speaking fans of erotic MMD videos who were struggling to find a suitable platform for their niche content. The landscape for hosting such content was far from ideal, with platforms like Vimeo banning erotic MMD videos and others like fc2 imposing premium paywalls that restricted access for many creators. It became a frustrating problem for viewers to find R18 MMD content.

The frustrated MMD enthusiasts on 4chan decided to take matters into their own hands, creating a platform and allowing 4chan users to christen it with the name Trollvids. Little did they know that this quirky venture would eventually blossom into something much bigger. In 2014 and 2015, the website was launched, initially attracting an English-speaking audience. With no marketing budget and by just relying on word of mouth, it grew so fast that their host kicked them out for using too much bandwidth. It took some time for the Asian community to discover Trollvids, and when popular Japanese creators began hosting their content there, their fan base followed suit. Then a wave of Chinese creators joined in as such content is not allowed in R18 content is banned in Chinese platforms.

During its early days, Trollvids had relatively few restrictions on video uploads, which was a huge draw for the niche MMD community. Creators could share their erotic content with minimal limitations on video format, a stark contrast to the hurdles they faced on other platforms. This unique appeal fueled the rapid growth of the community. As such, the platform's popularity surged, it began to experience significant lag issues due to the unexpected influx of users. To address these challenges, the administrators had to implement video format restrictions, setting the stage for what would eventually become the standard on Iwara. However, it was evident that a more substantial rebuild of the site was necessary to handle the increasing load. Thus, the "Trollvids Beta" project was initiated, leading to the eventual rebranding and reconstruction of the website as Iwara.tv in early 2016.

The transition from Trollvids to Iwara wasn't entirely seamless, as can be expected from a community-driven project. There were site bugs and missing features, and some users felt nostalgic for the old Trollvids aesthetic. Nonetheless, Iwara proved to be a significant improvement in terms of functionality, addressing the clunkiness and lag issues that had plagued its predecessor. New features like forums, favorites lists, journal entries, and liked videos were introduced, enhancing the user experience.

Monetize R18 MMD

Despite of the complaints, the reality is that alternatives were scarce, and platforms like YouTube were far from accommodating for their content. Iwara continued to grow, fueled by ads and Patreon support, though support remained limited. Since the end of 2023, platforms like Patreon, Twitter/ X and Pixiv are restricting R18 content due to pressure from payment corporations and regional policies. While Iwara.tv enables creators to share their NSFW MMD, monetizing or receiving donations for such creatives is a problem. Here is a list of platforms that users can use to receive support for R18 content.