A few more YouTube videos from this past year that are also quite good:
5th January 2024
Hi again. Nice to see you here. Suppose another year's come and gone and it's already time for another post on some of my personal favourite YouTube videos from this past year or so, following up from last year's post. So maybe this might turn into a tradition of sorts, but don't count on it. Besides, Jacksfilms didn't plan on doing his own version of the list this year, instead just pivoting his content towards that direction more generally ever since the whole Sssniperwolf situation. On the other hand, DylanTheKnightOwl, who also created a cool list of videos last year, is apparently working on another video as we speak, and I decided to chip in with a few ideas for the video through his Discord since there were just so many to go through this year. Unfortunately, I must've gotten too ahead of myself and suggested so many videos that I got kicked from his Discord for spamming (at least, that's the one plausible explanation I can think of). So instead, I suppose I can rattle off the list around here instead: A place where I'm free to sperg over things as much as I please! You might notice that a lot of these picks are either one of two flavours: Video essay, or short animation, so it might feel a bit stale running through these particular choices, but I can assure you, each of them are deserving of a place on this list, and though some may be better known than others, there could very well be at least one or two you haven't come across yet. So, without further ado, let's get into this year's list:

EmpLemon is probably one of the bigger YouTubers from before who I neglected to really mention in the previous year, but that shouldn't discount the quality of the videos he makes, initially starting out as a guy who made a bunch of fairly well-made YouTube Poops, before then using the editing skills he acquired over time to create a whole bunch of different informative, expansive and simultaneously funny video essays concerning a wide breadth of topics, with two major videos from the past year standing out particularly well in terms of quality. Whilst it was difficult to decide which one was the best choice, his video on the recent fourth instalment in The Matrix Trilogy was one that I personally found a bit more enjoyable. Nowadays, it's practically an ice-cold take to say that Hollywood is relying way too much on reboots and sequels of popular franchises, creating subpar products under the expectation that fans would either line-up to see them anyway, or at the very least offer free publicity by complaining about them online. 

The film The Matrix Resurrections is no exception to this all too common rule, often being criticised for failing to build off of the films that came before, as well as holding a shaky and on-the-nose storyline. However, Emp posits in this video that such flaws in the storytelling are very much by design, explaining how series director Lana Wachowski decided to use the opportunity to work on the film as a means of mocking Hollywood's over-reliance on nostalgia whilst reflecting how Warner Bros. effectively forced Lana's hand, as they would've made the film with or without the Wachowskis' help anyway, comparing the film to Tom Green's critically-panned masterpiece "Freddy Got Fingered", about a guy wasting studio money because he was contractually obliged to make a film, just like what happened to Green in real life. This all culminates in Emp delivering a line that sounds ridiculous out of context but fits into the narrative perfectly, stating that The Matrix Revolutions "wasn't just a sequel to The Matrix. It was a sequel to Freddy Got Fingered". If all this is true, then this, combined with the film bombing at the box office, making it unlikely that Warner Bros. would touch the franchise for a long time, offers a strange success story that shows passionate directors in Hollywood fending off their IPs from being zombified by the money machine. By also including an engaging build-up showing The Matrix's cultural context, its links to the more pessimistic society we have today and Emp's past experiences of feeling betrayed by a poorly-handled franchise, all the while making use of some interesting live-action footage to give off a more cinematic feel at points, then you've got yourself a really entertaining video exploring an alternative look at what was intially seen as another low-quality nostalgia-bait sequel. 

An honourable mention for Emp's video lineup this year can also be given to "Pandora's Box", comprehensively exploring how many of humanity's various discoveries, inventions and past understandings of nature have inadvertently resulted in widespread effects on the environment around us, and how our many attempts at playing God have ultimately backfired greatly, ranging from our introduction of invasive species or the eradication of perceived predators to deal with petty agricultural problems, to the health effects of widespread mercury, lead and asbestos use in centuries past, to the incalculable strength of nuclear weaponry and poorly-handled uranium, all the way up to the widespread presence of microplastics in all walks of life after decades of unknowingly irresponsible use. These various different aspects of human experimentation flow really well into one-another, and question the idea if we really are better off by being able to harness these dangerous materials.

It's quickly becoming apparent that one of these potentially harmful products of experimentation can come in the form of the boom in artificial intelligence. Whilst so far, there's little to say that this new technology can cause direct physical harm on humans, similarly to what Emp discussed in his Pandora's Box and Matrix videos, AI will likely become another step in slimming down the human workforce by replacing these skilled labourers with inhumanly-smarter computers and machines. One of the most controversial steps in this rapid advancement in technology can be seen in the rapid expansion of AI generated artwork, with its same-y and visually unappealing styles being regurgitated across various sections of the internet, including places like ArtStation and DeviantArt, which had previously aimed to champion human expression. When you combine its omnipresence with the several ethical quandaries surrounding its use of billions of potentially copyrighted images, allowing it to accurately replicate the artistic styles of individual creators, naturally this has all resulted in a lot of anger emerging in the artist community. In this sense, Solar Sands attempts to view this subject in from a more rational and balanced perspective, as whilst he acknowledges that the ability for these programmes to use countless amounts of art to generate derivative works of other people is morally wrong, that art websites shouldn't present AI art in the same sections as human art, due to them being fundamentally different forms of content, and the fact that there is a lot of uncertainty over the invention of the technology in the first place, akin to dropping the first atomic bomb or opening Pandora's Box, he also aims to present the process of creating AI art in the most accurate way possible, dispelling false claims over how it operates and understanding the rationale behind many of the technology's developers. These evidently aren't just limited to purely profit-based motives, but rather more abstract concepts surrounding the creation of a hyper-equal utopia, which can make attempts at reducing its presence more difficult to achieve.

Due to the rapid advancement of this technology, Solar Sands elected to expand on this discussion further with the creation of two additional parts presenting various other aspects of the AI art debate, and the development process. The second part was released around six months later, essentially focusing of course on the advancement of the technology, to the point where it can produce well-constructed and even emotionally effective images, as well as full videos (though the emotional effectiveness doesn't really apply to that yet). Additionally, there's also some focus on the more practical uses of it as well as the ways that artists can adapt to the technology, as it becomes more and more clear that it's here to stay, unlike other perceived fads such as NFTs, due to how streamlined it is compared to the traditional way of making art. Solar Sands would even go as far as to suggest that so long as all ethical issues are ironed out regarding copyright, and the importance of maintaining the property rights of artists, then he sees practically no issues with the technology. At the same time, he mentions how important it is to remind those who feel strongly about the technology to express their concerns in more productive ways, rather than wasting their energy on viciously attacking anyone using the AI image generators, including those clearly baiting these people into eliciting such a response. These are all important things to consider as AI-generated artwork becomes more and more present in mainstream society (I even saw a poster for an event at my local university featuring a DJ-ing hedgehog not too long ago). So at this stage, we can either try to make people aware of the issues that could potentially arise with AI technology, and therefore allow for concrete constructive change, or we can continue to incessantly scream at random people on the internet, and risk forgetting the more important factors that could jeopardise a whole line of work.

Though artificial intelligence may be potentially damaging occupations and decreasing opportunities for vast swathes of people, it's merely one of the many issues that are faced by our society, including those who are just on the cusp of adulthood. One of the most effective means of presenting such issues would be through a video by Gerbert Johnson, a young man who at the time of this video's creation had just turned 20, but due to problems surrounding his circumstances, still feels as if he is 16 years-old, which of course does lead to a humorous development of a narrative/framing device where he's running away from the law after using that as an excuse for a crime. A bit crude, but the subsequent scene of him climbing trees, like he used to as a kid, offers an interesting springboard into the idea that many young people now face a feeling of arrested development, that ever since the Covid lockdowns happened, time feels like it has rapidly increased in pace and it's difficult to keep up, how the omnipresence of technology, particularly social media, has resulted in a lost feeling of community spirit, and the growth of an infinite array of distractions that leave people too comfortable to leave fantasy and their comfort zone behind. Combine this with the fact that the only remaining means of coming across people in the real world, through university or work, involves either swamping yourself in debt under the promise of a better life, or feeling alienated in an environment where everyone is older than you, and it's no surprise why many young people, young men in particular, feel more disillusioned by society.

These are all issues that I feel especially strongly about, as I feel myself to be among the many young people affected by them. At the risk of sounding emo or self-pitying, it terrifies me how quickly this year has come and gone, that I'm already going to have another birthday within the next couple weeks, whilst searching for work and holding a backlog of different projects behind me leaves the feeling of a life that's currently somewhat directionless, and I fear that many of the more vulnerable people around me will be dead before I can make something out of myself, before I can have a stable career doing something I like, before I can find someone, buy a house (fat chance of that regardless, but that's a different story), settle down, get married, have kids and live comfortably for another fifty years or so. It's a really worrying thing, and these thoughts are likely plaguing the minds of many other people like me. But, at the same time, this year felt slightly longer than before, as like what Gerbert talks about in this video, time does slow down at least for a bit, as I immerse myself in new experiences. I've come to meet new friends at uni, and I've had the privilege of visiting other events and places that I've never experienced before (as you can partly see in horrific detail in the post below), and I feel like I'm starting to really feel like an adult by doing just small things like going to a cinema with friends rather than family for the first time. 

Whilst I will say that the Covid lockdowns and their consequences have been a disaster for the mental health of people everywhere, both young and old, and many attempts to open back up have been difficult, especially for someone of my mental faculties, slowly but surely, you'll learn to leave your comfort zone, and one day find completeness in a society that feels cold and uninviting. Of course, whenever discussing things like men's mental health, and suggesting that society just isn't built for young people, especially men, to flourish anymore, then you will see many people speaking out about this, like Gerbert, having unflattering buzzwords like "incel" thrown at them by terminally-online vitriol machines. Such people would often dismiss such feelings regarding men's mental health as either being 'their own fault' or just a consequence of living in a society that's 'built for them', something that's also touched on in a similar video by Shoe0nHead that's also worth mentioning, which discusses how important it is to actually listen to how the ways they are treated, particularly how many wants and needs many men hold, or the ways they want to express themselves, are brushed off as mere symptoms of "toxic masculinity". Through ignoring these problems, it opens up the opportunity for people like Andrew Tate, or any politically extreme ideologue, to take advantage of this ignorance, as mainstream society fails to present a more mediated solution to these problems, leaving them to only get worse the longer they're ignored.

This video is quite similar to the one mentioned previously, as well as EmpLemon's "Pandora's Box" video, though this one in particular explores a wider and more current breadth of issues in a far more cinematic and somewhat angrier way compared to before. The video features Rusty Cage, better known for his work with both Mumkey Jones and EmpLemon, as well as his iconic songs, "Knife Game Song" and of course "White Girls Fuck Dogs", discussing the various problems facing society from more of a fringe-level outlook. These include issues such as the possible health effects of what could be our modern lead or asbestos: Fluoride, discussing concerning findings in peer-reviewed studies, as well as the corrupt means of implementing it in America's water systems during the 40s and 50s. Attention is also brought towards the omnipresence of microplastics and "forever chemicals" in the water we drink, the food we eat and the air we breathe, killing us slowly whilst we remain oblivious to such issues. The video also discusses the corruption and moral bankruptcy plaguing major international corporations and powerful governments, ranging from Nestle treating even the most basic human necessities like water as mere commodities, to the vast number of atrocities committed against vulnerable people by some of the most powerful individuals in the world, including the several unnamed visitors of Epstein's island, who will continue to remain unnamed and continue to go unpunished unless people continue to push for this information to go public. This is all underlined by how the stranglehold these authority figures have on the popular media results in many people refusing to discuss such potential problems, lest they be labelled "conspiracy theorists" and get ostracised from their social groups, leading us to begrudgingly accept the way things are until the system inevitably fails to keep things together.

This is all told through footage of Rusty constructing a historically-revolutionary symbol in the form of a guillotine, and then using both a watermelon and a realistic dummy to test its effectiveness. Plans to construct such a device had been planned in the previous sections of what in actuality is a multi-part series, though the merits of this video in particular allow it to stand out on its own. Rusty shows off a wide range of emotions and tones in the video's creation, starting out by doing an uncanny Mr. Beast impersonation, before transitioning into a long monologue explaining the construction process, and the reason behind this "lemonade stand"'s creation, with the emotional strength of the delivery making the monologue feel at times indistinguishable from slam poetry. I think around ten minutes in is when it especially builds up, discussing how ubiquitous the unsavoury forces in this world are and how they keep us in check, all while the music crescendos into a powerful explosion of sound reflecting the power of the words Rusty offers us. When combined with the interesting use of editing and visual effects that complement the events taking place on screen perfectly, you have an extremely strong video that gets you riled up, and motivates you to overthrow your nearest government (in Minecraft), especially since the implications of the lemonade stand aren't really that vague. As a result, this really well-made video appears to have been overlooked by the algorithm for the most part, even if the series is still ongoing, so if you're in a particularly rebellious or disillusioned mood, then be sure to check out Rusty's content by subscribing, so you can remain up to date on all the happenings around his work.

But at the same time, maybe it's worth choosing a more mellowed-out approach to the state of things in the world today. The prior two videos, or perhaps all the videos previously mentioned, show signs of  a world where things don't really feel right, where opportunities are drying up, people feel left behind and the rapid advancement of technology leaves many people feeling suffocated. As mentioned previously with the emergence of Andrew Tate during the crisis of men's mental health, some people are finding inspiration, even at the very least in jest, through generally unsavoury people. This can range from more harmless ideations towards fictional antiheroes and villains such as Walter White and the famed American Psycho, Patrick Bateman, to actual current or historic politically-extreme or even terroristic figures, most notably including Ted Kaczynski, better known as The Unabomber, whose beliefs surrounding the Industrial Revolution and its consequences appear highly resonant in today's climate, especially in the weeks and months following his death, with a small group rather concerningly feeling that should've gone further with his activities before he was ultimately caught. In light of this strange cult following surrounding such an enigmatic figure, YouTube's continuously-rising star, Wendigoon, has created a massive video aiming to comprehensively explore the life of The Unabomber, ultimately aiming to demystify the man, and deconstruct the myth built up around him.

This video, one of the largest single-part videos to be created by Wendigoon, tells the tale of Ted, starting from his early life and apparent precociousness, to a less-sensationalistic exploration of his experience of MK-ULTRA and how it contributed to his disdain towards society, the life he lived alone in the woods, the crimes he would commit, how he would get caught, and finally a broad examination of his both-famous and infamous manifesto, "Industrial Society and its Future". Though it may not be as cinematic as my previous choice of Wendigoon video, "The Haunting Mystery of the Brown Mountain Lights", there are still some visual aids that add to the quality of the video, including the clever ironic decision to have the reading of Ted's manifesto take place on a green-screen which uses footage of an assortment of nature scenes, as opposed to actually being outside for the recording; actual outside filming wouldn't come until later, at which point he reflects on The Unabomber's life and offers his thoughts on the man behind the myth. The story is broken up on occasion by Wendigoon's trademark use of deadpan humour, as well as his interesting choices of costumes reflecting Ted's iconic police sketch from before he was caught, but the overall video reminds us not to get too engrossed in the fantasy of the man who took the lives of several unrelated people, whose "crimes" ranged from either running computer stores, flying in planes, or even just going to college. This effectively results in Wendigoon concluding that Ted was hardly interested in enacting retribution on humanity for harming nature at all, and simply just hated other people and went on to express that hatred in the most extreme way possible, after years of having it grow and fester, leaving us not with a valiant, though somewhat unhinged freedom fighter, but rather just a sad strange little man who took out his anger on random people. Such a narrative is what continues to make many of Wendigoon's videos incredibly entertaining to both watch, and also listen to whilst doing other things, and I'm still looking forward to whatever else he'll have in store come the next year.

Whilst there are a few people that many look up to, when it's clear from the outset that a better role model may be needed in their lives, what happens when the inverse takes place: When you take an interest in someone and are greatly inspired by the work they do, only to find out later down the line that they were a horrific human being all along? That question would be answered through this video describing the situation surrounding Stephen McCullagh, also known by his online username of VoteSaxon07. Many YouTubers, especially nowadays, are often found to be responsible for committing a wide range of faults and crimes, with these ranging from as little as presenting incorrect information or plagiarising other people's work, all the way over to the other end, where they end up being exposed for grooming minors or engaging in other sex weirdo behaviour, which judging by how frequently such accusations are posited in this day and age, must be a popular pastime for any particularly big YouTuber at this point. But regardless, very few of them can be confirmed to have committed a crime as heinous as taking another person's life, especially not the life of someone you're supposed to care deeply for and protect, as was apparently the case of McCullagh, who in a horrifically-calculated fashion, murdered his girlfriend and their unborn child, not too long before the Christmas of 2022.

Such a story, combined with the dark irony of him running something as innocent as a toy review channel, as well as the fact he faked a livestream to cover his involvement in the murder, made the whole event a strangely captivating tale around the internet once the news came out, but most of these were generally from creators with little to no prior interest in his work. This video however, is a major change from that, as it's told from the perspective of someone who grew up watching McCullagh's simple toy reviews and DIY videos, and grew inspired to create his own modified toys based on the work offered on the VoteSaxon07 channel. Spaceman Scott also explores the general history of his online career, how he rose to success to the point of even appearing on mainstream TV for the revival of Robot Wars, before detailing the night of his grilfriend's murder, and the strange hints at both his secret unhinged behaviour, and his involvement in the murder, in the pre-recorded "livestream" he set up as an alibi. Scott explores how this event has been especially hard for him, seeing how such a horrific crime could be committed by such an inspiration, who he previously thought he knew so much about, especially since more intimate parts of McCullagh's personal life were shared through his channel, with his for instance touching on the deaths of his parents. Scott reminds us that, in an age of parasocial relationships almost emerging as a replacement for real-world friendships, it's important to understand that the facade a lot of creators put up for themselves through their content, is nonetheless still a facade, and people need to remember that those they look up towards may not be as saintly as their pedestals would suggest. At the same time, even if such acts are revealled to have been committed by someone you look up to, that shouldn't take away from the times their content has genuinely helped you in the past, either in a practical sense, or just by making you laugh for a bit. As someone who may sometimes quote videos by disgraced YouTubers such as Tobuscus and Trudermark every one in a while, it serves as a decent reminder that whilst it can be difficult to separate the art from the artist, there are still those better sides to their content that can serve as a form of inspiration in the future.

Ideas of a corrupt nation-state that suppresses its critics through the use of organised criminal syndicates seems like the kind of thing that couldn't possibly happen in a high-income country like Australia. But, considering what provocative local YouTuber Friendlyjordies has been through recently, it seems possible that this was the case, as in November of 2022, his house was the target of a firebomb by an unknown culprit, but considering the enemies he's made through his content, it seems likely that whoever did it may have been a member of the elite of New South Wales. Friendlyjordies summarises the list of people his off-the-wall and hardcore journalism has targeted in the past, with particular focus on former NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro, who initiated a lengthy defamation trial because he was called a "Koala killer" and "A greasy little scrotum" by the YouTuber, the latter of which doesn't really sound like a particularly impactful accusation, but whatever it was, it would ultimately be enough for him to resign from the deputy premiership because he was being bullied, something that was especially ironic considering Barilaro is also the kind of politician to scoff at notions like political correctness as a part of his campaigns.

Friendlyjordies offers plenty of insight, not only into the people that Barilaro himself had interacted with, such as a counter-terrorism police force to monitor his 'bully''s house, and an organised crime ring that ran a property developer he briefly worked for after his stint as Deputy Premier, but also other members of the Australian political establishment and mainstream media that want to see him taken down, including New South Wales' gambling lobby, who also threatened to sue him for exposing cases of money laundering. These different segments of the video not only tell the tale of Friendlyjordies' campaign against the Super Barilaro Bruz in a way that's both hilarious and feels incredibly animated, but also helps to expose the different ways corruption continues to linger in a nation historically built by convicts, in turn showing that things have hardly changed for the country. Despite being intimidated by the firebombing featured in the video, Friendlyjordies continues to post videos regarding scandals and dumb happenings in the Australian political system, spreading awareness regarding the ways corruption can take hold in what appears to be a well-organised nation-state, and in turn could suggest that such conspiracies and cover-ups could very easily happen here.

This next choice may be a bit different compared to the previous video discussing the state of corruption in Australian politics, but I feel it's nevertheless worth talking about because of how it's able to make something as niche and advanced as the study of language as accessible as it is through this video, using the versatile iceberg format (which even I had a crack at not too long ago) to describe the various oddities of language and human communication. Such a topic is delivered through a strong amount of wit, humour and quirks to its presentation style, for example using an animated cut-out of Noam Chomsky, complete with a deep-faked voice, to introduce each of the segments. These segments include information on strange multi-lingual tongue-twisters, the universality of particular phrases in certain contexts (with "Kiki" and "Bouba" being assigned to a sharp and bubbly shape respectively in several experiments, and the words "mama" and "papa" both having similar-sounding substitutes in several international languages), as well as even strange facts about cultures and historical events to explain certain phenomena.

For example, it turns out that there's a tribe in the Amazon known as the Piraha, who don't have words for numbers outside of vague quantities such as "some", "a few" or "a lot", showing that their culture has no need for such precise quantities. I also found out that there's even a special pidgin of the Basque language that emerged from fishermen working in Iceland, and that because of a bad event involving some shipwrecked Basque people, until 2015 it was written in Icelandic law that locals were legally allowed to kill Basque people on-sight. I might have spoiled some of the best parts already, so I'll save the rest for you to check out yourself. While you're there, you could also go ahead and check out some of the other videos created by Duncan Clarke, exploring a series of other subjects, including a couple other iceberg charts, such as one on different psychological experiments, and even a video deconstructing the format itself, as well as a series of other more generalised topics such as the flaws of MBTI personality indicators (sometimes known as astrology for men), colour psychology, among several other videos that make these complex philosophical ideas more accessible to non-geniuses like myself!

This one may not focus as much on a particularly philosophical concept like with Duncan Clarke's work, though it does offer a strong and thought-provoking look into the rise of cable television, particularly in the US, its ubiquity in popular culture, and ultimately its decline through the rise of technologies such as the internet and video streaming. NationSquid delves into the various different positives that made cable great upon its inception, such as its ability to bypass the tight restrictions of broadcast television, and the diverse range of programmes aimed towards various different groups of people available on hundreds of channels for a fairly low price. This is then followed by the gradual growth of flaws within the medium, such as the service providers growing too comfortable and charging far higher prices for what would eventually become a bunch of safe same-y programming, as well as its general inability to adapt to the arrival of Netflix and other services, with media giants shutting down all attempts to help the medium transition into the online age. However, he also touches on the potential of the format and its benefits compared to the now-universal subscription-based streaming formula, such as its ability to bring people of different groups together at the same time, and how it can allow them to bond over shows that they would have never been interested in if they were just another option on a list of thousands of different shows on Netflix. Plus, seeing how there are so many streaming services these days, all hosting their own exclusive content, especially in America, it ultimately leaves the format feeling like a lonelier version of cable, which to some extent can also apply to the idea of our society growing more and more distant as people such as Gerbert Johnson have mentioned above.

NationSquid's words ultimately leave me wondering for what could have been, where such an idea of sitting down at a certain time and sharing the same viewing experience as others around the world, through the magic of the live premiere, was still a common and celebrated moment in the online age. Hell, the idea of watching the same thing at the same time seems like an even better idea in an age where people can live-blog big events on places like Twitter. If the costs could somehow come down, maybe by doing a switchover to less-dedicated online infrastructure, regulating the prices a bit stronger, and loosening restrictions, like having the ability to say "fuck" on TV without it being censored, then cable could be a strong rival to the currently-popular alternative. Though to be fair, much of these ideas are likely built off of nostalgia for days gone by, and it's something that's strongly invoked through NationSquid's video, mentioning powerful anecdotes around watching shows together with his late-father, employing imagery such as really well-paced montages of the exciting programmes presented on TV during the 80s and 90s, and building the overall discussion around the framing device of the closure of Cartoon Network Studios' building in Burbank, a landmark in the cable television world. These combined writing and editing choices all make for what's at times an informative, funny and even emotional look into the rise and fall of this media titan.

This next video is kinda cheating, seeing how it was made late in the previous year, but I feel it's an especially interesting video that helps you lay out something that appears as minor as a video game backlog, but can also apply to the idea of solving more broader things, like general procrastination. Of course, the main focus of the video is on completing a gaming backlog and sorting through the many different games that you've come across over time, something that I can certainly say is a relatable conundrum, seeing how I've got a whole bunch of different games on my Switch or my PC that I've bought a long while back, but still have yet to finish because I just never find the time to do it, or I instead just spend all my time playing through Demon Turf for the hundredth time. This is probably a much bigger deal now that I'm older, as I'm now the one in charge of buying my games, so I do need to at least consider taking time out of my day or week or month or whatever point in time, to get my money's worth, though this doesn't even touch all the other games I've got on emulators and similar things like that. Thinking about all these different things is likely to result in a lot of stress, and Darryl talks about this a lot in the video through the idea of the "Zeigernik Effect", where one remembers more about an assigned task if they're only halfway through it than if they've completed it, though he also mentions one effective way of doing it is by compiling a list, as even the process of planning to do something can help one to feel more complete, even if the task itself is not.

Such an idea is likely to translate rather well when viewing other things through such a layout, which Darryl even brings up in the video, applying such a concept to major life goals (like a more detailed bucket list), and how the whole idea of the list could reflect the idea of humans wanting to look back on a complete and fulfilling life, which he also rather emotionally applies to the end of Etika's Xenoblade Chronicles 2 livestream, especially considering what we know of his emotions now. This all goes to show that the idea of laying things out in a simple and understandable fashion, searching for the most fulfilling tasks and prioritising them to overcome the strength of choice paralysis, and executing them for that feeling of completeness, is a rather effective way of looking at some of the more Herculean tasks you could assign for yourself. Such a method is one I can personally attest to the validity of, being able to get much more things sorted if I just write them down first (I should probably that more often, come to think of it). This journey has been expanded upon with a sequel video, released this past November, which offers a more updated look into the idea of completing everything in a year, after actually attempting it, ultimately reminding both Darryl and the viewer that an important thing about making such a list is to be realistic in your goals (something I should've considered when writing this post, since it's now a bit after New Year's). Perhaps you shouldn't finish an entire backlog over the course of just a year, but should instead just remember to complete them at a time that fits your schedule, and allows you to engross yourself in the experience of playing a game, rather than just speeding through it to get to the next one. When you combine these with some excellent editing choices, and plenty of heavy-hitting as well as lighter moments throughout, then you have yourself a fine duology of videos exploring one of those things you have hovering on your mind.

Bringing a bit of order to your life by scheduling it more clearly can be one of the many ideas for a New Year's Resolution, those things we promise to do but never really follow through on about a week or so after the year began. But if you tried to stick with any of them, then working out more often in general may be one of the most advisable, and one of those things that motivated me to go through some intense exercise myself was this song by the up and coming rock band Shame, complete with an off-the-wall music video that reminded me to never underestimate the kind of content you'll find on YouTube's ads. However, on closer inspection, the song also explores the downsides of gym culture, which clearly went over my head, offering a really intense and exciting wave of adrenaline every time you listen to it, whilst the band shout about the perceived benefits many would feel when dedicating their time to working out, and how to many they may end up seeming like a cope to outside life events, which does offer an interesting look into the idea of just constantly hitting the gym, whilst placing little time into tackling other issues that may be holding you back.

Though this may offer a strange dissonance of themes offered by the rhythm and the lyrics (of course, do try to exercise, but also remember to be mindful in other avenues if that's something you also need to work on), the main way this video stood out to me was its rather unique blend of PS1-styled graphics with historical figures such as Napoleon Bonaparte, and their attempts at getting swole in order to get to the point of achieving the physical and mental strength needed to conquer nations, influence populations and achieve immortality. Through this, the video makes use of several off-the-wall visual gags, such as Napoleon's competition against his at-the-time political enemies, scenes of his horseback cavalry running on treadmills, as well as a few interesting "in-game" stats given to both him and other historical and current figures, such as Margaret Thatcher, Richard Branson, and the telekinetic overlord Jeff Bezos, who all vie for their place in the history books. All the scenes within this animation, created by user Dragline Pictures, bounce off of the chaos of the music perfectly, and show a lot of promise to the band, with their showing at this year's Glastonbury offering signs that their excitingly aggressive post-punk sound, will gain a much-deserved greater stake in the public eye in the years to come.

Keeping in the spirit of quirky music videos, this other similarly light-hearted video reflects the much more humorous tune offered by its source material. This song by comparison is more of a fun lampoon on Europop songs of the late-90s and early-2000s (a genre I'm especially fond of), starring the hype-master DJ Crazy Times, and the exquisitely-voiced singer Ms. Bilijana Electronica, as together they sing a catchy tune complete with heaps of broken English, including several unusual appeals to world peace, awkward discussions of sex, and the need to bring dance to all the different parts of Earth: The Planet of the Bass. All this is complimented with an interesting and out-there (dare I say other-worldly?) plotline following a group of aliens discovering the alluring tunes of the people down below, using their AI technology to experience the wonders of its sick beats, complete with cheesy alien costumes and several nods towards the fashion of the time.

The video itself was created by comedy singer Kyle Gordon (the man behind DJ Crazy Times in the video), who's created a whole bunch of other videos intended to lampoon various different musical genres, playing many unique characters to reflect the songs he performs. None of these songs ever really feel cheap or under-developed; they just know what they are and take their stereotypical motifs to the craziest places imaginable. In fact, it almost feels like the kinds of song parodies that used to be done on the old days of YouTube, like those by now CCP-owned TikTok star Bart Baker, complete with a hint of immaturity and a home-grown feel to their practical effects and costume design. It just goes to show that even these fun little video genres can see a lot of life in them on modern YouTube, despite all the ways the algorithm has changed in favour of other more mainstream examples of video content. Suppose once you leave the main page, you'll come to find that the site's culture has hardly changed at all!

Steamed Hams is the meme that just refuses to die, because no matter how long the joke runs, someone will always turn around and try something different with it, with Tyrone Deise's surreal animation re-contextualising the original sketch into a cut-out animated Soviet-era short film titled "Steamlyannaya Hamonika", created as a commentary on the isolation and alienation of Capitalist society, though with a secret additional meaning aiming to criticise the bureaucracy of the Communist Party, as seen through this animation's depiction of Superintendent Chalmers, an emotionless man who hardly speaks throughout the film. Then again, much of Skinner's dialogue isn't really that easy to interpret, being a series of strange sound effects which contribute to the uneasy feeling one gains through the viewing experience. Such a sense of unease can also be felt through the strangely-proportioned and animated models used for the two main characters, likely taking inspiration from several other films of the time such as Captain Vrungel (that's the only one I can think of off the top of my head, 'cause I'm kinda uncultured when it comes to Soviet cinema).

When you combine this with the other strange arts-y flairs that the film offers, such as a heavily-detailed sequence of a doorbell being activated, as well as a beastly chaotically-designed fire engine at the very end, you've got a video that's able to successfully reinvent the tried and true formula of Skinner and Chalmers' unforgettable luncheon. Coming across this particular animation during my trip to former-East Berlin may have also helped it stand out to me! However, this isn't the only thing on Deise's channel that truly shines, as in addition to his various other inventive interpretations of Steamed Hams, such as one remaking it as a Weimar-era German Expressionist film, complete with a full live-action performance, and another turning it into an Ottoman Empire-styled puppet show, there are also plenty of other strange videos to sink your teeth into, like one featuring a road-raging alcoholic father getting a wall-of-text t-shirt for his lovely daughter, and a really well-executed short film offering an interesting take on Pac-Man. All these different videos show a lot of promise to Deise's work, and I can't wait to see whatever else he has in store in the future.

The analog horror genre is another mainstay in YouTube's ecosystem, and though there are quite a lot of examples that do some pretty interesting things with the format, such as the seminal Local 58, the expansive Monument Mythos, and the existentially-horrifying Mandela Catalog, the saturation of the genre has led to a few non-starters and a series of overplayed tropes associated with them developing. So now it feels refreshing to see someone similarly lampoon the genre by taking a childhood character (not too dissimilarly to a stereotypical creepypasta), and placing them in the analog horror format. While the video may feature the use of a casual narrator, unlike most analog horror projects which mainly benefit from silence and unnerving uses of text and other forms of audio, this video is still able to paint a surreal and darkly humorous picture of an unusual community with an irrational hatred for the Annoying Orange, to the point of creating several videos in which either living or inanimate oranges are brutally tortured by them, because that orange was just so goddamn annoying. 

Despite how strange the whole concept felt, as well as how light-hearted the video itself was, I could definitely see something like this community propping up in real life, especially since hatedoms full of young and edgy kids like the ones for Barney and whatever else were in full force at the time, and you could even see this intense anger in the real world, through things like that disturbing monkey hate rabbit hole you might've heard of on YouTube. Regardless, the most effective way the video feels strangely realistic is in its use of a fully-fledged website to showcase the community's efforts, realistic reconstructions of the iOS UI from the time period when the Annoying Orange was big, and a series of grainy videos of tortured oranges, which both give off a strange mixture of chills and hilarity in their execution. It also helps that these videos were created using real VHS technology, as opposed to filters and the like, with an interview video by fellow-Zoomer Raymundo2112 briefly touching on the process of getting the video to its genuine-looking appearance. Cyztix has also created a series of other satirical jabs at the analog horror genre, including one based around a lost website for iCarly, and another unravelling the mystery of the nigh-seen (and also fake) Simpsons character, Graggle Simpson (or Weird Matt, as some have called him). With a small but impressive set of videos under his belt, it's interesting to see what the future could hold for Cyztix's content.

This video similarly makes use of a retro visual style, including the use of a VHS/film filter to create something that more directly attempts to create a strange but charming video reminiscent of late-70s/early-80s experimental CGI, or perhaps one of those more artsy segments they used to have on Sesame Street around that time, though later on that might end up sounding like a rather unfitting comparison. The video explores different people and how their weirdly-shaped heads make them both unique and unusual to those around them. It's very interpretive in terms of what it's meant to represent, but personally I feel it aims to explore the idea that one should take pride in their uniqueness and celebrate the differences of others, but if you think too much about how others see you, then this pride could either turn towards vitriol against one's peers, like the ugly-headed cylindrical man who gets his kicks from eating the fish who mock him, or extreme vanity, as shown by a rather on-the-nose scene of a woman with spherical breasts and a large head, getting showered with compliments by a cone-shaped rat/sperm creature to the point where she explodes as the being slithers between her legs. I've also heard from a commenter that it could reflect several aspects of immaturity (pre-judgement, uncontrolled anger and immaturity around sex). Either way, it does show how open the video's messaging is.

Whilst in some cases, the film filter can be a bit overbearing at points, the overall animation design feels very authentic and quirky, reflective of much of the other work made by its creator, VLIF. They're essentially a jack of all trades, being experienced in formats such as music, graphic design and animation, something that's primarily presented through their personal Neocities website, which displays their primary interest in early CGI based around the Y2K aesthetic of the 90s and early-2000s, with the use of design quirks such as basic shapes and thick outlines further reflecting the trends of those eras. In addition to this, there are also several other retro-styled videos also on their YouTube account that offer numerous surreal worlds to explore and experience, with some of my personal favourites including "Miramaru's Indictment Disk", which makes use of a wide breadth of formats to tell its strange story, and the music video/promo video "What Happened To Free The Love?", which whilst probably requiring a seizure warning, uses a cacophony of colours and visuals, complimented by some very authentic-sounding drum and bass music. Speaking of music, they've also created quite a few albums and songs worth checking out, including the album "Jupitaboo!", and the song "I Have No Voice Actor And I Must Scream", which uses several strange motifs, even though it was just meant to be included as a background element for a video used to announce the iconic ENA's new voice actors. It just goes to show how much dedication can be seen in even the more minor works by people like VLIF.

This next choice also makes an interesting mixture of CGI and 2D animation, though it's a lot more clear-cut in terms of what exactly is happening on-screen. "See it, say it, sorted" is one of those iconic PSA slogans used regularly on public transport in Britain in our uncertain age, which basically tells you to report whenever anyone acts shifty or suspicious on a train, a bus or at a station, in case they're a terrorist or just generally up to no good. This video takes a more humorous spin on that concept, creating a strong feeling of anxiety as a drunk man appears to be intruding on a woman's personal space by asking a few strange questions, before seemingly lunging towards another woman before we learn he's instead trying to help her off the train. Everything seems fine with the man before we discover the real reason he was helping her. 

It all plays on your expectations to great comedic effect, and goes in a million different directions throughout, with one commenter describing the video as going "from bad, to wholesome, to a literal nightmare". When you combine this with its interesting blend of 2D characters in a semi-realistic 3D setting, you end up getting a video that offers a brief but entertaining and well-designed sketch. The sketch's creator, Lurdle, has also done a bunch of other videos that similarly focus on relatable humour and some Smiling Friends-esque surrealism, and though they may be limited in number due to all the different moving parts involved in them, they all offer several different interesting scenarios, with "The Corner Stone" showing the plight of dealing with a cast of over-bearing customers during a restaurant's late-night dinner rush, whilst a more recent video "A Full Head of Hair", involves the interaction between a self-centred customer and a bald hairdresser tired of his shit. So whilst Lurdle's library is currently a bit small, his algorithm-defying method of quality over quantity ensures that whatever comes next is bound to be worth a watch.

4chan is a name that doesn't really have the best reputation behind it on the internet, though in spite of its controversy, it all started out as a dumb little messageboard inspired by anime, manga and general Japanese online and offline culture, so it would make sense for someone to have a go at creating the inverse, making an Azumaga Daioh or Nichijou-esque sketch comedy series based around greentexts from the old basket-weaving forum. Starring a young woman with colours reflecting the appearance of Pepe the Frog, each sketch begins with the classic ">Be me" setup before delving into a bunch of off-the-wall topics, ranging from the more mundane, like attempting to impress a woman at the gym, to the far more out-there examples, such as being forced to complete a Saw trap by correctly placing a carrot on a snowman (whilst trying to fight back how funny the incorrect choice would be). 

All of these make use of highly-detailed 2000s-styled animation by a whole team of animators, as well as a Japanese voice cast to really give off the feeling of an anime that came out around the time of the site's golden age. This is one of the many examples of TV-quality animation available on the Otaku-Vs channel. Originally starting out making a few short but insightful video essays around anime and manga, they've since decided to branch out towards making a series of fun short episodes primarily starring the quirky and inept Otachan, as she goes through various misadventures whilst working to become a big-name YouTuber. She's even started appearing in a serialised anime on the channel fairly recently, and whilst its risque humour may be something better suited to more seasoned weebs than a casual western viewer, it still definitely has its charm and is worth a watch if you're interested in the idea of an independently-made anime, with all the unconventional and edgy humour associated with the online otaku community.

Originally starting out under the name of "Speedo Sausage" and uploading a series of short shitpost-y animations such as "Hey Homah" and "To Goof a Predator", Speedoru as he's now known, has recently been hard at work creating what can best be described as "the highest quality shitpost in history", creating a lampoon on various tropes in anime as well as the fandom and culture associated with it around the 90s/2000s, all while making use of both heavily varied animation with a small dosage of "stylistic suck". This gives it the feeling of a video typical of Speedoru's prior work, complete with western cartoon and golden-age Flash animation-styled humour, whilst at the same time being more expansive and engaging than anything that came before. The animation tells the tale of the young Gogo Matsumoto, who ventures to be the first human fighter to overcome the wrath of the demons who have held a tight grip on humanity for 200 years, by beating them in the Infinite Tournament, and though such a setting may be typical of the average shonen anime, this doesn't stop the series from offering a colourful and varied cast of characters who offer their own personality and brand of humour to the show, including Gogo's caring Mama, her hot-headed half-demon sister Nono, the tryhard ruler of the demons, Emperor Koro, and the completely live-action Emperor of Japan, whose stellar performance when congratulating Gogo is bound to be one for the ages.

The incredibly impressive animation was largely completed by one guy, Speedoru, which ultimately makes it all the more impressive, though the video overall is held up by a really dedicated team of voice actors, editors, background artists and composers to make the finished product as intriguing, impressive and, dare I say, soulful as it ultimately is. The video's description carries a lot of deep lore over the discovery of the tape the anime was featured on, with this format being built on further by including brief snippets of old commercials, and even an amatuer-ish fansub that a lot of weebs had to rely on back in the 90s. Though I'm not too sure on what the future holds for these characters, I would be interested in the idea of expanding on this in the future, especially since there are a few not-so-subtle implications towards Mama and Koro's past relationship, and it's likely that this kind of series would go the route of Sr. Pelo's "Spooky Month", and how it managed to expand on a simple concept not too divergent from the creator's original writing style, before becoming something much more expansive, though still sticking to the simple humour that made the concept and its creator popular in the first place.

The Amazing Digital Circus by comparison is another product by those who made it big doing small things, before branching out into more ambitious forms of content. The concept itself was the brainchild of one Gooseworx, creator of such iconic videos as "Little Runmo" and the early darkly-comedic analog horror short "Blue_Channel: Thalasin", showcasing her unique character designs, well-flowing rubberhose animation and an interesting blend of comedy and horror that are all present in great numbers in her most recent project. Such a project was also created with the assistance of Glitch Productions, headed by the two brothers Kevin and Luke Lerdwichagul, who rose to fame through their iconic YouTube series SMG4, something which I'm not personally familiar with, though I guess it's probably more something that would've interested me if I saw it as a younger man. Regardless, since then, they've certainly matured and grew extremely ambitious with their work, making a series of top-tier CG animated shows, initially starring their earlier characters such as "Meta Runner" and "Sunset Paradise", before hitting out of the park with the simultaneously cute and gritty "Murder Drones". But this next project is one that's arguably become the most successful one from the team to date, with its pilot episode gaining a whopping 210 million views at the time of writing, with even some of the other more successful animation pilots such as Lackadaisy and Hazbin Hotel paling in comparison, to the point that even the content farm animators are now cashing in on its success, which may have resulted in it becoming a bit over-saturated in public discussion.

But despite that, it's easy to see why so many people are talking about it. Exploring existentialism in a virtual world similarly to the likes of Little Runmo, The Amazing Digital Circus tells the tale of a jester woman only known as Pomni, as she gets trapped in a new reality, searching for an exit before ultimately succumbing to her circumstances. Such a story is told through an initial setup of a fun game of Gloink hunting by the unhinged ringleader Caine, during which we learn about the make-up of this world, and the consequences of attempting to find a way out of it, as seen through the disturbing glitched-out state of  Kaufmo, whose fate is likely shared by many other characters we don't see, if the background details are anything to go by. Speaking of characters, each one of them carries their own unique personality and an appearance reflective of said-personality, whilst also holding a feeling of insanity bubbling underneath them, though keeping it together enough to avoid "abstraction", in spite of the futility of their situation. This futility is further expanded upon through the unease created by the environments and worlds explored throughout the episode, including the strangely laid-out circus itself, the realistic-looking endless office, which offered Pomni a sense of false hope for an exit, and the broad and featureless void, whose later appearance also offered a nice nod to the ending of 2001: A Space Odyssey, to demonstrate how incomprehensible its overall scope is. Though besides that, the writing also doesn't try to take itself too seriously and balances itself out through the use of Gooseworx-ian dark humour, as well as incredibly bouncy and fluid animation created by a dedicated team headed by Kevin Temmer, a popular YouTube animator in his own right.

The Amazing Digital Circus, alongside Punch Punch Forever, are among the many amazing examples of independent animation being showcased through places such as YouTube today, with them, alongside several other projects such as "Long Gone Gultch", "Helluva Boss" (despite its more contentious following) and "Big Top Burger", leading the way in what could be described as a Golden Age in online animation (or at least a renaissance if we count the early days of Flash animation), at a time when mainstream content, particularly from Hollywood circles, appears to be drying up in creativity. In that case, whilst it may be fun to point and laugh at big studios failing at making anything that can really interest the general public, and going into freefall as a result, I feel it would be a bit more constructive to also take time out and put a spotlight on various different alternative forms of media that are succeeding in independent spheres, something that I might try myself if I find something worth shouting about. That way, we can offer even more support to these small dedicated teams, vote with our wallets through donating and getting the merch, encourage bigger studios to listen to this hype and change course, and most importantly, remind others that they can work to create their own hit new IPs too.

This last choice is probably more of an honourable mention, as it didn't really come out in the past year, or the year before then, but rather fifteen whole years ago. So yeah; a bit late to the party, but what can you do? Still, that doesn't take from the value of the message offered by the video, which presents the wise words of legendary animator Ralph Bakshi, who five decades ago revolutionised the western animation industry and took it in a far more exciting and edgier direction, in spite of all the industry veterans and elitists telling him how he doesn't have the leadership, the manpower or the money that Disney has, and therefore could never stand out as a result. Nevertheless, he continued to work on his films with a small but dedicated team of animators, creating some of the most revolutionary works in animation whilst the mainstream industry faltered, the old veterans died off, and most other studios distanced themselves from the cinema in favour of cheaper and far less-stellar television animation. Such a situation in the industry could very much apply to when the video was recorded, and in many ways can also apply to how it is today, but the main difference that Bakshi highlights is that nowadays, there are far more resources readily available to the average animator compared to the days when everything was done by hand, and often required large teams to get decent results in a reasonable amount of time. Through his speech, it almost appears to frustrate him when he considers how very few animators have taken this opportunity to make something that competes with the bigwigs.

It's pretty obvious that we have a lot of technology and computer programmes immediately available for us to achieve things far more quickly and easily, with Toon Boom, Adobe Animate and even free open-source options like Krita coming to mind for animation software, and this is in addition to art programmes like Autodesk Sketchbook, Clip Studio Paint and ProCreate, and game development software like Blender and Godot (we don't talk about Unity). The options are endless, and they're all available at a reasonable price (for the most part), so in that sense, there's really nothing stopping someone from getting their friends together, or for some guys online to create something they're passionate about, and then share their work with the world. Of course, it takes time and a lot of hard work, and like Bakshi says, such a lifestyle can lead you to "eat crap for a year" but after that, if your idea is interesting enough, and you make enough of a scene in the wide field of the online ecosystem, then you'll be able to get rich and make yourself a big name against the old guard. It may not be as polished as Disney or Warner Bros. or any of the other major labels, but neither was Bakshi's work, as he said himself; it was just different enough, it broke new ground, and now it's fondly remembered by film buffs and animation nerds even half a century later, with many of his productions serving as both a launchpad and a source of inspiration for those in the industry during both the famed Animation Renaissance, and the many years following it.

In the comment section of the video, you'll notice people who are now major figures on YouTube such as RubberRoss and Harry Partridge voicing their support and inspiration from Bakshi's words, and by sharing it through this post, I hope a whole new generation can get inspired to create their own imaginative and innovative works, either on YouTube or anywhere else, and though it takes a lot of time, dedication and possibly a fair bit of assistance to get done, which runs largely counter to the algorithm's focus on getting a bunch of videos out as quickly as possible, in this case, I'll just say "screw the algorithm!". A lot of the people featured within this list don't upload particularly frequently, or at the very least have no set schedules, but that's largely because of how long it takes to make a video of their calibre, especially on your own or with a very small group. But once it's there, then they'll be at least one person out there who can tell their friends about your work, or you could shill it yourself if you feel it's worth it. If it works, then any accusations of you being cringe would pass by, and you may be the next big thing on YouTube. So go ahead, build on an idea your passionate about and share it with the rest of the world! Besides, what's the point of a place as open as the internet if only the Late Night Jimmy's get all the attention?