I personally like the format of tier lists but, as you stated, your recent ones haven’t gained much traction. If, however, you would be interested in doing some more tier lists, then I’d like to recommend some Japanese literature that I enjoy greatly. Penguin has published two anthologies of Japanese short stories called: - Rashomon and other short stories by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa - This collection includes his early traditional Japanese story adaptations and his later more modernist (semi?)autobiographical works - The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories - This volume collects the works of many Japanese authors new and old of varying length, style and topic. I also adore Jorge Louis Borges’ short story anthology “Ficciones”, which I think would work very well for a tier list Also at some point I want to read “The Tale of Genji” and the works of Natsume Soseki, Osamu Dazai and Kobo Abe. These may be good topics for video essays or introductions? Also, in the introduction to the Penguin book of Japanese short stories, Haruki Murakami mentions that he has a distaste for the movement in 20th century Japanese fiction of “I novel” as characterised by authors like Yukio Mishima (whose style I personally love (said having read only one novel and one short story by him), despite disagreeing with his ideas). Personally, it seems to me that the “I novel” is a distinctly Japanese flavour of literature and perhaps a look into its history and style would be worthy of a video essay? (I can imagine a clickbait title working perfectly with this lol) Just a couple of things I’m interested in, but ultimately I think you should make videos about what excites you the most! Sorry for the long ramble, I’m rather tired. Congrats on your milestone btw 🎉🎉🎉
Thanks for this! A tier list for short stories is actually a really good idea, although I can't claim to be well-read in shorter fiction. Soseki/Dazai/Abe are good ideas, although I haven't read them since college. I do think that Japanese fiction will be the future of my channel, since that's what people seem to gravitate towards. Thanks again for the support!
hey! i discovered your channel from the murakami tier list video (which also led me to checking out mishima), and firstly i just want to say that your taste is pretty spot on with what i like, so i appreciate any suggestion of yours overall. but i must say that translated stories are far more intriguing than regular fiction that’s being pumped out rapidly in the west. i’m more biased towards japanese literature, but anything can work :) and maybe one thing that you can try (if it interests you of course) is character analysis/video essay videos if you want to extend some content on certain books you favor. personally, i’m drawn to those videos. lastly, do whatever you like! i know you’d like your audience to grow but sometimes it’s not good to please everyone’s demands. your originality is already special so keep it up!
Thanks for the comment! Recently I have been trying to review more translated work, but I think you're right that Japanese classics is probably where I should go.
Wow I think I actually may have been the 500th subscriber. I came here because of the tier list videos, but sad to see they aren't doing well. BUT I do think you are on the right track with the pivot towards Asian lit content, that might be interesting. There's a podcast called Books and Boba, which may be some source of inspiration. Most of the big booktubers stick within a specific genre of literature, so I think Asian lit is a unique one that we haven't seen much of. The only thing I highly advise recommend AGAINST is the reading vlogs. It's oversaturated Booktube and I never watch them because they're always so same-y. I prefer book recommendations if anything. I think talking about specific tropes in literature, perhaps on representation or how Asians are treated in media, would be an interesting idea. Perhaps how real world events are portrayed in literature from different perspectives. Maybe a deep dive into your favorite Asian authors' lives, tropes, styles, etc. (Murakami and Mishima both lived an interesting life that's for sure). Perhaps some community content in the future (once you amass a larger following), such as the classic "hot takes" from your fans or bookshelf roasting/praising. Or to stay with weekly output, consider doing a news round-up of literature news (I just really don't want to see reading vlogs lol) Also I bet you hate to hear this but being in Columbia med school is impressive, especially with a background in the humanities - something that is sort of rare in the field. Such a unique perspective, and to pursue an MFA as well. That's seriously awesome. Rambling but I"m exciting about seeing a smaller channel becoming up and coming, I really enjoyed your tier list videos but if that has to come to an end for more views, so be it. I am sensing a Ghibli tier list soon :)
also emulating one of the bigger Booktubers on the site Daniel Greene and Merphy Napier, they both are doing One Piece reviews (currently the highest selling manga ever) and they said those are racking up views and bringing many people to their channel. I don't watch the reviews bc I have yet to read manga, BUT I feel like if you want to chase the wave, then do it.
Thank you this is super helpful and I'm overwhelmed by the support I'm getting with this video. You're totally right that Asian lit content is probably my niche, and I'll probably continue making tier list videos but within that subject area. I'll definitely be using some of your ideas!
Hey man, I’ve been watching you for a while now and love all your content, even the videos where I’m not the key demographic are very well made and very informative. I will say I’m very picky on what booktubers I subscribe to because there is such a vast selection. The main content that you as well as other booktubers that I subscribe to have successfully earned my subscription with, is that revolving around translated classics. Anything with Asian, Latin American, and Russian classics in particular seem to garner my interest. There is such a heavy influx of TH-camrs that focus on the most famous or popular books in America and Europe and as a result we see a thousand different videos dedicated to Jane Austin, Charles Dickens, and Stephen King, so much so that they get lost in the shuffle. But translated literature, mainly classics, is much more unique, interesting, and captivating for those of us seeking to broaden our perspective in terms of culture and media.
Thank you so much Elijah for this comment, and also thanks for watching! I think you're right that translated classics would be a good niche to explore, especially considering how popular Better Than Food is. Since I have a relatively strong background in Japanese classics, that's probably where I'll go next!
I've just discovered your channel and I'm really liking it, plus I think you are so damn cute (in a respectful way lol). I personally enjoy the video essays and I would love to see one about confessions of a mask similar to the one you did about Virginia Wolf, I'm just interested on knowing your opinion of that book in depth because it's my first Mishami book and it's quite controversial.
Thank you for watching! That's an interesting idea, I've been thinking about re-reading Confessions for a while now and if there's interest I'd love to talk about it.
You are great inspiration to me. I am impressed by your intellectual and artistic capacity as well as your reading habits.
Thank you, I appreciate your kind words!
I personally like the format of tier lists but, as you stated, your recent ones haven’t gained much traction. If, however, you would be interested in doing some more tier lists, then I’d like to recommend some Japanese literature that I enjoy greatly.
Penguin has published two anthologies of Japanese short stories called:
- Rashomon and other short stories by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
- This collection includes his early traditional Japanese story adaptations and his later more modernist (semi?)autobiographical works
- The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories
- This volume collects the works of many Japanese authors new and old of varying length, style and topic.
I also adore Jorge Louis Borges’ short story anthology “Ficciones”, which I think would work very well for a tier list
Also at some point I want to read “The Tale of Genji” and the works of Natsume Soseki, Osamu Dazai and Kobo Abe. These may be good topics for video essays or introductions?
Also, in the introduction to the Penguin book of Japanese short stories, Haruki Murakami mentions that he has a distaste for the movement in 20th century Japanese fiction of “I novel” as characterised by authors like Yukio Mishima (whose style I personally love (said having read only one novel and one short story by him), despite disagreeing with his ideas).
Personally, it seems to me that the “I novel” is a distinctly Japanese flavour of literature and perhaps a look into its history and style would be worthy of a video essay? (I can imagine a clickbait title working perfectly with this lol)
Just a couple of things I’m interested in, but ultimately I think you should make videos about what excites you the most!
Sorry for the long ramble, I’m rather tired.
Congrats on your milestone btw 🎉🎉🎉
Thanks for this! A tier list for short stories is actually a really good idea, although I can't claim to be well-read in shorter fiction. Soseki/Dazai/Abe are good ideas, although I haven't read them since college. I do think that Japanese fiction will be the future of my channel, since that's what people seem to gravitate towards. Thanks again for the support!
hey! i discovered your channel from the murakami tier list video (which also led me to checking out mishima), and firstly i just want to say that your taste is pretty spot on with what i like, so i appreciate any suggestion of yours overall. but i must say that translated stories are far more intriguing than regular fiction that’s being pumped out rapidly in the west. i’m more biased towards japanese literature, but anything can work :)
and maybe one thing that you can try (if it interests you of course) is character analysis/video essay videos if you want to extend some content on certain books you favor. personally, i’m drawn to those videos.
lastly, do whatever you like! i know you’d like your audience to grow but sometimes it’s not good to please everyone’s demands. your originality is already special so keep it up!
Thanks for the comment! Recently I have been trying to review more translated work, but I think you're right that Japanese classics is probably where I should go.
Wow I think I actually may have been the 500th subscriber. I came here because of the tier list videos, but sad to see they aren't doing well. BUT I do think you are on the right track with the pivot towards Asian lit content, that might be interesting. There's a podcast called Books and Boba, which may be some source of inspiration. Most of the big booktubers stick within a specific genre of literature, so I think Asian lit is a unique one that we haven't seen much of.
The only thing I highly advise recommend AGAINST is the reading vlogs. It's oversaturated Booktube and I never watch them because they're always so same-y. I prefer book recommendations if anything.
I think talking about specific tropes in literature, perhaps on representation or how Asians are treated in media, would be an interesting idea. Perhaps how real world events are portrayed in literature from different perspectives. Maybe a deep dive into your favorite Asian authors' lives, tropes, styles, etc. (Murakami and Mishima both lived an interesting life that's for sure).
Perhaps some community content in the future (once you amass a larger following), such as the classic "hot takes" from your fans or bookshelf roasting/praising. Or to stay with weekly output, consider doing a news round-up of literature news (I just really don't want to see reading vlogs lol)
Also I bet you hate to hear this but being in Columbia med school is impressive, especially with a background in the humanities - something that is sort of rare in the field. Such a unique perspective, and to pursue an MFA as well. That's seriously awesome.
Rambling but I"m exciting about seeing a smaller channel becoming up and coming, I really enjoyed your tier list videos but if that has to come to an end for more views, so be it.
I am sensing a Ghibli tier list soon :)
also emulating one of the bigger Booktubers on the site Daniel Greene and Merphy Napier, they both are doing One Piece reviews (currently the highest selling manga ever) and they said those are racking up views and bringing many people to their channel.
I don't watch the reviews bc I have yet to read manga, BUT I feel like if you want to chase the wave, then do it.
Thank you this is super helpful and I'm overwhelmed by the support I'm getting with this video. You're totally right that Asian lit content is probably my niche, and I'll probably continue making tier list videos but within that subject area. I'll definitely be using some of your ideas!
Hey man, I’ve been watching you for a while now and love all your content, even the videos where I’m not the key demographic are very well made and very informative. I will say I’m very picky on what booktubers I subscribe to because there is such a vast selection. The main content that you as well as other booktubers that I subscribe to have successfully earned my subscription with, is that revolving around translated classics. Anything with Asian, Latin American, and Russian classics in particular seem to garner my interest. There is such a heavy influx of TH-camrs that focus on the most famous or popular books in America and Europe and as a result we see a thousand different videos dedicated to Jane Austin, Charles Dickens, and Stephen King, so much so that they get lost in the shuffle. But translated literature, mainly classics, is much more unique, interesting, and captivating for those of us seeking to broaden our perspective in terms of culture and media.
Thank you so much Elijah for this comment, and also thanks for watching! I think you're right that translated classics would be a good niche to explore, especially considering how popular Better Than Food is. Since I have a relatively strong background in Japanese classics, that's probably where I'll go next!
I've just discovered your channel and I'm really liking it, plus I think you are so damn cute (in a respectful way lol). I personally enjoy the video essays and I would love to see one about confessions of a mask similar to the one you did about Virginia Wolf, I'm just interested on knowing your opinion of that book in depth because it's my first Mishami book and it's quite controversial.
Thank you for watching! That's an interesting idea, I've been thinking about re-reading Confessions for a while now and if there's interest I'd love to talk about it.