2021 Plans

Happy New Year, hello and welcome to everyone who’s joined the Patreon since the last video! I hope you all had a great holiday season and are looking forward to what is hopefully a much better year than 2020.

First off, I wanted to thank you all one last time for your support throughout my last project! How Higurashi Scares Us was by leaps and bounds the best on-release reception any of my videos has ever had—it’s already one of the most-viewed videos on my whole channel! I was actually pretty nervous about it as I talk about so many subjects of such gravity in that video, but I needn’t have been. The comments have been overwhelmingly kind—and I really do mean overwhelmingly. It made me extremely emotional to see the video resonate with so many people so deeply. It was a great way to end a very hard year.

Moving into the present, for me 2021 is going to be dominated by my studies as I don’t finish my Master’s degree until November. The good news is that for the time being I’m able to dedicate the bulk of my time not spent studying to YouTube. Between Patreon and the money I’ve been getting from the ads on my videos, I’m, incredibly, actually making enough off of this gig to call it a small part-time job. I think it goes without saying that I started my channel purely out of passion, so as much of a cliche as it is, the fact that I’m able to in part support myself financially through doing something I love is hard to believe, and I’m extremely humbled by and grateful for it every day.

So, logistics: last year, I more or less managed a video every month. That won’t be realistic this time around—moreso because I value my health than because I don’t love pouring every spare second into making things. I think allocating myself two months for each project will give me the mental space needed to focus on my studies and not feel like I have to rush or panic about the progress of my next upload. I expect I’ll more often than not be able to finish videos in a shorter amount of time, but it will be much less stressful for me to know I can take longer if needed. My release schedule will be considerably more erratic as a result, but I’ll give you my best shot at an ETA as I commence each project.

Now for the fun bit! What videos do I have in mind for the year? First off, as always, there will be a mixture of shorter and longer projects. Secondly, as is, I’m very devoted to an analytical approach and have stayed away from series that don’t lend themselves to this kind of discussion, including some of my favourites. I’ve been perhaps overly scared of making videos that don’t have enough “substance”. But I can’t keep churning out 30+ minute videos back to back, not just because I’d collapse, but because I really would run out of series that demand this kind of analysis, and deny others equally worthy of being talked about a spot on my channel. I certainly don’t believe there’s only one way to talk about media. Thus, this year, alongside my typical content where I look more in-depth at a series’ directing, characters and themes, I’m planning to intersperse some likely shorter and somewhat more free-flowing reflective pieces. These videos will put how the work in question impacted me and what my personal experience with it was centre stage. I’m hoping that they’ll become a space for doing something a little more experimental and artistic, especially if I can ever get my hands on a better laptop and editing software! I'm going to be posting the poll for my first video of the year directly following this, and all three of the options fall broadly into this category.

As far as covering individual series goes, I’m going to be rewatching both old favourites and series I haven’t yet seen throughout the year, so at least one or two videos are likely to spring spontaneously from this. Some favourite anime of mine that I already know are more likely than not to get a video this year, though, are Shiki and March Comes in Like a Lion. Psycho-Pass is another series I haven’t yet seen and know I’ll probably want to cover. I’m saving that one for somewhere towards the end of my course in hopes that I can use some of what I’ve learned during my studies in discussing it.

As always, there will also be When They Cry videos a-plenty this year. After I’ve made my video on whatever wins the poll, I’ll be making a guide to the bonus Higurashi arcs that can be found throughout the original VN, anime, manga, console versions of the game and more. This will likely be a mixture of mini-reviews along with recommendations as to why and when you might want to read any of these arcs—there’s a whole lot of them, including some real hidden gems, and I’m often asked all kinds of questions about them.

I’ve also been planning to make a video on Saikoroshi for some time. It was going to discuss the themes of the arc more broadly but also how it concludes Rika’s character arc and the series as a whole more completely than Matsuribayashi. Now that we have Gou, I’ve decided to put this video on hold indefinitely. Once the show has concluded, I’ll review this idea and decide whether I want to go ahead with it and/or make something different depending on what Gou introduces into the Higurashi canon. More on all that later in the year!

Note, however, that I said videos on When They Cry. I have no intention of dragging out the Higurashi videos beyond ideas that I genuinely feel are worthwhile, even if they bring in most of my traffic, and I would warn that I won’t be releasing videos on it forever. Rather, one of the questions I get asked the most has to be whether I will ever make videos on Umineko. And the answer is yes! Just as I did with Higurashi, I have essays on Umineko I’ve wanted to write since before I ever made my channel—a bare minimum of three that are all likely to be pretty lengthy. The barrier here is that I haven’t read Umineko in many years, and it’s a hefty endeavour even when you’re not taking detailed notes throughout. It is, nonetheless, an endeavour I plan to undertake at some point this year. It’s unlikely to happen this side of the summer, but my major YouTube goal for 2021 is to have re-read Umineko and begun making videos on it by the end of the year. It’s something I really want to get around to, so I need to bite the bullet and just carve out the time as best I can. If all goes to plan, I’ll likely be polling you guys on which of those videos to make first later in the year, so I’ll save those ideas for then—more likely than not, the list will change and expand when I actually get around to the re-read anyway. All in all, the WTC fans amongst you will be glad to know I’ll be continuing to make videos on the series throughout 2021 and beyond.

This is already plenty to be getting on with, so I can’t say it’s likely I’ll get to either of these projects this year, but nonetheless, there are two more I have in mind: a replay of one of my favourite series, Ace Attorney, and a possible video or three on that, and a video on my favourite seiyuu, Satsuki Yukino, exploring her many roles (Mion and Shion from Higurashi, Kaname from Full Metal Panic! and Magase from Babylon just to name those that have already featured on my channel!) and how she conveys characterisation through her acting. The barrier for that one is the amount of her major works I still need to watch, but I've made a start!

Last but not least, I’ve just added a new goal to the Patreon: when I reach £250 a month, I’ll cover a series (probablyonecourIdon’tthinkI’mreadyforEvangelionyet) or movie chosen by you guys! Maybe even a short VN if anyone wants to suggest one of those. This would entail me making a post where anyone on here can suggest a work they’d like to see me cover. Following this, I’ll stick all the replies in a poll that will again be available to all patrons and hopefully one work will come out with a majority vote. I’ll iron out the details when we reach the goal.

As I hope you’ll all agree, there’s lots to be looking forward to on the channel/Patreon this year--I’m definitely excited. So, without further ado, it’s time for you guys to choose what video we’ll be kicking off the year with! I'll be making the poll post right after this. I’m really excited and interested to see which of the options you guys pick, and to hear your thoughts on everything I’ve spoken about in this post more generally. Your opinions will be a guiding force in everything I do this year and I always look forward to your input. Thanks as always for your time, take care, and I’ll be back very soon with your choice for how we’re going to welcome in the new year. Let’s make it a great one!