Oga Vambi~ to Those Battling an Inferiority Complex
*This blog is originally written in Japanese and translated using ChatGPT. For my friend who knows Japanese, please read the original:
This time, I tried writing about something timely.
It might be a completely unfamiliar topic for my friends, but personally, it was really shocking to me. So, I hope I can write it in an easy-to-understand manner and make it an interesting story for everyone.
Beginning
I saw this news on August 5th while I was having dinner with my family. As I was scrolling through Twitter, I came across a tweet that caught my eye. It was a tweet by a YouTuber named Vambi, where he posted a letter claiming that he had reached 10 million subscribers, becoming the fastest in Japan to achieve this milestone.
I have been a heavy YouTube user for a long time, often spending four hours a day watching Japanese YouTube content. Of course, I was familiar with Vambi even before this. Initially, I thought, "Has this person gone crazy and said something strange again?" But as I took a closer look, it turned out that reaching 10 million subscribers was indeed true.
For those who are unfamiliar, Hikakin, the most famous YouTuber in Japan, has 11.6 million subscribers (as of August 2023) on his main channel, and it took him 10 years to achieve that milestone. Reaching 10 million subscribers is an extremely difficult feat in the Japanese YouTube community, and when someone achieves it, it becomes big news and a cause for celebration among YouTube fans.
So, why didn't I understand or even believe that a Japanese YouTuber had surpassed 10 million subscribers this time? There was an intriguing story hidden among all of this.
The Man Called Vambi
From now on, I would like to introduce the story of Vambi up until now, from the perspective of a YouTube viewer for those who are not familiar with Japanese YouTube. The first time I became aware of Vambi was when he was a solo YouTuber, posting trendy content. I occasionally watched his cooking videos because he had a cool appearance, but I didn't subscribe to his channel at that time.
Then, one summer, he formed a limited-time collaboration with a female YouTuber named Yunchan, and they started posting videos together. At that time, there were few male-female YouTuber duos, and both of them were good-looking, making their video thumbnails visually appealing. The interactions between the two, who were not in a romantic relationship, excited their fans. They quickly became popular YouTubers. I often came across their content during that time and eventually subscribed to their channel.
Their popularity continued, but more and more new YouTubers emerged, causing VamYun's channel to struggle. Despite trying to increase subscribers with comedy videos and catchy thumbnails, they couldn't keep up with the momentum of the new YouTubers, and the views on their videos decreased.
Then, in December 2022, due to a certain incident, VamYun went on hiatus. It happened when Vambi made a live stream announcement that if their channel reached 2.5 million subscribers, they would get married without informing Yunchan beforehand. However, they didn't achieve the 2.5 million mark, and Vambi faced heavy criticism from viewers for lacking consideration towards Yunchan and making her feel sorry. Vambi apologized and subsequently went on a hiatus.
Since then, I had the impression that Vambi was a disappointing YouTuber, but even more unfortunate events unfolded. This year, Yunchan announced her marriage to a popular Japanese YouTuber named Silk Road, who had 8 million subscribers. In contrast, Vambi's popularity declined, and he tried to gather a young audience with comedy videos. Furthermore, on July 30th, Yunchan announced her pregnancy. The contrast was too cruel, and Vambi started being called the most miserable man in Japan on the internet.
However, on August 5th, everything suddenly changed.
The Comeback of the Most Miserable Man in Japan
On August 5th, a video was uploaded that caused a sensation in the Japanese YouTube community. In that video, Vambi revealed that he had started a channel called "spider-maaaaaaan / スパイダーメーン" and reached 10 million subscribers in just 374 days. "Spider-maaaaaaan / スパイダーメーン" is a channel targeted at overseas audiences and mostly consists of vertical videos similar to TikTok. Vambi wore a mask for a whole year and continuously created viral videos without relying on his existing fame, eventually surpassing 10 million subscribers as the fastest Japanese YouTuber to do so.
As an ordinary viewer who understood how difficult it is to reach 10 million subscribers, I couldn't hide my astonishment. Because I had been following Vambi's journey, I never dreamed that he would achieve such a great accomplishment. After the initial shock, Vambi went from being the most miserable man in Japan to the coolest man in Japan in my eyes.
Until now, the only YouTuber who had moved my heart was DJ Shacho from "Represent Earth," but from this day on, there are two.
The Lingering Sense of Inferiority
In the video, Vambi talked about why he ran a channel targeting overseas viewers and reached 10 million subscribers. The first reason was that he felt frustrated that the top rankings of Japanese YouTube subscribers in recent years had been dominated by vertical video creators who entered from TikTok. I shared the same feeling. While watching horizontal videos from Japan and seeing the visible improvement in quality, I couldn't accept the fact that the TikTokers achieved first and second place in Japanese YouTube subscriber ranking by posting exaggerated expressions or imitating foreign content in vertical videos, surpassing Japanese YouTubers who had been working hard to create interesting videos. Of course, it's strange to compare different categories, but numbers are numbers, and facts cannot be changed. He wanted to reclaim that top position among Japanese YouTubers, so he started creating videos targeting overseas viewers.
The second reason was that he always claimed to dislike himself. It was because he lived with a sense of inferiority. By accomplishing this challenge, he was able to start liking himself again.
To Those Who Battle Inferiority Complex
I watched Vambi's videos and saw myself reflected in them. I have always had a lingering sense of inferiority compared to others. I'm still searching for how to confront that sense of inferiority, and sometimes I get crushed and feel down because of it. Nevertheless, I manage to hold onto my mental strength by a narrow margin and keep living every day.
However, Vambi used his sense of inferiority as a weapon and proved that he could become the top in Japan. I thought it must have felt good for him to finally talk about something he had been hiding on others YouTube channels. He had suffered such wounds, been ridiculed by everyone, and had silently worked hard. And he achieved concrete results in terms of numbers. There's no other way to put it: he's cool. The coolest in the world.
Analyzing the Reasons for Vambi's Success
I want to experience this feeling that Vambi has achieved someday. I want to feel that exhilaration once in my life.
So, I tried to analyze the reasons for his success in a simplified way. My knowledge is limited, so I don't know the deeper aspects, but I thought these three reasons were significant:
1. Having tremendous determination
He had experienced a huge failure and was called the most miserable man in Japan on the internet. He said that his motivation for this challenge was not to prove those people wrong, but honestly, I think imagining everyone's reaction if he succeeded was a significant motivation for him. Personally, I think Yunchan choosing someone with a much higher number of subscribers than himself, Silk Road, also ignited Vambi's fighting spirit as a man.
Only the person himself knows the truth, but it was precisely because he was in such a difficult situation that an ordinary person couldn't easily experience that his determination became incredibly strong. After all, without this determination, I can't imagine him creating numerous videos every day without taking a break and continuing to post videos even when he was injured.
2. Not just his own fight, but the fight of all Japanese YouTubers
In the first reason he mentioned in his video, he was unhappy that Japanese YouTubers had lost to vertical video creators. He took on this challenge with a sense of mission, not just for himself but also for his fellow creators who had been working hard with horizontal videos until then, and for the YouTubers he respected. If it were only for himself, he might easily lose sight of his original intentions during difficult times and forget the reasons to keep going. But when it's for his comrades, that feeling becomes many times heavier, and he was able to continue the challenge without giving up.
3. Having a clear goal
His goal was clear: to become the number one YouTuber in Japan. Moreover, since it was quantified in terms of subscriber count, the goal was easier to understand. With these two strong determinations, he was able to focus all his energy in one direction.
Conclusion
After analyzing the reasons for Vambi's success, I still believe that even if I have a similar sense of inferiority, I cannot achieve success in the same way as him. Of course, everyone has their own way of fighting, but Vambi demonstrated an epic comeback. Even with a sense of inferiority, I realized that I could achieve so much success and experience such a refreshing feeling. Watching Vambi, I felt hope and strength welling up within me again.
So, I want to say one thing: Vambi, thank you for giving us hope.
Even though it may be difficult to live with a sense of inferiority from now on, I will remember what Vambi has proven and continue to work hard alongside everyone, aiming for success.
I finished writing! I feel like it's the longest blog I've ever written. At first, I tried writing in a narrative style, but I'm still not used to it. Japanese is difficult. 😭
And this week, the birthday week has passed and we've returned to peaceful days.
It was fun to visit my friend's house and have a girls' gathering. Let's do it again sometime. 🫶
And there were also some off days when I felt down all day. Well, that's the true nature of everyday life, right? Unlike those who post sparkling photos on Instagram every day, I want to share that real life can be both enjoyable and challenging.
Well, that's it for this week! I apologize in advance if I'm busy and have to cut corners next week.
See you next week~
Reference: ”いつも応援してくれてる皆様へ” https://twitter.com/the_Vambi/status/1687771623385190400?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
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