There's a chap on YouTube. I think he's Dutch, if I remember rightly. (Checked. He is.) Continental European, anyway. He goes by the name Yanagi19871. And I don't mind admitting that his videos have helped me through some dark times by bringing a smile to my face every time I see them.
What is Yanagi's specialism? He must be a brilliant analytical critic, exploring underappreciated games on obsolete and forgotten platforms and giving them the love and attention they deserve, surely? That's what Pete must be into.
No. Yanagi burps really loud.
I don't remember exactly how I stumbled across Yanagi in the first place. It's entirely possible that I was specifically searching for videos of people burping, and he was, for several years, the leading player in the "burping really loud on YouTube" space. He somehow manages to achieve this without being disgusting about it, because for the most part he doesn't combine his incredible emissions with things like, say, chugging gallons of a drink at a time or whatever — though he has satirised a couple of notorious "challenges" from a few years back, such as the 2 Litre Diet Coke No Burp Challenge, which went about as well as you might expect.
Yanagi's bio on YouTube reads "although burping is considered rude in many cultures, I find it amusing and noticed there are a lot of people out there that also can appreciate my talent", and I have to respect that. The man found a thing that he was good at, and he made the most of it. He even appeared on a couple of television programmes around the world at one point.
You'll notice that I'm using the past tense when describing him, though, and that's because a few years back, he just… stopped. I don't think he's dead — at least I hope he isn't — but from looking at a few scattered comments here and there, it seems like he felt unable to continue going about his usual business, much of which involved belching thunderously in public places, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and the subsequent mess that made of the world, and he's just never picked things up again since.
Ultimately, I guess one could argue that this doesn't really matter, that a guy who gained a small amount of notoriety by being able to burp really loud almost entirely at will probably only really deserves fifteen minutes of fame at most. But I have to admit that I came to genuinely like Yanagi. He always came across as a thoroughly affable individual, despite his occasionally antisocial belching behaviour, and one gets the impression that he would be a lot of fun to hang around with.
But I guess the age of Yanagi is over, and he's gone on to do something else with his life. I wish him luck, good health and good fortune with whatever he is up to now, because even though he's stopped making new burp videos on YouTube, his existing ones still always make me laugh to the point of crying on a fairly regular basis. And in this fucked up world we live in, anything that can do that is something which should be treasured.
I don't mind admitting at all that, at the age of 43 and a bit, I still find burping and farting absolutely hilarious — always have done. Flatulence and related expulsions were part of my familial culture growing up, and so I guess a hearty belch or a deep, sonorous fart is one of those things that reminds me of simpler times that feel increasingly distant with every passing day.
I salute you, Yanagi. You were a master of your craft, and I'll be in the front row if you ever decide to make a comeBURRRRRRRRRRRRP.
Want to read my thoughts on various video games, visual novels and other popular culture things? Stop by MoeGamer.net, my site for all things fun where I am generally a lot more cheerful. And if you fancy watching some vids on classic games, drop by my YouTube channel.
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