A circle of friends connected by goof-touch! The “FIST BUMP” corner of the radio program “GRAND MARQUEE” features people who live and enjoy Tokyo in a relay format.
On May 29, director and YouTuber Ricchan of “Funny Corporation Kayak” will appear. We asked him about the reason why he started his YouTube channel “Bonbon TV,” which has over 2 million subscribers, why he was able to increase the number of subscribers, what he does at “Kayak Funny Corporation,” and his recommended events in Zushi.
INDEX
How the YouTube channel “Bonbon TV” grew to over 2 million subscribers
Celeina (MC): Let me start with a brief profile: In 2016, after graduating from Waseda University, I joined UUUM Corporation. You were also in charge of planning, filming, and editing while appearing on Kodansha and UUUM’s YouTube channel “Bonbon TV,” which had about 100,000 subscribers at the time. In about a year and a half, the channel grew to 1 million subscribers, and by 2020, it had grown to 2 million subscribers. In 2021, he joined “Kayac Entertainment” as a director based on his experience at YouTube.
Takano (MC): So, we have a Kayak connection.
Ricchan: That’s right. Thank you so much. Mr. Basti.
Takano: I am called “Mr. Basti,” with only the “Basti” in the middle of “Sebastian” being extracted. Kayakers have a culture of calling people by their nicknames.
Celeina: What do they call you, Ricchan?
Ricchan: I am Rikchan.
Celeina: I see (laughs).
Takano: I was surprised when Ricchan joined the company. Ricchan from that “Bonbon TV”! I was like, “Oh my God, Ricchan!
Ricchan: No, no, no… (laughs).
Celeina: What made you decide to start YouTube in the first place?
Ricchan: When I was in college, a friend told me about YouTuber Hajime Chacho’s YouTube channel. I also thought that if I worked hard on YouTube, I could make friends with fun people like that.
Takano: In a lighthearted way.
Ricchan: That’s right.
Celeina: So you decided to do YouTube and joined BonBon TV.
Ricchan: Yes, I did.
Celeina: What do you do on Bonbon TV?
Ricchan: We do some common challenge projects such as tag games, and short dramas of about 10 minutes. Our main target audience is elementary school students, so we do a lot of projects to keep the child in mind.
Celeina: So, most of the viewers are elementary school students, right?
Ricchan: Probably 70 to 80% of the viewers are elementary school students.
Takano: The members all seem to be having a good time.
Ricchan: That’s right. The members get along well with each other. It’s like we are having a good time together, and we want everyone to see us having fun.
Celeina: As I mentioned in my profile, you have been increasing the number of subscribers to your channel at a very fast rate. I would like to ask you how to increase the number of subscribers to your channel (laughs).
Ricchan: I think I probably started around 2015 or 2016, so the timing was great, and also the people I worked with were really good friends and we got along well.
Takano: I see. You can feel the good vibes.
Ricchan: That’s right. If I am not having fun, the audience will not be able to have fun either. I always try to enjoy myself.
Celeina: With the increase of social networking sites, we are being viewed from various perspectives. When you are in such a position, is it important to convey your true feelings of enjoying yourself in a realistic way?
Ricchan: Yes, I think so.
Takano: Look at Ricchan’s fashion today. That’s the kind of mindset that makes you enjoy yourself even on rainy days.
Ricchan: Yes, that’s right.
Takano: By the way, are there any other interesting projects in the program besides tag?
Ricchan: In the past, we used to make slime. We also used to do things like cardboard crafts. We made a vending machine out of cardboard, or a typical house. I also used to play with gakacha-gacha. I made so many GACHA-GACHA that I even sold them as merchandise. Like cardboard Gacha-gacha kits.
Celeina: I would love to have one. I want to be the parent who buys it.
Takano: On the parents’ side (laughs).
