Animanga 2019: Our Interview with Noble of Lost Pause
Take a look at the full interview here: https://cultureofgaming.com/animanga-2019-our-interview-with-noble-of-lost-pause/
Animanga 2019 was held in the first weekend of August at the Pomona Fairplex in Southern California. Lots of anime fans gathered together to share their love for one of their favorite hobbies. They get to meet their favorite cosplayers, voice actors, buy merch, and attend a plethora of engaging panels. Culture of Gaming got a chance to interview anime YouTube personality Noble from Lost Pause.
Noble’s channel is all about having fun with anime and poking fun at its absurd tropes, like ecchi characters and memes. Lost Pause has over 1 million subscribers and he covers a ton of anime-related topics, including funny video sketches and meme ratings. He first got into anime after playing the visual novel game Sakura Spirits and decided to create a channel dedicated to his love of anime. We ask him questions about his relationship with his fans, the process of making content, and other fun tidbits.
Noble, Anime aficionado
It should be no surprise to anyone who follows my writing and my twitter that I love anime. I’ve been watching anime since I was a child via a shady satellite connection installed by my father. Back then, I had never heard of the term “anime”, and assumed all animated shows fell under the American cartoon umbrella. However, after watching the Spanish versions of Ranma 1/2 and Dragon Ball, I knew these shows carried themselves differently with complex stories and better character development. Naturally, I was interested in Noble because he built an entire channel based solely on his love for this medium.
I wanted to understand his process of producing a consistent stream of content and his fascination with creating a channel solely based on anime. We have dedicated streaming channels like Funimation and Crunchyroll making big strides to introduce more anime content to western audiences. Even Netflix and Amazon (for a time) dedicated money to fund anime projects to a niche market.
First of all, his energy is genuine and he was a joy to talk to about anime. I first asked him about some of his favorite anime genres and if he has any dislikes. “Definitely shounen,” Noble said. “I also like fantasy and sci-fi, there’s not enough sci-fi, unfortunately. I’ve never been a fan of horror and [that’s the only one] I dislike.” I questioned him if he had watched Another, a popular horror anime, and he said he did watch it but considered it more of a psychological thriller. Once he divulged some of his favorite genres. I started questioning Noble about his channel and what it takes for him to produce content.
This Is Lost Pause
Noble’s process is multilayered, and researching memes, watching anime, and producing takes an enormous amount of time. He told me that “the research could take [him] anywhere from one hour to four to find [a topic] to do and gather all the [info] needed.” His recording sessions take about an hour and editing is a much longer process, taking four to six hours or even more. Noble tries to keep up his anime watching habits, but it becomes difficult covering every new anime series.
“As an anime YouTuber, it’s almost like a written contract having to watch every single anime. Otherwise, people judge you! laughs I try my best to watch every single anime [but] it’s impossible. I can’t do it but I always try to stay current with all the new ‘hip’ anime seasonal [shows]. “
I asked him if he had a favorite obscure anime. “I’ve always had the guilty pleasure of watching Dog Days,” Noble said. Let’s just say its a “fun but dumb” anime, like a good mindless action movie (looking at you, Fast and Furious). Noble has to dedicate a lot of time to watching anime, and he also has to to keep up a steady stream of content to keep his audience engaged. This can’t be easy knowing how much burn out there is among even the best daily upload Youtube channels. I inquired what the hardest part of his job was.
“Finding new fresh ideas,” he told me. “Its the hardest thing in the world. Trying to come up with something that’s original and fun.” According to Noble, some of his videos don’t perform as well as he hopes they would, but its all about managing those expectations and trying again at a later time. We also discussed that audience engagement is hard but not impossible. He attends conventions like Animanga 2019 and AX to meet fans or create a video series to answer fan questions.
The Fans and Cons
Noble told me that he attends several cons like AX, Animanga, AniFest, Anime LA, and “tries [his] best to get around and meet [his fans]”. AX is one of the biggest anime conventions in the US and they’ve been having problems with lines and getting people through the door for a couple of years now. He told me he made a video about his experience at AX this year, and here’s the quick rundown on what he told me.
“It was absolutely horrendous. The building (Los Angeles Convention Center) is too small to contain all the people that they want in there. Anime is becoming more and more mainstream every single year. Anime Expo is growing at an exponential rate and it’s hard to contain all those fans. They just need a bigger place.”
While Animanga 2019 wasn’t the biggest con I’ve attended, but the size of it was perfectly manageable. As a result, tons of fans were able to participate at panels, play video games, and get autographs from their favorite voice actors/YouTubers/cosplayers. Oftentimes you hear about the ‘silent majority’ of fans who never engage with their favorite properties. There are people who love video games but have never read an article, left a comment, or discussed it. Conventions are one way Noble is able to interact with his fans, but I asked him, “What of new viewers?” What would he want them to take away from his videos?
“Just a good laugh,” Noble said. He just wants to be entertaining and create fun videos which make people laugh or have a good time. Several fans he’s met at conventions have told him that his videos “made them smile or laugh when they’re having a bad day”.
Thanks for reading! If you want to follow or support Noble from Lost Pause, check out this YouTube channel or his Twitch. He also helps develop a comedic webcomic that pokes fun at anime. Don’t forget to check out my interview with voice actors Sean Chiplock, Brianna Knickerbocker and Laura Post. For more great interviews, reviews, editorials, and news stay tuned to CultureOfGaming.com or check us out on OpenCritic.com.