My Top 8 Favourite YouTube Creators

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: This list is based around the quality of the content these people produce, not how they are as people so don't accuse me of being biased towards or against them because of how I feel about them. I don't even know these people personally so how they are as people does NOT factor into how I view them as content creators.

Anyone here remember when YouTube was brand new? It was one hell of a different beast altogether back in its infancy. It was just a website that people could upload videos to and share with the world. Back then, people mostly used YouTube for fun and shared the biggest load of cringe imaginable or used YouTube as a way to express their inner geek by uploading videos of their collections or what not. I remember back then, I'd mostly use YouTube to watch toy reviews and action figure collections. Good times. ^^

Nowadays, YouTube has become this global media empire where people can make creating YouTube videos their job and we get all sorts of content to enjoy whether it's video essays, reviews, retrospectives, gameplay and much more. Sadly, there are those that use YouTube for less than savoury means but that's a rabbit hole not worth digging into. No, I'm here to talk about the more positive side of YouTube, namely some of my favourite YouTube content creators out there.

For this list, I'll be going over my favourite YouTubers based around the content they create and how much I enjoy it. The reason this list is only a Top 8 and not a Top 10 is because I don't have ten favourite YouTubers. So eight will have to do for this countdown. Which YouTubers are the ones that I enjoy the most? Which ones will make the countdown? Let's dive in and countdown my Top 8 Favourite YouTube Creators...

Number 8: Silver Band

This is a YouTuber I first discovered thanks to my brother, whom is also on YouTube under the name of Captain Conroy. Give him a watch and subscribe if you want to, he'll appreciate it very much. ^^

Anyway, Silver Band is best known as the creator of his own Thomas the Tank Engine fan series which is titled "Thomas and the Railtours". This series has become one of my favourite Thomas fan productions thanks to Silver Band's writing style for the series. The premise is simple enough: Thomas and Friends meet a new engine every episode and the story goes from there. Yet Silver Band puts so much effort and hard work into this series that this simple premise manages to be very enjoyable in spite of that. He not only nails the personalities and characteristics of Thomas and his large supporting cast, but he manages to give each and every Railtour engine their own distinct personality and character trait such as Big Boy being a gentle giant with a big booming voice, Mallard being a famous engine who's humble about his past achievements, Maude being a fusspot who wants to teach James some manners and Duke of Edinburgh being this highly egotistical blowhard who values strength above all else. He even gives these characters a variety of different accents or ways of speaking to make them stand out more such as English, Scottish, American, Southern and even Australian.

That also brings me to his narrations. Despite being American, he is VERY good at narrating his scripts in a British accent to the point I'd have thought he WAS British! His voice is very pleasant to listen to and he gives Thomas and the Railtours this easy-going nostalgic feel as a result. It's like a children's show you might've watched in the 80's or 90's so to speak. I also love how his series also provides a great look at his huge railway set too. His set is so full of details, features and Easter Eggs that he even provided a tour of the set to show them all off. Thanks to his large set, he's always able to provide some neat shots of the engines travelling place to place and has a variety of settings he can use for his episodes to keep things interesting. Thomas and the Railtours is always fun to watch for how true it is to the spirit of the original Rev W. Awdry books and the original TV series and it honestly feels more like an actual Thomas show than what we get nowadays.

If you're someone who enjoys Thomas the Tank Engine fan works, then Silver Band is one that should be on your subscription list. His Thomas and the Railtour series is highly enjoyable (even if not every episode is great) and I thank my brother for making me aware of his content. I look forward to seeing what he has in store for Season 3 as he currently has that in the works...

Number 7: Runestone's Reviews

Originally known as runescape228, this YouTuber is the one I've been following for the longest time of anyone on this list. No joke, I've been following this guy since THE LATE 2000'S. So as you can see, he's been around for quite some time.

Runestone specializes in Transformers reviews, mainly the toys with some special reviews from time-to-time like when he reviewed the Animorphs toyline or when he reviewed the first two Transformers movies as a celebration special for 100 and 200 videos respectively. This was one of the YouTubers I used to watch quite regularly as a Transformers collector and his videos tended to tempt me into buying the figure he was reviewing. He has a very clear voice for narrating these videos and like Silver Band's, it's very pleasant to listen to. I've seen many YouTuber comments commenting on his voice and saying that he sounds like he could narrate wildlife documentaries or something like that. As well as his voice, his production values are great for a toy reviewer as well. His more up-to-date videos feature him in a black room with clear lighting so that the toy is easy to see against the backdrop and the audio is clear with no background buzzing or distortions like his earlier content did. For quick and easy pacing, he also speeds through the transformations unlike before where he'd show the whole thing. I imagine for some viewers, it made his reviews easier to sit through.

I also like how he'll occasionally sprinkle a bit of humour into these videos to spice things up and make them more fun to watch. I wouldn't say every joke lands, but I appreciate him going the extra mile and unlike some content creators out there, he still focuses on the review aspect of his reviews and doesn't have the humour overstay its welcome.

This is a YouTuber that I enjoy out of nostalgia as much as anything given I've been following him for so long and as a Transformers collector, I'm always keen to see what he has to offer. If you're a Transformers collector too, I recommend giving him a watch and see if any of the toys he covers catch your fancy...

Number 6: The Unlucky Tug

Another content creator who specialises in Thomas the Tank Engine content, this is another YouTuber I've only really been following recently and yet he's already managed to rank up there as among my favourites.

You may recall me mentioning this guy back in my History of Thomas the Tank Engine essays last year. Not only did this guy give us this glorious meme, but he's also given us some enjoyable videos that truly feel like passion projects from a passionate fan of this franchise. Tug's content includes Thomas and Friends season retrospectives, Sodor's Finest which covers the history of a certain Thomas character, ranking videos, analyses and even his own videos on how he built his own trains and his own train layout. He's even done none-Thomas videos on subjects like TUGs and Pixar's Cars franchise. My personal favourite videos are his retrospectives for they're not only interesting to listen to, but they can be informative and he can provide interesting takes and analyses that most fans probably wouldn't have considered in the past. I especially find it interesting how he analyses the characters and seems to show a great understanding for what makes them tick and how Rev W. Awdry originally characterized them back in the days of The Railway Series which allows him to provide comparisons on how many of the modern portrayals don't match up to their original counterparts. It's always interesting to hear him delve into that and provide an example of how much things have changed over the years of the franchise.

His narrations are nice to listen to as well with his very laid back and calm sounding voice and style of narration. Honestly, he sounds like he'd make a good narrator for the actual Thomas and Friends show with that kind of voice. As for his reviews and analyses, he's able to share and give his opinions on the content at hand without insulting anyone or putting them down for having an opinion he doesn't share. He never comes off as condescendingly arrogant or smug like some YouTube reviewers might do and is even cool if you have opinions he doesn't share. That's already a plus in my eyes and it makes him more enjoyable to watch as a result. A good reviewer should be open-minded and not insult others for having opinions that aren't theirs after all and that's an example I try to follow with my own content on this blog.

Like Silver Band above, I highly recommend The Unlucky Tug to anyone who's in the mood for Thomas the Tank Engine related content. His retrospectives and Sodor's Finest series might even give you a whole new appreciation for the franchise as a whole and why it's so special to so many people out there...

Number 5: TGSAnime

It should be no surprise whatsoever that at least one Yu-Gi-Oh! YouTuber makes it on the list for me.

TGS Anime is a British YouTuber who specializes in Yu-Gi-Oh! content. His videos included "Was X About To Defeat X?" series, ranking videos, statistics videos, unboxing videos, Archetype videos, The True Rules series and occasional Top 10 lists. This is a fan who wears his Yu-Gi-Oh! love on his sleeve (or more accurately, his whole body as he wears Yu-Gi-Oh! related shirts and jumpers a lot of the time) and proves he has extensive knowledge of the franchise as a whole. If you want content by a fan who truly knows his/her stuff then you're in for a treat with TGS Anime. My personal favourite series by him is "Was X About to Defeat X" in where he takes a duel from the anime, provides a detailed, in-depth analysis of said duel and concludes whether this character could've won if they didn't misplay or if the one who won the duel truly had it in their hands the whole time. It's interesting to me as a Yu-Gi-Oh! fan and player to watch these analysis videos as he can provide perspectives on the duel that I wouldn't have considered as a viewer of the anime. It especially gets interesting whenever he brings up moments where a character misplayed and what would've happened if they made a different play in the duel and if things would've gone any differently if it had. As someone who's also written his own Yu-Gi-Oh! fanfic, I like to imagine what it'd be like if he did an analysis video on any of the duels I wrote in that story but that's something that'll only happen in my imagination. XD His statistics videos are interesting watches too, especially as sometimes the statistics end up being what you'd least expect for some of these characters...

I like the great production values of his content too. His voice is very clear and once again, easy on the ears, the audio quality is very clear from both himself and the clips he uses from the anime in the videos thus showing he gets good quality uploads of these anime episodes or movies for the videos and the editing is top-notch. This is a YouTuber that knows how to make his videos look professional and he clearly puts a lot of work into them. It's also clear that he's made it big in the Yu-Gi-Oh! community for some of his videos are actually sponsored by Konami, the company that makes the Yu-Gi-Oh! card game! That must've felt unreal for him to get sponsored by THE Konami themselves! I know I'd feel the same way if this blog got sponsored by any of the big-name companies I've talked about here!

This is my go-to-guy for Yu-Gi-Oh! content and I imagine many others feel the same way. His great production values and content that truly feels like the work of a fan with great knowledge and understanding of the franchise he delves in makes this a YouTuber worthy of any Yu-Gi-Oh! player's subscription. I look forward to whatever he may produce in the future...

Number 4: MrTARDISReviews

While TGSAnime is my go-to-guy for Yu-Gi-Oh! content, this is my go-to-guy for Doctor Who content.

Originally known as Trilbee Reviews, MrTARDISReviews is another British YouTuber who specializes in Doctor Who related subjects. He started off as a bland, stereotypical Channel Awesome wannabe in his earlier years but over time, he's grown out of that and I feel the quality of his content has improved as a result. His content in this day and age consists of marathon-style reviews, episode reviews, retrospectives, viewing figure analysis breakdowns, Big Finish reviews and response videos. His response videos are enjoyable to watch as he single-handedly tears down flawed arguments from certain corners of the internet and displays so clearly how obviously full of crap they are but my personal favourite videos from him include his marathon reviews. So far he's done DalekCember, CyberCember, a Series 1 retrospective and as of this post, he is still going through his William Hartnell marathon. These marathons not only give us plenty of Doctor Who episodes to see reviews on and each one has a fun theme to tie them together, but the reviews themselves are well-constructed, detailed, flown-blown reviews that can be educational at times and provide actual constructive criticism. Outside of YouTube, MrTARDIS works freelance behind-the-scenes on television shows so it's clear he's well-versed in how media works, which his reviews display quite well with how deeply analytical he can get when talking about what works and doesn't work in a story.

This guy's content was a breath of fresh air for me as for once, I had a YouTuber who could give proper critiques of the Chris Chibnall era of Doctor Who and wasn't just trashing it for being "woke" since that's the cool thing to do nowadays. His content also gave me a new perspective on how viewing figures work and how a piece of media's success can't just be measured by viewing figures alone anymore. No, viewing figures aren't just a number that you can use to mean whatever you like and he taught me that well with his interesting in-depth viewing figure analysis videos. Also his more in-depth and critical look at the media he covers has inspired me to try constructing my own reviews like that too, be more like an actual reviewer and less like some Channel Awesome style reviewer where the extent of their "media analysis" is snarky comments and exaggerated anger in order to pretentiously look smart. Heck, MrTARDIS even does a better job of incorporating humour into his reviews than most Internet reviewers out there for they never overstay their welcome and don't overshadow the actual review.

This is my go-to-go for proper, well-constructed critiques on Doctor Who without any of the bigotry that comes from certain parts of the fandom. His content is not only interesting and insightful, but inspiring too and I'm glad I discovered his channel. In the words of the Cyber-Leader from 80's Doctor Who, this YouTube channel is "EX-CELLENT!"

Number 3: Suede

And now it's time for someone who specializes in Pokémon content.

Formerly a member of Channel Awesome under the name "The Dude in the Suede", Suede is a New Zealand YouTuber whose content includes analysis videos, Pokémon Scarlet Hour By Hour and Calling It Now. Of course, his most well-known series if Suede's Pokémon Journey and that was the content I used to watch by him. But sadly, ShoPro got up in arms and filed a big lawsuit against him so he was forced to take it all down. Thankfully, the entire series is back up for free over on his Patreon account, and it's public too so you won't need to become a Patreon to see them.

As I say, Suede's Pokémon Journey are my favourite videos from him and it is a shame that ShoPro's made it so he can't ever put them back on YouTube anymore but at least through his Patreon, we can still view them. Suede's Pokémon Journey is a comedic review series in where he reviews an episode of the anime and riffs on it while also giving his thoughts and some trivia at the end. This is a unique style for a review series and allows him to be comedic without compromising the review since he does the comedy skits in the form of a humorous synopsis and some abridged style humour and then he gives a full on critique of the episode afterwards so we get a review that's both funny and informative at the same time. The inclusion of trivia at the end is a nice touch as well so his reviews can be educational too. It's through him that I've learned more about Pokémon and even Japanese culture than I did before thanks to these trivia sections and I appreciate him for going the extra mile. Another unique feature is his rating system which, fitting for a review series based on Pokémon, is based around Pokéballs. That's creative and also makes his reviews more unique than using a generic number ranking. Also his Pokémon Journey series can be really fun to watch with many of he jokes and running gags Suede comes up with for the reviews. Some of my favourites include the Giovanni running gag, characterizing Pikachu as a doom prophet and whenever he makes fun of a character being stupid in the show. Unlike some internet reviewers, he's also humble and stresses the point that the reviews are his opinions and you don't have to agree with him on what he says. As I say, reviewers should be open-minded like that as it's more inclusive for everyone.

While his best content isn't on YouTube anymore, I'm till supporting him all the way and I appreciate that we even still have a way to see Suede's Pokémon Journey at all. He's come a long way since his Channel Awesome days and with Patreon being the home of Suede's Pokémon Journey, I look forward to seeing the series continue and this time, ShoPro won't be able to stop him...

Number 2: Linkara

And here we are with another ex-Channel Awesome contributor.

The Number 2 to the Nostalgia Critic's Number 1 on the site, Linkara is naturally well-known for his content specializing in comic books. His most popular shows include Atop the Fourth Wall, Longbox of the Damned and History of Power Rangers but he also does livestreams where he'll play video-games and special requests may see him review movies or TV episodes from time to time. While I wouldn't call myself a die-hard fan of Atop the Fourth Wall (there's plenty of episodes I haven't seen), I have seen a good few of Linkara's videos and I do enjoy them for the most part. As someone who's not the most avid comic reader out there, his content is my biggest window into the world of comic books and through his videos, I've been more well-versed into the DC Universe than I would've been anywhere else. While he was more of the stereotypical angry reviewer in his early days, his content has evolved over time so now he's able to provide more thoughtful in-depth reviews and analyses so he's able to give us reviews that are both funny and informative without compromising each other. And of course, I'd be amiss if I didn't mention his reviews often include his own storylines that are written by himself and acted out with himself and his friends and family. That's WILDLY creative and I think he was the first of his kind to do anything like this back in the day. I don't watch the storylines much but I do admire the effort and creativity he goes through to give his videos some extra content to provide for viewers.

I'd probably say that while I like Atop the Fourth Wall, History of Power Rangers is my favourite show of his. As a former Power Rangers fan, many of those retrospectives feel like a big nostalgia trip as he goes over some of the shows I used to watch and as someone who's long since been out of the franchise, History of Power Rangers gives me a keen insight into what I've missed out on since then while giving me an idea on if these seasons might be worth a watch or not. The series itself is both funny and informative to watch as he gives very detailed recaps of the series, analyses recurring themes and stories in the seasons, covers the character development and sometimes provides behind-the-scenes info for the seasons he's covering. It also feels like a big passion project by someone who truly does love Power Rangers and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't tempted to do my own kind of retrospective series like History of Power Rangers.

Linkara is a guy I owe much to for his content being both entertaining and insightful and as someone who's not into comics, I enjoy getting to learn about the comic book side of media more from him and of course, his History of Power Rangers is always a treat to watch. Like Suede, he's grown much over the years and has improved a lot since his Channel Awesome days I feel. But while I enjoy Linkara, there is one YouTuber I enjoy more than he or any other on this list...

And my Number 1 Favourite YouTuber is... ElectricDragon505 (aka AniMat)

I'm aware that this guy may be...controversial to some given some of his past actions but unlike those people, I'm willing to move on from then and focus on the now, not the past.

AniMat is a Canadian YouTuber whose content specializes in animation (hence the nickname). As an animation fan myself, you can bet he was going to appeal to me easily. His videos include AniMat's Reviews, AniMat's Classic Reviews, Animation Lookback, Historical Video Essays, Top 10 lists and AniMat Watches. As you can see, he covers a lot with his content with all these different videos he does so there's something for everybody here, and the fact it's all centred on animation (or mostly centred) is even better for those who love animation. He also runs his own podcast known as "AniMat's Crazy Cartoon Cast" which you can find on its own YouTube channel though I must warn that if you're not fond of listening to or dwelling into politics, it may not be a podcast for you. I listen to it most of the time to keep up-to-date with the latest animation news, so there's some value to the podcast for me and it can be interesting to hear what's going on in the animation world through that podcast.

But it's his main channel I follow the most. My favourite content he produces is naturally Animation Lookback. The series is an educational look into animation studios everywhere from Disney to Pixar to Studio Ghibli to stop-motion films and much more. The series manages to be informative and educational and even funny at times with how he can humorously describe the subject at hand or put in some funny skits here and there. I'll confess that Animation Lookback largely influenced how I wrote my History of Thomas the Tank Engine essays and will likely influence any other history essay I do. You may even have noticed that my reviews are inspired by his too, namely with the structure and how I carry them out. Yep, I got it from him and it's so helpful too as I feel the way he categorizes his reviews makes them easier to write. His reviews are also enjoyable to watch as he covers animated films as they come out new in cinemas or covers animated films that have come out in the past and it's through his reviews that I tend to discover or learn about animated films I've never even heard of before. This is a man who knows a lot about animation and isn't afraid to show it. Through his content, I've learned so much more about the animation industry than I ever did before, have heard about many more animated films that mainstream media would often overlook and even gained a whole new respect for the animation industry as a whole. When someone's content is informative, inspiring and can change your perspective on something in a positive way, then it's good content.

I also like how this guy can listen to criticism as well. Over the years, he's dropped the Sony hate that made him infamous to many and I feel his reviews nowadays are better at giving critiques without sounding too overly biased and the production values of Animation Lookback have only gotten better and better over the years. If a YouTuber can take criticism and use it to make their content better, that's a good sign in my eyes.

With his inspiring content that has given me a deeper love of the animation industry than ever before, it's no wonder that AniMat is my Number 1 Favourite YouTuber...

And that's all I have for this list. I hope you enjoyed it and I invite you to share your thoughts down below. Do you enjoy these YouTubers? What YouTubers do you enjoy the most? I'd love to hear all about it. Next week, I have another Robot Wars essay, and this one's about the one and only Razer! See you then!

Honourable Mentions: J's Reviews, Lumiose Trainer Zac, TurfNation and NJGW