Mayonaka Punch

Episode 7

There's a very strange contradiction at the heart of YouTube and most other New Media platforms. Much of the appeal of these platforms is their down-to-earth scrappiness. Theoretically, anyone can shoot a video on their phone, post it online, and suddenly be connected with anywhere from dozens to millions of viewers—all without any of the production values or control of traditional entertainment businesses. Yet the odds of getting any kind of traction among the infinite glut of internet content means subjugating one's self to The Algorithm—and all the esoteric, efficiency-focused operations it performs to decide what actually gets exposure.

Trying to square that circle can and has led countless creators into the depths of Capital-C Content Hell—and that's where Masaki finds herself now that MayoPan has half a year to claim a shiny, gold plaque and 1 million subscribers. With that sudden time limit, Masaki shifts fully into gaming the system and chasing trends as hard as possible—posting shorts, doubling uploads, stuffing their videos with whatever new things are catchy on the platform, and basically turning Banpai Manor into a content mill that would make the Paul brothers blush if either of them were capable of feeling shame. She's about five more minutes of sleep deprivation away from running a bogus gift card raffle just to drum up a few more subs.

It makes for a strong return to the unique narrative space that made the show stick out to begin with. Plenty of shows deal with artists and creatives trying to find an audience but YouTube comes with its own brain-melting side effects that can turn even the healthiest grey matter into pickled herring if one spends enough time refreshing the Analytics page. The answer to MayoPan getting new subscribers is right there in front of everyone the entire episode but Masaki is blind to it because she can only trust her ability to play to proven trends. Intangible qualities like “personality” and “sincerity” hold no sway when you're sure that you can mathematically engineer success through the right combination of editing tricks and gimmicky subject matter.

Seeing Masaki spiral harder and harder into that rabbit hole shows us how dedicated she is to making MayoPan a success and keeping her new-found companions—but also how she eventually fractured her relationship with her old ones. She's convinced she must shoulder everything—and that she alone has the formula for success, only to grow more miserable and insecure when that fails. It requires taking a step back and recognizing the intangible, human (well, “human”) charm of the other girls to realize what actually attracts people to any given YouTube channel: the people making the videos to begin with. I can watch countless groups of YouTubers torture themselves by drinking hot sauce but what makes me subscribe is when I find a group that's especially funny, unique or has infectious chemistry. The key to sustained success isn't to hit the right fad, but for Masaki to let the rest of MayoPan demonstrate their friendship and charm naturally—and to do that, she has to stop treating them like cast members and accept them as creative partners.

It's a strong and long-needed shift in Masaki's relationship with the rest of the group and it helps that the rest of the episode is loaded with great jokes. From Fu putting the “Fu” in “Fujoshi” to the detail that they have to censor Ichiko during the bath video to keep from getting banned, there are great goofs that complement the renewed focus on YouTube fame. It's Mayonaka Punch back to doing what it's best at.

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Mayonaka Punch is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.