TheCanipaEffect

I'm Ending The Canipa Effect (kinda)

On January 7th, 2014 (Australia time), I started The Canipa Effect. Ten years later, I’m ending it. My life has changed a lot since I first started YouTube. In 2014, I was fresh out of high school and going into university. Today, I’m married and have a full-time job--to put it simply, I don’t have nearly as much time or hunger to work on videos.

 I’ve been aware that 2023 was the channel’s swan song for a while now. It started out as a hobby, then I was able to make enou...

You're the Budget! | April 2023 Update

So, basically, I'm dumb. I've been freelancing for a very long time now, and this Patreon's allowed me to treat The Canipa Effect as another one of those jobs. It's made it so I've been able to comfortably turn down work offers on the basis that I still need time to create videos. While there's been some rough patches around moving and inconvenient sponsor schedules, it's worked out pretty well, I think!

Hooooooowever, I recently applied for a full-time position as a manga/light novel e...

Rome In A Day | March 2023 Update

For the second time, let me open this update with:

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

Things have been goddamn HECTIC. And I'm never quite sure how much Canipa Effect viewers care about the reason behind stuff being infrequent (or weirdly frequent), but here you go...

In August of 2022, I moved back from Japan to Australia. In November of 2022, I bought a total wreck of a house and started renovating it. Two weeks ago, in February of 2023, I finally moved into...

Chainsaw Man and Renovating a House | December 2022 Update

Hello!

Last month's video was the very overdue Breaking Down Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' Incredible Animation. It's something I really enjoyed making in the end, but oh my god is it stressful to make a video that you know is becoming less relevant every second. That's reflected in the views by the end - it's not exactly the heavy-hitter it could have been.

I try and plan ahead with videos, but missing out on Edgerunners' prime was definitely a bad call, and while I'm ...

The Edgerunners Vid is Coming (i promise) | October 2022 Patreon Update

Sorry for the late update! I wanted to be able to say, "Hey, something's coming soon!" before I wrote anything down.

I recently released my video titled "Pokemon Colosseum Could Have Been the Future of the Franchise." I generally end up making at least one Pokemon video a year, and since I haven't been watching Pokemon Journeys, I wanted to keep that up by talking about my favourite game. I did end up changing the title for hopes that the algorithm would catch up (it di...

Timing | August-September 2022 Update

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

So basically, the timing on the last two videos haven't been all that great. I expected having to move July's video to August since, even though it wasn't that far from being done, I was busy moving house/country. Thankfully, the sponsor of the Baccano vid was fine with me moving it into August.

Unfortunately, even though I had the video ready to go August 10th, there were delays on their end that meant that it couldn't...

Super Late Update | June 2022 Update

Hi!

I usually do these updates way earlier in the month, but I wanted to reserve this one for talking about the new video. Usually I'm fairly open about the videos I'm working on. For instance, the next one is on Baccano/Durarara, and the one after that is on Final Fantasy XV.

But much like with the last Crunchyroll video, I decided that I'd rather keep it under wraps. It's not so much that I'm trying to avoid legal threats or anything like that, but it's more about pressure. If I...

Planning Ahead | May 2022 Update

Once upon a time, when I'd just graduated high school and was starting out on Youtube, I was told by a Youtube Network manager that all the big Youtubers had their videos planned out months in advance and were mostly just waiting for the prime time to release them.

I'm not sure if I count as a "big" Youtuber, but I can promise you that I'm usually working down to the wire. The biggest time sink is purely trying to work out what video I actually want to make. Should it be on a seasonal s...

This Gundamn Video Script | April 2022 Update

Hello!

The last video on the channel did surprisingly well! It wasn't picked up by as many existing subscribers (unsurprising; it's a video game video on an anime channel, after all), but it ended up getting a lot of views from newcomers. Reaching outside of the channel's perceived scope can still be a good idea, even if it occasionally bombs. Still don't regret that Gravity Rush vid.

In the last post, I wrote a different title for it, but in the end, I changed it to something a l...

Monolith Soft | March 2022 Update

Hello! And thanks again for the support.

Last month's video was How Anime Creates Appealing Fanservice and I was really happy with how it turned out. From me banging my head against the wall trying to work out what the actual point of the video should be, to a final product that is a fun watch and has an actual argument. In terms of views, it's less than impressive, especially for something that I'd considered to be a little clickbaity, but that's what I have a Patreon ...

Horny on Main | February 2022 Update

Imagine a scene: I'm sitting at my laptop typing out a compelling outro to a video. 5 minutes later, I delete it all. Now imagine that going on over and over again for two hours.

So I decided to take a break to write the Patreon update instead.

The next video on The Canipa Effect is "How Anime Animates Appealing Fanservice". It's a video that I thought of as part of a joke. I realised I'd never created a video with a clickbait thumbnail before, so I joked with my ...

Doomposting | December 2021 Update

It can be difficult to talk positively about the future of anime. It wasn't all that long ago that anime piracy was at its peak, and the main argument against it was that we need to be paying for it so that the artists can get paid for their work. Personally, I will always advocate for legal options, because although naive, artists do get paid with our streaming money, just more indirectly than we were initially led to believe.

I can't blame people for getting cynical about it all. Anim...

VTuber Debut | November 2021 Update

Ack! Almost missed the Patreon update again! It always slips my mind when I'm really busy working on the channel, which ironically ends up being the times that I have the most to say. Last month, I spent a load of time getting a video on Slime Isekai and Anime Anthologies complete. Neither of them did particularly well in views, but I'm happy that I actually managed to get them finished.

I always feel that because of the time it takes to make a video, I'm always a little bit behind of t...

Too Many Video Ideas | October 2021 Update

Oops! I forgot to release an update in September, but this one should basically sum up what would've been said in that one. September was a weird month, where I had some good ideas for videos, but ended up having to take on some sponsored content instead. Back in August, I talked about having lost my job, so in order to continue working on this channel, I sometimes have to pivot for a few weeks.

Generally, sponsors have deadlines that have to be adhered to, so it's difficult to create b...

The Animation of Rick and Morty

When I started making this video, I knew very little about US animation. Now I know a bit more. It's very intimidating making an editorial about an unfamiliar industry when you know that people from that industry will probably end up watching.

Thankfully, I didn't get dragged over the coals for it and while some have mentioned that there's more I could've included, that's a hell of a lot better than getting things awfully wrong. In response, I've gotten requests to cover more US animati...

The Recipe For Modern Anime

How'd you like it? This video was originally going to be a part of the "Anime Has a Bright Digital Future" series I was going to do in 2019, but I struggled to come up with a consistent message. Now, it's based on the idea of what it means to be a modern anime. This also is a very different thumbnail and title than usual.

I'm personally very attached to the Animator Spotlight thumbnails and their consistency, but there's something to be said for a screenshot with a bit of text on it. I'...

Unemployed! Oh No! | August 2021 Update

Oops! I forgot to make one of these updates last month. To cover what was going on in July, I lost my full-time job at OTAQUEST, and instead of rushing into something new, I wanted to take a bit of time to try out making YouTube videos full-time.

That's where I'm at now. Unemployed and making videos. It's actually pretty exciting since I've got a load of ideas that I've never had the time to work on before. Previously, I've been working on YouTube in my spare time during the evenings an...

The Unappreciated Magic of Gravity Rush and Sony's Japan Studio | Animator Spotlight

I've genuinely wanted to make a video on Gravity Rush for over a year now. In fact, it was one of the first ideas I had when I decided to cover Japanese video games as well as anime. I wrote the script a while back and left it as a kind of backup video idea. So when a tight deadline for a sponsorship came up, I needed something already half done, so I revisited the script.

Thing is, it ended up coming out really well. I think there's a lot of information here that even hardcore Gravity ...

Breaking Down Guilty Gear Strive's Ambitious Story Mode Anime

This was something different! I requested a review code from Arc System Works to have a go at reviewing a game before release. It took some time, but here it is. It's something I'd be interested in doing in the future as well. (Although of course, there's very few games that would fit into my kind of coverage.)

This is also a sponsored video. I mentioned in the update earlier this month that there would be sponsored content in addition to Patreon funded videos. That's what this is: Extr...

Four Years Late | June 2021 Update

I had (and still have) the bad habit of promising videos that I don't end up making. In 2016, I only ended up making 6 of the 8 "Best Anime of 2015" videos, I only made 2 of the 5 "A Guide to Anime Music Composers" (Kevin Penkin once called me out on this when he came to Tokyo), I only made 1 of the 3 "Anime Has a Bright Digital Future" documentaries, and I only made 1 of the 2 parts of the Studio Trigger spotlight.

The way I run the channel is entirely based on "Do I have an argument a...

Pokemon Black and White Don't Need a Remake (They’re Already Perfect) | Game Studio Spotlight

Thanks for watching the Pokemon Black and White video! This was more of a "Thing Callum really wants to make", rather than "Thing most subscribers were asking for", so I'm happy about the positive reception.

Right now, the channel is completely unmonetized due to an issue with AdSense. A new policy means that even if you're with a network, you still need to provide all your details to AdSense, and there was some difficulty with getting that started. So instead of delaying the video, I c...

The Two Sides of Studio MAPPA | Anime Studio Spotlight

For a good few hours, this was the best performing video on the channel /ever/.

This is probably the most difficult time I've had writing a script. In the end, I just renamed the video "The Two Sides of Studio MAPPA" because it was getting so difficult to form a consistent argument. MAPPA shows are great, but adapting to the overproduction crisis is burning out artists around the world.

This ended up being the most requested video on the channel, although I imagine most people req...

MAPPA Month | April 2021 Update

We're back on track! The Attack on Titan video is doing really well and I'm two drafts into the much-requested Studio MAPPA video. It's been the most requested video on the channel, but it's definitely going to be different from most requesters expectations.

I feel that it's impossible to separate overwork and the creations of overwork. In the past, The Canipa Effect was a lot more optimistic and was mainly just about great animation, but I've felt that it's more and more relevant to ta...

Breaking Down Attack on Titan's (All Seasons) Incredible Animation | Animator Spotlight

IT IS DONE.

That took way too long! And the worst part is, there's still so much I could've talked about, from colour design, to the character design changes between Seasons 1-3. But at some point, you've just got to stop writing and actually make the video.

The next video on the channel will come out in April and will be a spotlight on Studio MAPPA titled "The Two Sides of Studio MAPPA" and will explore the differences between the premise of the studio and who th...

A Titanic Video | March 2021 Update

So it turns out there's a hell of a lot to say about Attack on Titan.

I usually try and strive for a video every month, which I can generally manage, but this one's been way more difficult than I've expected. The script is the longest I've ever written and covers everything from Season 1 to Final Season. Even then, I reckon people will say I missed some stuff!

I've had it suggested to me that I should make it multi-part, but I refer back to previous points a lot, and it's importan...

You Guys Sure Like EX-ARM, huh? | February 2021 Update

So wow. The latest EX-ARM video is currently the fastest watched video on The Canipa Effect, performing better than any other within its first week.

It's kind of a weird feeling, since I prefer to make videos on good things, but it is good that more people are getting a more accurate and researched version of how EX-ARM was created, rather than just resorting to assuming that everyone was equally responsible.

Speaking of blaming the staff, the next video is on Attack on Titan. Thi...

How Not To Make An Anime (What Went Wrong With Crunchyroll's EX-ARM) | Animator Spotlight

One hell of a clickbait title, but it works!

This video was the result of a switcheroo of sorts. There's a lot of misinformation going around right now about both Attack on Titan: The Final Season and EX-ARM. The Attack on Titan video was originally going to come out this month, but after announcing it, I had a lot of people on the YT community tab saying that I should wait for more episodes to be out.

This was kind of ideal since you really don't need to see that much of EX-ARM t...

It's Never Too Late To Cyberpunk | December 2020 Update

Ughhhhhhhh. So the Akudama Drive video didn't come out last month. The script is completed, save for some revisions, and I've started editing, but last week, I got sick.

So the November video is turning into the December video. Sorry about that! It's working out to being a pretty good one, discussing the ways that colour, background art and VFX can come together to creating a world that works to develop the story.

I'm starting to feel better and I'll be starting on final script re...

Two For The Price of One! | November 2020 Update

I genuinely can't remember the last time I released two videos in one month. In general, I've figured that one video each month means that I have the appropriate time to properly research, write multiple drafts of the script, and also do plenty of corrections before the video goes live. But what I never considered was how bored I am when I'm not working on a video. So this month, there was both Breaking Down The Legend of Korra's Incredible Animation and Genshin Impac...