The Future of the Channel... (Dear 2026)

Dear 2026. All right, guys. I know I'm I'm really late this year. I'm very sorry. I I'm late for a very particular reason, and that is Well, first off, if you've never seen the deer videos or deer year videos, it's a video I do at the very beginning of every new year. Uh here on this channel, there's a whole playlist. I think I've this is the fifth or sixth year that I've done it. um where I kind of sit down and have a retrospect with the past year and talk about my goals and whatnot for the next year. Um but again, and then these are typically completely uncut. There might be a couple here and there in this one, but um I waited on this one because I have a very particular thing to talk about in this one. Usually it's like kind of general and not very specific. This one I have a couple specific things and then I also had a post on both the channels uh for Q&A. So I think I've gathered like uh six or seven questions to uh kind of just rattle off about. Um but this is a very important one. Uh I think I made the title like we need to talk or something. It might end up just being dear 2026. I don't know. Anyways, I usually rant whenever I'm nervous, but I am a little bit nervous. Okay, f starters, a lot of you have noticed a lot of changes to this channel in particular, Jack the Bus Now Live. Um, over [clears throat] the course of the last month or two, I changed the name from It used to be I Shinobi, then Jack the Bus Reacts, now it's Jack the Bus Live. Um, very particular reason for that change. First off, [clears throat] I went from Jack or I should be to Jack the Bus Reacts to have more cohesion between, you know, the two channels because I used to have two names online and I thought that was kind of bad for branding being known as both Jack the Bus and I should confusing. You can maybe get away with it if you're as big as like Moist Critical or Penguin Zero. I don't think anyone really calls him Penguin Zero anymore. But for me, who's still trying to really get my name out there and break through, I really thought I needed to have like one brand. And so that's why I went from I should Jack the bus reacts. Going from Jack the Bus Reacts to Jack the Bus live. Uh I was a lot more confident in doing because of what I'm about to get into. Um so sorry I also have notes to make sure I kind of cover stuff. Um as a lot of you guys know, we're catching up on One Piece here on YouTube. I'm already caught up on the Patreon. Uh waiting for, you know, the three-month break, but a lot of you know we're almost caught up on on One Piece. And a lot of people have been saying Jack wins Jojo's, Bleach, etc. because I'm doing those on Patreon. And as if you don't know, I do reactions on Patreon, but they're uncut with a timer on screen. So that it it's really just, you know, I record it, throw the timer. It's pretty easy. Um, reacts on YouTube a lot more intensive in terms of the editing process, especially with what I've gone through in the past. A lot of you guys know, um, which is kind of my next point. If you aren't aware, uh, two years ago, I believe it was two years ago, um, I received like 60s something copyright strikes for my Naruto reaction series. Um, it was probably the most stressful time of my entire life. Uh, like the whole I had the whole reaction series on YouTube and over 60 strikes. And if you're not familiar with YouTube, if you get three strikes, your channel is deleted. It's at risk of deletion. and I had 60 and I had to work with YouTube on I deleted the entire Naruto reaction series and uh had to slowly work against all 60 copyright strikes again. It was the most stressful time of my life. It was awful. So, I think ever and I've never even talked about this on the channel, but ever since then it has put like a sort of sour taste in my mouth for posting reactions on YouTube, at least to anime. Uh, not even sour taste, but like anxiety. Like I'm much more weary to post anime reactions to YouTube. Ever since that, I mean, ever since that too, I've overhauled my editing process. And my editor, Lei, shout out to Lei, of course, the goat. Um, we've overhauled and made an entire system in terms of like how edited down reactions need to be to truly make them as transformative as possible. I thought the Naruto reaction series was transformative. Now it's like to an even another level. Um, so it's a lot that goes into the Reacts to try to, you know, uh, keep ourselves within the terms of service of the website as best as possible. But you truly never know um, when a company decides that they don't want you to, you know, even cover their show anymore. I mean, whenever I've received the the strikes for Naruto, they didn't even just strike the reactions to the show. Like I watched the anniversary YouTube video like little animation thing and they struck that. They went to my Patreon and struck like the schedule that I had that had like the Naruto logo on it. Like everything was pretty much like nuked from for for like in terms of Naruto. Um so like I said, I have overhauled everything since then to make as safe as possible. But ever since then, I've kind of sat down with myself and been like, "What do you want out of this? where do you want to go? And the answer that I found was that I want to be like an all things anime person. And I think to do that, I think reactions are still necessary, but to break out of that bubble is even more necessary because as a lot of you know, the past probably year, maybe more has only been One Piece reacts on the channel because besides One Piece, I just I haven't wanted to start Bleach or Jojo's on YouTube just out of fear of like starting something new and and it not working out. Um, again, let me refer to my notes as well. Um, so that's why I rebranded to Jack the Bus Live is to make this channel more of a place to where I can branch out. Uh, because I realized that I was doing so much content on Twitch. Uh, I stream like three, four, sometimes 5 days a week on Twitch and so much of that content was never even going to YouTube. It was just I was doing it and it was lost to the void. I.e. what I posted here, the Dispatch playthrough, stuff like that would usually just be lost to the void. uh the One Piece opening uh OP14 box opening that I did that it was just one single box. So, I didn't want to put it on the main channel. So, I'm like, let's put it on the live channel because it's still content and like cool card pools. Um so, that that was kind of my first step process was not just abandoning this channel cuz I don't want to abandon this channel. I I don't want to abandon either channel. I've grown both of them to to such a cool level and I think a lot of you expect certain things from them because and I I say that because I've gotten a decent amount of kickback with the videos I've been posting. The Jubilee react I posted yesterday. Um a lot of people were upset like literally just you know comments like this channel's going downhill. It's cooked. Like where are the One Piece reacts? And I expect those comments because once again it's my own fault. I kind of pigeon holed this channel into just a One Piece reaction channel, which it can't just be that forever because again, we're going to be caught up soon. So, that's going to be max one video a week if I react to it weekly. And then if I ever read the manga, then it's just like, you know, I'm kind of leaving myself out to dry. So, that's why I'm trying to make these big changes now so that the growing pains are less painful later on. Um, I even tested doing Jiujitsu Kaisen a reaction on the main channel because a part of me wants and this a lot of you might not like this. A part of me wants to get this channel to a point where it's only live content. It's all the stuff I react to live or do live like gameplay and the Jack the Bus channel not live is anime reactions, anime gaming, anime tier lists reviews, everything anime. So, everything anime here, all the live content here that doesn't make it to the main channel. Um, I even posted one piece reaction on the main channel a couple days ago, and I decided against it for now. I want to very specifically specialize for now. When we get I I'm definitely going to keep the One Piece reactions on this channel until we get caught up, at the very least. But once we get caught up, I'm going to sit down probably with my editors again, reestablish what I want out of things. um and go from there in terms of where One Piece goes. But that's just one part of it. So, a lot of you have been asking about Jojo's and Bleach. And I've really been trying to scratch my head to think about how I can, you know, get that those reactions to you cuz I'm already 150 60 episodes into Bleach. I'm on part three of Jojo's. Um, so I've come up with two possibilities that a uh are a lot safer in terms of copyright um for me and b also gets you the reaction or like you get to see my reaction to stuff. Um, one I've thought about doing and neither of these I haven't really decided on. thought about doing like a bulk. So, uh, Bleach, it'd be like one, you know, hour-long video of the first arc and just the biggest moments, you know, not episode video, episode video, episode video, episode video. I think doing that is like why I like was running such a risk with Naruto. Um, was because, you know, I had one episode per two episodes per video. So it's like all these videos that like a company might not like, but if I do it all into one video, it's like a company might not like it and you know give me a copyright strike, but it's a lot easier to work that out with them than a million videos if [music] that makes sense. So bulk is uh something I've thought about maybe like um so like I finished the Soul Society arc, maybe like a part one, part two Soul Society arc, like all the highlights from part one, all highlights from part two. Um, I've also thought about doing it in a review format and I might combine these two methodologies, the bulk and the review. Um, where I've done reviews on the main channel, if you haven't seen them, um, where it's me just talking about something and then giving it a rating, um, and the characters and all that. I thought about doing that in the bulk reaction format. So like Soul Society part one, I would talk about something, show my reaction to a big moment. Talk about something, show my reaction to a big moment. So, those are kind of the two um pads I've come up with for the reactions that I'm actually really happy with because I think it's a lot more digestible to just someone that's never seen me before. They're like, "Oh, what's this guy think of, you know, half of the Soul Society arc or the entirety of part one of Jojo's?" Again, I know a lot of people aren't going to like that because a lot of people want to see every tiny reaction to every tiny thing. Um, but this is kind of the best solution I could think of. If you truly want to see my reaction to every tiny little thing, that's why the Patreon exists. Not only to support me monetarily. Um, but I mean, it's three bucks a month, which I know might be a little too much for some people, but it's I made it virtually as cheap as possible to where you can see my reaction to every moment uh when you sync it up on an official platform. So, I've [snorts] tried my best to both keep myself at a healthy level in terms of copyright and everything and not stressing about it, but at the same time still be able to deliver content to you guys. Um, I want to be I want to be like I want you to see my channel like Jack the Bus or Jack the Bus Live and just see as a place for all things anime, like all things. uh maybe this one a little bit more uh diverse in terms of the live content like I said. Um but I want to do that without disrupting what this channel was built on at least for now. Um but that's kind of why it's a slow process. Like if I I do end up moving, you know, the One Piece reacts to the main channel. Um I don't I that's why I decided against just randomly swap picking up and moving one day. If that makes sense. I think when I do, if I make that change, when I make that change, you'll hear about it in the video. You're not just going to be like, "Oh, the they just he's just not doing it anymore." Um, that being said, a lot of you have noticed as well, a lot of the older reacts are now gone from the channel. Um, kind of just really reestablishing um everything and reorganizing. Um, I know you're going to miss like uh I'm pretty much getting rid of all the old reaction series because most of them were done in the time when like before I reformatted everything and started really really aggressively editing the react videos. [music] Um, so I just had to put that out there because I know a lot of you guys are going to miss them, but um, it's just something that has to be done. Got to kind of clean house, if you will. A little spring cleaning. Um, [snorts] so again, the possibil it is possible that one day there are no anime reacts on this channel and they're on the main channel and they're in more review bulk format. I think I'll still do weekly One Piece reacts because I like to cover that weekly. Um, I'm just saying for like series going forward or like even other seasonal reacts like depending on what Finan like how Finan goes and all that. Um, this will be the place for everything live. So I know that was very long-winded. That was like 14 minutes of me just yapping. So, I'm sorry. Um, I will also, if you have any questions about any of this, uh, I'd love to reply to you guys in the comments. Um, I've tried to be as thorough as possible and in terms of explaining it. Um, but I hope you understand now why I waited to make this deer video so I could kind of make a few changes to the channel and point to those changes and be like, this is what it looks like. So, that being said, let's hop into uh the the questions I've I've had picked out. Um I don't have any also I sometimes I do number goals. I don't have any number goals picked out this year for like the channel besides uh I want to hit a million subscribers uh on the main channel. Um I think we can do it. Uh I'm locked in. I'm in grind mode and I'm ready to go. I hope one day I can hit a million on both the channels. I think be sick. But that being said, let's hop into it. All right, the first question comes from Micah Price, who said, "Do a whole case opening for OP14." That's an order. Love to twin. Uh, unfortunately, cases are about a billion dollars right now in terms of One Piece TCG. So, uh, that's a no-go. Uh, I'd love to do one more One Piece opening. So, I mean, the whole year is going to be filled with them. Uh, next up, Suit Moon said, "I don't know if you answered this question before, but why did you get into anime? And two, why did you start watching One Piece? Um, and why did you keep going to catch up to the series?" This is a kind of a twoin- one question because I started I got into anime because my best friend Lane uh since middle school loved anime and tried to get me into it for years and loved One Piece and tried to get me into it for years. Um and eventually I cracked it and I started uh well first I started My Hero then One Punch and then Naruto and Naruto really I think kicked me off into it. Um so shout out Lane Moa P7C says is there times when you feel like giving up? If yes, how do you get out of it and happy 2026? Thank you Moa. I appreciate you, bro. Um, yeah. I mean, I don't know about giving up. Giving up is like I feel like everybody has has those moments where they're like, "Fuck, I should just pick everything up and just move, leave, do something else." Um, and I think that's fair. That's healthy sometimes. I guess I guess if it's not like every day, but I think there I think burnout exists in literally anything in life. um getting out of it, you literally just got to mix up your routine. Um this year, at least the back half of 2025 is the healthiest I've been eating, the most I've been going to the gym, and that has helped me 30 times over. Um I I literally noticed a difference in my mental state on days I go to the gym versus days I don't. Um so I know a lot of people say that and it might sound like at this point a cliche, but it it genuinely is true. it's like it's like natural dopamine is like working out. Um, so that has helped a lot. But I think literally just like if you're feeling burnout or if you if something that like is your passion isn't your passion anymore, you just got to take a step back and like breathe for a second. In terms of like work and stuff like stuff that you have to do that you can't take a step back from. Um, I don't think there is one right answer. like weathering a storm is done in so many different ways for so many different people. Um I'm blessed enough to where like if I'm feeling burned out in terms of like making YouTube videos and stuff, I can just I can just stop for a week, two weeks, you know, like I feel a lot worse when I stop because I want to just be back in there making content, but I could take a day or two off and feel a lot better coming back. So I think it's literally about not getting stuck in a single routine, trying new things and kind of pushing yourself to your own limits. Try, you know, pick up a new hobby. Uh, you know, go try something new. There was a time where I was feeling really stuck like 2 years ago and I just randomly decided, let's just go try this jiu-jitsu class and I just went to it like two or three times. I stopped after that. But I think finding like little uh little diamonds in the rough in life of like things you might love, you got to just do stuff. You just got to do random stuff and just see what happens. And to Neo said, "If YouTube hadn't worked out, what job would you like to do? Happy 2026 and keep it up, Jack." Thank you, Antonio. I think. Or is it just Antto? Um I was in school for cyber security. I did an internship. Did not love it. Um, it pays really well. Uh, but I think my secondary job, I think being a a chef would have been really cool. I'm a really bad cook. I make the same food every day. I just eat ground beef and rice. Um, but I I I don't know. I think watching so many Gordon Ramsay shows growing up and now I I romanticize being a chef a lot. I know it's a lot harder than Gordon Ramsey makes it look, but um I I think that would have been cool. I also when I was a kid, like middle school, I kept a little notebook of building drawings because I wanted to be an architect. So, I went from architect to chef to YouTuber eventually. Gio Castanetta said, "Are you ever going to record a video playing One Piece CCG tournament at a local store?" I've gone to a few local tournaments. It's really fun. The only reason I haven't made content playing the game is because it isolates a big part of my audience. Uh cuz like if you don't know how to play the One Beast TCG game and you're not interested in learning, you're not going to watch the video. So that's why I say isolates is because I would guess maybe 10% of my audience knows how to play the game. You know what I mean? So maybe if I ever do that, it'll go on this channel on Jack the Bus Live to just kind of see what people think. I think this is going to be a really cool channel for just testing stuff and seeing what you guys like and don't like. Workout video 3 said, "Have you always been from Texas? Don't sense a hint of the y'all accent from you." I say y'all a lot. I am from I have always been from Texas. I was raised in North Texas, which is a lot less um [snorts] uh like country Texas. Like of course there's like farms and stuff in North Texas, but like if you think of like a heavy Texas accent, you're usually going to think like you're going to hear that like West Texas or like the panhandle. Um none of my family has like really thick accents or anything. I do say y'all quite a bit though. Uh Joshua McCormick said, "Jack, when are you shaving the mustache?" I might be. Uh next week I'm doing a Jump King Map 3 marathon. That's one of the sub goals. So I might have to shave my mustache. I might have to shave my head depending on the goals we hit during that live stream. Just twitch.tv/jacktheus. You haven't catched the streams. And that's it for the questions. Again, I just wanted to do a couple just kind of not take up too much time, but um answer a few things. Again, if you want to ask some down below, especially with the channel changes, you're more than welcome. Um, again, I know a lot of people aren't going to be happy with it, but uh it's something that I've been thinking about for a long, long time. So, um, yeah, that is, uh, that is pretty much all I got for you for Dear 2026. I wish you guys the best start to the year. Hopefully, when I make deer 2027, um, we're at a good spot. I'll be caught up on One Piece by for sure. I think the first half of Elbaf will will have already aired because it'll air from like March to like October or something. So, we'll I think that the time I see you next for this video will be on another One Piece break. Um, [music] but with that being said, I hope you guys have a fantastic rest of your day. Uh, and here is to the brand new year of 2026. Peace.