Reaction Video Showcase

GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
So, as I'm sure I've mentioned a number of times, my guilty pleasure (well, at least the one I can talk about in polite company) is Reaction Videos.

Sure, I've posted quite a number of "Kids React" and "Elders React" and "Tribals React" type videos in other threads, but really it makes up so much of my entertainment quota these days that I thought I might start a thread to highlight specific content creators in the genre that I particularly enjoy.

Yes, yes, I know, "reaction videos" have the reputation of being the laziest form of content generation, and often enough that is merited criticism. But if you get the right kind of person, with the right kind of personality, it's actually pretty fun to watch someone else experience something you like for the first time. Almost every week for the last few years, I've watched someone learn for the first time who Luke's father is. And I've rewatched many movies and series with the added bonus of seeing what someone else makes of them in real time. I especially tend to gravitate toward "Reactors" who come from different perspectives or walks of life than myself. It adds an interesting twist to the media - what does someone who lives in Africa and hence didn't grow up steeped in Marvel lore or Norse mythology make of the Thor movies, for example?

So, in subsequent posts, I'm going to put links to the youtube channels of "Reaction" content creators that I enjoy watching, along with a blurb of what their "schtick" is and why I find it enjoyable. If available, I'll also provide brief clips to demonstrate their style of content and personality.
 
Last edited:
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
1676165203160.png


Ashleigh Burton, aka "AwkwardAshleigh," AKA "Millennial Movie Monday"


As the name implies, Ashleigh started out with a simple "weekly movie" hobby channel. She's a simple corn-pone down-home kentucky fried southern millennial who, due to her sheltered upbringing, never really got a chance to see many of the iconic and classic movies of the past. Her channel grew big enough to merit a patreon, and she now does two movies a week - the usual Monday, but also a "member request movie Friday" where she watches movies selected by the votes of her patreon subscribers.

She is occasionally upstaged by her overweight calico cat, Beans, and ever so rarely, has her husband Scott co-react with her. She's one of my favorites, top 5 for sure.

Frequent quotes:
"Hi, Yes, HELLOO" - signature greeting at the start of every video
"(Male Actor) could GET IT." - expressing attraction for said actor





 
Last edited:
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
1676165620411.png

Cultured Bubble

This woman who lives in Germany had a very strict and abusive upbringing, and for a brief year or so tried to use reaction videos both as a way of processing her emotional trauma and to help her follow her therapist's recommendation to do things that would help her "break out of her culture bubble" and experience things she had not experienced before. She is very empathetic and sensitive to things she watches, and wears her emotions on her sleeve. Unfortunately, a couple months ago, she posted that instead of being a vehicle to experience new things, she had instead been using her videos as an excuse to shut herself off from the rest of the world, and as such would discontinue posting. Thankfully she's left most of her video reactions available on her channel to watch.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
1676166232862.png
Artur Rehi, aka "Estonian Soldier reacts"

A young man from the aforementioned Baltic state whose niche is bringing his perspective as a reservist in eastern Europe. As such, rather than movies or TV shows he generally reacts to informational videos about history and military affairs. It obviously should come as no surprise that, given current events, his most recent content for the last several months has focused on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
1676166654441.png
Drumroll Tony, aka "Music Director Reacts"

As a professional in the music business, it's often interesting to get an "expert's take" on music in modern media. Tony brings his professional analysis to popular music tracks, video game themes, anime soundtracks, and show themes. If you like hearing about music theory and watching the musical sausage gets made, this might be an interesting channel for you.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
1676167101264.png
YaBoyRoshi

Roshi, with his wife Sheera and his best friend Lupasan, reacts to anime and TV shows. They live in Florida, and frequently cosplay for the shows they are watching.

In my top 5 for sure - to give you an idea, he's the only reaction content creator whose patreon I have actually paid to subscribe to.

Frequent quotes:
"YEAAAAAAAHHH??" - Whenever something ridiculously sexual happens on screen
"I'm done." - They're never actually "done," they keep watching.
"Clapped in the comments!" - You just said something dumb and the video's comments will not let it slide




 
Last edited:
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
1676168574296.png

Diegesis

A channel mostly consisting of reactions from the two above women, Arianna and Maple. Arianna's a little more down to earth, Maple's a little more naive (bordering on ditzy at times), but both are entertaining to watch experience classic movies for the first time.

 
phil

phil

There's a good one my wife watches where a therapist and director watch movies and react/review them. They'll look at relationships and if they're healthy or not or if this is an accurate portrayal of XYZ conditions and so on. I'll try to find it in a bit.
 
Cheesy1

Cheesy1

phil said:
There's a good one my wife watches where a therapist and director watch movies and react/review them. They'll look at relationships and if they're healthy or not or if this is an accurate portrayal of XYZ conditions and so on. I'll try to find it in a bit.
Click to expand...
Screenshot 2023-02-11 at 19-01-42 Cinema Therapy.png



"Making sense of life, one blockbuster at a time. Licensed therapist Jonathan Decker and professional filmmaker Alan Seawright break down your favorite movies, searching the characters, themes, and plots to find things you can use to improve your mental health, your life, your looks? and your cardiovascular fitness (nope.) Join them and their guests as they try to improve life, laugh at each other, and keep Alan from crying over everything."

I've seen many of their reactions, and they are all very insightful and informative.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
1676170874379.png
Popcorn In Bed

Cassie is probably, by far, the most sheltered of the bunch here. Growing up she never watched anything that wasn't a feel good Disney whatever or the occasional chick flick. That meant no Lord of the Rings, no Star Wars (obviously), no nothing, pretty much. And until her Youtube Channel, I'm pretty sure the harshest language she ever used was a very forcefully delivered "GOSH!"

Now the internet is corrupting Cassie (and occasionally her sister Carly, too), and they've moved up to "Frickin!"

Both movies and TV serieses are covered. Chernobyl was a particularly "break the cutie" experience.



 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
1676176227668.png
SCENE'crly, K.S.O.

Yeah, remember that thing I said in the first post about being from Africa and having no prior knowledge of western pop culture or European mythology? I was talking about this gal here. She's a soft spoken but very observant and intelligent lady with a different perspective than most on the movies she watches. Her videos do often run a little on the long side, most being 40-60 minutes long (when 20-30 is more typical of other movie reactors) but they are chock full of content. Patreon polls pick what she watches. Just this past week, this poor woman had to watch Jackass, and I think it made her question our sanity.

Frequent Quotes:
"STOP IT."
"PAUSE." (takes time to process what tf just happened)






 
Last edited:
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
1676177666117.png


Reactistan


You've probably seen me post some videos from this channel in the awesome or funny videos threads. These are tribal people from East Asia encountering new foods usually (but not always) from the West. Mustafa is my favorite. He started off being a standoffish and dismissive curmudgeon, but over time (and especially since his hajj - the pilgrimage to Mecca that every Muslim is expected to make at least once in their life) he has become much more relaxed and open.

I'm always a sucker for seeing what other cultures think of American foods and culture, and this one is probably the most authentic example.



Another similar channel that is also good is https://www.youtube.com/@NoviceSquad - NoviceSquad (AKA "Villagers Try") isn't the same region but is the same idea, and sometimes they also branch out to do more than food, such as reacting to video games or going on trips.
 
Last edited:
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
1676178569687.png

Nox So Subtle

NSS is a cheerful, smart young lady who just happened to be born recently enough to have missed most of our classic movies. You know the drill. Unfortunately she seems to have not posted in a few months, but I'm hoping she becomes active again.

 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
1676178830976.png
Jen Murray

She's nerdy, she's sharp, and her editor likes to make her look extra silly. If you're into adorkable, bespectacled girls and geek enthusiasm, you'd probably have a good time watching her channel.

Frequent quotes:
"Is this a LAIR? I love it when there's a lair."
"Somebody has a cruuuush!"
"Explosions!!"


 
Tinwhistler

Tinwhistler

GasBandit said:
View attachment 43849

Ashleigh Burton, aka "AwkwardAshleigh," AKA "Millennial Movie Monday"


As the name implies, Ashleigh started out with a simple "weekly movie" hobby channel. She's a simple corn-pone down-home kentucky fried southern millennial who, due to her sheltered upbringing, never really got a chance to see many of the iconic and classic movies of the past. Her channel grew big enough to merit a patreon, and she now does two movies a week - the usual Monday, but also a "member request movie Friday" where she watches movies selected by the votes of her patreon subscribers.

She is occasionally upstaged by her overweight calico cat, Beans, and ever so rarely, has her husband Scott co-react with her.

Frequent quotes:
"Hi, Yes, HELLOO" - signature greeting at the start of every video
"(Male Actor) could GET IT." - expressing attraction for said actor








Click to expand...
I'm hooked. I want to watch her watch The Crow.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
1676209231975.png
Addie Counts

Addie's another young woman who just missed out on a lot of pop culture growing up, though not quite as naive and clueless as Cassie over at PopcornInBed. She works in theater in real life, though as yet I haven't really noticed her leveraging that in her reactions. She's pretty much the "normi-est of normies" in my subscriptions and is definitely in my top 5.








 
Last edited:
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
1676213238780.png
Duaffy

Duaffy is a young woman from Spain. What kept me watching her videos was she usually had unique perspectives on the movies that I hadn't considered before. I don't think it's a cultural thing, she's just kind of wired differently a little. Unfortunately, a few months ago she had to stop producing youtube content to focus on her health, but she still does frequently stream gaming on twitch.





 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
1676213981325.png
Aliciaxlife

Alicia is a professional gamer turned vtuber in her early 20s. She chooses to use a virtual avatar instead of her actual face for a number of reasons, but probably most because she is currently in a fight against her uterine cancer which makes it hard to leave her bed. She is VERY gen Z by nature, and a lot of her perspective comes from separating out from her conservative muslim family when she came out as bisexual. Her 3D model is excellent and very expressive with detailed tracking, so it really helps convey her emotions in her videos. Of course, being on aggressive chemo drugs and hormone treatments often make her emotions run wild on her.

Alicia mostly reacts to anime now, but before her diagnosis there was a lot more gaming content in her channel. Despite her infirmity, she manages to post content substantive content almost every day.






 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
1676228348714.png
Cyn Reacts
https://www.youtube.com/@Cynthetic (Let's Plays)

Pretty new to the "Reaction video" thing, she's really just getting started but has much more history doing "Let's Plays" and streaming. So far I'm liking what I'm seeing. When you get a younger content creator, there's always the risk that their personality will be excruciating for people who remember the 80s, but that hasn't been the case here. She's just a normal gal experiencing movies and shows for the first time.








 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
1676229559718.png
VKunia
https://www.youtube.com/@VKunia (movies and shows)
https://www.youtube.com/@VKunime (anime)
https://www.youtube.com/@videogamekunia (gaming)

Fair warning - like Aliciaxlife, Vicky here has BIG zoomer energy. If she'd been born 20 years earlier she probably would have fallen into a valley girl stereotype - if she wasn't from New York. She does occasionally mention that she is of Polish descent, and she can understand the language enough to laugh when it is spoken incorrectly on screen, which apparently happens more often than it being spoken correctly. Not that either of those two things happens regularly. She's a very active content creator, but sometimes she has a distinct propensity to forget important details or miss the blindingly obvious.






 
Last edited:
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
1676237378043.png
Whimsory

A more stereotypical tiktok kid you'd be hard pressed to find. There's clearly some manic pixie neurodivergence going on here. Whimsory is brand spanking new to the reaction racket, started recently when she "came to realize she knows almost nothing" about pop culture from before she was born, and decided to document her voyage of discovery on youtube. Anybody who's willing to make one of their earliest reactions be John Carpenter's "The Thing" is worth giving a fair shake, in my book.

There aren't any good summary short clips to post of her yet, unfortunately. I tried going and looking at her tiktok to see if something else is suitable there but it is all cringey teen tiktok skits.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
1676238219612.png
Definitely Not Definitive
https://www.youtube.com/@DefinitelyNotDefinitive2 (general media, occasional TV series)
https://www.youtube.com/@DefinitelyNotDefinitiveGames (gaming)

Self describing as "Just a wacky couple in love who love reacting," Ken and Bethany generally react to other youtube videos but also occasional TV series. I particularly like to watch their reactions to DBZ Abridged. It's also been fun watching Bethany's slide away from blissful innocence as she is roped by Ken into watching things like Mortal Kombat fatality compilation videos. I wouldn't say they're in my top 5, and I definitely skip as many of their videos as I watch (particularly the ones where they're reacting to content I don't care about, like Death Battle and Epic Rap Battles of History), but for the content I AM interested in, these guys are worth watching.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
1676240575213.png
Rob Squad Reactions
https://www.youtube.com/@robsquadmoviereactions (Movies)
https://www.youtube.com/@RobSquadReactions (Music)

Rob Squad is a millennial parent duo from Oklahoma. Much like many of the others in my list, they just happened to miss out on this stuff for whatever reason, so now - guided by their Patreon patrons' votes, they react to movies and music. Jay is your average buddy type and Amber is his softer, kinder better-half.... not quite sure where the "Rob" part comes into it. Between the two of them, it's usually pretty entertaining to watch them experience the staples of my childhood for the first time.





 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
1676244408118.png
Asia and BJ
https://www.youtube.com/@ReelinwithAsiaandBJ (movies, rarely TV shows)
https://www.youtube.com/@AsiaandBJ (music)
https://www.youtube.com/@AsiaandBJReact (sports, various online media)

Asia and BJ probably first came over my recommendations because they seem to fill so much of the same niche as Rob Squad, but apart from being Black American married reactors, they're not really the same at all. The vibe is very different, they do their own thing. Asia in particular is very amusing - she is a movie coward of the highest degree and cannot bear even the slightest bit of tension or suspense without having a blanket to hide behind. So, naturally their supporters line up lots and lots of horror movies to make her watch. Whenever they react to a movie, it's always entertaining. Top 5.







 
PatrThom

PatrThom

1676244714697.png
Lost In Vegas

Ryan (no glasses) and George (glasses) are two Hip-Hop dudes who apparently decided not to be limited to Hip-Hop (hence the "Free Thinkers" logo) and decided to give a bunch of other stuff a listen and document the experience. I've watched them dive into Heavy Metal and Hard Rock, but they also touch on Prog Rock, Classic Rock, and more modern Pop/Rock. I can't remember which reaction video of theirs I saw first, But I think it was someone else referring to their review of Megadeth's "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due." I also remember their review of Rush's "YYZ" since there's some point where they're like, "This is one Hell of an intro, I wonder when the lyrics are gonna start?" <cuts to> "Okay so apparently this is an instrumental..."








--Patrick
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
1676261041980.png
Centane

A professional gamer who also does reaction videos. Quite the rarity - she is Dominican-Norwegian (living in Norway). Her videos are decent quality, if slightly amateurish - sometimes she doesn't edit out all the "dead air" and as such they might run a little longer than they need to. But she unarguably has a unique perspective to bring and is a decent watch.
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

1676259902267.png
Andy & Alex

Andy (no beard) and Alex (beard) are a couple of Gen Z musician dudes who met up in college (their earlier videos are literally the two of them in their dorm) and decided to start catching up on all the "old music" (i.e., classic rock) everyone else kept talking about. Andy plays guitar and drums, and Alex is in a band and writes his own music (and also writes music for hire). Their usual format is to fire up a classic song (or at times an entire album) and just sit there ADHD vibing to it while sipping on some kind of adult beverage, after which they will comment on it and give it a tier/letter grade. This pair is probably my wife's favorite reaction channel (or at least top 3) because she thinks they're adorable.

My only complaint is that they NEED to redo their review of "Living For The City" with the entire song instead of cutting it off early. The ending changes the whole thing!






Loving that shirt, Alex.

--Patrick
 
Last edited:
PatrThom

PatrThom

1676262580098.png
The Charismatic Voice

This is the other one my wife and I go back and forth with. Elizabeth Zharoff is a classically trained opera singer who loves to analyze music, especially vocal music. And when I say analyze, I mean analyze. She tends to frequently stop and discuss technique and theory. She most enjoys the emotional connection(s) that music can instill in the listener, the thing that makes a song go from mono to stereo, as it were. And while I've invested nowhere near the amount of effort that she has in building and furthering a career, as a person with a music degree and 30-plus years in vocal performance under my belt...I completely get where she's coming from.






I mean if she's looking an example of emotional connection to music, she'd have to look really hard to find one stronger than this.

EDIT: Oh, and if her name sounds at all familiar, it might be because of this viral video that went around a bit ago:



--Patrick
 
Last edited:
ncts_dodge_man

ncts_dodge_man

Here's a couple that I enjoy that aren't already on the list:

https://www.youtube.com/@AnnaAlexanderAuthor

Anna Alexander

Anna Alexander is an award winning author of contemporary and paranormal romance novels. For several years she was the president of the Greater Seattle Romance Writers Association (now ECRW), helped organized the Emerald City Writers Conference, and is a co-founder of the Seattle UnCon, an intensive that focuses on the business of publishing for authors. She also presents workshops on the business of writing, how to write a synopsis, and consent in today's marketplace.

My comment: Being an author, she does some minor analysis of things. She does mostly TV series.

https://www.youtube.com/@funnylilgalreacts

funnylilgalreacts

My comment: She has specifically commented she doesn't watch trailers/promos/etc. She does mostly TV series but gets fairly into to plot.
 
bhamv3

bhamv3

Gas has covered most of the reactors I watch, but a few he hasn't mentioned yet:

Natalie Gold
https://www.youtube.com/@NatalieGoldReacts
She can get amusingly animated at times, and her editor (I believe it's her husband) sometimes adds some funny touches to her videos. For example, every reaction video has her profanities bleeped out using a picture that's relevant to the current video. In her Infinity War reaction, for instance, the bleeps were done with a miniature Infinity Gauntlet.

Mary Cherry
https://www.youtube.com/@MaryCherryOfficial
An Aussie reactor that can come up with some pretty funny zingers.

Nia Maki
https://www.youtube.com/@NiaMakiReacts
In contrast to a lot of reactors, who can get really animated and agitated, Nia Maki has a more serene and thoughtful reaction style that can be a nice contrast.

Murder of Birds
https://www.youtube.com/@MurderofBirds
This guy primarily reacts to anime and gaming content, particularly Rooster Teeth's content such as RWBY. In fact, he's probably the most famous RWBY reactor. He is as energetic and screamy as any reactor you'd ever find. Also, funny story, the RWBY crew released a reaction video to one of his reaction videos, THAT'S how famous he is as a RWBY reactor.

All Ages of Geek
https://www.youtube.com/@AllAgesofGeek
A pair of sisters who mainly do anime and gaming content. I also found them through their RWBY reactions. One thing I quite like about this channel is that they stress fandom positivity, like they really want people to enjoy the content instead of focusing on the elements of a game or series that can cause people to get pretty salty.

There are a few more reactors that I watch but I wouldn't really recommend them as reactors. I pretty much only watch them cause they're hot girls. In fact, now that I think about it, pretty much all of the reactors I watch are hot girls.
 
bhamv3

bhamv3

Missed one:

Holden Hardman
https://www.youtube.com/@HoldenHardman
He previously did reaction videos with his friends, but now mainly releases videos featuring his then-girlfriend and now-wife. So, like, his videos are usually titled "My girlfriend watches..." and later "My wife watches..." Generally speaking the interplay between Holden and his wife Jen is quite entertaining, with her tending to be the more animated one while he delivers wry commentary. It also helps that Holden's a big film buff, so the videos often involve movies that he's already seen but Jen is watching for the first time. This means that when Jen wonders out loud whether something's going to happen, Holden will make knowing faces at the camera, which often annoys Jen immensely. Holden actually also likes to make dirty jokes, which Jen will often react to by saying "HOLDEN THOMAS HARDMAN!!!" in a shocked voice. This has happened often enough that someone's actually made a compilation of Jen saying Holden's full name.

And then a second compilation.

And then a third one.

And yes, I first started watching them because Jen's really hot.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top