Mangatube is growing.

We all have our favorite manga or anime Youtuber that we watch for new recommendations, unboxings and massive hauls. We grow our inspiration to read, to watch, and to create; to be apart of a community that fuels our hobbies and our passions. When watching these Youtubers or reading these bloggers, we have the opportunity to interact with them through comments, through Q&A’s, and sometimes even through social media.

I wanted to meet my personal favorites through interviews and getting to know them on a more personal level. That is precisely what Interview Mangatube is all about!

I was fortunate to get to ask this Mangatuber (who just reached 1,000 subs on Youtube!) these questions. It was important to me to make sure I interviewed this man first, as he was the one who was really my door into Mangatube and let me into his platform. I had the pleasure to see the community in a new light and be inspired by a slew of people that I am so fortunate to know today.

Every interview that takes place will include the social media, and outlet these creators preform on at the end of the article.

Interview Mangatube! w/ Lohali!

Where did the name Lohali come from?

 This is the easiest one to talk about! It’s a bit of a hidden secret, however I think I can let you in. Originally when I was looking for a name for my channel, I was wanting it to relate to who I am as a person. The biggest portions of my personality (minus manga) are my love of powerlifting and my passion for long hair. So Lohali is based on those two things, LOng HAired LIfter. For me it was a catchy name that reflected (and still does) who I am as a person.

When you decided to make your channel, did you have a series that you wanted to talk about particularly? What was your intention for starting the channel? Has it changed now that you’re approaching 1,000 subscribers? (When asking this question, Lolahi was under 1K!)

 My intentions with the channel have always been the exact same, create the absolute BEST content that I can. Always trying to improve something by just that little percent each time. I didn’t have a particular series in mind when I started creating, I just wanted to talk with people who had similar mindsets and a similar passion for what we love. I have always had a passion for pouring every single emotion into what I create, what I say, whether it was when I did a few bouts of stand-up comedy, played bass in a rock band or started creating videos. My goals won’t ever change. I want to be the best creator with the best community. There isn’t any other reason for me to create. If I only created for myself, not with the intention to grow, I wouldn’t publish my videos, it would be a waste of time for ME. If you are creating to create, there is NOTHING wrong with that, in fact that is pretty darn cool!

What was the first manga you ever read and the first anime you ever watched? The first manga I remember actively reading was actually the OG Dragon Ball in the library when my parents would drop me off to either pick out books or read. I would curl up on the floor, getting in peoples way just to make sure no-one would take the next volume from me! I would drag my feet leaving, whining about wanting to take them with me. It was then that I found out that you could actually ‘rent’ books from the library and it was all downhill from there. As for anime, that is a bit tougher, as I am not a massive anime watcher, however I remember frequenting Pokémon and Yugioh, with Pokémon being at the forefront of my mind.

Do you have a favorite childhood memory associated with manga or anime? If so, what is it?

It was the experience of sitting in libraries and bookstores, crisscross applesauce, reading book after book while my legs went numb and my parents were out running other errands. Just the thrill of opening up a new manga, or one I had already explored in depth, was a feeling I don’t know if I will ever be able to replace, but I can sure as heck try! In fact, the series I dived into the MOST during this period of my life was Detective Conan aka Case Closed! So many fond memories of trying to solve mysteries and murders along with a detective that looked similar to myself.

What’s your favorite thing about the manga/anime community?

How much each of us loves the topic we talk about. We have become experts in different fields without trying or thinking about it, this was just the natural progression. Each person in the community has spent hours, days, months of their lives becoming invested in the stories that are told, crying with their friends about characters that have passed and series that have ended. The whole community loves these ideas with a passion, and that is simply great.

What’s your least favorite thing about the manga/anime community?

My biggest dislike about the community stems from what I love the most, actually! Sometimes, with great passion for a particular series or genre, comes an equally strong passion for disliking something. The divisions that can be found where certain series are considered ‘trash’ or lower forms of entertainment are a bit disheartening. Over the past few years, it has gotten loads better, but there is still improvement that can and should be done to make us a more inclusive community.

It’s almost your two-year MangaTube anniversary! Any special ideas for the big day?

Honestly, I have zero plans for celebrating that auspicious day. If I’m being honest, I would rather celebrate my birthday than my Mangatubeiversary, which gives me a pretty decent idea actually. For me, it feels just like any other day on the grind of creating quality content. If I did something special, or EVEN more special than normal, I would try to make that the norm from then on out, which would burn me out in the long run. I know it sounds a bit silly, but that’s just how my brain likes to function.

I’ve had the pleasure of being on the Livestream Manga Club and it was a wonderful experience. What was your inspiration around making TMC? How can people be a part of the club?

Thank you for saying that, it was a wonderful experience to have you on as well! My biggest inspiration was just trying to create a community that would be able to talk about manga live. Others were doing it at the time, having live streams with a TON of people on, and I thought I could do it a bit differently. From there I originally invited an individual to help co-host the brand with me, however there were some issues that arose and caused us to part ways. From there I wanted to expand the conversation possibilities and went from a live stream to a pre-recorded format to open the doors to more people across the world! With that simple change the list of guest possibilities has EXPLODED and caused me to light the weekly publishing fire once more.

As for how can people be a part of TMC? That is the easiest question you’ve asked so far. All they need to do is join in on the conversation by asking questions, recommending guests, BEING guests. There is a huge amount of work that goes into making these episodes, and knowing that the Club enjoys them makes everything worth it. The guest screening process is a bit different than the past as I look into the person a bit deeper to see if we vibe properly (which adds to the flow of the conversation) and what they can bring to the community as a whole. This is my baby, which has grown with the help of so many people, and I want to make sure it keeps growing in positive directions.

If you could meet any mangaka, who would you meet and why?

I genuinely don’t know! For me the mystic of an author or creator can be rubbed away from getting to know them too much, which isn’t a bad thing! It’s just something I want to be wary of. But if I had to choose one, the mind of Eiichiro Oda would be A-mazing to pick at. The way he creates his world, tells his stories and the long game he has planned are terrifying and fascinating, in equal measure.

Find Lohali on Twitter and Youtube!

Watch The Manga Club here!