It’s the simple things in life that matter, right? Stopping to smell the roses. Reading a good book. Watching marbles try to survive an obstacle course.
That last thing is what the YouTube channel MIKAN is all about.
In some videos, the channel’s animated, multi-colored marbles race. In others, they try to survive rapidly approaching lava or crushers. In still other videos, they roll to an unseen finish line to avoid being squashed by a giant mikan, the Japanese word for a type of orange.
The channel isn’t limited to just animated marbles, either: In other videos, we watch stick-figure cyclists do a lot of the same challenges. We also see giant, factory-like mechanisms shoot random weapons at one another, hoping to destroy the other’s core first. Even gargantuan trees sling explosive fruit at one another for dominion.
Here’s what’s certain when you click on a MIKAN YouTube video: You’re sure to see a unique challenge every time—and you can likewise be certain that not every color will survive to the end of the video.
MIKAN’s content is very clever, extending far beyond simple marble races. Most of this channel’s videos contain twists that expand upon the many broadly similar games that have played, making each video feel fresh compared to previous ones. It can be fun to try to guess which color will win a challenge or survive an obstacle.
That being said, there’s really no educational value on the channel, since it just boils down to the viewer hoping their favorite color wins a challenge.
Additionally, at least one video, titled “The Nightmare – Survival Bicycle Race,” contains some creepy elements. These include competing cyclists who get infected by flying oranges, eaten by a giant creature and pursued by an acid-spitting head. The music in the background contains lyrics such as, “Are you scared?” and, “These mortals have awakened the gods of old.”
Some challenges substitute marbles for stick figures pedaling on bikes. While these cyclists don’t bleed and aren’t very realistic, watching them get crushed or burned by lava might frighten the youngest of tots.
One lyric within a song featured in the background of many videos sounds like it includes an s-word.
MIKAN throws a lot of dangers at his animated contestants, and many endure close calls throughout the video. And if we take MIKAN at its most basic—it’s marble racing—then there’s not much more to be said about it.
Indeed, MIKAN doesn’t offer anything other than a bit of mindless fun as viewers watch the animation play out. I’ll admit, there’s something oddly satisfying about seeing the color you chose survive a MIKAN course. While that means the channel is a bit of a waste of time, it’s also far better than most on the site.
Still, we can’t end this review without pointing out the few content issues that do merit consideration: namely, a somewhat scary survival race and some issues with the channel’s choice of background lyrics. I’m not sure those warrant a parent losing his or her marbles over them, but they do put a few bumps in this marble race.
Kennedy Unthank studied journalism at the University of Missouri. He knew he wanted to write for a living when he won a contest for “best fantasy story” while in the 4th grade. What he didn’t know at the time, however, was that he was the only person to submit a story. Regardless, the seed was planted. Kennedy collects and plays board games in his free time, and he loves to talk about biblical apologetics. He thinks the ending of Lost “wasn’t that bad.”
