Gigguk

Garnt Maneetapho is better known as the sensationally successful anime blogger, Gigguk. He has built an audience of nearly 5 million fans, followers, and subscribers across his various platforms, but he is perhaps best known for his YouTube channel, which is responsible for 3.4 million of his followers. His content on the platform has been watched more than half a billion times and focuses largely on reviewing the latest happenings in the world of anime, often through his signature comedic rants. Along with his wife (fellow YouTube star, Sydney “Sydsnap” Poniewaz), he moved to Japan in 2019 to work as an influencer for talent agency GeeX Plus. He co-hosts the popular anime/Japanese pop culture podcast, Trash Taste.

Gigguk (a portmanteau of his family name and where he lives) was born in Brighton, UK, to Thai parents. When his YouTube channel first came to prominence, it was called The Anime Zone, but as his personal reputation grew, his nickname took over as the channel name. He reached the million-subscriber mark in 2017, and a huge sign of international recognition came the following year when he was invited to present an award at the Crunchyroll Anime Awards in Los Angeles (it’s something of an anomaly that he has yet to win any awards himself).

Since his move to Japan, Gigguk’s profile has gone from strength to strength: as well as three seasons of Trash Taste and his ever-popular YouTube content, he has twice won a gaming tournament for influencers set up by chess.com.