Super Eyepatch Wolf

Channel Summary

Super Eyepatch Wolf is a video essay and review YouTube channel that covers topics such as anime, horror media, pop culture, wrestling, and video games. The videos' average run time ranges from about half an hour to more than two hours as the creator, John Walsh, covers a specific topic in depth. The major series on the channel include “Why You Should Watch,” a series that tries to convince the viewer to watch a specific anime; “My Favorite Things,” where Walsh talks about his favorite things from that season including anime, games, real life places and events, and more; and “I Have No Idea What Category These Videos Are” which include Walsh’s deep dives into pop culture media/icons such as The Simpsons, Garfield, and Sonic the Hedgehog. The channel has over 1.8 million subscribers, over 200 million views, and 125 uploaded videos.

Critical Evaluation

To evaluate Super Eyepatch Wolf, I watched three videos: the most recent video, the most popular video (both embedded above), and a video about one of his common types of analysis videos: horror (embedded below).  Altogether, I was able to gain a good understanding of his cadence, argument style, and video structure. John Walsh uses the video aspect of his video essays to his advantage, using images, video clips, music, and editing to enhance his arguments. He is also thorough in citing his resources, including attributions even to the songs that are used as background music. What makes these essays unique is the way that Walsh stylizes the editing of the videos to match the topic at hand, particularly when it comes to horror. 

The second half of the most recent video, “My Favorite Things of 2025,” discusses Walsh’s favorite horror media that he’s consumed so far this year. This part of the video is stylized like a secret hidden Easter Egg video with the feeling of a corrupted file and distorted noise. It makes the video more engaging and more memorable as he matches the form to the content. He does similar work with his other videos, incorporating costumes, visual distortions, and sound distortions to add to the atmosphere of his essays. The work on this channel exemplifies what video essays can bring to informational content. Not only do these stylistic choices make the video more entertaining, but they are additive to the content itself. 

When it comes to analyzing visual media, it’s also much easier to use references than a written essay. Walsh is able to add clips from movies and anime as examples to bolster his argument, as an essayist would insert a quote. He also includes photographs and illustrations that are relevant to the video and even shows his research process, such as in his most popular video, “What the Internet Did to Garfield,” where he shows videos of his data gathering about the types of humor in Garfield comics. These details not only add to the authority of Walsh’s videos but also immerse the viewer in the process, allowing them to feel more engaged with the content. The nature of YouTube, with its comment section, further encourages engagement as they are asked questions or can add further examples or even refute points that were made in the video. Super Eyepatch Wolf’s channel showcases the potential of video essays as a form of criticism and analysis.

Creative Use for a Library Program 

Social media is a (usually) free way for people to find and consume content, just as a library is. It is also a platform in which anyone can publish their own content without the barriers that exist in traditional settings. Because of this, there are two types of programs I’d want to implement inspired by watching Super Eyepatch Wolf’s channel. 

• The first is a video creation program. From creating an idea to filming to editing and promoting their video, there are many parts to video creation that teens could benefit from learning. While these are skills that are generally useful for teens to know, they are also ones that can help teens create their own YouTube channel or improve their social media in other ways. It would be great, if possible, to invite a local YouTuber to help guide the program! 

• The second is to create a library YouTube collection. YouTube videos are just another form of content, and while they are freely available, there is still the possibility of curation through creating suggestions, lists, blogs, or reviews. It would be fun to work with teens to develop and implement ideas of how the library can incorporate YouTube and other social media content into the library. One avenue might even be to reach out to content creators and develop partnerships with them. There are infinite possibilities, and I think teens would have useful input in this process. 

Potential Challenge Issues and Defense Preparation

As a free, publicly available YouTube channel, Super Eyepatch Wolf is not published with many restrictions regarding the content. While the platform has some levels of content filtering and a system in place for copyright claims, most content filtering boils down to whether or not the video can be monetized. Super Eyepatch Wolf, therefore, does not hold back in terms of language use and discussing topics such as alcohol and drug use, sex, and showing body horror. These are things that might be challenged about this channel, as parents won’t want their teens exposed to this content. These are, however, ways that people speak and topics that people speak about. The creator does not discuss these topics in a way to promote them, but just as a means of discussing their use in media.

Reason for Inclusion 

I watched my first video by Super Eyepatch Wolf when creating my post about Alley by Junji Ito. I was impressed with his analysis of the horror genre as a whole and enjoyed what he said about Ito’s work. I’ve been a rabid consumer of YouTube since high school, and around the time I entered college, I found that I enjoyed video essays the most. As they are a way to gain information in a visually stimulating way, I found them easier to consume than dense books and uninspired texts. I’ve been thinking for a while that YouTube channels should get reviews and be taken more seriously than they are. The creators put an immense amount of effort into the creation of their videos, and video essayists usually have the same amount of research put into their videos as professionally published essays. They aren’t peer-reviewed in the same way, but there is potential for them to be. 

YouTube is also a form of social media that teens use on a daily basis, from entertainment to information. As Super Eyepatch Wolf reviews and covers media that teens are very likely to watch, read, and play, there is a good chance that teens will happen upon him. At the very least, he could be a great resource for finding other great media for teens to enjoy.