This is an accidental destination video — a gay travel channel's most compelling content comes from a town with almost no gay scene.
57.4% of audience comments celebrate Atami itself, and the top comment (14 likes) reads: 'Andrew's like, there's nothing to do here, and then Meng casually lists 100 activities in a row.'
The host dynamic — Andrew's dry skepticism against Meng's compulsive tourism optimism — turns every mundane failure (convenience-store fireworks, a lukewarm onsen, an underwhelming gay bar) into watchable friction.
Watch outThe 'Not That Gay' title framing may suppress discovery from non-gay travel audiences who demonstrably respond to this content, and the Airbnb commercial layer hasn't yet been stress-tested at scale.
If Andrew's Maian becomes a recurring hub, does Atami gradually gay-ify — or does the channel's appeal depend entirely on it staying a sleeper town?
In this second Atami video, hosts Meng and Andrew (who owns an Airbnb called Maian in the town) spend a day exploring Atami beyond the house itself. They visit a cheap local onsen, attempt beach fireworks from a convenience store with disappointing results, check out the town's lone gay bar, take a ferry to the nearby island of Hatsushima, cook hot-spring eggs to eat on the shinkansen home, and close with an overall impression of Atami as a quiet, relaxed coastal town distinct from Tokyo.
Meng and Andrew spend a day and evening in Atami: a $2 local onsen that fails to deliver hot college boys, a beach fireworks session that burns 800 yen for roughly eight seconds of sparkle, and a stumble into Bar 69 before the night ends at a retro snack bar. The next morning they ferry to Hatsushima island, eat lemon ice cream, debate whether the trees are actually lemon trees, then ride the shinkansen home with self-cooked onsen eggs. The town is presented as a counter-argument to the Tokyo-hustle format — quieter, older, scenery-first.
How this video's like-and-comment rate compares to this channel's running average.
Opening 15 seconds — the bit that decides whether a viewer keeps watching.
“[0:00] Last time on Tokyo BTM, we headed down to Atami to introduce Andrew's brand new Airbnb, Maian, and give you the full house tour. [0:08] Today, we're taking you out on the town and beyond. [0:12] From stumbling into a random gay bar to running into unexpected wildlife, hopping over to a nearby island, and completely failing at fireworks. [0:19] Welcome to Atami - Tokyo BTM style.
The preview list — gay bar, unexpected wildlife, island, fireworks fail — creates genuine curiosity through specificity, but the 'last time on' recap opener and 'Welcome to Atami' sign-off are textbook meta-commentary that insulate the viewer from the content rather than pulling them in. Compared to TokyoBTM's stronger hooks that cold-open on a scene or a character moment, this feels like a TV episode bumper rather than an invitation.
Three alternative openings, each in a different archetype. Each is under 40 words — completable in 15 seconds.
“We checked Grindr in Atami — barely anyone online. So why did we spend the entire weekend here and love every minute? Here's what the gay travel guides aren't telling you about this town.”
WhyTurns the title's premise into a genuine mystery with an implied answer, making the 'not that gay' angle a hook rather than a disclaimer.
“We spent 48 hours trying to have a gay weekend in Atami: a bar called 69, a $2 onsen, fireworks that lasted four seconds, and wildlife that had no business being on a city street.”
WhyThe concrete details — bar name, price, fireworks duration — convert the preview list into a time-bound trial with built-in comedy payoff.
“We lit the fireworks. They lasted four seconds. Four. Seconds. That was 800 yen. Welcome to our Atami weekend.”
WhyOpens in the funniest, most commented-on moment of the video — the underwhelming fireworks — and lets the absurdity sell the whole trip without any setup.
The title lands the 'quaint beach town with low gay density' angle correctly — commenters echoed 'not that gay yet' and praised the relaxed vibe — but it buries the chaotic comedy that drove the most engaged comments: the spectacularly underwhelming fireworks, the surprise wildlife encounter mid-walk, and the onsen hot enough to cook you. These moments are the heart of the video's watchability and the title gives them no surface area.
Show Meng and Andrew's faces frozen in deadpan disbelief at the beach fireworks — sparkler barely lit, expressions maximally underwhelmed — with Atami's night coastline behind them; this visual encodes the video's comedic tone and pays off the 'failing at fireworks' tease without giving it away.
54 comments analysed and clustered into themes.
Viewers responded most to the Andrew-Meng comedic dynamic, summarised perfectly by the top comment: 'Andrew's like, There's nothing to do here, and Meng casually lists 100 activities in a row.' The fireworks failure was a crowd favourite — 'the choice of music during the fireworks is so perfect' — and Atami itself landed as a genuinely appealing destination, with multiple commenters calling it 'quaint', 'relaxing', and 'the best town near Tokyo.'
How the audience feels — a Net Sentiment mood score, how split the room is, and an early churn signal. All from the comments, not YouTube analytics.
Net Sentiment Score over 50 analysed comments; headline adjusted toward the channel norm (Bayesian, C=20). Polarization = normalised entropy. Comment-derived — not YouTube analytics.
Who actually showed up in the comments — psychographic, topical and language mix. Computed deterministically from 50 labeled root comments.
YouTube’s 2025 discovery shift now weights satisfaction signals — comment sentiment, tone, and depth. We can’t see the model, but we can estimate its inputs. Directional only.
Key transcript moments — tap a timestamp to jump to that point in the video.
Each comment theme mapped to the transcript moment that sparked it.
Meng's on-camera observation that Atami's beach vibe is fundamentally different from other countries — relaxation and scenery over clubs and drinking — matched exactly what commenters praised about the town.
Andrew's dismissive onsen review ('only two uncles — grandpas!') and the fireworks post-mortem ('next time choose the thicker one') crystalised the dynamic that drove the top comment.
The sequential reveal that both the Lawson and 7-Eleven fireworks were equally underwhelming — punctuated by the drool/failure music — became the clip-able comedic centrepiece viewers quoted back in comments.
Andrew explaining the Maian name origin (Maiko inspiration) and showing the towel-as-souvenir detail made the Airbnb feel personal and aspirational, triggering congratulations and 'how much did it cost?' questions.
The Grindr-is-empty observation at 12:00 and the Bar 69 name reveal landed as the comedic thesis of the title, prompting viewers to riff on 'not that gay yet' as an open invitation.
The unresolved on-camera debate about whether the trees were lemons prompted a viewer to research the actual 1873 origin story and post it as a comment — the highest-effort response in the thread.
The casual 'you want to go to the gay bar?' / 'yeah why not' exchange and the island wrap-up sitting together cued multiple viewers to read the trip as an unacknowledged date.
Severity × frequency — ranked. Each point has an evidence quote and a concrete before/after suggestion.
“Those fireworks are the worst omg!”↗ view
“レモンの件気になってAIに聞いてみたら1873年に熱海に訪れた外国人が庭にレモンの種を撒いてそれが増産され広まったという記録があるみたいです”
“You shouldn't make fun of a small commerce in a small town. They'll know because they'll gossip.”↗ view
“Meng is such a salesman for the air bnb. Andrew not so much…lol😅”↗ view
“Grindr who?! We need to hear about 9monsters!”↗ view
“Ok so what I'm hearing is we need more group trips to Atami to gay-ify it👀”↗ view
“How much does it cost to buy a place in Japan? I'd want one too.”↗ view
“You say that you're not in the mood for seafood, but... in the next scene you're eating seafood.”↗ view
“I think it is a place to, like, I guess there were activities we could have done that we didn't do”
What a brand or agency would see evaluating this video — which sponsors to pitch, why, what to charge, and what's safe.
Audience shows strong parasocial warmth (multiple repeat commenters like @PokhrajRoy. commenting 4x on one video, plus 'always love your adventures' loyalty signals) but minimal direct purchase-intent language — only 1 comment asks pricing ('How much does it cost to buy a place in Japan'). Ad tolerance is high (the entire video doubles as an Airbnb soft-sell for Andrew's Maian property and the comment section embraced it warmly — @alanbiernacki639 'Congratulations on your investment', @Gendergoblin123 'Meng is such a salesman for the Airbnb'). This is a trust-rich audience that will accept sponsorships if framed as recommendations from Meng+Andrew personally, but won't tolerate hard-sell scripts.
Mid-roll dedicated 60-second host-read by Meng (the louder/funnier voice) tied to a specific travel moment — e.g., 'Before we hopped on the shinkansen…' This audience tolerates sales tone when it's woven into Meng+Andrew banter, not pre-rolled in isolation.
“Congratulations, Andrew on your investment and place for weekend trips with friends.”— Audience endorses Andrew's commerce — confirms the channel can sell adjacent travel/property products↗ view
“How much does it cost to buy a place in Japan? I'd want one too. Atami looks like such a cute little place off the beaten track.”— Active purchase-intent signal — a real-estate or relocation-fintech brand has a buyer here↗ view
“I absolutely plan to come to Japan once!”— Travel-intent declaration — eSIM, booking, or insurance sponsors convert directly on this
“Been there twice! Still the best town for me that is near Tokyo.”— Repeat traveler — the audience acts on the channel's destinations, proving sponsorship attribution potential↗ view
“Meng is such a salesman for the air bnb. Andrew not so much…lol”— Audience playfully NOTICES selling and engages with it warmly — high tolerance for host-read integrations↗ view
Algorithm Signal is a proxy. YouTube’s satisfaction scores aren’t public. Directional, not predictive.
Unanswered questions and explicit requests from the comment thread — fuel for the next upload.
Three video ideas pulled directly from what the comments asked for.
Buying property in Japan as a foreigner — costs, process, and Andrew's experience with the Maian Airbnb
Return to Atami: Atami Castle, ropeway, and the activities deliberately skipped this trip
Gay dating apps in Japan: 9monsters vs Grindr — cultural differences, who uses what, and navigating them as a foreigner
Group 'gay-ify Atami' trip — bring friends, fill Bar 69, make the town momentarily chaotic
Full Hatsushima island day — snorkelling, cycling, actual activities instead of just walking
Convenience store fireworks tier list across Japan — 7-Eleven, Lawson, FamilyMart, ranked by bang-per-yen
Concrete, testable changes for the next upload. Each cites a timestamp, a comment quote, or a metric — and names what to watch.
Re-title future Atami content to lead with the funniest moment, not the qualifier — e.g. 'We Failed Atami's Fireworks (and Found a Sloth)' instead of 'Why We Love X (Even If…)'
Add chapters to this video covering Onsen Yamada-yu (2:52), Fireworks Fail (4:56), Sloth (12:14), Bar 69, Hatsushima (Day 2), Onsen Tamago (30:43)
Cut a Short from 7:31–8:12 fireworks fail with caption 'Don't buy fireworks at Lawson'
Plan a 'group trip to Atami' follow-up bringing 2-3 guests from Meng/Andrew's wider circle
Convert Andrew's Maian Airbnb pitch into a structured 30-second segment with on-screen booking link and price
When showing Japanese phrases (omiyage 1:25, hanabi 4:59, kankou bar 11:32, onsen tamago 30:53), add on-screen kanji + romaji overlays
Verify and credit the lemon-tree-origin story from @daisuke05291 in a pinned comment — 'An 1873 foreigner planted lemon seeds in Atami'
In future onsen scenes, include 5-second 'what to bring' overlay (towel, 300 yen, separate-gender entry)
Stop using sequel format ('Last time on Tokyo BTM') as the opener; add a 10-second standalone hook before the recap
Build a 'Maian Airbnb' YouTube playlist linking this video, the Part 1 house tour, and any future Atami content
Pitch Airalo and Wise for the next Japan-travel upload — host-read mid-roll only, $300+ floor
In future onsen/local-business reviews, soften the 'Don't come here' framing — replace with 'good for X, not Y'
Add a 'spin the egg' onsen-tamago tip from @rujjn into the next cooking moment
Test a thumbnail variation featuring Meng's facial reaction during the fireworks fail (8:08)
Surface gay-bar-69 segment (the 'kankou bar' visit) more prominently in title/thumbnail of any future LGBTQ-Japan content
Disclose Airbnb relationship as a 'Paid promotion' tag if Andrew's Maian property is shown as a featured destination going forward
Build a recurring 'TokyoBTM tries' format around small failures (fireworks, onsen reviews, language goofs)
Who to reply to first — ranked by impact, with a ready-to-send draft in your voice.
I love it. Andrew's like, 'There's nothing to do here,' and then Meng casually lists 100 activities in a row. :)
This is the most accurate description of our dynamic I've ever read 😂 Andrew's energy is 'vibe check only' and Meng is running a full internal itinerary at all times.
Ok so what I'm hearing is we need more group trips to Atami to gay-ify it👀
This is genuinely the plan. One solid group trip and we change the Grindr map forever 👀
レモンの件気になってAIに聞いてみたら1873年に熱海に訪れた外国人が庭にレモンの種を撒いてそれが増産され広まったという記録があるみたいです。ただその直接的な場所が初島かどうかは明確にはわからないようです。😅
これすごい！！1873年に外国人が持ち込んだのか…ちゃんとロマンがある話ですね🍋 初島かどうかはわからないにしても、次回また行って確認してみます笑
How much does it cost to buy a place in Japan? I'd want one too. Atami looks like such a cute little place off the beaten track.
It's a lot more accessible than you'd think, especially outside of Tokyo! Atami prices are way lower than the city. Andrew might be the best person to give the real numbers since he literally just went through the whole process 😄
Yay new travel vlog! Y'all are so much fun and there's never a dull moment in the house of TokyoBTM 😂
Thank you!! Honestly Atami delivered more than we expected 🥰 We had so much fun making this one — glad it shows!
You shouldn't make fun of a small commerce in a small town. They'll know because they'll gossip.
Fair point and honestly well taken — it wasn't meant to be mean-spirited at all. The lady was really sweet and the onsen itself was genuinely charming. We should have been clearer about that!
I like how normal (as in not gay) the area surrounding Andrews Airbnb is. Before everyone jumps on me for describing "not gay" as normal, I lived for many years on Palm Avenue in the heart of West Hollywood (the street with the car wash on the corner). I believe that Meng knows where that is. There is nothing even slightly normal about living in such a gay area. Anytime of the day or night you will be cruised for sex if you walk outside. Gay men walking up and down the street late at night with nothing on but their robe (so they can flash you and hopefully hook up). Drunks, drunks, drunks anytime day and night. Having to ensure you look perfect if you are going to leave the house. It just isn't normal. Well....Beverly Hills is next door to West Hollywood and the princesses that live here also will not go outside without looking like the millions they are actually worth. As I have gotten older (and no, I am not referring to Andrew as older), I have found that I prefer quiet and more relaxing venues and Andrews Airbnb, and the surrounding area fits that bill. I loved how quaint Atami seemed to be. Someplace off of the gay radar and I really liked it.
Meng absolutely knows that car wash 😂 And this is such a real observation — there's something genuinely freeing about a place where you can just exist without the performance of it. That's exactly the vibe Atami gave us too.
Pro tip: Spin the egg. A raw egg and a boiled egg will wobble differently.
WHY did we not know this before we got on the shinkansen 😭 This is genuinely useful and we will absolutely be doing this next time.
Been there twice! Still the best town for me that is near Tokyo. It has everything I want, calm vibes, beach, and onsen! That's all I could ask for.
Twice! So you're basically a local expert at this point 😄 Is there a specific onsen you'd recommend? We feel like we've only scratched the surface.
Grindr who?! We need to hear about 9monsters!
Honestly a very valid point 🐾 We should have checked 9monsters instead — noted for the next Atami scouting mission.
you guys can take a picture of the tree and ask chat GPT if its really a lemon tree
We asked ChatGPT how to boil an egg in this very video so honestly you're right, we have the tool and we're not using it to its full potential 😂
Acting like you two arent technically on a date ❤ love.
We prefer the term 'content research' 😂❤
Shareable social-proof quotes — ready for thumbnails, community posts, or a sponsor deck.
“Y'all are so much fun and there's never a dull moment in the house of TokyoBTM 😂”
“Still the best town for me that is near Tokyo. It has everything I want, calm vibes, beach, and onsen! That's all I could ask for.”
“I love it. Andrew's like, 'There's nothing to do here,' and then Meng casually lists 100 activities in a row. :)”
“The mini van bar is so cute! Such a relaxing vibe from this town.”
“Acting like you two arent technically on a date ❤ love.”
“Title: "Atami is not that gay" Me: "Atami is not that gay..... yet 😏"”
“Such a quaint and relaxing town. I really enjoyed the video, keep up the great videos and content. Thanks for bringing us along with you guys 🎆❤”
“Meng is such a salesman for the air bnb. Andrew not so much…lol😅”
Moments worth cutting into Shorts — each with a title and a ready hook line. Timestamps link to the video.
Verbatim — the 5 most representative comments from the thread.
I love it. Andrew's like, 'There's nothing to do here,' and then Meng casually lists 100 activities in a row. :)
Ok so what I'm hearing is we need more group trips to Atami to gay-ify it👀
Yay new travel vlog! Y'all are so much fun and there's never a dull moment in the house of TokyoBTM 😂
16:43 Lmao Meng found a reliable sober buddy at the snack bar.
I like how normal (as in not gay) the area surrounding Andrews Airbnb is... I really liked it.
Top reply-magnet comments — where the real debate happened. 4 replies across 4 roots · max chain 2 deep · creator replied to 6%
Ok so what I’m hearing is we need more group trips to Atami to gay-ify it👀
16:43 Lmao Meng found a reliable sober buddy at the snack bar.
レモンの件気になってAIに聞いてみたら1873年に熱海に訪れた外国人が庭にレモンの種を撒いてそれが増産され広まったという記録があるみたいです。ただその直接的な場所が初島かどうかは明確にはわから�…
I really enjoyed the video today and really loved the trip going to the island and bar plus the video was great as usual so keep up the good and great content and can’t wait for the next video.
I love it. Andrew’s like, ‘There’s nothing to do here,’ and then Meng casually lists 100 activities in a row. :)
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