TokyoBTM turned a bathhouse survey into a confessional that made 74,000 people feel statistically vindicated about gay loneliness.
The anchor stat — 53% bottoms vs. 18% tops from 45,000 respondents — triggered a comments section where viewers self-reported their cities as bottom-majority from Montreal to Moscow to Manila.
The hosts argued openly on camera, admitted anxiety and femininity in the same breath, and cited the survey before viewers could dismiss the premise — giving a personal complaint the structure it needed to read as insight.
Watch outThe video presents zero firsthand top perspectives, which the top comment (267 likes) immediately flagged, and which risks making the channel's recurring 'Tokyo Tops' bit feel increasingly self-serving over time.
If the 16.8% of comments expressing geographic desire — viewers planning trips to Tokyo for hot bottoms, or asking which cities have tops — is taken seriously, this video accidentally functions as gay travel content.
Two gay hosts living in Tokyo discuss a perceived imbalance between tops and bottoms in the gay community, prompted by a 2020 survey showing 53% of respondents identify as bottoms and only 18% as tops. They reflect on their personal experiences at social events that seem to confirm this imbalance, then explore the psychological, emotional, and social factors behind how gay men come to identify with a particular role. The conversation touches on BL anime's influence on role stereotypes, the anxiety associated with topping, and whether sexual position carries emotional or social meaning beyond the act itself.
Two gay expats in Tokyo parse a 2020 bathhouse survey showing 53% of respondents identify as bottoms against 18% tops, then cross-reference it against their own goukon experience where 17 of 20 men scored below four on a ten-point top/bottom scale. The conversation moves into causation — BL anime archetypes, performance anxiety, the femininity-bottom conflation — with neither host converging on an answer, one calling it biology and the other psychology. It closes with a standing call for Tokyo Tops to reveal themselves in the comments, which became the channel's recurring franchise.
How this video's like-and-comment rate compares to this channel's running average.
Author-defined structure — tap a timestamp to jump to that moment.
Opening 15 seconds — the bit that decides whether a viewer keeps watching.
“[0:00] So guys, I think we finally found the reason why we're single. [0:03] I was born bottom. I have bottom DNA. [0:06] This video, we're going to call it 'Save Tops'. [0:10] Tokyo! Tops! [0:11] Hi, welcome back.
The 'finally found the reason why we're single' opener is the channel's strongest pain-led framing — it lands immediately for the target audience and the 'bottom DNA' punchline sustains energy. The greeting at 0:11 resets momentum just as curiosity peaks; excising it would push this to a strong hook without any other changes.
Three alternative openings, each in a different archetype. Each is under 40 words — completable in 15 seconds.
“A 45,000-person bathhouse survey just revealed why most gay bottoms in Tokyo are still single: only 18% of respondents identify as tops. We dug into the data — and our own dating lives.”
WhyGrounds the personal frustration in a verified number immediately, making the stakes concrete and lending the conversation analytical credibility from the first sentence.
“We went to four goukons in Tokyo. Out of twenty gay men each time, there was one top. Maybe two. We started keeping count.”
WhyDrops into lived evidence before any explanation — 'one top out of twenty' is more visceral than an abstract percentage and mirrors what commenters say resonated with their own experience.
“Last week at a goukon: twenty gay men, three hours, one top. He marked himself a ten on the scale. Everyone else was below four. This is not a complaint. This is a pattern.”
WhyPuts the viewer inside the specific situation before any framing, creating immediate identification and letting the absurdity of '10 vs. four' speak before any commentary is needed.
The title frames this as a geographic hunt for tops, which does attract geographic comment threads (Montreal, Vietnam, Philippines, Florida), but the video's most engaged content — and the comments generating 200+ word replies — is a psychological and identity-level debate about 'bottom DNA,' performance anxiety, BL-influenced stereotypes, and whether sexual position maps to personality. The title signals the surface question but not the depth that drove the community response.
A bold split graphic showing '53% BOTTOM / 18% TOP' with both hosts reacting in mock despair — the statistic is the real hook and gives the thumbnail a concrete, readable anchor that works at small size without relying on face expressions alone.
735 comments analysed and clustered into themes.
Commenters overwhelmingly responded to the unscripted, argumentative candor between Andrew and Meng — phrases like 'giving me LIFE' (@obento4293, 110 likes) and 'I've never felt so related to content like this' (@saadmuhamed3833) recurred across dozens of comments. The moment Andrew forced Meng to 'roll the tape back' on the femininity admission landed as the emotional peak of the video, with multiple comments quoting or referencing it directly. International viewers particularly valued the rare frank framing of a topic they said 'nobody usually talks about.'
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 398 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 398 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.
1 of 398 labelled comments were flagged as showing regret about the title/thumbnail promise vs. the actual content.
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.
Andrew forcing Meng to admit he associates femininity with being a bottom ('roll the tape back') and Meng's confession that topping gives him anxiety — the honest self-contradiction was the emotional core commenters quoted most.
The intro hook ('I was born bottom, I have bottom DNA') and the sign-off call-to-action for Tokyo tops to like the video generated warm parasocial responses about the channel's tone and openness.
Severity × frequency — ranked. Each point has an evidence quote and a concrete before/after suggestion.
“We should perhaps differentiate between top/bottom and dom/sub. One set is a sexual position and one set is a sexual expression.”↗ view
“Andrew, you're totally wrong about how total tops perceive bottoms. Maybe you've just had bad experiences with paranoid tops.”↗ view
“This would've been more interesting and informative if it included a Top's perspective. This idea of a total Top not wanting to Bottom and "judging" the role of a Bottom is completely false.”↗ view
“Tops just don't like to fill out surveys 🥴🥴🥴”↗ view
“the top/bottom expected social roles feed into heteronormative standards :/ we're all just boys who like boys lol”↗ view
“i kinda don understand why he don date a totally tokyo top ? i think you should date a ver guy not a top then .... It is kinda contradicting you know.”↗ view
“All the Tops are married to women and sometimes with kids. So they aren't gonna go to clubs or gocons”↗ view
“Florida is NOT a fully bottom state lol You go by cities”↗ view
“Vers man here 👋 when do we get a segment lol”↗ view
“ALSO note that BL is generally made by cishet women for cishet women, not for gays.......”↗ view
“There already so less top just get one if u can, stop being picky !!! XD”↗ view
“Everytime I watch their show, they're always arguing. It's fun to watch it.”↗ view
“I know guys, this discussion kind of went a little bit everywhere.”
“No, I don't think it's a simple thing. Just as someone who comes and says that they're a total top, they're struggling...”
“[2:01] Why your bottom [3:38] Why youre about it”
“I definitely realized I faced less danger--even wearing condoms--topping rather than bottoming.”↗ view
“So if you haven't watched our goukon video, watch our video.”
“"There's probably a lot of ways you can poke holes in ... this survey." A survey about sexual roles. You say the cutest things, and never seem to know it.”↗ view
What a brand or agency would see evaluating this video — which sponsors to pitch, why, what to charge, and what's safe.
This audience shows strong purchase-intent geography signals — at least 8 comments name a city they'd travel to or live in based on the video's premise (Tokyo, Vietnam, Montreal, Middle East, Philippines, Mexico, Budapest, Istanbul), and one viewer (@neuromodgames) explicitly says they discovered the channel while researching a move to Japan. Ad tolerance is moderate-high: comments are reflective and long-form (44.9% personal experiences, 38.3% appreciation), and the LGBTQ-Japan niche is hard for brands to reach elsewhere. The gap is scale (74k views) and a thin track record of past brand reads — sponsors will want category proof before a top-tier rate.
60-90 second mid-roll integration around the 5:40 'Tokyo Tops' chapter break — audience is engaged with the analytical framing by that point and a travel/VPN/dating-app read fits the geographic pivot naturally; avoid pre-roll (this audience came for a specific cultural conversation and will skip).
“I need to move to Tokyo. At least two hot bottoms ready to date.”— Direct relocation-intent — travel/eSIM/VPN sponsor goldmine↗ view
“I am planning to maybe move to Japan for studies in a few years and I just discovered you guys while looking for tips about living in Japan.”— Channel is already a discovery surface for Japan-bound viewers — proves Airalo/Babbel/Wise conversion path↗ view
“I'm top living in shinjuku. I've been trying to find a btm friend... I don't understand why people never reply on dating apps”— Active dating-app user complaining about UX — exact moment a Hornet/Sniffies sponsor would land↗ view
“never knew there are soo many btms in japan! going to japan asap!”— Travel-intent triggered by THIS video specifically — measurable conversion signal↗ view
“i'm a vers British guy learning Japanese to go to japan more often”— Self-identified language-learner + Japan traveler — Babbel/Pimsleur ICP↗ 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.
A top joins the show to give their perspective — dating anxiety, stigma of vulnerability, why total tops refuse to bottom
Geographic investigation — interview gay men from Montreal, Vietnam, Philippines, Middle East on whether their city really has more tops
Can two bottoms date? Real couples or dating experiments exploring compatibility without a natural top
Dom/sub vs top/bottom — the distinction the video almost reached but didn't resolve
Overcoming topping anxiety — practical and psychological, drawing on the personal stories already in the comments
BL anime's influence on gay identity in Asia — how fiction shaped an entire generation's understanding of top/bottom
Concrete, testable changes for the next upload. Each cites a timestamp, a comment quote, or a metric — and names what to watch.
Add a pinned geo-poll comment: 'Tell us your city + top/bottom ratio'.
Cut a Short from 5:40-6:30 ('I can't date a Tokyo total top') with on-screen caption hook.
Produce a follow-up 'World Map of Tops vs Bottoms' video citing 8+ named commenters by handle.
Invite a self-identified Tokyo top from comments (@orkumm in Shinjuku) onto a future episode.
Reshoot the intro to lead with the 53%/18% stat at 0:00 instead of the 'born bottom' joke.
Add B-roll cutaways every 20-30 seconds (city shots, BL anime clips, survey graphics).
Acknowledge the @Ryan-po4yd / @Wholiganify critique on-camera in a future video ('Some of you said Andrew's framing is heteronormative — here's our response').
Test a less explicit title for future sexual-topic videos to dodge YLPF flags ('Why Half of Gay Tokyo Says They're Bottoms').
Run a 1-question viewer survey via community tab: 'Top, bottom, vers, or vers-bottom?' and report results in a follow-up.
Embed a 5-second sponsor read at the 5:40 chapter break in next 3 videos to build an integration-rate floor.
Build an evergreen 'Gay Japan FAQ' playlist with this video as the anchor and add 5 follow-ups (dating apps, bathhouse culture, language barriers, expat scene, PrEP).
Reply to every comment that names a country/city within the first 48h with a one-liner question ('Where in [city] specifically?').
Stop apologizing on-camera for survey methodology limitations (1:01).
Add chapter markers in YouTube description matching the 4 in-video chapters and add 2 more ('BL stereotypes', 'Anxiety as a top').
Pitch this video as a case study to gay-travel brands (Misterbnb, ManAboutWorld, Out Adventures).
Who to reply to first — ranked by impact, with a ready-to-send draft in your voice.
Tops just don't like to fill out surveys 🥴🥴🥴
The data was rigged from the start and we should've known 😭 truly the tops will not be surveyed, will not be found, will not be located
I'm a top from Canada. I heard many times from my friends the struggles and challenges of being a bottom and I have a lot of sympathy for all of you bottoms our there. Today, I'd like to share my perspective as a top. Unfortunately, today's society has a tendency to encourage stereotypes. As a top, we are often pressured to embrace some of these stereotypes : masculine, dominant, ambitious, stubborn. My career as a military officer tends to even emphasize on these stereotypes. Because I lead dozens of people for my job, people automatically assume I fit all of the stereotypes listed above. These perceptions put a lot of stress and pressure on us, making it more difficult to find a suitable partner. If we assume the fact that, personality wise, a top is more dominant and a bottom is more submissive, in that case I'm a versatile. I like to share control with my partner. However, on a purely sexual level, I am a top. I do not get any pleasure from bottoming. And I tried several times with my ex partner (we were together for 9 years, so we had a lot of time to try haha). But with today's stereotypes, it's difficult to find a bottom that is comfortable with the idea of sharing control. As a top, if you share just a little bit of vulnerability, you are often criticized for it. We should be careful and make sure to distinguish relationship roles and sexual preferences. And we should stop trying to encourage the stereotypes. Love is love.
This is exactly the perspective we didn't have in the room and honestly should have — the pressure on tops to never show vulnerability is its own trap, and distinguishing relationship control from sexual position is so well put. Thank you for taking the time to write this out.
I'm top living in shinjuku. I've been trying to find a btm friend to have sex with but I dont like clubing and I don't understand why people never reply on dating apps (and I consider myself atractive)... you should make a video about that guys!
WAIT you're real?? We've been calling out Tokyo tops for months and here you are 😭 the apps-not-working-for-tops angle is a whole conversation we genuinely need to make a video about — noted and thank you
omg I've never felt so related to a content like this, I just wanna say after 22 years i got to understand things that really brought me ANXIETY ,, and i'm so thankful for u guys ure so adorable , decent, honest and authentic,, and I really love what u do . love love y'all <3
This genuinely means a lot — knowing this helped you make sense of something you've been carrying for a long time makes every awkward conversation on camera worth it. Love you back 💙
This would've been more interesting and informative if it included a Top's perspective. This idea of a total Top not wanting to Bottom and "judging" the role of a Bottom is completely false. If a total Bottom does not want to ever Top would that mean he is judging the Top's role?
You're right, and the top's perspective in the comment right below yours kind of proves it — we were speaking entirely from our own experience and that's a real gap we want to fix in a future video.
I think the issue is psychological. Excuse me for using some words, just know that I'm coming from a very non-judgmental point of view but I'll refrein from thinking about my choice of words to make writing easier. Most gay people go through a similar experience of struggling through their teens and having certain fantasies, anal pleasure is one of those and a huge number of men enjoy prostate pleasure (heck there's a big number of straight males who enjoy prostate massages). Now when one becomes sexually active there's a certain amount of anxiety in the beginning, no matter the position but in reality performing well as a bottom is easier as performing well as a top, and when it comes to being top a lot of people struggle. I've had it too, for years I've been bottom only because I had anxiety, couldn't perform well as a top, couldn't keep >it< up etc., and a lot of my gay friends have the same issue, even though being top gave me more physical pleasure. Only through exposure (best case with a friend+ you can trust who won't shame you for a bad performance) was i able to get rid of the anxiety and perform well. On the other hand, since then I've been in relationships with bottoms only and I didn't mind the positioning, but the positions >always< implied emotional roles as well and as soon as I shoved emotional weakness or struggling (whether relationship, family, work related etc) I wasn't taken serious as a man anymore cause I let my guard down, so the judging I received was more from the bottom side of the community. Just based on our anatomy and biology I find it hard to believe that any guy wouldn't enjoy both roles, but given our society today, especially the gay one, where everyone is expected to be perfect and given what I've written above I'm not surprised that there is an disproportionate number of bottoms wherever you go, because sexual insecurities and anxieties lead most people to define as bottom only (please find no offense in the choice of words). Top only guys of course have their insecurities as well. Now I describe myself as 80-90% top (Vers top) but usually just date Vers guys, and from experience can say that Vers guys will usually just go for Vers guys as well, cause it's sexually and emotionally more pleasant of an experience. I'd urge everyone to get a friend and sexually experiment until all that anxiety is gone, it results in more pleasure and finding/meeting guys is easier. I do really enjoy your videos! You guys are cute, funny and informative!
The part about performance anxiety being the actual driver behind so many guys defaulting to bottom is what we were circling around but never said this clearly — and the point about tops getting judged for vulnerability later in relationships is something we didn't touch on at all. Really appreciate this.
Thank you for this content. As a very conservative asian guy who never experienced gay sex before, these information broadens my knowledge as i start to embrace my sexuality in this stage of my life.
Thank you for sharing that — it means a lot that this felt like a safe place for that. Take your time, and welcome 🙏
omg i completely disagree and honestly really dislike Andrew's way of thinking... the top/bottom expected social roles feed into heteronormative standards :/ we're all just boys who like boys lol
Andrew got this in real life too, honestly 😂 the heteronormative-standards critique is real and it's something he's still working through — this video was part of the process more than a conclusion, which is maybe what makes it a little messy.
I am planning to maybe move to Japan for studies in a few years and I just discovered you guys while looking for tips about living in Japan. I'm super happy that you decided to document your experiences, because they answer to a lot of questions that people don't usually talk about such as PrEP, dating, bars, etc. And now I know I'd be highly prized as a vers-top. X-D
You are going to be very popular here and we are not joking 😂 glad the channel answered some real questions — come back when you actually arrive, we want the update.
Can we redo this conversation again on 2024 and see if Andrew's views have changed after a few years?
This is a genuinely good idea and we haven't forgotten — stay subscribed 👀
But must you be a bottom or a top? What if you dislike bottoming and topping? Is there no room in the gay community for people who prefer other ways, neither bottom or top? Not a nasty question. Really curious! Thank you for the video!
There absolutely is, and we glossed over that completely — the video kind of assumed the binary without even questioning it. That might deserve its own episode.
This channel is giving me LIFE
And you are giving US life with this comment 💙 thank you for watching
Shareable social-proof quotes — ready for thumbnails, community posts, or a sponsor deck.
“This channel is giving me LIFE”
“Tops just don't like to fill out surveys 🥴🥴🥴”
“There's an ancient saying, "there are two types of people in this world: bottoms and liars."”
“omg I've never felt so related to a content like this, I just wanna say after 22 years i got to understand things that really brought me ANXIETY ,, and i'm so thankful for u guys ure so adorable , decent, honest and authentic,, and I really love what u do .”
“Thank you for this content. As a very conservative asian guy who never experienced gay sex before, these information broadens my knowledge as i start to embrace my sexuality in this stage of my life.”
“Omg awesome content and sharp insights! I never thought of those things being straight.”
“As a former resident of Japan, I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH. Thanks for being so honest about everything.”
“I do really enjoy your videos! You guys are cute, funny and informative!”
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'm a top from Canada. I heard many times from my friends the struggles and challenges of being a bottom and I have a lot of sympathy for all of you bottoms our there. Today, I'd like to share my perspective as a top. Unfortunately, today's society has a tendency to encourage stereotypes. As a top, we are often pressured to embrace some of these stereotypes : masculine, dominant, ambitious, stubborn. My career as a military officer tends to even emphasize on these stereotypes. Because I lead dozens of people for my job, people automatically assume I fit all of the stereotypes listed above. These perceptions put a lot of stress and pressure on us, making it more difficult to find a suitable partner. If we assume the fact that, personality wise, a top is more dominant and a bottom is more submissive, in that case I'm a versatile. I like to share control with my partner. However, on a purely sexual level, I am a top. I do not get any pleasure from bottoming. And I tried several times with my ex partner (we were together for 9 years, so we had a lot of time to try haha). But with today's stereotypes, it's difficult to find a bottom that is comfortable with the idea of sharing control. As a top, if you share just a little bit of vulnerability, you are often criticized for it. We should be careful and make sure to distinguish relationship roles and sexual preferences. And we should stop trying to encourage the stereotypes. Love is love.
Tops just don't like to fill out surveys 🥴🥴🥴
flipflop is better than sticking to one position.
This channel is giving me LIFE
I need to move to Tokyo. At least two hot bottoms ready to date.
Top reply-magnet comments — where the real debate happened. 291 replies across 167 roots · max chain 4 deep · creator replied to 37%
I’m a top from Canada. I heard many times from my friends the struggles and challenges of being a bottom and I have a lot of sympathy for all of you bottoms our there. Today, I’d like to share my perspective as a top. Unfortunately, today’s society has a tendency to …
Exactly! Too many bottoms in Tokyo. I heard there are more tops in Philippine.
One can be a dominate bottom or a submissive top :)
I recommend you to go to Middle eastern or Arabic countries, there are a lot of tops..
flipflop is better than sticking to one position.
Other featured deep dives on this channel.
