| Name of Vlog | Kents Vlog |
| Name of the Host | Apollos Kent |
| Year of Release | 2020 |
| YouTube Channel | https://youtu.be/Td3_TGabX2I |
Vlog Review: Bliss On A Plate! – Kents Vlog
CHECKLIST RATING: 4/5
Reviewer: Dr. Rosy Tep
Have you seen videos on YouTube where people just spend the duration of time eating? One of the most popular internet video trends we find is one that we’re all a huge fan of – Mukbang. These eating shows, or ‘Mukbang’, as they are called, are wildly popular amongst Korean YouTubers and fans who watch them. Today, mukbangs can be seen on most video-sharing platforms and can be interpreted in many ways geographically. I have come across one such talented mukbanger from Nagaland who, at the same time, promotes culture, identity, and local cuisines with his originality on his YouTube channel.
If you have not watched a local mukbang yet, why not check out one today? As a vlogger, Apollos Kent presents himself to an audience unseen to many sections of the society to promote local and indigenous productions.
Kents Vlog is a strong example of identity negotiation. A young man, in his early thirties, maintains this food vlog activity which is light-hearted. His vlogging started from a humble step in 2018 and eventually springs out in 2020 which took him to a wider platform at the start of the pandemic. Firstly, his concept of eating food taps into our instinctual love for food, watching someone else eat incites a sense of pleasure and satisfaction. He connects with the audience on a more personal and authentic level. His unique style has evolved to cover a wide variety of topics. Some of his popular videos presents survival skills in the jungle like catching crabs and snails for food, making Naga catapults, harvesting honey bees, preparing vegetables from organic paddy farms, and building small huts with haystacks has fetched millions of viewers in his vlog. Delicious Naga Shillam with chicken, smoked pork cooked with axone & anishi in Naga Style, steamed chicken in banana leaf, bitter bean chutney with pork, etc, being the main course of his food and spice it with raja mircha as an add-on affirms the ‘Naganess’ in itself. He also takes his audience through the cooking process or reviews the food from different restaurants and food brands.
By watching his videos, reading descriptions and comments, as well as carefully viewing his pages, one can truly immerse into the world of selected vloggers. Kents Vlog has grabbed the attention of many viewers – worldwide for keeping it natural and retaining its authenticity. He received praises for being one of the most original food bloggers, and how it has been educational for many who are interested in different cuisines of the world. Today his Youtube Channel has reached about 13,200 Subscribers and had started earning as well, which not only broadcasted on eating but also promoting his indigenous identity to the world; and encouraging naga brethrens to not stay idle hoping for secure job prospects only because the world has a lot more to offer.
My take on local vlogs is valuable because they tell us about ourselves as well as represent a new form of self-expression, rooted in today’s communication environment. Kents Vlog, in particular, can be enjoyed for its informational qualities. Although, he can still pick up some useful vocabulary along the way and a polished videography, especially adding subtitles to his speeches will help viewers to understand him better considering the audience he has massively built worldwide over the time. I love how he gives self-made names to food while also savouring them simultaneously which absolutely is bliss on a plate!
CHECKLIST is a review column initiated by Tetso College that aims at giving students, reviewers and writers a platform to review and reflect upon books, movies, television shows, documentaries, magazines, restaurants and catering services, games, software, and product reviews. The reviews should be a reflective writing encompassing the writer’s opinions about the subject matter while avoiding unprecedented subjective bias. This is an unsponsored review column. The views expressed here do not reflect the opinion of the Institution.
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