Gaijin Goombah

Michael Sundman (born: ) better known online as Gaijin Goombah or Gaijin is an American YouTuber, artist, essayist, and reviewer. He's best known for dissecting and theorizing video games and anime while also finding a connection to Japanese culture. He previously used to host two shows on The Game Theory's YouTube channel called Culture Shock and Game Exchange. He's currently married to his wife, Sarah Sundman, also known as Aki Goomba.
==Content==
===Which Ninja===
Which Ninja is a series that was created in 2017. These videos look at popular ninjas from video games and anime and analyzing whether or not they're professional shinobi. This show is hosted by Michael and his Goomba avatar. While most of these characters are ninja, sometimes he'll look at characters that are not considered shinobi, but will dissect their techniques that are attributed to a ninja, such as the Spy (Team Fortress 2), Spider-Man, The Power Rangers, etc. Which Ninja was originally created on May 12, 2017 and is still ongoing with 45 videos.
===Yokai Hunters===
Yokai Hunters is a theorist series created in 2019 which takes a look at popular Japanese monsters and creatures from video games and anime and seeing their connection to mythical yokai. He created the series after questioning the Tanuki power up from Super Mario Bros 3 as a kid.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IK_OORCK80&t Gaijin originally created the series in 2019 and still ongoing with 36 videos.
===Aki's Pixel Pets===
Unlike Gaijin's other series, this series is hosted by his wife, Aki. This series has Aki talking about popular animals and pets from video games and theorizing about their real life counterparts or inspiration. The first episode was created on June 1, 2015 and only has 10 videos. 
===Gaijin Perspective===
Gaijin Perspective is a series and another YouTube channel created on January 19, 2020. This channel has Gaijin talking about his thoughts and feelings on Japanese culture and media. He also reacts to videos which have to do with Japan while giving his perspective. The channel currently has 26 videos.
==Personal life==
Michael Sundman was born on September 5, 1984. He has said that as a child in school, he'd been called weak and unintelligent.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8vKDt2lL-U When he was playing Super Mario Bros 3 with his brother, he'd questioned where the Tanuki power up got it's name. Eventually, he would become fascinated with Japanese culture and it's connection to popular media.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IK_OORCK80&t This would be the biggest reason for starting his YouTube channel.
In college, he briefly had a fiancé until they eventually broke up. On Facebook chat, he started talking to Aki, but they previously met each other in college. They became great friends, talking to each other about their day and video games. In 2010, when Gaijin returned home to the United States, he proposed to Aki to be his wife, to which she accepted.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJAE2ZHslOM He used to be a teacher in Japan where he taught English since 2011.https://www.linkedin.com/in/gaijingoombah
==Controversy==
===Goomba Got Back===
The design for Aki has been criticized in the past for having exaggerated breasts, since this was based on his wife. Gaijin had previously responded to the criticism in a video created in 2013. He says he didn't understand why people hated Aki's design since media had portrayed people with large breasts and says it wasn't a big deal.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIfSV7EfiGk&t However, the video got a mixed reception.
On January 12, 2014, he uploaded the video "Goombah Got Back" which was a parody of "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix-A-Lot. The lyrics were changed to mock people who criticized her design while Aki's Goomba avatar danced sexually. He also comments that the design was created by him and Aki.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPAKhrhZ3Zg The video was mocked by multiple fans, which resulted in the video getting deleted. However, there are still reuploads that exist on YouTube.
==Trivia==
*Gaijin Goomba will travel back and forth between the United States and Japan.
*He livestreamed his and Aki's wedding.
*He picked the Goomba as his avatar because he thought it was cute and the name, "Goombah" is a slang term for Italian Americans.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Up-CEynI3Ao&t
**The name Gaijin is also slang in Japanese for a foreigner.
*The sword his avatar holds is called the Pixel Cutter.
*The avatar technically isn't a Goomba, but it's actually a Goombohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8vKDt2lL-U from Super Mario Land.
*His avatar used to have a high voiced and represented him in real life, but eventually he became a separate character and his voiced lowered in pitch overtime.
==References==
Category:YouTubers
Category:Anime YouTubers
Category:Art YouTubers
Category:Educational YouTubers
Category:Commentary YouTubers
Category:Gaming YouTubers
Category:Review YouTubers
Category:Reaction YouTubers
Category:American YouTubers
Category:Users who joined in 2012