YouChew's Best of the Year - 2017

Hey there, welcome to the Best (and the Worst) of the Year 2017. A year that definitely wasn't as horrible as 2015 or 2016, the majority might say, but a year that was still... quite a bloodbath. Some things have improved, while others are rapidly backtracking to the past. Electing a dried out orange as the president of the United States clearly hasn't helped the social matters such as racism or sexism, but our dear Mother Nature was also more furious than what we've seen of her in the past several years.

Let's try to keep the rest of the wounds closed and unsalted. Without further ado, here are your collective picks for the worst events, trends, pieces of media and what not, that came about last year.
 

BEST MOVIE

As usual, like every year, we start off with the movies, mainly because most of us here are moviegoers. This year brought us some damn good flicks, and if you've watched the recent Oscar ceremony, Gulliermo Del Toro finally got the respect he deserved by receiving the Oscar for best director and best picture for his film The Shape of Water. Sadly, this wasn't one of our picks, but here are the ones that did catch our eye:

• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
• Baby Driver
• The Disaster Artist
• Coco
• Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi

...and our winner is:

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

It was a very close call between this and Edgar Wright's Baby Driver, but in the end, James Gunn's sequel to his 2014 contribution to the Marvel Cinematic Universe won out. It's one hell of a great follow-up to a great flick, complete with Kurt Russell as the long, lost father of Peter Quill, a.k.a. Star Lord, and a newly reborn Groot (still voiced by Vin Diesel).

Runner-up: Baby Driver

WORST MOVIE

...and as much as there were some fine pictures that were worth seeing on the big silver screen, there were also those movies that were 18-carat shit and absolute wastes of celluloid that would even make the light bulb in the theatre's projector burn out within seconds (and for good reason). Here were some of those that we had the misfortune of seeing...

• The Emoji Movie
• Death Note
• Tom & Jerry: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

...and with no surprise whatsoever, the "winner" is:

The Emoji Movie

I think we all saw this one coming. The Emoji Movie was nothing but an absolute stain to the art of the motion picture. Not only was this movie practically a feature-length advertisement for various mobile apps (i.e. Candy Crush, Spotify, etc.), it's also perhaps the worst film ever put out by not just Columbia or Sony Pictures Animation, but Sony Pictures as a whole. Compared to this, an awful Netflix-exclusive live-action adaptation of a beloved anime and an unoriginal direct-to-video film starring two once-beloved cartoon characters combined can be the equivalent to an idealistic date night double feature. Fuck this movie.

BEST TV SERIES

Meanwhile on the smaller screen, we've got some television to discuss, and there was a lot of it. There were new shows (a few of which are reboots), and new seasons of existing shows that we like that may start proving that TV is still kicking, even at times where people found an alternative means of getting content (i.e. streaming). Here's some of the new shows and new seasons that turned us into couch potatoes:

• Rick and Morty (season 3)
• Bojack Horseman (season 4)
• Samurai Jack (season 5)
• DuckTales Reboot (season 1)
• OK KO! (season 1)

The winner is:

Rick and Morty (season 3)

Rick and Morty, the creation of Dan Harmon and Justin Rolland, continues to be the most popular program on Cartoon Network as of late, via their Adult Swim block, with just as much nerdy and dirty humor as Matt Groening's Futurama. Since the series hit its third season, it shows no sign of slowing down. What better series to pick on a forum full of pop culture-loving geeks like ourselves?

Runner-up: Samurai Jack (season 5)

WORST TV SERIES

Hey, I didn't say that everything new that was airing on television was positive. What time period do you think we're living in? Television is still going to hell in a handbasket for numerous reasons. Here are some of those:

• Teen Titans Go! (season 4)
• Young Sheldon (season 1)
• Big Mouth (season 1)

...and our survey says:

Teen Titans Go! (season 4)

Speaking of Cartoon Network, if there is one program that needs to stop filling up an entire TV schedule to the point where it's the channel's only show, it's Teen Titans Go!, a show the network claims to be every kid's favorite cartoon, when in fact, it's the complete opposite. I got nothing else to say on this except I wouldn't be surprised when I see a parent, or better yet, a kid, change the channel to something else because the show is garbage.

BEST ALBUM

2017 was kind of a weird, mishmash-y year for music, and that's reflected in the YouChew poll. We've got a video game soundtrack, a movie soundtrack, a meme album, and only two "traditional" albums from Kendrick and Gorillaz to round it out (and the latter felt more like a mixtape). But that doesn't mean the music wasn't good, and there's a lot to love about each one:

• Cuphead – Original Soundtrack
• DAMN. – Kendrick Lamar
• Humanz – The Gorillaz
• Baby Driver – Soundtrack
• Pink Season – Pink Guy

And the winner turns out to be...

Cuphead: Original Soundtrack

Runner-up: Humanz

WORST ALBUM

Our nominees were:

• Litmas – Jake Paul & Team 10
• Reputation – Taylor Swift
• Disney Metal – D-Metal

And the winner (loser?) is...

Jake Paul & Team 10's Litmas

IT'S EVERYDAY BRO

In all seriousness, 2018's branch of awfulness might have started out with Logan Paul, but 2017 felt more like it was plagued by his younger brother Jake. This guy and his apparent rap group known as Team 10 got their debuts in music earlier that year with their nonsensical song It's Everyday Bro. That same song would later be updated for a "Christmas" theme on this EP via "It's Christmas Day, Bro", and while it's mercifully the shortest album of the three in question (it's only six songs long, with a total runtime of 18 minutes), it's also the most insulting towards your senses of decency! Each song is just him (and sometimes different artists, including an apparent Rae Sremmurd member) trying to urbanize classic Christmas songs and failing miserably at it in every sense of the word, even if it wasn't done by Jake Paul. However, if you ever wanted to feel like you don't ever want to celebrate the holiday season ever again, you should know that every song of his is just an advertisement for his own fucking merchandise, to the point where his "Joy To The World" cover (titled "Fanjoy To The World") has the chorus literally blurt out "buy that merch" (while sounding like "buy the hat merch" sometimes) because you might as well say fuck subtlety nowadays. And that's not even mentioning one of the things he got for his "12 Days of Christmas" cover was 'nine reindeer twerking.' If you want to keep whatever's left of your sanity after what I just said, stay far, far away from this album, as it's not worth anyone's time or effort.

BEST VIDEO GAME

2017 turned out to be quite a fascinating year to look back on for video gaming. With the release of the long-awaited Nintendo Switch, it helped bring out some quality competitors throughout the entire year, most of which would also be playable there... but I digress. Here are our favorite nominees for the Best Video Game released this year.

• Cuphead
• Super Mario Odyssey
• Sonic Mania
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
• Splatoon 2

And our winner for Best Video Game of the year goes to...

Super Mario Odyssey

You know you have a fantastic year at hand where each and every one of the top games provides some good cases for being named Game of the Year. Seriously, every one of these games truly earned that right in our eyes. However, there could ultimately be only one winner, and for us, that honor belongs to Super Mario Odyssey. While it might not be much of a surprise to hear, what makes this one so fantastic is that it goes back to the general style of what made Super Mario 64 so fun back in the day and utilizes it for a new era of Mario while also making it its own thing. That and the fact that Cappy is a fun character to utilize throughout the game and is just enjoyable in general. Combine that with fantastic worlds and bosses to explore (not to mention the surprisingly addictive bonus mini-game recently added in Luigi's Balloon World), and this odyssey certainly lives up to its name, as well as make it our best video game for 2017.

Runner-up: Cuphead

WORST VIDEO GAME

Of course, while this year brought us some of the best video games we could have ever asked for, it also brought up some problematic areas that hit an all-time low for the medium. Some of which turned to be truly despicable to us gamers. Others turned out to be more surprising of the disappointing kind than anything else. These were the games that made us say "no, we will not support your trash any longer!"

• Star Wars: Battlefield II
• Sonic Forces
• Bubsy: The Woollies Strike Back

And the game that truly got our blood boiling (for all the wrong reasons) is...

Star Wars: Battlefront II (2017)

Sometimes, it takes quite a lot of things for people to suddenly turn on a long-standing company, like with what's been happening for Konami throughout the past few years. In the case of Electronic Arts (EA for short), it turned out a simple post from Reddit would cause a major shitstorm that's felt even to this day. What would just be a regular, average at best video game involving the Star Wars franchise with the exact name of a game previously released in 2005 wound up causing a situation that not only resulted in the last straw to those that wanted to remain faithful in EA (as seen in business figures relating to it), but also political uproar that already affected Hawaii thanks to this game. And it was all because of their stance on loot boxes and microtransactions... in that they wanted lots and lots of users to pay for them in order for them to unlock critical characters like Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader (like they planned on it being a pay-to-win model in order for them to have better advantages than other, non-paying gamers), just to show how deep their plan was. Really, with that kind of arrogance on something that's awful for general audiences, it's no wonder why it's considered the worst video game for 2017. Even with them changing up their plans thanks to the backlash, the damage was already done anyways.

BEST EVENT

In contrast to 2016, this year certainly fared a hell of a lot better by comparison. In fact it did so much better that the year simply ending didn't end up being one of the nominees for Best Event of the Year this time. Before I announce this year's Best Event, the nominees are:

• Launch of the Nintendo Switch
• #MeToo
• Marriage Equality in Australia
• Doug Jones wins over Roy Moore
• The Total Solar Eclipse

And so I'm thankful to announce that the Best Event of 2017 is...

Launch of the Nintendo Switch

After the commercial failure of their last home console, the Wii U, it makes the overwhelming success of its successor all the more surprising. Not only did it feel like the original vision of the Wii U fully realised by allowing the Switch to be played not just on the TV but also anywhere you could think of (Instead of within a 10 meter radius from the console itself), but it managed to avoid the same trappings of its predecessor as well. The Switch has maintained a steady release schedule from both first and third parties alike to ensure its momentum and interest in the market, all while providing such high quality games such as Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey, both of which got nominated for the Best Game of 2017 on top of that, and has even managed to outsell the lifetime sales of the Wii U in just under a year. Many of us were anticipating great things from Nintendo for the next home console (Or should I say hybrid console), and the Nintendo Switch has proven to be quite the comeback on their part. And with the promise of more highly anticipated games such as Metroid Prime 4 and the newest installment of Super Smash Bros coming down the line, it shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

Runner-up: #MeToo

WORST EVENT

While 2017 wasn't quite as awful and didn't leave us feeling completely hopeless like 2016 did, it was still a terrible fucking year for multiple reasons. Some of which was brought up a whole lot more than others, while others were more damaging to mankind the more you think about them. Regardless, these were the events that make us question why we as humans exist the way that we are in the first damn place.

• 3-2 Vote by the FCC to end Net Neutrality
• Donald Trump's Presidency
• Celebrity Sexual Harassment Allegations

With just one vote separating the "winner" from the biggest loser, the worst event of the year goes to... 

The 3-2 vote by the FCC to end Net Neutrality.

(Trust me, this is better than the alternative in even speaking of the guy's name in question.)

Oh, the freakin' FCC. If it isn't bad enough that they have their own hypocritical ideas on censorship on TV, they now have to get involved with something as huge as the Internet itself. While this isn't the first time here in the United States of America that we've had to deal with something like this, what the FCC did in their ruling on Net Neutrality near the end of 2017 brings about the greatest danger to our civil liberties and freedom yet. With the current head honcho of the FCC being such an adamant shithole (hey, if our current President can say that about certain countries, I can without a doubt say that to certain people as well) and the male Republicans of the small voting group outnumbering the female Democrats there, the result brings about the potential end to our current Internet lives as we know it. And while I could go on and on about the negatives involved with this ruling and how some of the U.S.A. isn't going to let this ruling pass through Donald Trump's grubby little hands so easily (to the point where nearly half of the country is actually suing the FCC for their ruling), the fact that we even got to this point in time altogether is very troublesome all the same. Even if the ruling does get reversed in 2018, the damage caused by their ruling could still have lasting effects for years to come. Hence why, regardless of how we view Donald Trump and his first year of Presidency, this shall be considered the worst moment of 2017.

YOUCHEW'S FINEST

Now, this is where you come into the picture, our fellow poopers and poop lovers. This category displays all the greatest events and pieces of media, that happened within the YTP community during the past year. 

BEST POOP

Our very own weird form of art is still going on strong after a dozen years. Arguably one of the biggest honours of the year, here are your favourites and the grand winner:

• |YTP| Mabel Goes To Wendy's by jallerbo
• (YTP) Skodewarde Breaks a Time Machine by Trudermark
• {YTP} - Peppa Pig's Annual Pansexual Cake Flipping Competition of 2017 by NKpower
• Enough is Enough by EmpLemon
• LarryMan Twice by Jimmy Davis

And the winner is...

(YTP) Skodwarde Breaks a Time Machine by Trudermark

Trudermark is quite the genius. Not only does he make Skodwarde break a time machine, but he also breaks laws of physics, dimensions and the entire existence of the universe as we used to know it. Well, I mean, he did go far, but maybe he didn't go that far. Skodwarde Breaks a Time Machine is a heavily plot-reliant YouTube Poop, with a futuristic setting and a lot of video game gags. Trudermark's visuals aren't over-the-top, instead, they focus on simple but effective jokes that are pulled off perfectly. The storyline flows perfectly from the beginning till the end, with a quick advertisement break in the middle. When taking the approachable, funny poopisms and a familiar, well-known source into account, it makes perfect sense why this video gained such an overwhelming reception very quickly. All the attention it has received is well justified and YouChew's community has given the video yet another new, well-deserved title: The Best YouTube Poop of the Year 2017.

Runner-up: {YTP} - Peppa Pig's Annual Pansexual Cake Flipping Competition of 2017 by NKpower

BEST TENNIS

YouTube Pooping is not a serious business, it's supposed to be all fun and games. Especially when it comes to the games, what would be a better way to show a friendly rivalry and a healthy competitive spirit, than a game of tennis? Here are your favourite matches of the year:

• NPCarlsson vs Jimmy Davis
• Biodegradable + Metroid998 vs AshcrementVII + TehShadzify
• EmpLemon vs Goop Videos
• Dark Fox vs ravinrabbid123

And the #1 MVPs:

NPCarlsson vs Jimmy Davis

Riddle me that, riddle me this; what happens when two legends skirmish? Well, if it wasn't obvious yet, you get the longest and funniest tennis match in a good while. Heavily revolving around PeanutButterGamer's videos and other video game footage, this match served by NPCarlsson against Jimmy Davis goes to a great length in displaying the classic, funny styles of the poopers, without resorting to heavy erosion. Quite a rare sight in modern tennis matches. It feels more like a bite-size comedy series of YouTube Poops rather than a regular tennis match. Considering the nature of the main source and classic poopisms, combined with a source I personally am not too familiar with, it's surprising how interesting the match stays throughout its entire runtime of over half an hour. The jokes are creative and technically well put together and the additional sources allow for a bit of flexibility when it comes to the gags. When taking all that into account, it's easy to say that this clash of celebs indeed resulted in the best tennis match of the year.

Runner-up: Biodegradable + Metroid998 vs AshcrementVII + TehShadzify

BEST COLLAB

You came together and brought us lengthy and hefty collaborative videos in many different styles, but who hosted the greatest idea with the greatest entries? Here are your picks:

• Worst Collab Ever
• Angry Video Game Critic Collab
• History of Japan Collab
• 90's YTP Collab
• Random Letter Collab 2

I don't know how did this happen, but our winner is...

The Worst Collab Ever

(G33Tube hasn't allowed the embedding of the video, so you'll have to click this snazzy banner to access it)

Talk about irony. As a subculture of the weird part of the internet, we're such a masochistic and eccentric community, that a majority of us deemed this, uh, piece of art the best collab of the year. Hosted by G33Tube, the collab, that was designed to be the most unpleasant video in the history of YouTube Poop, really hit the nail on the "so good it's bad" factor. Every single entry is so terribly made, that it all comes back around to a full circle of being good, then proceeds onto the second lap of horrendous crappiness. With a length that rivals proper feature films, it's a true battle trying to sit through the video without dying of the shame or excessive cringing. In the end, you'll still enjoy every single second of it.

Runner-up: Angry Video Game Critic Collab

BEST TREND

Since the beginning of the internet culture, trends or "memes" have played a big part in the ever-changing nature of it. Trends come and go, jokes emerge and get old. Last year definitely was not any different from that. Entire calendars based on the best memes of each month were written, most notably on Reddit and Twitter. But what did our beloved members think were the greatest trends of the year? Here's your top 6:

• Steamed Hams
• Shopping Hotel Mario onto various scenes
• Crash "Woah"
• Big Smoke's Order
• History of the entire world, I guess
• Wendy's Twitter

Well, our winner made it, despite your directions...

Steamed Hams

The internet went ham over steamed hams (pun superintended) late last year. This was not only the best trend of the year, but certainly, in the eyes of many, one of the top 3 greatest internet fads of the whole decade, as well. Steamed Hams is a short clip from an episode of The Simpsons called 22 Short Films About Springfield, which was aired no less than a whopping 22 years ago. For one reason or another, the clip ended up being used in extremely creative and versatile ways, an honour that only the rare and chosen memes get to experience. Usually, the main gags of the videos include but are not limited to arranging the characters onto an unrelated source, sentence mixing another source into the dialogue of Steamed Hams and editing the source into a different genre. Unsurprisingly, the peak of the fad is long gone, considering its long life, but it's somehow still going on relatively strong. One half of me is very happy about that, but the other half is just hoping for it to get put down peacefully before it gets too old, repetitive and overall insufferable.

Runner-up: Shopping Hotel Mario onto various scenes

BEST SITE MOMENT

Each year, ship happens on YouChew. Annual events come and go, with some new ones appearing and older ones returning. Here are the best site moments of the year:

• Christmas with the Chews
• YouChew Festival
• Chew or Treat
• The Metroid Series Challenge
• The Ultimate YouChew Pizza
• YouChew Valentine's

And our last, but definitely not the least, winner is...

Chew or Treat

This Halloween, a real treat of an event returned. That is, of course, the Chew or Treat! We saw the community roleplaying all kinds of people, characters and even different objects, such as the hammer from Super Smash Bros. series. A truly confusing but fun chaos ensued for the several days it went on. Paperking99 took the victory home with a costume, that suits his name perfectly, Clippy. He had quite a lead from the two-way-tie second place nominees, ravinrabbid123 as The Colours of Raven and Captpan9 as Statler and Waldorf, too. The grand return of Chew or Treat turned out to be a success so big, that it came out on the top in the voting for the Best Site Moment of the Year! Aside from that, the rest of Chew's Halloween festivities were still up for a while, after Chew or Treat was over. We still had the Spooky Art and Poop contests going on, which nicely gave room for displaying the scary sides of our talented members. What a spookcess! Indeed, the BOOest of the Year! ....Ah, darn it, I'll show myself out.

Runner-up: The Ultimate YouChew Pizza
 

...and that concludes the winners, losers (or, is it still winning even if we're talking about the "worst of the year" categories?) and the runner-ups of the year! Did the collective votes do justice to your personal picks?

Huge thanks to TheOneManBoxOffice, Crazy Luigi, Nozdordomu and Dieathan for writing this article with me.

Let's wrap this up for the year and, fingers crossed, hope for a brighter near future.