Ryan's World

Background

Ryan Kaji was born on October 6, 2011, to immigrants Shion and Loann Kaji. Kaji’s father, Shion, is originally from Japan and his mother, Loann, is a refugee from Vietnam. The two met at Texas Tech University. Kaji has twin sisters, Emma and Kate, who, along with his parents, participate in his YouTube videos. When he was only three and a half years old, Kaji noticed kids appearing on other toy review channels and asked his mother why he wasn’t featured on videos as well. In March 2015, he began making his own YouTube videos, and eventually, his mother decided to quit her teaching job to work on their channel full-time.

Formerly known as “Ryan’s Toys Review,” the children’s YouTube channel is now known as “Ryan’s World” and targets children aged two to six. As per the channel format, a new video is released almost every day and involves Kaji excitedly unboxing and reviewing a toy or gadget. The video content has since expanded to experiments and education. As of April 2021, the channel has over 32 million subscribers, is one of the 10 most subscribed YouTube channels in the U.S., and has gathered over 51 billion views for its videos. In 2018 and 2019, Forbes named Kaji’s channel the highest-earning YouTube channel, making $22 million from his videos and $26 million from his product lines.

From 2017 onwards, Ryan’s World expanded its collaborations and portfolio with many deals and sponsorships. Kaji’s parents struck a deal with PocketWatch, a children’s media company, to handle the marketing and merchandise for the YouTube channel. In 2018, Ryan Toys Review launched an app called “Tag with Ryan,” targeted toward children. The same year, Kaji announced a line of toys under the same branding in cooperation with PocketWatch and Bonkers Toys. Next year, they released a 20-episode television series titled “Ryan’s Mystery Playdate.” In November 2019, Outright Games released a video game on four major gaming platforms titled “Race with Ryan,” featuring Kaji and characters from his brand. In November 2020, a hybrid live-action and animated series titled “Super Spy Ryan” was released on Amazon Kids. The following month, it was announced that an official game would be launched on the gaming platform Roblox. Outright Games released a second Ryan’s World licensed video game in March 2022. The action-adventure game was titled “Ryan’s Rescue Squad” and released on seven gaming platforms.