And Evanko's passion for everything Monster Hunter has led him to something most fans only dream about. He's been brought into the world of the game, appearing in the English localization of Generations."He's a great figure in the community who likes to help hunters out with things like learning a new weapon," Marco Bombasi, Generations' localization director, tells me. "There are a few nods in the game to him and his help towards Western hunters, including a reference by name and a hint to see his videos. We thought it would be nice to give him a nod in the localization, since he's done so much for the community.""YouTube is just a venue for me to geek out with other Monster Hunter people." — Adam Evanko, aka Gaijinhunter
Monster Hunter Generations artwork courtesy of Capcom.
All photos of Adam Evanko provided by and published courtesy of Adam himself.
Features on IGN and Polygon helped to push his YouTube subscriber count above 50,000 by April 2015—and, obviously, Monster Hunter players couldn't get enough, sharing his videos and learning new tricks of the trade on a regular basis. At the time of writing, Evanko's Gaijinhunter YouTube channel is closing in on 150,000 subscribers."I rode the wave," Evanko says. "I worked really, really hard, and I didn't sleep at all for months. I was getting by on literally two hours of sleep a night."And he's still absolutely fixated on the series, with meticulous attention to detail on each production (a far cry from the iPhone days). Scripts can take 20 hours of preparation before anything's been recorded, and Evanko estimates that an average weapon tutorial video takes him 38 hours to turn around."I worked really, really hard, and I didn't sleep at all for months. I was getting by on literally two hours of sleep a night." — Adam Evanko, aka Gaijinhunter
Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate artwork courtesy of Capcom.
Subscriber Gloyd says that without Evanko he might not have even stuck with the series, and credits the YouTuber with making him a fan."It's so surreal to think that I made someone's day by, you know, crappy old me coming into their room to play with them." — Adam Evanko, aka Gaijinhunter