Iremember I had a tablet, 12-year-oldRyan Kajisays, recounting his earliest memory.
I was just clicking, scrolling, watching videos.
I was a little kid, maybe three years old.
Ryan and his parents, Shion and Loann, surrounded by Ryan’s World-branded characters.Maggie Shannon for Rolling Stone
His father, Shion Kaji, chuckles.
Before you even knew how to pop in, you had an iPad, he says.
You dont remember anything else?
his mother, Loann Kaji, gently prods.
What about the first toy you played with?
Kaji screws up his face in concentration.
I remember a video I made where I was playing with a train set, he says.
It was a Thomas the Tank Engine, one of his younger sisters chimes in.
You were, like, two years old.
(It was actually a Lego train set.)
Its funny, Shion says.
Sometimes theyll watch Ryans videos while theyre sitting right next to Ryan.
His TV show,Ryans Mystery Playdate,ran on Nickelodeon for four seasons, from 2019 until 2023.
According toThe New York Times,in 2021, Ryans World-branded merchandise made more than $250 million.
He has charisma, hes engaging, she says.
Kids are really just drawn to him.
Years ago, kids wanted to be president, or they wanted to be movie stars, says Klecker.
Now, they want to be creators.
ITS EASY TO SEE what kids find so appealing about Kajis content.
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To hear his parents tell it, the family stumbled into YouTube superstardom by chance.
We dont do screen-time regulations, Loann says, laughing.
I know I shouldnt say that out loud.
As a toddler, Kaji spent hours watching YouTube.
And thats where you got inspiration and wanted to start your own channel.
Privacy was not much of a concern at first.
We never thought it would go this big, Loann says.
Not everyone was a fan.
This critique sets Shion on the defensive.
Other concerns about Ryans World have focused on the content itself.
At that age, children really shouldnt be marketed to, says Bonnie Patten, executive director of TINA.
They just dont have the capability to understand [the] persuasive intent.
Theyve also pivoted from pushing other toy brands to selling their own products.
I ask Kaji if he still plays with any of them.
Not as much, he says.
But I did a lot when I was a kid.
I cant say I find out much about Kaji during our time together.
They said the boys were two times faster last year, he says excitedly.
His voice has gotten deeper.
Hes even taller than Loann now, Shion says.
That comes as a shock to a lot of people.
They always view him as five or six years old.
Shion adds: Kids still like watching Ryan when he was little.
But they also want to see the current Ryan.
Over the past few years, the popularity of the Ryans World franchise has been declining.
Though Kaji was namedForbestop-earning YouTuberin 2020, he fell down to Number 17 just three years later.
Monthly views have also been declining slightly since early 2022, according to data from SocialBlade.
Numbers are gonna fluctuate, Klecker says.
Now, theyre looking up to Ryan.
For now, Kaji seems OK with this.
Its pretty cool that people look up to me, he says.
If they dont want to continue, we can always stop, says Shion.
They say they ensure that Kaji pursues his own passions independent of the front-facing family brand.
Occasionally, he makes content that he doesnt publicly post.
But Kaji isnt really thinking about that now.
He doesnt sketch his own character or anyone in the Ryans World universe; he mostly draws fight scenes.
I want to draw because its fun, he says.
And once youre done, you see the whole thing.
