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ASMR Video
(aka: ASMR)

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Some examples of ASMR triggers.
Top: Writing on a chalkboard.
Middle: Stirring salt with a mortar and pestle.
Bottom: Crinkling heavy fabric.
ASMR videos are a popular, if rather niche, genre of online content. They're specifically designed to provoke the ASMR responsenote Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, a relaxing reaction to a variety of sensations and noises, sometimes described as "brain tingles" and typically felt as a tingling sensation on the scalp, neck, and/or upper spine, although it sometimes shows up as marked drowsiness in the viewer by incorporating a wide variety of what are referred to as trigger sounds, with some of the most popular being sounds of crinkling, tapping, scratching, sizzling, or even eating, as well as whispering or speaking softly. Videos can be as simple as the creator simply making the sounds, or be as involved as roleplay scenarios featuring costuming, props, and sets or greenscreen backgrounds.

Creators from across the world post videos covering a wide variety of topics while featuring tons of ASMR triggers, and many channels exist specifically to cater to ASMR fans. Additionally, entities outside of the ASMR creator community have started making ASMR content, such as the "ASMR at the Museum👁 Image
" series from the Victoria and Albert Museum👁 Image
in London. Some people have also discovered that media outside the ASMR community can give the same reaction and have made videos documenting this. The Joy of Painting is one well-known example due to Bob Ross' baritone voice and soft, soothing manner of speech. There are also YouTube channels dedicated to "unintentional ASMR", featuring videos where someone is doing something completely non-ASMR-related, but still produces the response due to the way they're speaking or the sounds made by what they're doing. Some viewers find this preferable to professional ASMR content, as the people featured aren't trying so hard to provoke a response that it ruins the effect.

Often used interchangeably with ASMR is "mukbang." Mukbang is a form of video where someone films themselves eating food (usually in large quantities) while talking to their viewers, either in a live-stream format or Fake Interactivity format. The trend began in South Korea but spread to other parts of the internet as well. Mukbang is not the same as ASMR, but many people find that it produces a similar effect as it involves similar triggers as ASMR videos. While mukbang does have a fanbase, it has been criticized for encouraging unhealthy binge eating, and along with being turned off by the sound of eating, people who aren't accustomed to East Asian cultures' acceptance of slurping may be turned off by that sound in particular. The ASMR video genre itself also has its detractors, with common criticisms being simply finding the concept creepy, weird, or silly. Also, many people have strongly negative reactions to the ASMR response or certain trigger sounds, especially misophonia sufferers.

While ASMR content really got its start on YouTube, it's seen growth on Twitch and TikTok as well. Several VTubers (including members of hololive and NIJISANJI) do ASMR-focused streams, and some TikTok creators do live shoots producing ASMR content.

ASMR video creators with pages on the wiki:

ASMR videos provide examples of:

  • Afraid of Doctors: Inverted. Doctors' visits for things such as eye exams, cranial nerve tests, and even checks for hair lice are very common topics for ASMR videos, and are intentionally made to be as inviting and comforting as possible to enhance the feeling of relaxation.
  • After-Action Patch-Up: A common ASMR plot is for the listener to be patched up after a fight, usually by a close friend or lover.
  • Ambiguously Bi: Invoked in romantic audios with the ([F/M]4A) tag, where the listener’s gender is ambiguous but not the speaker’s.
  • Audience Surrogate: The unnamed, unvoiced “listener” is just a couple steps away from the protagonist of a Reader-Insert Fic.
  • Bob Ross Rib: Due to Bob Ross' popularity within the community, homages by videomakers who dress up as him are common.
  • Brown Note: Some ASMR videos have effects that could hurt someone. For example, candlelight can trigger seizures for some due to the way it flickers when it's filmed as it's a natural form of Epileptic Flashing Lights. Any video that could provoke the wrong triggers will come with a warning.
  • Childhood Friend Romance: “Friends to lovers” is a very common tag on ASMR videos for a reason.
  • Cool Big Sis: Some videos roleplay scenarios in which an older sibling does something caring for the viewer, such as "Big Sister Does Your Makeup".
  • Darker and Edgier: Some videos are horror themed, putting the viewer in dangerous or frightening situations, usually involving Up Close with the Monster and/or a Yandere. The best example being Alien Abduction Role Play.
  • Ear Cleaning: Both the traditional Japanese manner and more modern versions have been fodder for ASMR videos, with the tools being brushed across the mic to create the desired sounds.
  • Early-Installment Weirdness: The original Virtual Barbershop recording could be considered an originator of the concept, however it's notable for having NONE of the usual features- there is no video, no one whispers, the listener is expected to close their eyes for the full effect and they refer to the effect as "cetera". Newcomers discovering it may be quite surprised at how different it is from modern ASMR.
  • Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": A common way to leave the listener unnamed without avoiding nouns is to give them a title.
  • Everything Sounds Sexier in French: ...and Russian, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, Japanese, etc.
  • Extreme Close-Up: Many videos use camera angles that zoom in on the artist's hands or face, to simulate being close enough to be touched. The artist will also often lean in very close to the camera, sometimes as part of a roleplay, other times to whisper into the microphone(s).
  • Fake Interactivity: It is standard in the genre for the "speaker" to ask questions of and/or speak to the “listener”, to enhance the feeling of communicating with the "speaker".
  • Fanservice: This sometimes factors into the theme of a video. For instance, some ASMR videos revolve around the creator being on a beach or showing off a clothing haul, which will involve the creator wearing swimsuits, low-cut and/or midriff-baring shirts, and the like. Other times, an ASMRtist will create a video cosplaying as a character known for having a fanservicey costume, such as this cosplay👁 Image
    of Leeloo from The Fifth Element, or a scenario in which such dress would be the norm, such as cosplaying an attendant at a hot spring spa👁 Image
    .
  • Handy Feet: Some female ASMR Youtubers center their videos around picking up and manipulating small items with their bare feet and toes.
  • Hey, You!: Due to the Listener’s role as an Audience Surrogate, they’re almost always referred to this way.
  • Intimate Hair Brushing: Hair brushing is a popular theme due to its inherently soothing nature and the sound of the brush moving through the hair being a good trigger. Depending on the video, the ASMRtist may brush another person's hair, a wig on a mannequin head, or simulate brushing the viewer's hair by moving the brush around the camera and editing in the sound.
  • Iyashikei: Many videos try to relax the viewer by providing roleplays in idyllic settings. However, increasing numbers of videos subvert this by combining the soft sounds with scary, dangerous, or annoying situations, usually for humor or storytelling purposes.
  • His Name Really Is "Barkeep": On the rare occasion where the listener gets an actual name, there’s a 99% chance it will be some variation of “Listener.”
  • Mundane Made Awesome: Cooking, cleaning, folding towels...as long as the trigger is there, people will watch it.
  • Nap-Inducing Speak: ASMR is often used as much as a sleep aid as for the tingle response, and some creators, such as Jojo's ASMR, intentionally style their output to this effect and/or mention it in video titles.
  • Narrator: Some ASMR videos feature a scripted off-screen narration accompanying what the creator is doing on-screen. The aforementioned clothing haul videos are one particular instance, with the creator modeling the clothes while the narration describes how they were obtained, why they're liked, etc.
  • Off-the-Shelf FX: Many ASMR performers are on a budget so they use household items, their personal property, and/or props that you could find at a "dollar store". Anything goes as long as it can provide the desired triggers. Some videos are just narration over Stock Footage or video the creator shot themselves. Jojo's ASMR has a parody in his "The Struggles Of An ASMRtist" video of how he can't go shopping without tapping random items around the store to see how they sound for a video👁 Image
    .
  • Pick a Card:
    • JoJo's ASMR has several videos where he demonstrates magic tricks with playing cards, using both his whispered dialogue and the sounds of the cards moving as triggers.
    • In a variant, ediyasmr does videos where she places single Tarot cards under stones or crystals, asking the viewer to choose the card based on the rock they're most drawn to. The viewer can then skip ahead in the video to the point where their card is chosen for a reading.
  • Repeating So the Audience Can Hear: A staple of the genre is parroting the listener’s lines so we can know what they’re saying despite them being unnamed and unvoiced.
  • Same Character, But Different: Inverted with the Listener, who naturally is rarely the same person in multiple audios but nonetheless has several common character traits when they’re given an actual personality. They’re usually an Unfazed Everyman who takes whatever ridiculous scenario the audio comes up with in stride, a kind soul who’s a really good listenernote As in, they aren’t just waiting for their turn to talk and have a soothing presence that makes people want to talk to them, not that they have good hearing., have Undying Loyalty whenever they’re in a stable relationship (romantic or otherwise) and are really good at feigning sleep.
  • Special Guest:
  • Undying Loyalty: A common ASMR plot involves someone (usually the listener’s partner) being revealed (or turned into) as some sort of non-human and being reassured that they’ll stick by their side no matter what. 
  • The Unintelligible:
    • Some videos have the ASMRtist whispering or mumbling in incoherent nonsense speech to use the flow of the spoken sounds as the trigger.
    • Some of them do this unintentionally. To quote a Youtube commenter:
      There is a fine line between 'soft spoken' and 'I literally cannot hear what you're saying.'
  • Up Close with the Monster: Some horror-themed ASMR videos are based around very close interactions with a certain monster or creature. Vampires and aliens are especially prominent for this type.
    • Behind the Moons provides one for each👁 Image
      creature👁 Image
      .
    • Downplayed by Mori Calliope, whose videos are largely normal ASMR content although her character is an associate of the Grim Reaper and she plays with her fans being called "Deadbeats" by mentioning them being skeletons.
  • Yandere: A surprisingly common scenario involves the listener being kidnapped by a Yandere and forced to listen to them while Bound and Gagged.
  • You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Some ASMR videos build on their cozy appeal by being themed around encouraging words and messages of affirmation.
  • You Taste Delicious:
    • ASMR creators that emphasize what are generally called "wet mouth sounds" will do things such as making "ear eating" and kissing sounds into the microphone.
    • Most ASMR videos where the ASMRtist is playing a vampire will have the "vampire" telling the listener how amazing their blood tastes after feeding.

In-Universe mentions of the trope:

Literature

  • VTuber Legend: Yuki's titular viral stream ends with her listening to a fellow VTuber doing an ASMR stream in which she pretends to clean the listener's ears while whispering sweetly to them. It's relaxing enough to send the heavily-drunk Yuki to sleep in a matter of minutes.

Live-Action TV

  • All That: The 2019 reboot brought back Lori Beth Denberg as Mrs. Hushbaum, the Loud Librarian, who hasn't changed her noisy habits at all. In one skit, she loudly complains about students making a ruckus, and decides to relax by watching an ASMR video—which she promptly begins describing at the top of her lungs ("CRINKLE THAT BAG!").
  • Brooklyn Nine-Nine: In "The Takeback", Jake pretends👁 Image
    to be "Matt Daniel", a fictional Twitch ASMRist (though the show calls him an ASMR Performer), complaining about the noise in his hotel room he's supposedly streaming from, with Doug Judy acting as his agent. This is actually a ruse to get the concierge to leave her computer alone long enough for someone to hack into it.
  • Joe Pera Talks With You: Joe Pera speaks in a quiet, soothing voice, but three particular episodes are specifically dedicated to lulling the viewer to sleep, as well as being funny: "Joe Pera Talks You To Sleep", the animated special that preceded the live-action series; the season one episode "Joe Pera Talks You Back To Sleep"; and a special called "Relaxing Old Footage with Joe Pera", released to calm people down during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
  • In an episode of Santa Clarita Diet, Abbie insists to her parents that college is not her only option if she wants future financial success by citing her classmate who dropped out and now makes ASMR videos, and makes enough money to pay her parents' mortgage. She describes it as a "Non-Sexual Fetish".
  • One of the videos on a Saturday Night Live sketch depicting a TikTok scroll is of an ASMRtist (played by James Austin Johnson) doing a Homer Simpson impression.
  • On an episode of Would I Lie to You? one of the "This is My..." mystery guests was ASMRtist ASMR Angel👁 Image
    , invited onto the program by guest/comedian Joe Lycett as he finds relaxation through watching her videos.
  • Will & Grace: In "Lies and Whispers", Will's surrogate (played by Demi Lovato) shoots ASMR videos, and invites Jack and Karen to join her in a live podcast, where they get into a whispered argument.

Podcasts

Video Games

  • Fate/Grand Order: During the second Halloween event, you can answer to Ibaraki's pleas by teasing her using "Shuten Douji's ASMR voice".
  • Stimulation Clicker satirizes this trend by gradually adding more and more triggers as you progress, and there's no way to turn them off individually. After you get the Power-Up Upgrade, you can briefly replace everything with ocean waves gently crashing on the shore, but the only way to permanently go there is by buying the final "upgrade" worth 2 million Stimulations.

Webcomics

Web Animation

Web Video

Web Original

Western Animation

Alternative Title(s): ASMR

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