About

Damn Daniel is a reference to a Twitter video montage featuring a voiceover of a boy remarking that another boy, named Daniel, is dressed well on a series of different occasions. The narrator focuses on Daniel’s shoes, leading the meme to be compared with What Are Those.

Origin

On February 15th, Twitter user joshholzz tweeted the original “Damn Daniel” video.^[1] It received more than 16,000 likes in the first 48 hours, according to Mashable;^[2] four days after the initial tweet it had 121,938 retweets and 148,382 likes. In it. the narrator can be repeatedly heard praising fellow student Daniel Lara’s look, including his “White Vans.” According to the Twitter account, both boys attend Riverside Poly High School in Riverside, California.^[3]

Spread

The spread was initially spurred by other students at Riverside Poly High School, who retweeted the video frequently. On February 16th, the tweet was retweeted by several fake WorldStarHipHop Twitter accounts, which are generally operated as third-party reuploaders; these accounts, which included WORLDSTARC0MEDY^[4] and WORIDSTARHIPH0P,^[5] helped the video receive tens of thousands of more views and retweets, increasing the spread of the original video.

On February 17th, the account Four_Pins created the Damn Daniel starter pack, which included White Vans; the tweet received over 19,000 retweets and 23,000 likes.^[6] On February 18th, Vans tweeted about the video, creating a Twitter poll with two options: “Back At It” and “With the White Vans;” as of February 19th, with 5 days to go, the poll had received almost 50,000 votes.^[7] Clorox^[8] and Axe^[9] also tweeted about the video, making jokes about the whiteness of the Vans and Daniel’s physical appearance, respectively. Among many other media mentions, the video’s catchphrases were used in the title of an article about Justin Bieber, who was also seen wearing white vans. The video’s popularity caused #DamnDaniel to trend briefly, especially on the West Coast.

Notable Examples

Search Interest

not yet available

External References

About
A show based off of the Teen Titans but sillier and they have the same voice actors but more villeins.

Rated Memes
Robin’s Blank Stare
Robin’s Blank Stare is a animation error in the episode “Legendary Sandwich” then it became a popular meme its also similar to Eyeless Phineas.

Raven Tap Dancing
Raven Tap Dancing is a meme of Raven Tap dancing.

Pretty Pretty Pegusus
The show is a parody of MLP.

Beast Boy Cat
BBCat is a meme of BB turning into s cat.

About
Rugrats is an 90s cartoon for nicktoons that ended on 2004.

Reboot
Nickelodeon have said that there bring back the old show to a reboot.

Rated Memes
Stu Makes Chocolate Putting at 4Am
They show Stu make Putting.

I’m not X
Tommy with a clown face.

Drew
Drew is a character with a disturbing face.

About
Livin’ Like Larry is a quote that happen on SpongeBob

Origin
Livin’ Like Larry is a quote from the SpongeBob episode “A Life in a Day”

About

Nisekoi (also known as Nisekoi: False Love) is a romantic comedy manga and anime series created by Naoshi Komi and serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump. The series follows the exploits of the two children of an American gang leader and a Yakuza faction leader, who must fake a relationship to maintain peace between the two gangs. Since its release, the series has gained a notable following.

Premise

The series follows high school students Raku Ichijo, next head of the Yakuza’s Shūei Clan and son of the current head; and Chitoge Kirisaki, next head of the rival American Bee Hive Gang and daughter of the current head; who got paired as a way to settle the feud between their fathers’ gangs. The task turns out to be quite challenging, not only because Raku and Chitoge hate eachother, but also because Raku has a crush on another student, Kosaki Onodera. Additionally, Raku made a promise of getting married with a girl 10 years prior to the manga’s events, who gave him a locket, in the form of a pendant, while she holds on to the key, so they would be able to find each other again. Since then Raku however forgot about the girl’s identity. The situation surrounding the pendant gets more complicated as Raku discovers not only both Chitoge and Kosaki own keys connected to his pendant, but two other girls as well. This, along with several other elements, make the situation surrounding the forced dating and pendant increasingly complicated for the characters.

From left to right: Ruri Miyamoto, Kosaki Onodera, Marika Tachibana, Raku Ichijo, Chitoge Kirisaki, Seishiro Tsugumi.

History

Nisekoi began as a one-shot manga released in Shueisha’s Jump NEXT! magazine on January 11th, 2011, and started serialization in Weekly Shōnen Jump on November 7th, 2011. The English serialization of the manga started on November 26th, 2012 by Viz Media under the name Nisekoi: False Love.^[13] An anime adaptation by Shaft begain airing on January 11th, 2014, and completed on May 24th. A second season aired from April 10th, 2015 to June 26th of the same year.^[12]

Reception

In 2013, Nisekoi was listed as #30 in the top 30 manga series sold in that year, with over 1.5 million copies sold.^[14] The next year, when the anime started airing, the series ranked in the 16th position, with over 3.8 million copies sold.^[15]

Online Relevance

A dedicated subreddit was created on August 13th, 2012, gaining over 6,000 subscribers in the following years.^[7] On June 8th, 2013, a wiki about the series was created,^[10] and a MyAnimeList for the anime series was created after the anime announcement.^[1] On March 24th, 2015, reddit user archerboy uploaded a picture poking fun at the series’ plot to /r/anime (shown bellow, left), gaining over 1,800 points (over 96% upvoted) and 250 comments in the six following months.^[18] On April 10th, user Shadowflix submited a thread on /r/anime to discuss about the first episode of the anime series second season, gaining over 1,020 points (over 94% upvoted) and 560 comments in the following ten months.^[17] On December 19th, user fuzzyjustin submitted to /r/anime a yurifan art by artist Taylor Tots depicting Onodera and Chitoge, gaining over 2,020 points (over 94% upvoted) and 360 comments in the following two months.^[19]

Super Mario Maker’s Chitoge Costume

On February 18th, 2015, Nintendo Japan’s official YouTube account uploaded a Super Mario Maker trailer featuring an upcoming Chitoge Kirisaki costume for Mario unlocked by beating one of the two upcoming Nisekoi event courses. In less than two days, the video was viewed over 178,000 times and was consequently reported on several news sites like IGN^[11] and NintendoNews,^[16] as well as some online communities like 4chan^[2] and reddit.^[20]

Fandom

The series gained a huge following online after the anime premiere. As February 20th, 2016 the Japanese artist community pixiv leads to over 6,400 results under the tag “ニセコイ”,^[5] and the artist community DeviantART leads to over 8,300 results under the keyword “nisekoi”.^[4] On Reddit, several subreddits dedicated to each of the female characters were created, with the ones focused on Chitoge (with over 1,800 subscribers)^[8] and Onodera (with over 2,100 subcribers) being the most subscribed to.^[9] Fandom presence can also be found on other communities like 4chan and Tumblr.^[6]

Search Interest

External References

Overview

Fire Emblem Fates Localization Controversy refers to the online backlash that occurred over the localization changes in the English version of Fire Emblem Fates. The localization of the game was handled by the Nintendo Treehouse, Nintendo of America’s product development division. ^[1]

Background

Fire Emblem Fates is the fourteenth entry in the Fire Emblem series, a tactical role-playing game. On January 16th, 2015, Fire Emblem Fates was announced worldwide during the January 2015 Nintendo Direct. ^[2] The premise of the game features the main character, the avatar (default name Corrin (English) / Kamui (Japan)), must make a choice whether to side with their birth family in the kingdom of Hoshido, their adoptive family in the kingdom of Nohr, or refuse to side with either kingdom.

Notable Developments

Removal of Skinship

Skinship (also known by its fan nickname Fire Emblem Amie) is a minigame that appears in Fire Emblem Fates. The player can go to their Private Quarters and invite a character in their army, regardless of gender ^[3][4], to their home and face pet them by using the Nintendo 3DS touch screen to strengthen their bonds with the character.

On January 26th, 2016, Nathan Grayson published an article to Kotaku titled, “The Other Ways Nintendo Is Changing The English Version of Fire Emblem Fates.”^[5] The article had stated that the face petting minigame had been removed from the English version of Fire Emblem Fates. The article had been updated on February 10th, 2016 with an exchange between Kotaku and Nintendo added for clarification (shown below).

Kotaku: I was told that a feature in which you can use the touch screen to directly touch/”pet” your characters is also out of the localized version. Is that the case?

Nintendo: Yes, that is the case. You might have heard somewhat misinterpreted or exaggerated information about the Japanese original game, but even in the Japanese original version, we have not included any features which are considered inappropriate in Japan.”

The removal of Skinship was reported to various video game websites such as Nintendo Everything ^[6], Polygon ^[7], and the Fire Emblem fan site SerenesForest. ^[8]

Although face petting is not included in the English version of Fire Emblem Fates, the ability to invite someone to your home and receive support bonuses from them remains intact (shown below). ^[9]

Nintendo released a statement (shown below) to Kotaku ^[10] on February 15th, 2016 that players would be able to interact with S-level characters. However, these events were unrelated to the face petting minigame that was included Japanese version of Fire Emblem Fates.

“In certain circumstances, S-Level characters are able to wake up their spouses by blowing into the microphone or by tapping the screen to touch their hair, face or shoulder. These randomly triggered events are unrelated to the mini-game in the Japanese version.”

Exclusion of Dual Audio

On January 30th, 2016, Geniux submitted to the r/FireEmblem ^[11] subreddit a screenshot of an email response from Ash Erickson of Nintendo of America that Fire Emblem Fates will not have the Japanese audio track (shown below). As of February 20th, 2016, the post has accumulated 0 points (50% upvoted), and 91 comments.

On February 5th, 2016, Nintendo released a statement to Polygon ^[12] that Fire Emblem Fates would be released in North America in English only. Shortly after, edibubble submitted a post to the r/Games ^[13] subreddit reporting that the Japanese audio track would not be included in the English version of Fire Emblem Fates. The post has gained 712 points (82% upvoted), and 370 comments as of February 20th, 2016.

Although Nintendo did not comment on their reasoning behind the exclusion of the Japanese track, several people began theorizing on Nintendo’s decision. In the r/FireEmblem subreddit ^[14], vkrili submitted a post suggesting that Nintendo may not have included dual audio because of licensing issues with the Japanese voice actors involved in Fire Emblem Fates. As of February 20th, 2016, the post has accumulated 112 points (82% upvoted), and 111 comments.

Soleil & Male Avatar Support

After the Japanese release of Fire Emblem Fates on June 25th, 2015, a support conversation between the male avatar and soleil was translated and submitted to pastebin. ^[15] In the original support, Soleil gets distracted from fighting cute girls in the battlefield and it greatly affects her performance. She asks for the male avatar’s help, and the male avatar agrees by putting a magic powder in Soleil’s drink that lets her see men as women, and women as men.

The support came under controversy ^[16][17] during the summer of 2015 as the support was interpreted by some people as the male avatar drugging Soleil, and that Soleil was undergoing gay conversion therapy.

When asked about the Soleil support conversation, Nintendo released a statement to NintendoWorldReport (shown below) ^[18] that any implications of gay conversion or drugging will not be included the North American and European versions of Fire Emblem Fates.

“In the version of the game that ships in the U.S. and Europe, there is no expression which might be considered as gay conversion or drugging that occurs between characters.”

The localization keeps the basic premise of the support conversation (shown below) ^[19], but instead of using magic powder, the male avatar has Soleil wear a blindfold and asks for her to imagine him as a girl.

In a SerenesForest thread ^[20], reactions to the new support conversation in general is seen as an improvement to the original Japanese support conversation.

#TorrentialDownpour

#TorrentialDownpour ^[21] is a hashtag campaign launched in protest to the localization changes in Fire Emblem Fates (shown below, left) as early as January 27th, 2016. Prior to the campaign, the hashtag was used under a different context, by people tweeting about the weather conditions of where they live (shown below, right).

Petition

On June 25th, 2015, a petition ^[22] was submitted to Change.org requesting that Nintendo does not censor Fire Emblem: Fates for its released worldwide. As of February 20th, 2016, the petition has gained over 7,700 signatures.

External References

About

The Peanuts is a comic made in the 1950s and ended in the 2000 with its new movie in 2015.

Rated Memes

The Peanuts Dance

The Peanuts Dance is a popular dance on youtube.

The Football Gag

The Football Gag is a gag of Lucy pulling a way the football from Charlie Brown.

PeanutizeMe

PeanutizeMe is a site where you cam make a peanut character and a new SnoopymizeMe.

Spongeknob Squarenuts is a poorly made Spongebob Squarepants porn parody which is commonly circulated around 4chan’s /b/ board as a joke.

About

Feel The Bern, is a phrase used to convey support of the 2016 United States presidential candidate and democratic socialist, Bernie Sanders. The ‘Bern’ in ‘Feel The Bern’ is a nickname for Bernie Sanders which serves as a pun on the word ‘burn’.

Origin

The origin of the phrase ‘Feel The Bern’ is presently unknown, but has strong initial roots in Reddit. It can often be found on Bernie Sanders merchandise and heard at the rallies between 2015 and 2016 for Bernie Sanders, in addition to being popular on social media. Merchandise and image macros of the phrase often appear with a white silhouette of Bernie Sanders’ hair and glasses. The silhouette of Bernie Sanders’ hair is likely a reference to his notoriously messy hair.

Spread

‘Feel The Bern’ has become popular across all main types of social media. On twitter the hashtag #feelthebern has become immensely popular. Reddit has become somewhat of a 24/7 news-source for Bernie Sanders and thus has a massive amount of ‘Feel The Bern’ references; especially on the subreddit /r/circlejerk. Facebook and Instagram have seen a large amount of ‘Feel The Bern’ posts and images. In real life the phrase is a popular chant at Bernie Sanders rallies and it is common to see this phrase on Bernie Sanders merchandise worn at these rallies.

Notable Images

Search Interest

External References

If you have any relevant knowledge on Team Fortress 2’s item economy, then feel free to request editorship and help with building this entry.

About

The Burning Flames Team Captain is an unusual variant of the Team Captain hat found in Valve’s iconic multiplayer first-person shooter video game Team Fortress 2. It is considered one of the rarest and most valuable items in the game, surpassing even the Golden Frying Pan.
Because of its extremely high value, and the fact that it is merely a virtual item in a video game, it has become the butt of many jokes in the Team Fortress community.

Origin

The Team Captain is an uncommon cosmetic item introduced to Team Fortress 2 in 2011. It bears a resemblance to the cap worn by the character M. Bison from the Street Fighter series, and can be equipped by the Soldier, Heavy, and Medic classes.^[1]

“Unusual quality” refers to any of a variety of animated particle effects attached to certain cosmetic items, taunts, and weapons. Unusual items are exceptionally rare, and can only be obtained through randomly-dropped crates and cases, which require players to purchase “key” items to open. Among these effects is one called “Burning Flames”, which makes the attached cosmetic appear to be set on fire, and is only found in an expired series of crates.^[2][3]

As of January 2016, there are only four known instances of the Burning Flames Team Captain. According to backpack.tf,^[4] it is estimated to be worth over 8000 keys, or roughly $18,500 in USD.

Spread

[to do]

Notable Developments

Bobsplosion A.M.A.

[to do]

“Cursed” (Duped) Team Captain

[to do]

Search Interest

External References

^[1]Official Team Fortress Wiki – Team Captain

^[2]Official Team Fortress Wiki – Unusual

^[3]Official Team Fortress Wiki – Mann Co. Supply Crate

^[4]backpack.tf – Burning Flames Team Captain

^[5]TF2 SubReddit – Bobsplosion: I’m the guy who bought the Burning Team Captain. AMA.

NOTE: THIS IS A WIP. Please help

Bill Wurtz is a musician, YouTube and Vine user who is well known for his videos in which he incorporates music and colorful imagery to send an often absurd and unusual message to the viewer.

Online history

On September 9th 2013, the Bill Wurtz YouTube channel uploaded its first video, simply named ‘die’, with the content consisting of Bill simply saying “Die.” while a cymbal plays in the background.

On June 6th 2014, the Bill Wurtz Vine account was created and a video titled “6.6.14 hi vine” was uploaded in which Bill introduces himself to Vine as a new member.

‘History of Japan’ video

On February 2 2016, Bill uploaded a video titled ‘history of japan’, which consists of him telling the viewer about Japan’s history starting from the year 40,000 BC to the modern day.

As of February 22 2016, the video currently has over 5,000,000 views and over 180,000 likes.

Spread

Reception

About

Flat Earth Theory is a hypothesis that states that there is no true evidence that the earth is round. While the hypothesis is often dismissed as a weak, easily disproved theory, several different organizations online boast subscribers to the hypothesis, who enjoy discussing whether or not the earth is flat.

Origin
wip

Spread

wip

B.o.B. vs. Neil DeGrasse Tyson

On January 25th, 2016 Atlanta rapper B.o.B., who has self-identified as a member of the Flat Earth Society, tweeted a photograph of himself against a skyline, then tweeted a screenshot from Flat Earth Movement literature that proclaimed that Polaris (the North Star) can be seen 20° south of the Equator. Neil DeGrasse Tyson answered the rapper’s question, writing “Polaris is gone by 1.5 deg S. Latitude. You’ve never been south of Earth’s Equator, or if so, you’ve never looked up.”

Later that day, B.o.B. posted the track “Flatline” to his Soundcloud account dissing the physicist and reinforcing his belief in a flat earth.

Other Celebrity Followers

Search Interest

External References

(This page is a work-in-progress, as most newly-created ones tend to be)

“Jumping the Shark” is a term originating from pre-internet popular culture that is used to designate the moment at which any given serial media officially begins declining in quality and/or reaches a “point of no return” as a culmination of already-established decline. Moments labelled as this tend to be outrageous, ridiculous, status-quo-breaking or upsetting in nature.

Origins

The name comes from a 1977 episode of the classic sitcom Happy Days, in which lead character Fonzie literally jumps over a shark-infested tank while water skiing. This moment was seen as very gimmicky and cheesy, as well as disregarding of previous character development such as when Fonzie had once injured himself while attempting a comparable feat and admitted that undergoing such dangerous activities to prove one’s bravery is wrong. Despite its present-day infamy, this episode of Happy Days was a hit at the time, and the series continued running for several more years after its initial airing. Hence, in the original case, “Jumping the Shark” referred not to a “point of no return”, but the start of the series going downhill.

The actual term “Jumping the Shark” was not officially coined until its use in 1985 by radio personality Jon Hein, who got the idea of its usage from a roommate at the University of Michigan. Soon afterward, Hein created a now-defunct website (Jumptheshark.com) on the subject, listing the moments at which various other series had “Jumped the Shark” in his own opinion.

Related/Similar Terms

“Nuking the Fridge”

In 2008, a similar term known as “Nuking the Fridge” was coined in reference to an infamous scene in the film Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, released that same year, in which the titular hero survives a nuclear bombing by hiding inside a refrigerator which is launched a great distance away in the blast without harming him, allowing him to then emerge without being exposed to significant radioactive fallout. Compared to “Jumping the Shark” which can refer to something that is not too bad in and of itself but heralds the onset of worse things to come, “Nuking the Fridge” more precisely refers to a moment whose singular outrageousness serves to discredit the dramatic effectiveness and feasibility of anything and everything that comes after it in the story, as its existence has severely undermined the work’s basis in any semblance of reality.

“Frying the Coke”

In 2011, The Nostalgia Critic coined the term “Frying the Coke” in his review of the film Double Team, explicitly comparing it / calling it a successor to Jumping the Shark and Nuking the Fridge and specifically insisting that it become an internet meme. As defined by the Critic, “Frying the Coke” refers to an even more outrageous moment than Nuking the Fridge, whose sheer ridiculousness may actually serve to thrill and entertain more than it does to undermine a work’s credibility. In the Double Team scene that this term comes from, the protagonists survive a large explosion (itself an already-spectacular display taking place in a colosseum) by shielding themselves with a Coca-Cola vending machine.

Although a memorable Nostalgia Critic quote/moment, “Frying the Coke” has failed to gain significant leverage outside of the TGWTG fandom, partially because the Critic “ruined” its potential as a true meme by specifically trying push it to become one, thereby making it a “forced meme”.

About

Tila Tequila is the stage name of American actress, model and singer-songwriter Thien Thanh Thi Nguyen, best known for starring in the 2007 reality television show A Shot at Love with Tila Tequilla. Online, Nguyen has been widely mocked and criticized for her bizarre blog posts and vlog videos about the Illuminati and the Holocaust.

Online History

In July 2001, Nguyen launched the site TilasHotSpot, featuring photo galleries and information herself, originally requiring visitors to pay a monthly fee for access. After appearing on the reality television show Surviving Nugent in 2003, Nguyen gained a large following on the social networking site Myspace. In 2005, Nguyen launched the now defunct fashion website TilaFashion.com. By April 2006, Nguyen had the most popular profile on Mypsace, with over 31.5 million views.^[3] In 2007, Nguyen starred in the MTV reality dating show A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila.

Insane Clown Posse Concert

On August 14th, 2010, Nguyen suffered facial injuries after being pelted with rocks and other objects on stage at The Gathering of the Juggalos festival, an annual concert for fans of the rap group Insane Clown Posse and other artists on the record label Psychopathic Records.

Sex Tape

In 2011, the adult film company Vivid Entertainment released sexually explicit footage of Nguyen with two adult actresses. On January 31st, TMZ^[1] reported that Nguyen claimed the video was for personal use and was released without her consent.

Antisemitism Controversy

On January 13th, 2012, TMZ reported that Nguyen had announced plans to convert to the religion of Judaism. In December 2013, Nguyen posted a photoshopped picture of herself wearing a Nazi SS uniform while standing in front of the Auschwitz concentration camp on her Facebook^[2] page, which contained the super imposed signature of comic artist Ben Garrison (shown below). After being widely derided online as anti-Semitic, the photo was removed by Facebook.

That month, Nguyen published a blog post titled “Why I Sympathize with Hitler: Part I,” in which she claimed that Hitler “stood up for his country in a desperate time of need.” The post was subsequently deleted. In August 2015, Nguyen apologized for previous antisemitic comments and claimed they were spurred by depression and drug addiction.^[5]

Flat Earth Tweet

In January 2016, Nguyen posted a tweet claiming to believe the Earth is flat.^[6]

Search Interest

External References

Overview

The 2016 United States Presidential Election is the 58th quadrennial presidential election, scheduled to happen on November 8th, 2016.

Background

2016 Democratic Presidential Primary

The 2016 Democratic Presidential Primary is the preliminary round for the Democratic party to pick the candidate they wish to support for the 2016 general election. It has gained some attention online, mostly due to the conflict between candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

2016 Republican Presidential Primary

The 2016 Republican Presidential Primary is the preliminary round for the Republican party to decide which candidate they wish to support for the 2016 general election. It has gained much attention online, most notably for its inclusion of Donald Trump.

Notable Developments

{WIP}

Notable Examples

{WIP}

Search Interest

External References

{WIP}

About

Now Neither Of Us Will Be Virgins! refers to images where a person meets their clone or alternate universe with text saying “now neither of us will be virgins!”, implying that they are about to engage in sexual intercourse.

Origin

The earliest known usage was an edit of a Sonic the Hedgehog coloring book (below), featuring Dr. Eggman. While the exact date is unknown, it was recorded by TinEye on February 7th, 2008.^[1]

Spread

{WIP}

Various Examples

{WIP}

External References

^[1]TinEye – Search for image from https://i.imgur.com/1DjWi.jpg

About

Are You a Boy? Or Are You a Girl refers to a phrase used to make fun of the Pokemon Professors’ inability to tell the player’s gender in the games. Professor Oak is most often the one made fun of.

Origin

The first usage of the question was in Pokemon Crystal in 2001, in which Professor Elm asked the question. Professor Oak didn’t ask the question until the release of Pokemon Firered and Leafgreen in 2004.

Spread

While it likely was used before, the first known usage was on April 23rd, 2008 by the webcomic Super Effective.^[1]

The next earliest usage was in 2009, in the webcomic Heart and Soul.^[2]

Another early known usage of the phrase as a joke was on March 30th, 2010 on JoyReactor.^[3]

Various Examples

External References

About

Clothes That Kill Virgins (Japanese: 童貞を殺す服; Doutei wo Korosu Fuku) refer to the kind of female outfits which “killingly” fascinate male otakus, who are usually recognized to have no romantic experiences with women. Since the term was coined on Twitter in July 2015, its concept has widely spread on the social web and the Japanese illustrator communities Pixiv and Nico Nico Seiga.

Origin

According to the Pixiv Encyclopedia,^[1] the term “Clothes That Kill Virgins” first appeared in a tweet by an amateur illustrator Keyholder (キーホルダー) on July 5th, 2015. In the tweet, the description was used to explain a photo from the Japanese clothing label NO.S PROJECT, featuring girls wearing white blouses and long dark high-waisted skirts. This tweet had earned over 10,000 retweets and favorites each within the following 2 days due to its quite impressive and incendiary naming.

飲み会とかで何回か童貞を殺す服を見てきたけどやっぱりダントツはNO.S PROJECTのブラウスとかスカートとかそのへん pic.twitter.com/97hzMD9yWq

— キーホルダー (@key774) July 6, 2015

Translation:

After watching the clothes that kill Virgins in several drinking parties, I think the best is something like blouses and skirts produced by NO.S PROJECT.

In a reply to his followers a few days later, on July 8th, the Twitter user explained that the term simply referred to his favorite female outfits and that he believed male otakus must be fascinated by it and fall in love with it, too.^[2]

Spread

Just after that tweet went viral on Twitter, it sparked a controversy about the definitions and meanings of the catchy term among the internet users; while ignoring the originator’s message. Particularly male otakus, who were named in it, engaged in an enthusiastic argument about outfits that would “kill them.” As a result of this large online storm, which was also reported by several online news media outlets,^[3][4]“Clothes That Kill Virgins” came to refer to a specific kind of outfits which are not improper or revealing but neat and clean while they emphasize body shapes, especially breasts, by using high-waisted/suspender skirts or corsets.

Naturally, these kinds of clothes have always been known as famous otaku-beloved outfits. The sexy uniforms worn in the food chains Anna Miller’s^[5] and Kobe-ya Kitchen^[6] have been familiar to otakus since 1980s-1990s. Likewise, popular female voice actors such as Sumire Uesaka^[7] and Ayana Taketatsu^[8] often wear these kinds of “casual lolita” outfits as stage/photoshoot costumes, moe illustrations drawn in the “breasts sack” style frequently feature them, and they have also inspired female otaku/cosplayer fashion. This all also adds to the reason why the term took the root in the subculture, since thus far there had been no good term to express those very familiar costumes collectively.

Examples of “Clothes That Kill Virgins” suggested by Twitter users

In reflection to the trend, many hundreds of illustrations, photos, and parodies featuring the “Clothes That Kill Virgins” had been uploaded to Pixiv,^[9] Nico Nico Seiga,^[10] and Twitter^[11] within the first few days. This trend was also reported by an online gossip blog,^[12] and its article was also republished on several major portal services. Since then, it has been widely used as a collective term for the otaku-killing clothes in the illustrator communities.

Criticism

On the other hand, some people didn’t leave a good impression to the term, due to its slight offensive expression against virgins and especially women who like this fashion. A Twitter user’s tweet sharing worries about negative effects of the term’s spread received the sympathy of many people, earning almost 10,000 retweets and over 4,000 favorites in just a few hours (shown below). Nico Nico Pedia’s article for this term, which explains it also refers to the clothes worn by women who have ulterior motives to charm male otakus after drinking parties, also affects to the bad reputation.^[13]

「童貞を殺す服」という言葉が広まってしまうことで、本来「可愛いから」という理由でそれらの服を着たかった女の子が、周りに「お前それ童貞殺す服じゃんｗｗ狙ってんの？ｗｗ」と言われるのが嫌だからと着なくなってしまうので、今めちゃくちゃ悲しい気持ちになっている。

— エビピラフとタコライス (@pankashi) July 8, 2015

Translation:

Now I’m feeling so blue. Spreading of the term “Clothes That Kill Virgins” must hurt girls who would like to wear that kind of clothes simply because of its “cuteness”. They would stop wearing it as they don’t want to be said like " Wow! You’re wearing the clothes that kill virgins! Who the hell is your target? (lollol".

Various Examples

Personalities

Representative real/fictional personalities of The Clothes That Kill Virgins suggested by Twitter, Pixiv and Nico Nico Seiga users:

From top left to bottom right: Sumire Uesaka, Ayana Taketatsu, Saber (Fate), Hajime Ichinose (Gatchaman Crowds), Hotaru Shidare (Dagashi Kashi), Tatsuta (Kantai Collection), Isara Aomi (Love, Election and Chocolate)

Illustrations

Search Interest

External References

Editor’s Note: Registration is needed to browse the original videos/illustrations listed in this section.

About

Primitive Technology is a YouTube channel which contains videos of a man demonstrating how to create primitive tools and shelters using only natural materials found in the wilderness of North Queensland, Australia.

History

On May 2nd, 2015, the first video was uploaded to the channel, in which a wattle and daub hut are built entirely from scratch (shown below, left). Within ten months, the video gained over 8.3 million views and 9,100 comments. On May 22nd, a video demonstrating how to make a celt stone axe was posted on the channel, garnering upwards of 2.4 million views and 1,800 comments in nine months (shown below, right).

On June 23rd, the /r/PrimitiveTechnology^[3] subreddit was launched for discussions about the channel and other survival-related videos. On July 7th, the Primitive Technology WordPress^[2] blog was created. On September 4th, Primitive Technology uploaded footage of the creator making a tiled roof hut (shown below, left). On October 30th, the channel released a video showing how to make a fireplace, chimney and pots (shown below, right), which subsequently reached the front page of the /r/videos^[6] subreddit.

On November 27th, the channel posted footage showing how to make a sling projectile weapon (shown below, left). That day, the video reached the front page of /r/videos.^[5] On January 18th, the channel was highlighted in a post on the hacking news blog Hackaday.^[7] On January 22nd, Primitive Technology released a video showing how to make a cord drill an pump drill (shown below, right). In the coming days, the video was featured on the news sites BoingBoing^[8] and Popular Mechanics.^[9]

On February 20th, Redditor Rideron150 submitted a request for the creator of the channel to answer questions in an “ask me anything” thread to /r/IAmA,^[4] receiving more than 2,700 votes (89% upvoted) and 130 comments in 72 hours. By the end of the month, the channel had received upwards of 31 million video views and 788,000 subscribers.

Search Interest

External References

About

“Regressive Left” is a pejorative label often used against those who identify as politically liberal who are accused of being apologists for illiberal ideologies in defense of multiculturalism, specifically in the context of Islamic extremism.

Origin

In 2012, British political activist Maajid Nawaz coined the term in his memoir Radical: My Journey out of Islamist Extremism as an epithet for liberals who “pandered” to Islamist extremists under the guise of cultural and religious tolerance.

Spread

On October 1st, 2015, The Rubin Report YouTube channel uploaded an interview with Nawaz, in which they discuss the book Islam and the Future of Tolerance and the term “regressive left” (shown below, left). On October 2nd, comedian Bill Maher discussed the term with Richard Dawkins during an episode of the show Real Time with Bill Maher, and lamented the stifling of free speech on college campuses (shown below, right).

On November 18th, the Big Think YouTube channel uploaded an interview with Nawaz titled “Religious Tolerance Shouldn’t Mean Accepting Lower Moral Standards,” in which he describes the regressive left (shown below). On November 24th, author Sam Harris published an uncut version of his interview with the news site Salon, in which he criticizes “regressive leftists and Islamist apologists.”^[4]

On December 9th, Dawkins posted a tweet accusing the “regressive left” of ignoring the presence misogyny and homophobia in Islam (shown below). Within two months, the tweet gained over 1,700 likes and 1,200 retweets.^[1] The following day, a question asking about the label was submitted to Quora,^[5] to which the top reply listed the public figures Reza Aslan, Glenn Greenwald and Cenk Uyger as examples of “pseudo-intellectual philistines” that make up the regressive left. On December 18th, the /r/regressive_left subreddit was launched for discussions about the political label.

On January 4th, 2016, YouTuber Joseph Watson uploaded a video titled “The Truth About the Regressive Left” (shown below). On January 13th, Redditor xenoghost1 submitted a post complaining about the use of the term to the /r/GamerGhazi^[2] subreddit.

Search Interest

External References