Japanese Memes: Cat Memes Still Rule
Welcome to the weekly Meme Translate Substack, where we share and explain the week’s hottest memes across Asia.
Memes in this issue:
Bling-Bang-Bang-Born
猫ミーム (neko mīmu)
まいたけダンス (maita ke dansu)
Bling-Bang-Bang-Born
“Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” is a zany, viral song by Japanese hip hop duo Creepy Nuts.
The song served as the opening theme for the second season of the anime television series Mashle: Magic and Muscles, subtitled The Divine Visionary Candidate Exam.
Source: YouTube - @AniplexUSA
As a Jersey club anime theme song, “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” depicts the protagonist Mash Burnedead, a young man who was born without magic in a magical world, fighting against a dark magical organization; the duo found Mash’s predicament relatable to their careers.
On March 3, 2024, Creepy Nuts posted their version of the collaboration music video:
Source: YouTube - @creepy_nuts
On March 10, YouTube channel THE FIRST TAKE premiered Creepy Nuts’ performance of “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” in a single take. 1.1 million likes ensued.
Fast-forward to December 2, 2024. Jiyu Kokuminsha declared “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” the 7th Top Ten Trending Words of 2024.
猫ミーム (neko mīmu)
Cat meme.
It’s not surprising that our feline friends continue to be the divas in the meme world.
According to PR Times, 猫ミーム was the 2nd most popular thing / event chosen by Japanese Gen Z-ers (born between 1995 and 2010) in the first half of 2024. By the end of this year, it stands No. 15 in Jiyu Kokuminsha’s 2024 List of New Words / Buzzwords used by Japanese people.
Cat memes have tirelessly served as the talking heads in so many viral videos to help vloggers get their point across. And now, lo and behold, AI is getting on board as well!
Source: TikTok - @taifu.me
Needless to say, Bling-Bang-Bang-Born also got its cat meme version!
Source: YouTube - @裏
The result of this amazing crossover? The well-deserved 7.1 million views in 8 months…
On December 18, 2024, Japan-based X account @nico_nico_pedia, the official account of Nico Nico Encyclopedia which claims to be “the big encyclopedia packed with everything about the internet,” released the full rankings of the 100 words for 2024 Internet Buzzwords.
Again, 猫ミーム grabbed the 2nd place!
Source: X - @lagelda
YouTube user @lagelda created a video of 40 cat meme green screen options for other vloggers to choose from and added detailed explanation of these memes and their time stamps in a pinned comment. This video has attracted 9.5 million views in 10 months.
Source: YouTube - @lagelda
The comments section witnesses great fondness for cat memes, as you can imagine.
Source: YouTube - @lagelda
まいたけダンス (maita ke dansu)
Maitake Dance.
On December 6, 2024, Japanese online media company Gadget Tsushin announced that the Gold Award of the Internet Buzzword of the Year Award went to まいたけダンス (Maitake Dance).
Source: YouTube - @JuufuuteiRaden
Different from Jiyu Kokuminsha’s annual lists, the Internet Buzzword of the Year Award is selected by Japanese Internet users.
As a result of the public vote, the “Maitake Dance” by Ryūfutei Raden became the biggest winner this year. According to GetNews.jp’s December 15 news article, “‘Maitake Maitake Guru Guru Guru Guru’ seems to have been very popular on TikTok and other platforms, especially among children and young people.”
Source: TikTok - @lemoncreamy
Upon receiving the award, the 21-year-old YouTuber happily held a livestream on December 12. While she was very happy about winning the grand prize, she also spoke of her feelings of not being able to fully accept it as reality, saying, “Is this a prank for the Buzzword Awards?”
Source: YouTube - @JuufuuteiRaden
Her humbleness met with warm congratulations!
Source: YouTube - @JuufuuteiRaden
Thanks for reading the 3rd issue of Meme Translate! Each week, we’ll share the most viral and interesting memes from Asian countries like China, Japan and South Korea.
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