It’s fun to analyze different memes (anime-related or otherwise) as they evolve and change. While some have wide appeal no matter where you’re from, like shimapan or the always-goofy horse head mask, some memes are tied to langauge and don’t necessarily translate well across borders. Two good examples would be the Dragonball Z “over 9000” meme, which is totally unknown to Japanese fans since they’re not watching the English version, and the classic Amuro line from the original Gundam, “You hit me! N- Not even my own father hit me!” well-known in Japan yet not so much among international anime fans. One gag you see in anime a lot is the 間接キス kansetsu kisu or “indirect kiss,” which is what happens when a character drinks from a glass or can that someone else has used, or shares the same spoon, chopsticks etc. It’s a silly joke, of course, which only elementary schoolers would actually be concerned with, yet in anime it pops up as a plot device quite often.
One long-running anime meme is the “indirect kiss.”
