2019 will be ending soon, and that means the decade of the 2010s will be over for most of us…with the exception of really literal people who will point out (accurately) that the decade doesn’t actually end until 2020 is over, but whatever. It’s still a great excuse for a post looking back on all that happened over the past ten years…and ask you to vote for the best anime meme of the decade! Which you can do, at the bottom of this post.
I see that “Doge” was chosen as the meme of the decade (source https://t.co/xQ8MDsOcUf).
So we thought that it’d be fun to hold a vote on the top anime meme of the 2010’s. So…help us choose what the most influential anime-related memes we should put in the voting list.
Thanks! pic.twitter.com/GPLy5YrpGW
— J-LIST 🎅 (@jlist) December 10, 2019
Whatever else it was, the decade of the 2010’s was truly the decade of memes, when we all became men and women of culture and shared thousands of visual gags with each other on social media. When I saw that the website thetab.com had put up a poll in which its readers chose Doge as the top general meme of the past ten years, I knew I had to make a specific poll that let our followers vote for the best anime meme. I enlisted the help of our Twitter and Facebook followers to make sure we got all the major memes into the poll.
To be included in the list, the memes had come from anime, or be closely associated with anime fandom, and have gone viral during the past ten years. Mainstream memes that were repurposed to make an anime joke (like the Distracted Boyfriend edit at the top of this page) weren’t included. It had to be very influential, making enough of an impression that most serious fans will know the meme. There were literally hundreds of candidates to choose from, so I had to leave some off the list. Sorry if your favorites weren’t included!
The Top Anime Memes of the Decade
And so, in no particular order, let’s look at the most influential memes of the past ten years, then let you vote on your favorite one. The titles are the official ones used by Know Your Meme. At the bottom of the post, vote for your favorite anime memes!
Blend S was a popular show about four girls and one “girl” who work in a unique cafe frequented by otakus. The opening gave us much fodder for remixes and memes.
Yuu Buys a Cookie was a cute meme of a girl from Wataten buying a cookie. It got remixed into many adorable images, including this joke that Kaguya-sama fans might get.
Another smash-hit anime in recent years was Kaguya-sama: Love is War. Fans just loved Chika, and made many memes about her, including the Stressed Chika meme.
Another similar meme was Distressed Fumino, from the outstanding harem show Bokuen: We Never Learn. Read my post about the show here.
Anime got pulled into politics in unexpected ways in 2016, like the Inappropriate Joe Biden anime crossover memes…
…or [name of candidate] will Make Anime Real. There are many versions of these, but the Bernie Sanders ones were the first, I believe.
An amusing line from the Goblin Slayer in reference to the main character’s obsession with slaying goblins, it now describes any weird thing in anime we’ve all gotten used to.
One of the greatest puns ever told. Fight me.
A meme from the episode And Maggie Makes Three of The Simpsons, broadcast in 1995, this became a standard way to express your devotion to a fictional character around 2012 or so.
A reaction meme from Arakawa Under the Bridge, there are dozens of variations out there.
There are few meme-makers like Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, and the “Oh? You’re Approaching Me?” battle between Jojo and Dio became fodder for a lot of jokes.
It Was Me, Dio! was also everywhere for several years.
When Rem confessed her feelings to Subaru and he told her he loved Emilia, it triggered fans terribly, so they made memes about it.
When a man and his girlfriend were stopped for a television interview while walking in the snow together, the man said, “Walking in the snow with my lover gives me a special feeling, which I like a lot,” while she hid her face in embarrassment at his words. Otaku around the world were so jealous of his happiness, they began re-creating the scene with famous anime characters, which became the Special Feeling Meme.
What happens when you place a photoshop layer of a hand holding a pregnancy kit over an anime character’s hand? A lot of humor, that’s what, and some of these were downright crazy. The Anime Pregnancy Announcement meme got its start on Japan’s 2ch BBS in 2014.
Although it’s totally fake meme (Miyazaki never said these words, and was actually criticizing animators who try to create animation despite not actively meeting real human beings and observing the way they move and act in the famous gif), the phrase is in the history books now.
We all had lots of fun making these memes, too.
The first decade of the 21st century gave us a dark webcomic (which is reprinted in issues of Comic AG if you collect those) called Sexy Losers, which is officially credited with popularizing the word “fap.” The next decade gave us the word POMF =3. If you’re not familiar with it, that’s probably for the best.
This started from a long-forgotten anime in the 90s.
Finally, the cutest Pikachu face ever,
Be sure to vote for 5 choices below!
Thanks for voting! See the results of the top anime memes of the decade poll here.
Did we miss your favorite anime meme? Tell us on Twitter!
The holidays are closing in fast, and J-List is loaded with great products from Japan which would great for giving to that someone special this year…or giving a gift to yourself since you’ve worked hard all year long. Just spend $50 or more and choose EMS shipping, and your shipping will be cut in half automatically! In even more of a hurry? We’ve got a new DHL shipping option that’s even faster!
