Caramelldansen
| Meme | |
|---|---|
| Synonyms: | Uma uma dance |
| Date Started: | 2001 |
| Related: | |
| See Also: | anime, 4chan |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Caramelldansen is a popular meme within the anime fannish communities. It refers to a series of animated dance videos set to the song, "Caramelldansen" ("The Caramel Dance"), by the Swedish pop group, Caramell. The dance itself consists of placing your hands on top of your head like ears and flapping them while simultaneously swinging your hips from side to side.
Origin
The Caramelldansen comes from an animated gif originally posted on 4chan. The animated gif was taken from the opening credits of Popotan, a Japanese adult visual novel. Around the same time, DJ Speedycake released a remix of "Caramelldansen," essentially a sped-up version of the song, on 4chan. Someone later created a flash loop combining the animated gif and remix.[1] Like many other popular memes originating from 4chan, such as lolcats and rickrolling, the original Caramelldansen flash loop spread across the internet[2], inspiring many people to create their own versions.
On the Internet
The anime community quickly adopted the Caramelldansen and began to create their own versions, using characters from various anime series. Caramelldansen also became very popular in Japan where it is known as "Uu-Uu-UmaUma" (ｳｯｰｳｯｰｳﾏｳﾏ(ﾟ∀ﾟ)) because of a misheard phrase in the song.[3] Some of the animations merely show characters performing the dance. Other versions include inside jokes and references to the source canon in addition to the dance.
The results were uploaded to video sites such as YouTube and Nico Nico Douga. Many people also made fanart of characters performing the dance.
Examples
- Videos
- fanart tagged ｳｯｰｳｯｰｳﾏｳﾏ(ﾟ∀ﾟ) on Pixiv
At Conventions
Due to its popularity, Caramelldansen is a mainstay at most anime conventions. Cosplayers often perform the dance and in many instances, simply playing the song will result in large groups of people spontaneously doing the dance regardless of the location. Many DJs include the song as part of their set list due to consistent requests. [4]
Examples
- from Otakon 2009 (complete with Pedobear in the background)
References
- ^ Caramelldansen History (Complete) (Accessed December 3, 2011)
- ^ Caramelldansen on YouTube (Accessed December 3, 2011)
- ^ Caramelldansen on Know Your Meme (Accessed December 3, 2011)
- ^ from caramelldansen, a thread on the Kitacon forum (Accessed December 3, 2011)