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Japanese Internet confused and intrigued by sudden influx of “choking Sasuke memes”

Scott Wilson Jan 19, 2019
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Sometimes humor doesn’t translate between languages… even if there’s no language involved.

Japan often comes up with its own strange Internet trends that confuse the rest of the world, but this time around the tables have turned.

Now Japanese netizens are scratching their heads trying to figure out a meme that recently exploded online. Why do they care? Because it involves Sasuke, the much beloved/hated friend/antagonist from the Naruto anime and manga series.

▼ Basically random characters choke-slam Sasuke against the wall.
I… I swear it makes sense!

SASUKE DID YAH PUT YOUR NAME INTO THE GOBLET OF FIRE pic.twitter.com/eTCDO9KWDr

— moodyblues lets slay (@shoutingabout) January 15, 2019

For those who don’t know, this scene originally comes from a part in Naruto where Sasuke attempts to fight his older brother Itachi. Sasuke has been hunting him his entire life, vowing revenge after his brother killed off their entire clan.

But when Sasuke finally confronts his brother for the first time and attacks him, he is quickly subdued.

▼ It’s a powerful scene, Sasuke being so easily defeated,
and Itachi telling him that he is weak.

https://twitter.com/GabrielAlexannd/status/1085449024302399488

But now anyone can choke Sasuke! Thanks to the power of Twitter and/or MS Paint, a plethora of “choking Sasuke” memes have popped up online.

▼ The tidying-up legend Marie Kondo tosses Sasuke away…

sasuke uchiha brings me no joy

– marie kondo probably pic.twitter.com/X3Oydt38XE

— Nikko (@NikkoGuy) January 15, 2019

▼ …Bob Ross makes Sasuke into a happy little accident…

Just going to add a happy little Sasuke right here. pic.twitter.com/sFVfX3z0Yx

— Dan Seibert (@ThatCybertGuy) January 16, 2019

▼ …and Seto Kaiba shows Sasuke that his Blue Eyes White Dragon means business.

“Sasuke…. You’re a third rate duelist, with a fourth rate deck” pic.twitter.com/qz7whAndwB

— Later Nonja (@Lazy_Ninja_1) January 16, 2019

Since Sasuke is from a Japanese manga/anime, news of the meme made its way to the Japanese Internet pretty quickly. But rather than having a chuckle with their fellow English-speaking netizens, many Japanese people were confused by what they were seeing:

“This is so sad. Why don’t Americans like Sasuke?”

“I don’t get it. Is this supposed to make sense?”

“Why is this happening now? Shouldn’t this have been a thing ten or more years ago?”

“I guess humor doesn’t translate well between cultures.”

“Foreign jokes have a high rate of falling flat.”

Unfortunately jokes in one language or culture don’t often work in another. I can’t count the number of times I’ve translated English jokes into Japanese, laughed at the punchline, and was greeted by blank stares from my Japanese friends. In fact this kind of Japanese/English joke misunderstanding is so common there’s a word for it: American Joke.

Of course it wasn’t all confusion. There were some Japanese netizens who appreciated the meme for what it was:

“Okay, I laughed. That’s great.”

“Oh wow, Bob Ross. That takes me back.”

“Sometimes the foreign otaku are better than us at coming up with funny stuff. Like the shark girl memes and the senpai memes. I like those.”

There were also some Japanese Twitter users who tried their hand at putting their own spin on things:

▼ Sasuke and Hatsune Miku

サスケ君と雪ミクダヨー pic.twitter.com/L29ujMTAxC

— ミクダヨン～(미쿠다용) (@DAYOTA86) January 18, 2019

▼ Sasuke and Gackt taking a selfie

サスケとツーショット撮影するGACKT pic.twitter.com/mgIvCA9wG5

— の＠痴ん (@NOiXtic_Gate) January 18, 2019

▼ Sasuke and Kanan Matsuura from Love Live! Sunshine!!
Gotta appreciate the extra mile coloring the sleeve.

https://twitter.com/SWDC_Suwawa/status/1085664804348428288

▼ And of course, Sasuke and Kiki

https://twitter.com/untiiiiiikong/status/1085754217845841920

▼ Although several users also wanted to remind people that
Sasuke and Itachi had some nicer times together too.

https://twitter.com/ComeNaruto/status/1086214377160634368

While the meme will likely die out soon, it’s still nice that for some people it acted as a common bridge between two parts of the Internet for a little while.

Now as for Japan trying to understand America’s sudden obsession with Szechuan sauce last year, that still remains hopeless for all parties involved.

Source: My Game News Flash, Yurukuyaru
Featured image: Twitter/@NikkoGuy