How Band Nerds Hijacked Japan's Biggest Photo Meme

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Earlier this spring, a group of Japanese schoolgirls uploaded photos of themselves imitating anime style attacks. The photos spawned numerous imitators, ended up on television, and spread beyond the country's borders. And now? Now, band nerds are involved.

The original meme initially referred to Dragon Ball and, later, Street Fighter attacks.

When it reached Western shores, however, it was reworked as "Vadering".

In the past few weeks, Japanese kids in their school bands or music clubs have been uploading their latest twist on the meme: "Tuba Gun" (チューバ砲 or "Chuuba Juu").

And, of course, there are twists on this twist.

Very clever. These Japanese school kid photo memes are endless! More recently, teens in Japan created a sideways studying photo meme and a human-eating giant one.

Photos: smsm1683, Ren565, rysk0320, tim_gh8, yu1aaa, Ren565, MkHr0318, asukaredtomato, kasundaaaaa, hornhrk315, minimumtuba, Bergamot624, CityTuba, 9220Shiho, misoshiru753, matome

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Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.