About
Fukkireta (吹っ切れた) is a series of dance videos featuring animated characters with their hands on their hips and shaking side to side with cute background music. “Fukkireta” is the past simple & present perfect simple tense of “Fukkiru”. The literal translation is to blow out or break through but is figuratively interpreted as a colloquial expression equivalent to “getting rid of a thorn in the eye” or to simply “blow off one’s worries” in Japanese. The original videos were posted on Nico Nico Douga and quickly spread across YouTube in May of 2010.
Origin
This original video was produced by Lamaze-P (ラマーズP), a well-known NND user also behind the making of Get Down / Geddan (ゲッダン) and PoPiPo videos, and posted on May 10, 2010. In this video, 8toushin, who also appeared in Geddan, is dancing through deep concentration beyond all sense of shame. (The original video on NND is here. [Registration Required])
The BGM in these videos is “おちゃめ機能 (Ochame Kinou / lit. Mischievous function)” and was released by Gojimaji-P (ゴジマジP) in April of 2010. However, Gojimaji-P is another pseudonym used by Lamaze-P himself. This video features the character Kasane Teto. The character originates from Vocaloid fandom and the freeware program UTAU and is a character associated with a vocalized synthesizer preset that can be programmed to generate a vocal track for music. (The original video on NND is here. [Registration Required])
A few days later another video was uploaded by Lamaze-P, a head shot of Teto with her head moving side to side and 8toushin dancing in the corner. (The original video on NND is here. [Registration Required])
The monochrome version is the Lamaze-P original version. Below is a color version with English subtitles.
The song itself is in a style known as Denpa Song where the harmony and rhyming of the lyrics are primary to the song having any intelligibility. Even in the native Japanese the song is rather incoherent, but this particular song is more or less about one-sided love.
Spread
Lamaze-P’s popularity is rather widespread on NND as an established meme creator. In addition to Geddan and PoPiPo he has also released his own music CD and has collaborated with other musicians as well. His influence over the NND community and already established fan base allowed Fukkireta to spread quicker than most memes. For example, many MikuMikuDance (MMD) version were uploaded to NND in the same day when the original video was posted.
Kasane Teto
Chiruno & Daiyousei from Touhou project (東方プロジェクト)
Boromir from LoTR mashed up with Tunak Tunak Tun
Animation
When the second video was uploaded, Lamaze-P also released the source animation data of his two original videos. Many followers began to make videos featuring other popular characters by tracing over the Kasane Teto template.
Himeko from K-ON!!
Yui from K-ON!!
Sakuya from Touhou project (東方プロジェクト)
Reimu from Touhou project (東方プロジェクト)
There were over 2,000 videos tagged “Fukkireta” uploaded to NND in the first month with numbers still increasing.
Utatte Mita
One of the many fads on NND is called Utatte Mita (歌ってみた) or “I tried singing it” where users take popular songs or memes and attempt to sing it themselves. NND user Lon [Registration Required] is one of the more popular Utatte Mita singers on NND who’s uploads surpass 100,000 views on a regular basis. She uploaded her version of the song on May 20th 2010. (The original video on NND is here. [Registration Required])
Lon’s version is so popular that it has now surpassed both the original Lamaze-P versions in views combined.
Utatte Mita versions are still being made by NND users, some in combination with the remixing of the animation template.
Izaya from Durarara!!
Lolita Vocal Style
Naoi from Angel Beats!
Fumino from Mayoi Neko Overrun!
Odotte Mita
Naturally, a Japanese dance meme is not complete without real life recreations and variations of the dance. Similar to Utatte Mita, this fad is called Odotte Mita (踊ってみた) or “I tried dancing it”. A group of NND users [Registration Required] uploaded a video on May 30, 2010 with their interpretation of an extended dance for Fukkireta. (The original video on NND is here. [Registration Required])
This appears to be the routine most Odotte Mita videos for Fukkireta follow. Another video was uploaded on the account with a larger cast a month later.
Other NND users also gave the routine a try.
Other NND Videos
Werther’s Original Fukkireta
Idolm@ster/Vocaloid/Touhou Fukkireta
Konata from Lucky Star
Solid Snake from Metal Gear Solid
Tenshi from Angel Beats!
Appeal Outside of Japan
Fukkireta has also spread out to other online communities outside of Japan, possibly because of the simple nature of the dance, where it has been remixed further.
Coach from Left 4 Dead 2
Klingon
Dr. Robotnik
Demoman from Team Fortress 2
Sources
English Sources
- YouTube Videos under 吹 っ 切 れ た : Click here
Japanese Sources
- 吹 っ 切 れ た on Nico Nico Douga : sorted by recent date / views
- Nico Nico Douga encyclopedia : Click here