Communication Break Dance

About

"Communication Break Dance", known as the "Boss Rush series" (Japanese: ボスラッシュシリーズ) on the Japanese net, refer to a series of hand-drawn animated music videos based on the rock song of the same name. These animated videos began cropping during mid-2008 after Touhou-inspired video was uploaded to the video-sharing site Nico Nico Douga.

Origin

The original animation was created by Niconico user mogumoguhuyoudo (モグモグフヨード) and was shared to the site on July 12th, 2008.^[1] Titled "Touhou Boss Rush", the video featured many of the female characters from the bullet-hell shooter Touhou Project dancing and acting out the lyrics to "Communication Break Dance", a 2002 rock song performed by the Japanese rock group SUPER BUTTER DOG.^[2]

Spread

The video became a smash hit among Niconico users. According to Nico Nico Pedia^[3] article for the animation, it was watched more than 2.2 million times before its deletion off the site. Released during a time when many animation fads were taking off on Niconico, animators on the site soon saw the video ripe for parody. One of the first to gain popularity was shared to Niconico three days after the original, where it featured characters from the Samurai Warrior video game series. The video has since been viewed more than 160 thousand times since its upload.

From there, many other parodies soon began popping up, with them showcasing characters from various anime, manga, and video game series. Over 500 parody animations has since been shared to Niconico^[4], and many being re-uploaded and created by users on YouTube.

Notable Examples

For more videos, check out the videos section in this entry.

Search Interest

Search Interest for the song "Communication Break Dance" (コミュニケーション・ブレイクダンス) got a significant boost during July of 2008, after the original Touhou animation was uploaded to Niconico.

External References

Editor’s Note: Registration is needed to browse the original videos listed in this section.