RED_ZONE (2009)

added Apr 29, 2009 at 11:20AM UTC

part of a series on Nico Nico Douga

About

RED ZONE is a song by Naoki Maeda featured in the Japanese rhythm game Beatmania IIDX 11 in 2004. There have been a total of 17 Beatmania IIDX releases since 1991.

In February 2009, several remixes of the original version was posted on the Japanese popular video sharing site, Nicodouga. Days later, they appeared on Youtube. Many videos have been reuploaded between the two sites.

It’s RED_ZONE and not “Red Zone.”

Measuring the popularity of “Red Zone” on the English-speaking web becomes problematic because of the general ambiguity of the name.

Likewise, searches for “Red Zone” often result in pages pertaining to University of Nebraska Huskers, University of Georgia Bulldogs, NFL news, and Old Spice Red Zone Deodorant.

The underscore between RED and ZONE is a common trait among RED_ZONE videos on Nico Nico Douga. By using Google Translator, “Red Zone” is translated to レッドゾーン. However, searches for レッドゾーン on Nico Nico Douga are somehwat ambiguous. It is likely that the phrase レッドゾーン is as common in Japanese as “Red Zone” is in English.

However, in 2009 we see a definite spike in searches for レッドゾーン originating in Japan which correlates well with the smaller trend of searching for “red_zone.”

On Nico Nico Douga

The song has started to attract attention once video was featured in the arcade game, depicting a race between two cars. A few MAD movies were posted since June 2007, paroding the scene (Lucky ☆ Star Yui + RED ZONE : 55000 views) but it hasn’t reached its potential yet compared to other Nicodouga videos (131,616 views, 38 videos before 2008).

The RED_ZONE song became really popular in 2009, when this song crossed over many other memes (RAN RAN RU), anime (Lucky star, Death note) or japaneses celibritys (Matsuoka Shuzo), using the RED_ZONE song has a rythm basis and the sound and video of the original video in a mashup.

The first mashup of this genre was HON Zone uploaded the 3thd January. Other followed since February, somes scoring a view count above 500 000. Since then, there are 768 videos tagged as “RED_ZONE”.

The recurring features, besides the music theme used, are the names used to describe the videos : They’re mostly (if not all) romanized and suffixed with “ZONE”.

What’s interesting to note is how Youtube Poop has crossed over onto Nico Nico Douga. For example: “Morshu Zone” has been reuploaded from Youtubein May to NicoNicoDouga in July.

RED_ZONE since has inspired some other derivative works. For example, the song Bloomin’ feeling or Clione, also coming from Beatmania has made people producing MAD movies following the same rules (same music theme, romanized title, title derivated from original music), though, they’re not as popular as RED_ZONE was at its start.

Sources :
RED_ZONE on Nicodouga :
- ordered by recent comments : http://www.nicovideo.jp/tag/RED_ZONE
- ordered by view count : http://www.nicovideo.jp/tag/RED_ZONE?sort=r
- ordered by upload date : http://www.nicovideo.jp/tag/RED_ZONE?sort=f
RED_ZONE, in Nicodouga encyclopedia (japanese) : http://dic.nicovideo.jp/a/RED_ZONE

On Youtube

On February 14th, 2009, Youtube user SinnieOnFre became the first to reupload a RED_ZONE video from Nico Nico Douga to Youtube. This particular video was of Super Mario Bros. footage remixed to the tune of RED_ZONE:

Super Mario Land :

On Youtube there are over 120 RED_ZONE videos and over 243 レッドゾーン videos; although those labeled in Japanese are only partially related to the meme. Videos labeled レッドゾーン actually seem to appear on Youtube on dates prior to being reuploaded to Nico Nico Douga.

RED SHU ZONE :

REDONALD ZONE :

Angry German Kid (AGK) / Keyboard Crasher (KBC) : Keyboard Zone :

KWSK ZONE :

Retro Tone Mad :

Summary:

The Japanese public became aware of the song RED_ZONE in 2004 when Beatmania IIDX 11 was released.
In February of 2009, video remixes set to the song began appearing on Youtube and Nico Nico Douga simultaneously.

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40 Comments

Jamie Dubs
Apr 29, 2009 at 05:45PM UTC , Jamie Dubs wrote:

I found this slightly amusing YTMND:
http://redzonedance.ytmnd.com/

can anyone else confirm any info on this? I’m not too up on the .jp. So the meme is to use this song in random videos w/ the “speed rave” reference, kind of like Get Down…?

G0 DVL
Apr 30, 2009 at 11:16AM UTC , G0 DVL wrote:

Only the music needs to be used, with various sound effects from the video synched to the rythms. You can find more of them on Nicodouga : http://www.nicovideo.jp/tag/RED_ZONE

HAMMER ZONE : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLKImklwNUs
(Zero)ERO ZONE (NSFW) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyDmPAQ3y5s
X ZONE (Megaman X) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iByMqzFO1MQ
Dragon Zone 5 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWHgXdp-A90
BAKAYAKA ZONE (Death note) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9f4UhXmO1Y

Tylord14
May 18, 2009 at 04:29AM UTC , Tylord14 wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAtw4imG4mo&feature=PlayList&p=7C269FE4978D5AE3&index=0&playnext=1

this is a playlist of a bunch of anime red zone thingys. i found it on teh youtubes. watch when tired and you will get lulz

Jackal Lantern
Jun 05, 2009 at 09:00AM UTC , Jackal Lantern wrote:

“So the meme is to use this song in random videos w/ the “speed rave” reference, kind of like Get Down…?”

Eh, Get Down focused on the song along with the glitchy ‘dance.’ From what Red Zone videos I’ve seen, it’s a lot more like Ran Ran Ru, utilizing samples from various sources to recreate the song.

Jackal Lantern
Jun 05, 2009 at 09:01AM UTC , Jackal Lantern wrote:

And since my favorite RED_ZONE mix ain’t on here yet…

G0 DVL
Jul 13, 2009 at 12:02PM UTC , G0 DVL wrote:

RED ZONE, in my animu (K-ON) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nkhJcYTJs4

RED ZONE, in my videogame (Mortal Kombat) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yK0UOZWUeGw

RED ZONE, in my account crusher : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQ6EKqp1ULM

For my part, my favorite is : BACK ZONE : http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm6291124 (not yet uploaded to youtube)

Chris Menning
Aug 25, 2009 at 04:22PM UTC , Chris Menning wrote:

Doing what I can to contribute to this article… I’ll try to get this confirmed by the end of the day.

Chris Menning
Aug 25, 2009 at 10:20PM UTC , Chris Menning wrote:

To register for an account on Nico Nico Douga, check out this tutorial I wrote up:

http://bit.ly/yZe5a

Jostin Asuncion
Aug 26, 2009 at 06:18PM UTC , Jostin Asuncion wrote:

Do you think Nico Nico Douga should be a parent meme for these kinds of memes? I may be wrong, but I view it as the 4chan of Japan or something, IDK.

Jackal Lantern
Aug 26, 2009 at 09:28PM UTC , Jackal Lantern wrote:

If we do that, we’d have to write up a 4chan entry, too.

Jostin Asuncion
Aug 26, 2009 at 09:29PM UTC , Jostin Asuncion wrote:

@ Jackal

Yeah, you’re right. Never mind then.

Captain Blubber
Aug 26, 2009 at 09:35PM UTC , Captain Blubber wrote:

@ Jackal

A 4chan entry? that’s crazy talk!

That’s plain old ridiculous right there!

Jackal Lantern
Aug 26, 2009 at 10:31PM UTC , Jackal Lantern wrote:

Oh Captain, you sly dog hippo.

Where do we stand on a nico nico douga stub/entry?

Jackal Lantern
Aug 26, 2009 at 10:34PM UTC , Jackal Lantern wrote:

Crap. I messed up the strikethrough coding on “dog.” Oops!XD

Chris Menning
Aug 26, 2009 at 11:51PM UTC , Chris Menning wrote:

We might need a parent entry for Nico Nico Douga.
Its more like the Youtube of Japan, except that from researching this meme, it seems like Japan is using both.

Captain Blubber
Aug 26, 2009 at 11:56PM UTC , Captain Blubber wrote:

There should also be a YTMND parent entry as well.

Jostin Asuncion
Aug 27, 2009 at 12:04AM UTC , Jostin Asuncion wrote:

Now, who’s brave enough to document things like that which are massively humongous? Researching those things will be bigger than anything else that has been currently researched here.

Captain Blubber
Aug 27, 2009 at 12:28AM UTC , Captain Blubber wrote:

It hink this is the account that makes those entries.

http://knowyourmeme.com/users/2758-know-your-meme

But mabye a more important question what shouldn’t get a parent entry?

Jostin Asuncion
Aug 27, 2009 at 12:34AM UTC , Jostin Asuncion wrote:

Well, for starters, we obviously should not make something a parent entry if it doesn’t have enough major sub-memes or most of its sub-memes are forced. I’m thinking that YTMND, Youtube, Nico Nico Douga, and the existing 4chan entry are good ones to start with.

Chris Menning
Aug 27, 2009 at 01:27AM UTC , Chris Menning wrote:

Basically, what we’re talking about here is creating a different parent entry for each memetic hub.
4Chan
2Chan (maybe)
SomethingAwful
Fark
NewGrounds
AlbinoBlacksheep
Youtube
NicoNicoDouga
YTMND
Offtopic.com

Any others?

Tomberry
Aug 27, 2009 at 01:41AM UTC , Tomberry wrote:

I would add DeviantArt too, I think.

Jostin Asuncion
Aug 27, 2009 at 01:56AM UTC , Jostin Asuncion wrote:

@ Tomberry

deviantART didn’t have any memes start in it (well, none that I can think of). That’s what a memetic hub means.

Captain Blubber
Aug 27, 2009 at 11:47AM UTC , Captain Blubber wrote:

Mabye DeviantArt, we have one DeviantArt meme on the site, but there very well could be more.

http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/creepy-katara

Tomberry
Aug 27, 2009 at 12:09PM UTC , Tomberry wrote:

Not to mention that fsjal came from a DeviantArt Comic in the first place.

G0 DVL
Aug 28, 2009 at 01:23PM UTC , G0 DVL wrote:

I’ve edited the Nicodouga paragraph, after learning a but of information on dic.nicovideo.jp. It’s japanese only, but still a good reference for any Nicodouga’s memes.

Also, “Searching” on Nicodouga has lesser results than retrieving videos by tag. Nicodouga has a special tag system that allows any users to define tags in videos, unlike youtube where only the uploader can define the tags. That’s why you’ll usually find what you seek by clicking on the correct tags (that is, if you know what you’re searching about :/), as lot of users can better define a video rather than only one people (maybe a “Nicodouga porn day” will never be possible with such a system… dunno :p)

I’m agree that Nicodouga could be considered as a memehub, if youtube can be one :)

Dylan Hatch
Aug 29, 2009 at 06:32AM UTC , Dylan Hatch wrote:

That’s right. All the main Red-Zone Remixes…..IN ONE. Enjoy. :)

redspear75
Aug 30, 2009 at 09:44PM UTC , redspear75 wrote:

This is by far the best one

G0 DVL
Aug 31, 2009 at 11:29AM UTC , G0 DVL wrote:

How about a little Pingu zone then ? :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9f4UhXmO1Y

G0 DVL
Aug 31, 2009 at 11:29AM UTC , G0 DVL wrote:

How about a little Pingu zone then ?

youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-4pty7O_Xc

dhfhjkhfsdk
Sep 16, 2009 at 11:50PM UTC , dhfhjkhfsdk wrote:

How about a little Boxxy zone then ?

youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcX1b-ynEYQ

OMG =3
Dec 11, 2009 at 01:32AM UTC , OMG =3 wrote:

you lost the game

David Grupultsnik
Jan 25, 2010 at 12:55AM UTC , David Grupultsnik wrote:

On NicoNicoDouga, there is a 70-minute compilation for various RED_ZONEs. It has about 12-second long clips of each (with some exceptions), so that works out to about 340 RED_ZONEs in one video. Unfortunately, it isn’t on Youtube, so the NicoNicoDouga link will have to do.
http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm8434789
Note: It is presumed to be NSFW at some point until proven otherwise (I can’t bear to watch it all)

David Grupultsnik
Jan 25, 2010 at 02:48AM UTC , David Grupultsnik wrote:

Eh, never mind. For some reason I chose to watch the rest of it.
It is, indeed, fairly NSFW, mostly from 40 minutes on. Granted, I can’t see how you could justify being on NicoNicoDouga at work, but whatever.
In any case, there are easily hundreds of variants in it. It’d be a good source. I’ll see if I can download it, then upload it somewhere else.

odhinn178
Jan 29, 2010 at 02:13AM UTC , odhinn178 wrote:

Cheese Zone is my favorite:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pG6QfMqCTa8

Danieluyoshikoto
Jan 29, 2010 at 09:30PM UTC , Danieluyoshikoto wrote:

Just wanted to note that there is a sub-meme that was also started on NicoNicoDouga, when someone posted a video of him playing around with the gear-shifting in his car.
http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm267727

Someone saw that video and decided to cut it to RED ZONE
http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm6107435

After that, there were many Videos of Characters driving the car, with the original music of the video aboth.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sg32PP1hHP0

also just something aside.
someone just recently made a video of a wolf-humanoid character jumping around to that “RED ZONE” version.
http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/nm9538977

1983parrothead
Feb 12, 2010 at 07:36AM UTC , 1983parrothead wrote:

I like this one, but too bad it didn’t include other startup sounds of Nintendo consoles and handhelds like Pokemon Mini, the Virtual Boy nor perhaps some of Nintendo’s Color TV Game ones:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4-IGfBSSTc

But my favorite is MURASAME JONE (RED ZONE × Nazo no Murasame-jou)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEAP7hRqKmk

MBollinger
Mar 10, 2010 at 08:18AM UTC , MBollinger wrote:

The first mashup of this genre was HON Zone uploaded the 3thd January. Other followed since February, somes scoring a view count above 500 000. Since then, there are 768 videos tagged as “RED_ZONE”.high school degree | online degree programs | work experience degree online

MBollinger
Mar 10, 2010 at 08:18AM UTC , MBollinger wrote:

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