Soaring Dance (2007)

About

みなぎってきた is a viral dance meme that originates from a stick figure animation uploaded on the Japanese video sharing website, Nico Nico Douga. In retrospect, this meme shares some similarities with Caramelldansen and Danjo in its history of evolution.

Etymology

みなぎってきた (minagittekita) is a general expression used to describe any suddenly soaring energy within, but typically implies a sort of libido rush (i.e., boner) in the context of online hubsites like 2Chan and NND. Also, in keeping good faith with the OP, most videos use a bastardized vers. of the phrase as the title, みwなwぎwっwてwきwたwww with all the “w” characters being the chatspeak equivalent of LOL. (“W” is short for warau, which means “to laugh” or “to smile").

Origin

On December 9, 2007, a NND user Shimashima-P uploaded a stick figure animation of a guy playing the flute while doing some really ….bizarre slash frantic dance moves (for the lack of better description). Comically titled Soaring Energy: Flute-playing Elf / Post-Quit Symptom Level 5, the hand-drawn animation made vague references to symptoms of anxieties and struggles experienced by ex-cigarette smokers. But regardless of the artist’s original motif, its catchy flute melodies and slapstick dance routine eventually caught on beyond the niche group and led many others to create their own.

Spread

Though Shimashima-P’s animation became a favorite among his followers, the first animated derivative (Lucky Star Theme) was uploaded seven months later in July 2008. Many spin-offs soon followed, typically featuring customized characters and other visual add-ons. Within days, several derivatives as well as the original animation became featured on Nico Nico Douga’s TOP 100 video chart.

Examples

I.R.L. Dance Recitals

Dance recitals started appearing the following day. The original dance was performed by a masked man in what appears to be his bedroom and was entitled Ｌっぽい服装でみｗなｗぎｗっｗてｗきｗたｗｗｗ.

This was soon followed up by other users who also made videos of themselves doing the same crazy dance, some alone while others in groups.