X Plays the Tambourine

About

"X Plays the Tambourine", (Japanese: タンバリンを叩いてるだけ, Tambourine o Tataiteru Dake), also known as the "Just Playing series" (叩いてるだけシリーズ, Tataiteru Dake series), refer to a series of animated parodies and MAD remix videos of the tambourine shaking scene from the ending credits of the Japanese anime series Working'!!, also known as Wagnaria'!! in North America.^[1] This scene became widely popular among users of Nico Nico Douga upon its debut in October of 2011.

Origin

The anime series Working'!! premiered in Japan on October 1st, 2011 as the second season of the adaptation of the comedy manga series Working!!, with the show's ending credits debuting in its first episode. During the mid-way point of the credits, characters Aoi Yamada and Hiroomi Souma are shown playing their tambourines in-sync with each other while slowly sliding in view from behind a disgruntled Souta Takanashi.

Spread

After it's airing, anime viewers and otakus were immediately fixated with Yamada and Souma's rhythmic tambourine playing and as well as Yamada's unflinching gaze. One of the earliest remixes of the tambourine scene was a looping video set to that season's ending theme "Always Love & Peace!!" (いつものようにLOVE&PEACE!!, Itsumo no Youni LOVE & PEACE!!), uploaded to Niconico by user Shinra-P (神羅P) on October 17th (shown below, left), where it quickly gained popularity on the site and helped set the basis for parodies of the scene. Among the first was a Touhou Project parody titled "Suwako Plays the Tambourine"^[2] (shown below, right), created and uploaded to Niconico by user Kurobe Rapid (黒羽ラピッド) on October 24th, where it featured the Touhou characters Suwako Moriya and Kanako Yasaka. Though it was later taken down from Niconico, the video was managed to be watched more than 290 thousand times and helped give the series a substantial increase in popularity.

As of June 2017, over 340 tambourine parody video has since been shared to Niconico^[3] with many being re-uploaded to YouTube^[4]. Meanwhile, Japanese illustrator also began creating still-frame and animated parodies of the scene and submitting them to the Japanese art-sharing sites pixiv^[5] and Nico Nico Seiga.^[6]

Notable Examples

Illustrations

Search Interest

[Not Available]

External References

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