What Is The 'Ara Ara Chase' Meme? The Origin Of The Anime Girl Following Boy Meme Explained

A webcomic featuring an older anime girl following and subsequently chasing a younger boy drawn in the same style has been a popular meme template since 2019. The image is often used to depict someone incessantly asking too many questions, or giving someone attention that they definitely did not ask for.

But where did this ara ara chase image originate, and why is it called that? Here's the origin of the meme.

Where Does The 'Ara Ara Chase' Image Come From?

The "ara ara chase" image comes from a webcomic originally posted by Indonesian artist Amsal Samuel in March 2019. The panels are part of his Soul of Neko comic series and appear in episode 32 of season 3. The images show a character named Tovan being chased by his sister Pidiota as she tries to talk to him and help him befriend his apartment complex neighbours.

The comic came to be named "ara ara chase" because it grew popular as part of a wider meme phenomenon in Reddit meme communities. "Ara ara" was a euphemism to describe media depicting younger boys with older love interests in anime, with three different "ara ara memes" growing popular within a short time period on Reddit.

How Is The 'Ara Ara Chase' Meme Used?

The "ara ara chase" meme is typically used as an object-labeling meme, where different aspects of the image are assigned specific values. For example, an early use of the meme showed the older girl being labeled as "Responsibilities" chasing a boy labeled as "Me."

Other versions of the meme follow similar labeling formats, and sometimes even edit the image to say more with fewer words. These memes first gained viral traction online in June 2019 after being reposted to Reddit's /r/memes community.

For the full history of the 'ara ara chase' meme, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.