Meme review
Who's This Anime Girl Going 'Ah, Eto... Bleh' And Why Is She Everywhere?
For the past several months on social media, you may have noticed several drawings of a lady, apparently from anime, putting her hands on her head and sticking her tongue out, an apparent "Oh, me" pose. The lady is often paired with a caption describing the most heinous thing imaginable.
This is Ah, eto… Bleh, a fan art and anime meme that's been bubbling organically for months before exploding in late September, becoming one of the hottest memes of the past month. Here, we'll break down just what's going on with "Ah, eto… Bleh" and give a little backstory on just where this meme came from.
Where Does 'Ah, Eto… Bleh' Come From?
First thing's first: the girl in the meme is Yoriko Nikaido from the anime series You're Under Arrest!, aka Taiho Shichazuo. In episode three of the series, Yoriko is confronted by her peers for wrongdoing, leading to this clumsy attempt to excuse her actions by acting very cute. She says, "Ah, eto…" ("Ah, well…") before striking a cute pose that can best be described as "whoopsy daisy."
How Did The "Ah, Eto… Bleh" Meme Start?
The clip had been bubbling in the anime fandom for some time before it popped off in September. Posts featuring the clip can be found for months prior to September 2022.
reposting for the millionth time pic.twitter.com/XCh1UMOlkd
— SLAMMOween (@slammo12) January 9, 2022
Momentum began picking up in late summer as people began pairing the clip with captions akin to "me when I do (X heinous act)." On September 5th, the meme broke through with a tweet that read "Hitting this pose after I accidentally run over a family of five."
— 𝙍𝙚𝙘𝙧𝙪𝙞𝙩 (@FullMetaIWeeb) September 5, 2022
How Has "Ah, Eto… Bleh" Developed?
Though the meme worked well enough as a reaction clip, it soared in popularity once it started seeing use in more creative parodies. On September 22nd, Twitter user @dot_aif posted a crossover meme featuring Yoriko in the world of Elder Scrolls, kicking off a variety of parodies and redraws.
— spooky .aif 🎃 (@dot_aif) September 22, 2022
From there, Yoriko was repurposed to serve in a variety of fandom-related memes, as artists redrew her to look like characters from various pieces of pop culture after they commit horrendous atrocities.
when you shatter the elden ring :3 pic.twitter.com/c9nNTt7YPo
— MenasLG (@MenasLG) September 23, 2022
haha whoopsie i sacrifice🥴#Berserk pic.twitter.com/glcKMGgMTq
— moni @ Comms Open (@based_moni) September 24, 2022
For more information, check out the KnowYourMeme entry for Ah, eto… Bleh.
