Ahegao Hoodie

About

Ahegao Hoodie is a nickname given to a hoodie which design consists of multiple images of hentai characters with the ahegao expressions on their faces. The hoodie gained the reputation that of a shock clothing, with the hoodie and its design also appearing in memes related to the weeaboo culture.

Origin

Starting in 2015, a collage of hentai characters showing ahegao expression by hentai artist Hirame has been circulated online.^[1] On March 16th, 2016, a user of South Korean forum Ilbe Storage posted the earliest available image of a t-shirt based on the collage, along with several other items of similar design.^[2]

In 2016, custom-design shirts using the design were being sold on Redbubble and Paom.^[3] On June 15th, 2016, Redditor^[4] doyouevenbape launched a thread on /r/ahegao subreddit asking for the source image used for the t-shirts.

On May 17th, 2017, Redditor^[5] InsaneLogicc posted a now-deleted photograph of a person wearing another, currently more iconic design of the shirt to /r/hentai_irl subreddit, originally taken from /r/streetwear.^[6] In the comments, Redditor Droidsexual provided a link for the shirt on Ebay.^[7] Some of the images featured on the shirt, including the central image from Danke Dankei Revolution hentai, were originally created by hentai artist Asanagi.^[8]

Spread

In the following years, multiple photographs of people wearing shirts and hoodies based on the design appeared in various subreddits, including /r/ahegao^[9], /r/animemes^[10] and /r/justneckbeardthings,^[11] with the comments often speculating on negative reactions which wearing the design in public could attract.

As the design gained notoriety, memes making references to the apparel started appearing online, primarily on Reddit.

Official Asanagi Version

On April 17th, 2018, Japanese hentai artist Asanagi announced an intention to help produce better-quality apparel using the imagery.^[12] On June 24th, 2018, US-based hentai publisher FAKKU^[13] announced receiving Asanagi's official permission to use the design, with the Ahegao Shirt being sold online at FAKKU shop.^[14]

Panel Sources

On September 8th, 2019, Redditor insanitykid2 made a post which matched the images on the most iconic design of the hoodie with their respective nhentai URL numbers, later revealed to be incorrect and posted as a joke.^[15] The post gained over 22,900 upvotes in four days. In the comment section, Redditor InPlotITrust posted a correct version of the guide (shown below), crediting Redditor Drektar77 for the help with the research, with the comment gaining over 490 likes in three days.^[16]

The panels featured on the design are as follows:

33260 (page 30) – Four Leaf Lover
65712 (page 16) – Remilia & Frandle's SPER:MATIC
73111 (page 19) – Training a Brainwashed Puppet
81892 (page 17) – Sanchi Chokusou
86895 (page 17) – Magic Twin Knights: Eclair Knights
89468 (page 29) – Dameda Kono Ojousama Hayaku Nantoka Shinaito
106186 (page 21) – Kyunkyun Masenrei
121916 (page 20) – My Lovely Angel!? Ayase-tan
139808 (page 19) – Danke Dankei Revolution
144529 (page 19) – Isuzuppai (Amagi Brilliant Park)
162677 (page 14) – Victim Girls 12: Another one Bites the Dust
173936 (page 11 and 14) – Childhood Destruction ~ Big Red Riding Hood and The Little Wolf
177810 (page 10) – UnLove S

On the same day, Redditor zawarudothatscooler reposted the image in a separate post without crediting InPlotITrust or Drektar77, with the post receiving over 17,900 upvotes in three days.^[17] The user subsequently deleted their account after it was revealed that he attempted to take credit for the research.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References