Are They Still On Namek?
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About
"Are They Still On Namek?" is a catchphrase used by anime fans to poke fun at story arcs that seem to drag on for too long in a particular setting with little plot developments. The phrase itself is an allusion to one of the major chapters that takes place on the remote planet of Namek in the popular anime series Dragon Ball Z.
Origin
According to the Lurkmore page[1], the phrase was coined on 4chan's /a/ (anime & manga) board around 2005 in threads discussing Bleach and its Soul Society Arc, a storyline that was cut into two season over 43 episodes and broadcasted between March 1st 2005 and January 10th 2006. Considered way too long for an arc by many, fans on /a/ drew comparisons between Bleach's Soul Society Arc and Dragon Ball Z's Namek Saga, especially the final 5-minute battle between Goku and Frieza that was originally cut into ten episodes of a total three hour-long running time. While there aren't any archived instances of its usage on 4chan, one of the earliest use of the catchphrase outside of the imageboard can be found in a D-Addicts forum[2] thread about Naruto on January 7th 2006.
Spread
On July 20th, 2007 a post in an IGN forum thread about random images highlighted a parody reusing the phrase[3]. In september of that year, a thread titled "Are they still on Namek?" was posted on the stadium-arcanium website[4]. Another one titled "Why are they still on namek?" was created in december in the Bleach sub-section of Naruto Forums[5]. On November 19th, 2009, a post about the meme and its relationship with the Bleach series was submitted to a GameFAQ thread[6]. The phrase became used as a prime example of the "Arc fatigue"[7] trope applied to Anime and Manga on TVTropes as well as being mentioned as a trivia on the Dragon Ball wikia page for "Namek"[8]. In June 2011, popular YouTuber and Abridge Series makers TeamFourStar released the 24th episode of their parody series Dragon Ball Z Abridged. In it, the character of Krillin (voiced by Lanipator) is making a reference to the meme (shown below).
Krillin: You know Gohan, it just occured to me.
Gohan: Yeah Krillin?
Krillin: We are STILL on Namek.
Gohan: What do you mean?
Krillin: Well I mean it feels like we have been here for like… a year.
Gohan: But we have only been here for six days!
Krillin: I know right!
On 4chan specifically, archives featuring the phrase can be seen as early as 2011[9]. On March 13th 2015, a thread with a picture of villain Frieza and the sentence "this thread will be deleted in 5 minutes" was posted to 4chan's /v/ (video games) board. Prior to being archived, an anonymous user answered with the phrase "Are They Still On Namek?"[10]
External References
[1] Lurkmore – Are They Still On Namek?
[2] D-Addicts forums – Talk about anything Naruto
[3] IGN forums – ITT we post pictures like the "epic boobs" and "moms minivan" …
[4] Stadium Arcanium – Are they still on Namek?
[5] Naruto Forums – http://www.narutoforums.com/showthread.php?t=303071
[6] GameFAQ forums – Errand Boy/Spacy Girl is so hawt, right? spoilers
[7] TVTropes – Arc Fatigue
[9] Archive Moe – The gangrape continues. Srly [4chan archive. May Content NSFW Content]
[10] V4chan – This thread will be deleted in 5 minutes. [4chan archive. May Content NSFW Content]
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