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five anime characters and a blob attempting to stand with one leg stretched behind their backs

I-Shaped Balance / Standing Split

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About

I-Shaped Balance or Standing Split refers to a series of fan art and photographs depicting people or characters performing a vertical standing split, usually accompanied by the #I字バランス部 hashtag. In late September the trend became popular on Japanese Twitter through fan art and hentai parodies, spreading further in early October.

Origin

On September 25th, 2020, Japanese artist and Twitter[1] user @arito_arayuru posted a fan art of a character performing a vertical standing split, with the post receiving over 1,800 retweets and 8,600 likes in two weeks (shown below, left). On the same day, artist and Twitter user @arito_arayuru retweeted the post.

Within two hours of the art being posted, @Ulrich_46 and @arito_arayuru pitched[2][3] an idea for a fan art challenge based on images of characters performing a vertical standing split, with virtual YouTuber and Twitter user @momoge911 suggesting[4] to use #I字バランス部 (jap. #I-ShapedBalanceClub) hashtag (conversation shown below, right).


有都あらゆる @arito_arayuru です。 Translate Tweet しス 1:43 PM - Sep 25, 2020 · Twitter Web App > してる女 13:21 ull うるりひ老師 @Ulrich_46·2020/09/25 股見せ開脚ストレッチしか勝たん 274 O 42 山 有都あらゆる 他人に要求できるようまずは自分たちで字バ ランスできるようにならないとな @arito_ar... 2020/09/25 ▼ 2 藤ます@Vtuberうさます @momoge911 返信先: @arito_arayuruさんと@Ulrich_46さん #字バランス部 とかどうですかね. 15:33 · 2020/09/25 · Twitter for iPhone 2件のリツイート 6件のいいね 有都あらゆる 返信先: @momoge911さんと@Ulrich_46さ @arito_ar... 2020/09/25 ▼ ん 柔らかそうな肉を描くベテランきたな 27 うるりひ老師 @UIrich_46·2020/09/25 EEt: @momoge911&hE @arito_arayuru さん 字バランス絵量産の流れ来たわね 返信をツイート Q Σ

@Ultich_46: Only crotch-showing and open-leg stretch could crown with victory.
@arito_arayuru: We have to master the I-shaped balance before demanding it from others.
@momoge911: How about #I-ShapedBalanceClub…

Later on the same day, @Ulrich_46[5] uploaded an illustration of Granblue Fantasy character Claris doing the pose accompanied by the hashtag (tweet and image shown below).[4] The post, the first instance within the trend, gained over 8,000 retweets and 38,000 likes in 10 days.


うるりひ老師 @Ulrich_46 団長と二人っきりのときに身体の柔らかさを見せてくれるクラリス ちゃん #字バランス部 Translate Tweet 1:52 AM - Sep 26, 2020 · Twitter Web App

Prior to the introduction of the hashtag, I-Shaped and Y-Shaped balancing poses (jap. I字バランス/Y字バランス) have been often been used in fan art and hentai by Japanese artists.[5][6]

Spread

Starting on September 26th, 2020, artists on Twitter and Pixiv posted multiple viral fan arts based on the challenge. On that day, artists and Twitter[7][8] users @Kaedeko111 and @GaRaSi888 made two of the earliest viral posts containing such artworks (shown below).



The trend maintained significant popularity on Twitter and Pixiv in the following weeks, with both fan arts and photographs being posted by users.

Various Examples


@Dgur
OUCH

Search Interest

External References

[1] Twitter – @arito_arayuru

[2] Twitter – @Ulrich_46

[3] Twitter – @arito_arayuru

[4] Twitter – @momoge911

[5] Twitter – @Ulrich_46

[6] Twitter – @Kaedeko111

[7] Twitter – @GaRaSi888

[8] Pixiv Encyclopedia – I字バランス部

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