About

Mizu5, also known as Shocked Mizuki, refers to a reaction image meme featuring a shocked-looking anime girl looking off to the left. The image comes from a Project Sekai: Colorful Stage! event in October 2024, commonly referred to by fans as "Mizu5." The image shows Akiyama Mizuki, a pink-haired character from PJSK, being outed as to her closest friend Ena by her bigoted classmates. The "Where Does The Road of Thorns Lead To?" arc took place in the Japanese version of the game, with translated versions of the dialogue making the rounds in early October 2024. The picture of Mizuki looking shocked also came to be used as a reaction meme around the same timeframe. The meme is often paired with the phrase, "Anyone else hear that ominous bell tolling?"

Origin

On October 10th, 2024, the rhythm game Project Sekai posted to X^[1] about the Japanese "Where Does The Road of Thorns Lead To?" event set to take place on October 12th. The translated blurb read, "Seeing Mafuyu take a step forward, Mizuki's desire to 'move forward too' grows stronger. Before the school festival, she decides to tell Ena something she hasn't been able to say until now, but…"

Redditor^[2] /u/Wopeki made a similar post on the /r/ProjectSekai subreddit on October 10th, gathering over 2,000 upvotes in four days.

On October 12th, translated versions of the event began to appear online, as seen in a YouTube^[3] video posted by "mizu," gathering over 60,000 views in two days.

The scene shows Ena talking to two students who are referred to as Student A and Student B. Student A asks Ena if she is a "boy" too, accidentally revealing to her that her friend Mizuki is gender non-conforming, and was born as a boy but dresses as a girl. Mizuki overhears the conversation and appears heartbroken at her secret being revealed to Ena this way since she was working up the courage to her the truth herself. Whether Mizuki is transgender or simply likes to crossdress (referred to as "otokonoko" in Japanese) is unclear.

Spread

Various internet users reacted to Mizu5 by sharing meems and jokes using Mizuki's shocked face. On October 11th, 2024, X^[4] user @akanedni posted a Thousand Yard Stare edit featuring Mizuki, gathering over 37,000 likes in three days.

On October 12th, Japanese X^[5] user @Na_chos_p posted a meme referencing Project Sekai Cheerful Show, gathering over 74,000 likes in two days.

On October 13th, 2024, X^[6] user @Joetastic_ posted an animation of Ena beating up a Project Sekai NPC, writing, "FUCK STUDENT A, ALL MY HOMIES HATE STUDENT A," in reference to the person who outed Mizuki. The post gathered over 11,000 likes in a day.

FUCK STUDENT A, ALL MY HOMIES HATE STUDENT A https://t.co/Xrov8lVdfI pic.twitter.com/X6nvcRMXv9

— Joetastic (@Joetastic_) October 13, 2024

Discussions about Mizu5 spread to TikTok^[7] as well, with user @.ramboro posting a fan edit on October 13th that gathered over 200,000 plays and 84,000 likes in a day.

Also on October 13th, 2024, TikToker^[8] @misthropy posted a Subtle Foreshadowing meme featuring Mizuki, gathering over 400,000 plays and 90,000 likes in a day.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References