About

Oh My Swirls is a catchphrase spoken by the Yo-Kai Watch character Komasan, used as an expression of excitement, surprise or fear. The earliest known meme to use the phrase was posted online in 2015. In early 2024, an audio clip of Komasan saying the phrase went viral in a series of memes on TikTok, including in music remixes.

Origin

The Yo-Kai Watch Yo-Kai Komasan, who made his premiere in the February 26th, 2014 episode of the series "Here's Komasan" in Japan, later premiering in North America on October 19th, 2015, is known to say "Oh my swirls!" when surprised, excited or afraid in the English dub (example shown below).^[1]

On November 20th, 2015, an Imgflip^[2] user bEAUaADAMS posted an image macro using the catchphrase over an image of Komasan, garnering over 18,000 views in nine years (shown below). This is the earliest known meme to use the phrase.

Spread

TikTok Presence

An audio clip of Komasan saying "Oh my swirls" was popularized on TikTok as a meme in May 2024. One of the earliest notably viral memes to use the phrase was posted by TikToker^[3] @pjberriboiii on May 3rd, 2024, garnering over 340,000 views in a week (shown below, left). On May 6th, the same TikToker^[4] post a video remixing the audio with MR DOOM's "Hoe Cakes," garnering over 300,000 views in three days (shown below, right).

On May 8th, TikToker^[5] @oi_dark posted a meme remixing the "oh my swirls" audio clip with a version of Kendrick Lamar's diss track against Drake "Not Like Us" sung through an AI voice of Komasan, garnering over 60,000 views in a day (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References