About

These Are The Perks Of Being Bimbopilled, Shinji refers to a piece of Neon Genesis Evangelion and Serial Experiments Lain fan art which re-edited an image of Evangelion character Misato Katsuragi sitting on a couch with the face and hair of Lain character Lain Iwakura. A bottom caption shows her telling Shinji about the "perks of being bimbopilled" while holding a green Monster Energy can. Misato was also given fishnet leggings, fingerless gloves and a blushing smile, all set over a vaporwave aesthetic. The fan art was originally created by an Instagram user named serial disappointments lain. In mid-2023, the image caused mass discourse on Twitter and Tumblr, among other websites, centered on criticism and backlash that labeled the image as cringe. The image's catchphrase then became a phrasal template as it was inserted into similarly edited fan art pieces that satirized the original's contents and aesthetics.

Origin

On March 4th, 2023, Instagram^[1] user @serial.disappointments.lain posted a piece of fan art that combined Neon Genesis Evangelion character Misato Katsuragi and Serial Experiments Lain character Lain Iwakura into one person, resembling an e-girl with fishnet accessories and a green Monster Energy can. The image was also given a vaporwave aesthetic, evident in the hazy, purple and pink tones. The image had a yellow bottom caption in the style of a subtitle, reading, "these are the perks of being bimbopilled, shinji," in reference to the Evangelion character Shinji Ikari. "Bimbopilled" combined the word "bimbo" and the prominent internet slang suffix "-pilled." The original Instagram^[1] post received over 330 likes in five months (shown below).

Spread

The meme gained virality, and later notoriety, when it was screenshotted and reposted by Twitter^[2] user @hicuckomori on March 8th, 2023, who captioned it, "What is this image," gaining over 6,000 likes in five months (shown below, left). A few months later, on May 26th, a Redditor posted the image to /r/Lain,^[3] writing, "goth lain x eva…?" receiving over 410 upvotes in three months. The image was criticized by others in the comment section as well as in separate posts. For instance, on May 27th, Redditor Spicy_Cupcake00 shared a meme to /r/Lain,^[4] gaining over 670 upvotes in three months (shown below, right).

On May 29th, 2023, Twitter^[5] user @MaePrograf posted the image with no caption, gaining roughly 2,400 likes in three months. The tweet gained infamy when it was quote retweeted by Twitter^[6] user @ShickDits on May 29th, who portrayed passionate disapproval of the fan art, gaining roughly 43,100 likes in three months (shown below, left). On August 1st, the image resurfaced in internet discourse when Twitter^[7] user @GRlFFS compared it to the original frame from Evangelion, gaining roughly 30,600 likes in two days (shown below, right).

Soon after, meme creators started posting parodies of the original fan art, such as Twitter^[8] user @Awesomespen on August 1st, who made Master Shake from Aqua Teen Hunger Force a green Monster Energy can, addressing Meatwad with the catchphrase. The tweet received roughly 1,900 likes in two days (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

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External References