About

Uragami Locks In or Parasyte Lock in Meme refers to a clip from the 2014 anime series Parasyte in which the character Uragami notices something in protagonist Shinichi Izumi, changing from a relaxed state into a serious, intense expression. In late November 2023, the clip achieved popularity in memes as a video and GIF caption format, most commonly being used as a part of the When You Gotta Lock In trend.

Origin

On February 11th, 2015, episode 18 of the anime adaptation of the Parasyte manga series premiered in Japan.^[1] In the final scene of the episode, the character Uragami sits through a series of tests in which he has to identify whether individuals in front of him have an ability to sense Parasites or are Parasites themselves. Last in the line is protagonist Shinichi Uzumi, in whom Uragami almost instantly senses something. As he reacts to Shinichi, Uragami changes his expression from relaxed to tense and focused (clip shown below).

On the same day, Imgur^[2] user timerarc3r posted the earliest found meme based on the clip, a GIF caption that received over 830 views in eight years (shown below).

The clip did not achieve popularity as a meme format until late November 2023. On November 23rd, 2023, TikTok^[3] user @macro_0s posted a When You Gotta Lock In meme that received over 4.3 million views and 821,000 likes in three weeks (shown below). In the meme, the song is combined with a Slowed + Reverb version of "Heartburn" by Tenseoh.

Spread

On November 27th, 2023, X^[4] / Twitter user posted the clip, commenting, "Me locking in when I clock in." The post (shown below) received over 220 reposts and 1,700 likes in three weeks.

Me locking in when I clock in pic.twitter.com/fxEjW0w1TY

— Plathanos 🐝 🇩🇴 (@SavinTheBees) November 28, 2023

In late November and early December 2023, the clip saw further spread both on TikTok and X as a video caption format. For example, on November 29th, X^[5] user @_saintcola posted a meme that received over 1,100 reposts and 7,700 likes in two weeks (shown below).

Taking a single round off a pro player in ranked
pic.twitter.com/Kl4EKUFUW4

— TNS | Saint Cola 🎙️SFL Japan Playoffs/DH ATL (@_saintcola) November 29, 2023

Related Memes

Aang Locks In

Aang Locks In, also known as Avatar Locks In refers to a clip from the 2012 animated series The Legend of Korra in which the character Aang breaks free of a villain's control and enters the Avatar state, promptly defeating him. In late March 2024, the clip achieved popularity in memes as a video and GIF caption format.

Gege when Sukuna is about to lose a fight so he gotta lock in and off screen the other character pic.twitter.com/EvkaFBNGS9

— Johnny (@JohnnySpittin) March 21, 2024

Various Examples

Having a fun n’ friendly ft10 with one of the bros then they hit you with a reversal (friendship ruined, they clearly don’t respect you) pic.twitter.com/XDwb7O7AIz

— Geo the Geo 🦋 #ANJIBROS 🦋 (@SplatGeo) November 29, 2023

when u playing kendrick lamar on fortnite festival on vocals and that one part comes so you genuinely gotta lock in pic.twitter.com/9kRzMa4Ygw

— ken (@SAKAM0T0DAYS) December 11, 2023

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External References