Awkward Look Monkey Puppet

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About

Awkward Look Monkey Puppet refers to two images of the Monkey Puppet known as Kenta from the Japanese children's television show Ōkiku Naru Ko awkwardly looking towards the camera and then away. The side-eye glance is not the original scene of the monkey and was instead created in Photoshop when the meme was first made in 2016. The double image gained significant popularity as a reaction in 2019 after originally circulating Spanish meme communities in the years prior.

Origin

The series Ōkiku naru Ko aired from April 7th, 1959 to March 18th, 1988. On April 13th, 1984, a Spanish-language dub of the series aired in Latin America under the title Niños en Crecimiento. The series featured the character Kento, known as Pedro in the Spanish dub.^[1]

On August 8th, 2008, YouTuber Vart vartmaz published an extended clip from the series that features several shots of Pedro in profile (shown below).

On May 5th, 2016, Facebook^[9] user Daniel Flores created and shared the original Awkward Look Monkey Puppet meme after photoshopping the character's eyes in the second frame of the format by making them appear to look toward the camera (seen below). He shared the image to the private Facebook group Con qué Profesor DE LA U.LIMA debo matricularme (translated to "With which professor of the University of Lima should I enroll?") with the caption "When you're staring at your crush like an idiot and she noticed."

Spread

The side-by-side image of the awkward look then spread further in the following weeks and months. For example, Twitter^[2] user @SoyMarcootz tweeted a variant on May 20th, 2016 (shown below). However, because there is a watermark for "Mr Fabian," it's likely that this is a repost. The photo is no longer available on the Mr. Fabian Facebook^[3] page.

Three days later, a variation of the meme with the same caption was published by Instagram^[6] user @esen_serio. The post received more than 6,300 likes in less than four years (shown below, left).

Months later, on August 13th, 2016, an anonymous Imgur ^[4] user included a variation in a photo dump. The variant reads, "when u accidentally look at someone and realize they were already looking at you." Within four years, the post received more than 100,000 views (shown below, center). On September 20th, 2018, Redditor ^[5] Chigwisin shared a variation in the /r/funny subreddit. The post received more than 2,300 points (93% upvoted) and 165 comments in less than two years (shown below, right).

On August 20th, 2019, Redditor^[7] ilovepadawan shared a tweet by Twitter^[8] user @n--eobama on the /r/2meirl4meirl subreddit. The post reads, "when u walk by a group of girls and hear them say 'SHH' and start laughing." The post received more than 25,000 points (98% upvoted) and 270 comments in less than three months (shown below).