Hello! I’m Emu Otori! Emu Is Meaning Smile!

Submission 21,754

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About

Hello! I’m Emu Otori! Emu Is Meaning Smile! is a viral audio clip of Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage character Emu Otori introducing herself and explaining that “Emu” means “smile.” The audio clip first became the subject of memes and video edits on YouTube and TikTok around April 2022, becoming popularized on TikTok in July 2023, often in videos showing Emu Otori in dangerous locations or situations as the audio plays.

Origin

The earliest known upload of the audio clip was posted by YouTuber^[1] darku's secret room on April 3rd, 2022. The video shows Emu Otori introducing herself in the video game Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage. It garnered over 106,000 views in a year (shown below).

On July 19th, YouTuber^[2] The Poios Team posted an animation of a chibi version of Emu Otori, originally from an unknown TikTok account, using the audio clip, garnering over 68,000 views in a year (shown below). This is the earliest known edit to use the audio.

Spread

The audio clip continued to inspire memes on YouTube and TikTok over the following months. On December 10th, 2022, TikToker^[3] @valounatsuki posted an edit similar to the one by The Poios Team but featuring the Vine Boom sound effect that gained over 950,000 views in eight months. On January 1st, 2023, YouTuber^[4] noinimble posted an animation that gained over 70,000 views in six months (shown below, left). On May 7th, YouTuber^[5] Yuu posted a video where the chibi Emu Omori says the line and is crushed with a slice of bread, garnering over 100,000 views in two months (shown below, right).

On June 24th, TikToker^[6] @i3cookies0 posted a low-resolution, low-audio-quality video of Emu Otori saying the quote through an illegible speech bubble, garnering over 1.4 million views in two weeks (shown below).

The video’s original sound^[7] became popular over the following weeks, inspiring over 6,400 videos in that time span. The most viral examples are slideshows showing Otori in dangerous or ominous locations, such as on the OceanGate submarine or in a dark sewer. On July 3rd, TikToker^[8] @m3m3t1m3butreal posted a version of the meme where Otori is shown working on the Demon Core, garnering over a million views in four days (shown below, left). On July 5th, TikToker^[9] @daaroruiz posted a compilation sliding through numerous versions of the slideshow memes, garnering over 700,000 views in two days (shown below, right).