Kaido Stare / Shocked Kaido

Editor's Note: This entry contains spoiler information related to the One Piece manga and anime series

About

Kaido Stare or Shocked Kaido is a viral still image macro from the One Piece anime in which the villain Kaido appears surprised with the protaginist Monkey D. Luffy new power. The reaction premiered on episode 1071 of the anime in august 2023, becoming an exploitable meme on X, Reddit and TikTok

Origin

On August 6th, 2023, episode 1071 of the One Piece anime debuted worldwide, featuring the reveal of the Gear 5th power. In one particular scene, Kaido sends a fireball towards Luffy, which is repelled by the main character's new power (based on their own imagination in a way reminiscent of slapstick humor from Western animation) and sent back to the villain. His shocked face (shown below) as he receives the blow was posted on August 9th, 2023 YouTube^[1] by @CrunchyrollCollection, which garnered over 1 million views and 38,000 likes in a month.

Spread

Online, the villain's reaction became a popular exploitable image. For example, on August 7th, 2023, X^[2] user @Bulbagarden used the still image of Kaido paired with the caption "Dragon-types in February 2013 watching a new Eeveelution being revealed." The post (shown below, left) garnered more than 41,000 likes and 3,500 retweets in a month. On August 11th, 2023, X^[3] user @PewpieceEN posted the image paired with the caption "One Piece haters when they realize that next week there is another banger episode," which garnered over 1,100 likes and 59 retweets in a month.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References