Peak Fiction

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About

Peak Fiction is a slang expression primarily used in anime and manga communities to comment on the quality of writing in a piece of media, both sincerely and ironically. The phrase has been used online at least since 2018 and has spawned a series of reaction memes such as Dies From Peak Fiction.

Origin

Online, the word "peak" has been used synonymously with "absolute best" or "superb." Some of the earliest examples of the expression "peak fiction" date back to anime communities in 2018. For example, on March 17th, 2018, an anonymous 4chan^[1] user made a post in /a/ in which they used it to describe the latest episode of Dragon Ball Super anime (shown below, top). On September 12th, a 4chan^[2] user commented that Civil War limited comic series was pick fiction in /co/ (shown below, bottom).

On March 9th, 2020, X^[3] user @L0gan_8 made one of the earliest notable posts that used the phrase, commenting on a clip from the anime series Gurren Lagann" in a post that gained over 1,100 reposts and 3,000 likes in four years (shown below).

Spread

The slang phrase first achieved prominence in May 2020 when it was used as a part of a "X Fans Will Swear This Peak Fiction" meme format (examples^[4]^[5] shown below).

On January 20th, 2021, X^[6] user @PunishedTyke posted the earliest found reaction image based on the phrase, a Dies From X meme recaptioned "Dies From Peak Fiction" (authorship unconfirmed, shown below, left). On June 27th, X^[7] user @TheBerisso_H posted a remake of the meme (shown below, right), with more versions such as "Revived by Peak Fiction" following in 2023.^[8]

The catchphrase saw viral spread on social media in the early 2020s, with multiple posts using it to describe a piece of media, whether ironically or sincerely, going viral. For example, on July 16th, 2022, X^[9] user @EmperorBigD posted a clip of Dragon Ball character Piccolo regrowing his arm, commenting, "When Dragon Ball was Dragon Ball. Peak fiction." The post (shown below) received over 6,900 reposts and 58,000 likes in two years.

Additionally, various Peak Fiction reaction images and caption memes based on them have been circulated online.