When I Want to Watch Blue But My Bitch Wife Wants to Watch Orange

About

When I Want to Watch Blue But My Bitch Wife Wants to Watch Orange is a viral GIF caption meme based on a scene in which Neon Genesis Evangelion characters Shinji Ikari and Asuka Langley are fighting over TV, with the screen changing between blue and orange. Posted on Tumblr in September 2021, the GIF has since become a subject of references in memes.

Origin

On November 29th, 1995, episode nine of the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime series premiered in Japan.^[1] In the episode, a montage scene of characters Shinji and Asuka spending time together is shown. One shot in the montage shows Shinji and Asuka fighting over the TV, with both clicking their remotes and the screen flicking between blue and orange (scene shown below).

On September 1st, 2021, Tumblr^[2] user outsidetheeva posted a GIF of Shinji and Asuka fighting over the TV. Later that day, Tumblr^[3] user qv commented "Me when i want to fucking watch blue but that stupid bitch wants to watch red." The post accumulated over 71,300 likes and reblogs in two years.

On September 9th, Redditor H_Arthur posted a GIF based on the post and the reply to the /r/evangelionmemes^[4] subreddit (shown below), where it received over 12,700 upvotes in two years.

Spread

On October 4th, 2021, iFunny^[5] user D_Wreck posted a slightly reworded GIF caption meme based on the post. The upload (shown below, left) gained over 220 smiles in two years. Later on October 4th, Twitter^[6] user @iluvrabbitz posted the earliest found meme referencing the original post, a re-animated Deltarune version that gained over 3,000 retweets and 18,600 likes in two years (shown below, right).

In the following years, the GIF caption saw further spread, being reposted on Twitter, Instagram and other sites. For example, on August 6th, 2022, Twitter^[7] user @Sakurazukaa reposted the meme, with the post garnering over 24,100 retweets and 249,000 likes in one year.

The GIF achieved more popularity as a reference subject in late 2022 and in 2023. For example, on October 29th, 2022, Twitter^[8] user @BussyLicker69 posted a "Who's getting the remote?" meme referencing it, which received over 3,900 retweets and 31,000 likes in eight months (shown below, left). On June 8th, 2023, Twitter^[9] user @bootleghomiee posted a Peni Parker meme that garnered over 4,600 retweets and 50,000 likes in one day (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References