Anime's Latest Meme Has the Perfect Cosplay

The nerd community has proved that almost anything can become a cosplay - fan-favorite characters, [...]

The nerd community has proved that almost anything can become a cosplay - fan-favorite characters, cross-fandom mashups, and even delightful Internet memes.

Instagram user PantasticCosplay recently debuted an awesome new cosplay, inspired by the "Is This a Pigeon" meme, at Toronto's Anime North convention. You can check it out below.

In the days since the convention, photos of the cosplay have gone viral, with one post earning over 40,00 retweets and 110,000 likes on Twitter. And it's pretty easy to see why, considering how accurate Pan's cosplay is to the original screencap.

If you're unfamiliar with the "Is this a pigeon" meme, which has been popping up around Twitter a lot in recent months, here's what you need to know. The screencap came from the 1990s anime The Brave Fighter of Sun Fighbird, which follows Yutaro Katori, an android that is possessed by a space lifeform. In the series' third episode, Yutaro is attempting to display what he is learning about Earth's ecosystem, and accidentally identifies a butterfly as a pigeon in the process.

The English screencap of that scene earned a bit of notoriety in the decades since, largely after being accidentally mistaken for a transcription fail. In 2011, the line began to be shared on Tumblr, with a few different Photoshopped versions coming about.

But the screenshot has really made a comeback in the past few months, largely as a template to misidentify different objects or concepts. Even Netflix's official Twitter joined in on the fun, using the set-up of the meme to poke fun at the actors cast in Riverdale-esque teen dramas.

What do you think about this "Is this a pigeon" cosplay? Does it make you want to check out The Brave Fighter of Sun Fighbird? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

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