When you think of Fortnite, well – some people are going to think of dancing from the start. The game is one of the most popular of its kind, and Fortnite has gone viral countless times for its dancing emotes. It wasn’t long ago that one anime director learned that firsthand when part of their latest work went viral for including an emote from the game. But during a recent event, it turns out the Internet got their inspo mixed up.
The whole thing came to light when Takayuki Hirao did an AMA on Reddit for fans. It was there the director behind Pompo: The Cinephile addressed one scene from the movie that became a viral meme. After all, one clip from the film shows Nathalie doing a thumbs-up dance just like the one from Fortnite, but it turns out the director didn’t pluck the moves from the game.
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Really, it seems a band from Japan popularized the dance and caught Hirao’s eye that way. So if you were hoping to find Fortnite easter eggs in this anime, you can think again.
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“I’m surprised that this dance is a popular meme in America,” the director shared over on Reddit. “In Japan, it’s called the iine-or “thumbs up” dance. Two years ago a band called DA PUMP released a song called “U.S.A.” and everyone was doing the dance in Japan. Nathalie tends to express her emotions with her body. So when she’s confused or nervous, she dances. And because the song is called “U.S.A.” and there are a lot of U.S. references in the film, we thought it would be perfect. So it would be an homage!”
For those curious which artist tackled the dance first, it wasn’t DA PUMP. The Japanese group included the dance in a music video filmed in 2018. The moves were first shown in the music video “Shoot” by BioBoy JB in 2017. The dance became viral before long, and Fornite adopted it for an emote. And now, Hirao has immortalized the viral moves in one of anime’s best movies of late.
What do you think about this emote and its anime ties? Would you like to see Fortnite tackle more anime? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB.
