Gamertell

If you’re a YouTube fan, chances are you’ve encountered the Caramelldansen phenomenon, a strange, 30~120 second video that shows cartoon-style versions of popular anime, cartoon or video game characters doing a bunny-wiggle dance to the hyper song “Caramelldansen.” After sitting through the entire video, you’ll be a bit stunned, perhaps wondering what is going on. Yes, you’ve stumbled upon an outdated meme.

The original track is from the Swedish dance/pop group Caramell. The song “Caramelldansen” was originally released in 2001, but only became internet-famous in 2006. Message board users (like 4-chan members) paired the song with images from the opening of the PC Japanese visual novel Popotan. In the introduction of the PC game, the sisters Mai and Mii do the bunny dance, which is the image captured in the internet meme.

Since then, fans have decided to dance the “Caramelldansen” dance, dragging their favorite characters with them. No series is safe, no character too unlikely, to become subject to the Caramelldansen. Amaterasu, Solid Snake, Dante, Link and the entire cast of Resident Evil all become hypnotised and powerless in the face of the Caramelldansen phenomenon.

As silly as the images may be, it is impossible to not find a few favorites. Below are a few of the best video game related Caramelldansen videos I discovered on YouTube while researching this article.

#1: Pikachus (Pokemon) can Caramelldansen:

#2: Zack, Cloud and Aerith (Crisis Core: FFVII) Caramelldansen:

#3: Cait Sith and Vincent (FFVII) Caramelldansen as well:

#4: Even Amaterasu (Okami) does the Caramelldansen:

#5: In fact, the whole cast of Super Smash Brothers Brawl does the Caramelldansen:

Honorable Mentions: Two Caramelldansen videos featuring Vocaloid characters. The first Hatsune Miku Vocaloid Caramelldansen features amazing computer animation:

And the second Vocaloid Caramelldansen features animated Nendoroid Vocaloid figures (the Caramelldansen portion starts at 1:40):

Read [Dannychoo] Site [Caramell Dansen] Site [Caramell’s Myspace]