114514 vs. “electronic ibuprofen”: two completely different ways a Japanese meme crosses borders
Two Japanese exports crossed the sea.
One is tiny, round, and adorable.
The other is 114514.
Putting them side by side looks like a clerical error, but they make an unusually good comparison for how Japanese internet culture travels across East Asia.
First, one correction matters. Chiikawa is a mainstream character franchise in both China and South Korea. Yaju Senpai is a major internet meme in China, but in South Korea it remains much more concentrated in Niconico- and Inmu-adjacent online communities.
So this is not a story about two equally mainstream hits.
It is a story about two radically different things that both turned out to be extremely portable.
1. Bilibili is not simply “Chinese Niconico,” but the family resemblance is real
A Japanese viewer who opens Bilibili and thinks, “This feels a bit like Niconico,” is not imagining the historical connection.
Early Chinese danmaku-video culture on AcFun and Bilibili grew partly through material and formats imported from Japan’s Niconico. Bilibili retrospectives on Chinese MAD history describe Niconico-sourced audio-MAD videos appearing on the platform as early as 2009 and becoming part of the early “guichu” scene.[1]
China then developed its own style of “鬼畜” video: chopping up voices and faces, repeating them, synchronizing them to music, and turning a person into a reusable audiovisual instrument. Bilibili formally established a dedicated guichu section in 2015.[2]
Modern Bilibili is far too large and culturally independent to call it a Niconico clone.
But the shared ancestry of danmaku, audio-MAD, remix, and “turn a human being into raw editing material” culture is real.
For Yaju Senpai, that is almost perfect habitat.
2. Yaju Senpai is not popular because people empathize with his hardship
This is where the comparison with Chiikawa has to stop.
Most people do not look at Yaju Senpai and think:
“He has struggled too. I can keep going.”
At most, you might see the iced-tea scene and think, “Well, that looks a little rough.”
The meme works because he is absurdly reusable as raw material.
A face.
A voice.
Short lines.
Memorable poses.
The “X theory” format, where absolutely anything can be “proven” to be Yaju Senpai.
And above all, a number: 114514.
Numbers do not need translation.
114514 in Chinese is still 114514.
In Korean, still 114514.
In Japanese, still 114514.
You do not need to know the original adult-video source, the plot, or even who the performer was supposed to be. The number itself becomes an in-group signal.
In March 2026, a Bilibili video revisiting Yaju Senpai and 114514 still drew roughly 390,000 views, evidence that the meme has not simply become museum material in China.[3]
His international strategy is apparently excellent.
He was not consulted.
3. Yaju Senpai travels because the translation cost is almost zero
Most comedy dies at the border because it needs explanation.
Who is this person?
What show is this from?
Why is that sentence funny?
What relationship do these characters have?
By the time you finish explaining, the joke is dead.
Yaju Senpai avoids much of that problem.
A facial expression.
A clipped voice.
Repetition.
An impossible theory.
A ridiculous edit.
The audience does not need to understand the source story first.
In fact, the farther the meme moves away from its original context, the more things creators can do with it.
That fits Bilibili’s guichu culture extremely well.
What China imported was less “a character” than a very efficient meme asset pack.
4. Chiikawa is the opposite: it travels because the meaning survives
Chiikawa crosses borders in almost the reverse way.
Its emotional logic stays intact.
The characters are cute.
Their world is not.
They work.
They take exams.
Qualifications affect what jobs they can do.
They earn rewards through dangerous monster-hunting work.
Effort does not guarantee success.
They get scared and cry.
And yet food still tastes good.
Friends still matter.
Tiny moments are still worth celebrating.
Chinese media have described Chiikawa as a kind of “电子布洛芬” — “electronic ibuprofen”: something that does not solve real-world problems, but temporarily eases emotional pain.[4]
That does not mean “China and South Korea are difficult places, therefore people like dark cartoons.”
That explanation is too cheap.
Chiikawa is not simply dark.
The point is that unfairness and small happiness coexist.
Pure despair would be exhausting.
Pure fluff would leave fewer places for adults to see themselves.
Chiikawa puts “work, exams, fear, failure, lunch was good” inside the same cute face.
That balance travels.
5. In China, Chiikawa has moved far beyond “popular online”
Chiikawa’s Chinese success is visible in physical retail and large-scale events, not only memes.
A 2024 Shanghai pop-up was reported to have sold around 8 million yuan worth of goods in three days.[5]
In 2026, Shanghai hosted another major Chiikawa exhibition with a nine-meter inflatable installation and localized designs built around Shanghai lane culture and regional foods.[6]
That localization matters.
The character is not simply being placed in China unchanged.
It is being inserted into Chinese city life, food culture, photo culture, and shopping behavior.
That is the point where an imported franchise starts becoming something people can play with locally.
6. In South Korea, Chiikawa is mainstream; Yaju Senpai is still subcultural
The difference is even clearer in South Korea.
Chiikawa is also known there as “먼작귀” (Meonjagwi), short for “뭔가 작고 귀여운 녀석,” a Korean rendering of “something small and cute.”
A Seoul pop-up in December 2024 drew about 30,000 visitors over ten days, and a permanent Chiikawa store was operating by 2026. In September 2026, Korean retail-search data reported searches for “치이카와” up 522% year over year and “먼작귀” up 282%.[7]
The theatrical film then opened in South Korea on September 30, 2026, drawing 122,293 viewers on its first day and ranking first at the box office. By the next day, cumulative attendance was just under 200,000.[8]
That is clearly beyond a tiny anime niche.
Yaju Senpai is also known in Korean online culture as “야수선배,” with 114514 and “X theory” jokes still appearing in Niconico-oriented communities in 2025.[9]
But the available evidence points to a much narrower subculture.
Calling Korean Yaju Senpai fandom equivalent to Korean Chiikawa fandom would be stretching the joke too far.
7. The common trait: both can circulate as “one image + one line”
Despite their opposite appeal, both are extremely compatible with short-form internet circulation.
They work in one image.
A few seconds.
One line.
For Yaju Senpai: a face plus 114514.
For Chiikawa: a crying face, Usagi doing something inexplicable, or a Hachiware line.
People can enter through stickers, clips, screenshots, fan art, or memes without consuming the entire original work.
Both also invite the audience to continue the joke.
Yaju Senpai becomes stronger when users destroy the original meaning.
Chiikawa becomes stronger when users add their own daily meaning: “That is literally me.”
One gains power by losing context. The other gains power by moving its context into your life.
That is the fascinating symmetry.
8. “East Asia is stressful” is not enough to explain either phenomenon
Chinese and Korean coverage often connects youth culture with work, exams, employment pressure, and emotional fatigue. Chiikawa is frequently discussed in that context.[4][7]
But pressure alone does not create a hit.
A cross-border character also needs distribution.
A local name.
Official streaming.
Merchandise.
Physical events.
Short clips that are easy to share.
Images that work as reactions.
Communities that know how to remix them.
Yaju Senpai makes the same point from the opposite direction. People did not start typing 114514 simply because they were tired.
The editing ecosystem came first: a Niconico-related remix tradition, Bilibili’s guichu and audio-MAD scenes, and an audience trained to turn source material into something else.
Then a nearly translation-proof meme arrived.
Stress may create demand for release. Platforms and formats decide what actually spreads.
Conclusion: Chiikawa travels because its meaning translates; Yaju Senpai travels even when meaning does not
Chiikawa crosses borders with an emotional idea:
“Effort does not always work out, but small happiness is still real.”
Yaju Senpai crosses borders with:
“No explanation. 114514.”
Chiikawa puts a soft patch on your mood.
Yaju Senpai throws 114514 directly at the brain.
Very different treatment plans.
Yet both are short, repeatable, shareable, remixable, and able to live outside their original works.
One was exported because people can empathize with it.
The other was exported because you do not need empathy at all.
And somehow they can sit next to each other on the same phone screen.
That is the internet.
References (9)
- Bilibili, history of Touhou fan videos and early Niconico-to-Bilibili audio-MAD circulation bilibili.com
- Bilibili, history of guichu, Niconico/AcFun influence and 2015 guichu-section formation bilibili.com
- Bilibili, March 22, 2026, Yaju Senpai / 114514 retrospective, roughly 390k views at verification bilibili.com
- The Paper / Guangming Daily, August 1, 2024, Chiikawa as “electronic ibuprofen thepaper.cn
- The Paper, Chiikawa Shanghai pop-up sales and the appeal of a world where effort does not always pay off thepaper.cn
- Shanghai Municipal Government, September 21, 2026, CHIIKAWA DAYS Shanghai special exhibition japanese.shanghai.gov.cn
- Maeil Business Newspaper, September 27, 2026, South Korean permanent store, searches and pop-up attendance mk.co.kr
- Korea Economic Daily, October 2, 2026, Chiikawa film opening-day audience and appeal hankyung.com
- DC Inside Niconico minor gallery, July 7, 2025, Korean-language “Yaju Senpai theory” example gall.dcinside.com
