Kobeni (Chainsaw Man)

About

Kobeni is a character within the manga series Chainsaw Man, serving as a side character with recurring character development that takes place over the course of the series. Since her introduction to the manga in early 2019, she has become the subject of memes and fan art among the fandom, particularly due to a moment within the story's plot that involves her dancing at an arcade, which subsequently spawned the Sad Cat Dance trend.

Origin

Released on March 11th, 2019, Kobeni entered the story in the 13th chapter of Chainsaw Man, titled "Gun Devil", before becoming a more regular part of the series. Many among the fandom call her the "Best Girl" as opposed to the other females in the cast. Early memes of the character typically involved her interactions with other characters within the manga, or her car, which is a revolving plot point for her. An example of this can be seen in the fan art uploaded to Twitter by the artist @DoujinTraya^[1] on October 14th, 2020, which features another character (Power) and Kobeni as Power is driving wildly (shown below). The tweet received over 5,400 likes and 1,500 retweets in roughly two years.

Spread

Memes revolving around the character largely spiked when it came to her dancing segment that took place within the manga. During this part (without spoiling the plot), there's a moment within the manga in which Kobeni finds herself dancing on an arcade machine similar to Dance Dance Revolution where she excels at it despite being nervous and saying she's not experienced in it. This moment subsequently spawned a series of redraws, fan art and a Flash game being developed that later sparked the Sad Cat Dance trend. The artist KelvinHiu^[2] on Pixiv illustrated this moment with Kobeni on November 21st, 2021, in a viral picture of her dancing (shown below).

Another meme that Kobeni is used in for redraws is of her working as a fast-food worker, with several high engagement uploads consisting of her dressed as various fast-food operators, many including double-entendres. For example, the crossover meme fan art of Kobeni inside Breaking Bad as she's helping Walter White and Jesse Pinkman cook was drawn and uploaded to Twitter on May 9th, 2022, by the artist @TinaFate1,^[3] where it gained over 58,000 likes in four months (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References