About
Umi Sonoda Poker Face (Japanese: 海未ちゃん顔芸シリーズ, Umi-chan Kaogei Series) refers to a series of parodies featuring funny facial expressions struck by Umi Sonoda[1] from an anime adaptation for Japanese multi-media project Love Live!. Shortly after the episode aired in May 2014, many parodies were spawned on the web.
Origin
In the anime adaptations, Umi-chan has been well-known for her expressive face among fans since the 1st season (shown below, left), and screen shots of her funny faces have been sometimes utilized in photoshopping parodies on Futaba Channel (2chan) since before. Meanwhile, the source footage of this fad is weird facial expressions strucked by Umi during a trump game scene in the 5th episode in the 2nd season “A New Me” originally aired on May 4th, 2014 (shown below, right).
Similar Cases
According to comments in Nico Nico Pedia’s article[2], this kind of poor poker face during playing old maid is one of the cliches in school anime/manga depictions. Similar scenes are found on Ranma1/2 in 1980s as well as Yuru Yuri, Nisekoi and Invaders of the Rokujyōma!?.
Left: Ranma1/2 Ep. 85 (1989) | Center: Yuru Yuri Season 2 Ep. 2 (2012) | Right: Nisekoi Season 1 Ep. 9 (2014)
Spread
Her impressive poker face soon became to a subject for MAD videos on niconico Douga[3] and parody illustrations on Nico Nico Seiga[4] and pixiv.[5] In addition, a photoshopping fad featuring it also caused on Futaba as well as in Crappy Collage Grand Prix trend on Twitter.[6]
Finally, the illustrations for Umi’s poor poker faces were officially released on LINE stamps in August of that year (shown below).[7]
Various Examples
MAD Videos
Niconico 変顔海未ちゃんでしゅぎょうNiconico ボム兵の海未ちゃん
Left: Rhythm Heaven Remix | Right: Bob-Omb Battlefield
Niconico ことりちゃんにババ抜きで完全敗北した顔芸海未ちゃんUCNiconico 【ラブライブ！】海未ちゃんのババ抜きできゅっきゅっきゅっニャー
Left: Slow Loris' Victory Pose with UC | Right: Kyu! Kyu! Kyu! Nya~! dance
Illustrations
Photos
Template
Search Interest
In Japanese language, striking funny facial expressions is called “Kaogei” (顔芸; lit. “Face Performance”).
External References
Editor’s Note: Registration is needed to browse the original videos/illustrations listed in this section.
[1]Love Live! Wiki – Sonoda Umi
[2]Nico Nico Pedia – 海未ちゃん顔芸シリーズ (Japanese)
[3]niconico Douga – Search results for the tag 海未ちゃん顔芸シリーズ
[4]Nico Nico Seiga – Search results for the tag 海未ちゃん顔芸シリーズ
[5]pixiv – Search results for the tag 海未ちゃん顔芸シリーズ
[6]Twitter – Search results for the hashtag #ラブライブクソコラグランプリ
[7]lovelive-news – LINEスタンプ第２弾配信開始！ / 08-28-2014 (Official Announcement, Japanese)