About
“Onii-Chan” is a Japanese word for “older brother" commonly used by women to address men who are slightly older, often regardless of their blood relations. Online, the honorific label has garnered traction among non-Japanese Otakus as a term of endearment for attractive male characters in anime and manga series.
Origin
The earliest Urban Dictionary[1] submission for the term “onii-chan” was submitted by user MishaMassacre on August 15th, 2007, defining it as “the Japanese word for ‘older brother’.”
Spread
On October 18th, 2008, YouTuber Joey Wu uploaded a clip from the anime Clannad, in which a younger sister repeatedly calls her older brother “Onii-chan” (shown below, left). On October 15th, 2010, YouTuber Nazeem38 uploaded an audio clip of a user from 4chan’s /sp/ (sports) board who scolds viewers from the /a/ (anime) board for clicking an audio clip of a man saying the word “onii-chan” (shown below, right).
On March 2nd, 2012, YouTuber Punicher2191 uploaded a video titled “Now You Fucked Up Onii-Chan,” featuring a picture of the character Konata Izumi from the Japanese manga franchise Lucky Star with an edited clip from the “What Really Happened to Abe Lincoln” sketch from the comedy television program The Whitest Kids U’ Know playing in the background (shown below, left). On July 13th, YouTuber FluffyMixer uploaded a cartoon featuring characters from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic with Punicher2191’s audio clip (shown below, right). Within three years, the video gained over 1.7 million views and 7,000 comments.
On November 9th, 2012, YouTuber Vio Deni uploaded a video titled “Onii-chan!!,” featuring a still image from the anime Onii-chan Dakedo Ai Sae Areba Kankeinai yo ne accompanied by a young girl’s voice repeating “Onii-chan” (shown below, left). On August 21st, 2013, YouTuber kingmanekin uploaded an autonomous sensory meridian response video, in which a female voice repeats the phrase “onii-chan” (shown below, right).
On August 14th, 2014, a Facebook[3] page titled “Raep Me Onii-chan” was launched. On November 8th, Redditor rectalrocket42 submitted a post titled “who is the best ‘onii-chan’ in anime?” to the /r/anime[2] subreddit. On December 15th, YouTuber PlayerJ uploaded an anime-themed Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 parody video in which a creepy voice can be heard saying “Onii-chan” in the background (shown below). As of April 2015, there are over 62,700 search results for the keyword “onii-chan” on the 4chan archive site Archive.moe.[4]
Search Interest
External References
[1]Urban Dictionary – oniichan
[2]Reddit – Who is the best oniichan in anime
[3]Facebook – Raep me Onii-Chan