Seitokai ni mo Ana wa Aru! Episode 1 Brings the Hydraulic Press Meme to Anime

The Seitokai ni mo Ana wa Aru anime has finally premiered, and as I already mentioned, I really enjoyed the first episode. Right from the first episode, the series delivered absurd comedy, fanservice, and a feminine-looking character who has already won over plenty of fans — along with an unexpected reference to one of the most random memes to come out of the internet.

Yep, the hydraulic press meme.

Seitokai ni mo Ana wa Aru Uses the Hydraulic Press Meme

At one point during the first episode of Seitokai ni mo Ana wa Aru, the anime suddenly cuts to a sequence featuring a hydraulic press repeatedly moving up and down.

This scene doesn’t seem to be there as just some random joke: it’s a direct reference to a pretty famous meme.

The meme format usually puts images or videos of female characters on screen while a hydraulic press moves up and down at a speed determined, as a joke, by how attracted the person making the video is to the character (depending on the character, the press doesn’t even move).

Here’s an example:

Basically, the more the guy apparently likes the character, the harder the press “works.”

And Seitokai ni mo Ana wa Aru decided to bring the joke directly into the anime. Check out the scene:

The Anime Is Already Embracing the Internet Meme Tradition

This isn’t exactly a brand-new strategy for comedy anime.

One example is Shikanoko Nokonoko Koshitantan (My Deer Friend Nokotan), which also became known for incorporating references to Western internet memes.

In one episode, the series played around with the famous Bully Maguire dance, based on Tobey Maguire’s scene in Spider-Man 3. The reference stood out precisely because it felt like something pulled straight from internet meme culture.

The difference is that Shikanoko turned this kind of thing into part of its completely chaotic sense of humor, while Seitokai ni mo Ana wa Aru seems to be taking a similar approach by dropping recognizable references into completely absurd situations.

via Sankaku Complex