Interest

October 20 Has Somehow Become Shirou Day on Twitter

Exactly one year ago, a YouTuber by the name of ExtremeSManpig posted a video, vaguely titled "Shirou.avi". Little did anyone know that it would inspire a small-scale social phenomenon.

The video shows Twitter user @JasTheLass spontaneously inspiring a number of fellow Twitter users to use an image of Fate/stay night protagonist Shirou Emiya as their profile image, culminating in a mass of users role-playing as Shirou on the platform. Fans posted entire tweet threads quoting the melodramatic Unlimited Blade Works speech and other iconic Emiya lines, and things quickly reached a point where people were unable to differentiate each other.

Over time, it was inevitable that fans would drift out of the role-playing, but exactly one year later, it all came rushing back on Twitter. Once again, fans swapped out their regular avatars for a Shirou profile picture and made sure to let the world know about it, causing "Shirou" to briefly trend in the United States.

This year, even Funimation and Aniplex of America's Twitter accounts have acknowledged the sudden reverence for Shirou. Funimation made sure to use the opportunity to plug the Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works anime, while Aniplex of America simply posted: "So... Shirou..."

So, will it become a yearly tradition on October 20 for Twiter users to become heroes of justice? Time will tell.