# Fried Rice Prank
Fried Rice Prank is a viral 2019 image showing Japanese YouTuber Kanta appearing to toss a massive wave of fried rice, thanks to an artificial prop wave used in a MTV Tokyo fried rice guys prank video. After a screenshot hit Twitter, users turned the shot into a Photoshop battle comparing it to Hokusai's The Great Wave off Kanagawa.
## Overview
Fried Rice Prank is a viral image of Japanese YouTuber Kanta standing over a pan while what looks like an enormous, cresting wave of fried rice hangs in mid-air behind him[1]. The wave is actually an artificial prop built for a prank on his cooking partner Tommy, but the still frame reads as though Kanta somehow flipped a mountain of rice with a single motion[2].
The image took off because it looks impossible and instantly recognizable, which is why Twitter users started editing it into other scenes[1]. The most common template compares Kanta's rice wave to Katsushika Hokusai's woodblock print The Great Wave off Kanagawa, either dropping the painting's wave into the kitchen or dropping Kanta into the painting[3]. Mashable covered the edits as they picked up steam[2].
## How It Spread
On January 22nd, 2019, Twitter user @YS_Bomb11 posted the video's thumbnail with the caption "What a pic," and the tweet pulled in more than 40,000 retweets and 180,000 likes[4]. That single screenshot, stripped from the video context, is what most people saw first[2].
A Photoshop battle followed within days. User @royojo dropped Hokusai's wave into the kitchen shot for over 1,100 retweets and 7,800 likes, while @bettinamak flipped the joke and placed Kanta inside The Great Wave off Kanagawa for around 1,700 retweets and 8,300 likes[3]. Other edits leaned further from the Hokusai gag, including @Panini_Bread's Waves hairstyle version at roughly 2,000 retweets and 9,000 likes and @_eigenheit's Sasuke choke edit at about 70 retweets and 220 likes[3].
Kanta and Tommy replied to the thread with a photo of themselves standing in front of the actual rice wave prop, thanking people for the edits[2]. Mashable's write-up cemented the meme outside Japanese Twitter and pushed it to English-speaking audiences[2].
## How to Use
The typical edit keeps Kanta and the pan in the foreground and swaps or overlays the fried rice wave with something else, most often Hokusai's The Great Wave off Kanagawa[3]. Common conventions include placing Kanta into a famous painting instead, or replacing the wave with unrelated shapes like hair waves or anime scenes for a visual pun[3].
## Frequently Asked Questions
### What is Fried Rice Prank?
It is a viral 2019 image of YouTuber Kanta appearing to toss a giant wave of fried rice, using an artificial prop built for a prank video[1].
### Where did Fried Rice Prank come from?
The source video was posted January 19th, 2019 on the MTV Tokyo fried rice guys YouTube channel, tied to Mizutamari Bond[3].
### What does Fried Rice Prank mean?
It is a visual joke about the impossibly huge fried rice wave, most often paired with Hokusai's The Great Wave off Kanagawa in Photoshop edits[3].
### How do you use Fried Rice Prank?
People typically Photoshop Hokusai's wave into the kitchen shot or drop Kanta into famous paintings, keeping the pan in the frame[3].
### Is Fried Rice Prank still popular?
It peaked in January 2019 as a Twitter Photoshop battle and is now remembered as a classic viral image rather than an active format[2].
## References
1. [https://mashable.com/article/massive-fried-rice-wave-twitter-youtube-viral-meme/]()
2. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0wUNqespvE]()
3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/fried-rice-prank]()
4. [https://twitter.com/YS_Bomb11]()
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Source: https://meme.com/memes/fried-rice-prank
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