Kento Nanami Hair Pull

2020Anime scene / hornyposting materialsemi-active

Published March 30, 2026

Also known as: Nanami Hair Pull · Nanami Ponytail Grab

Kento Nanami Hair Pull is a scene from the *Jujutsu Kaisen* anime and manga in which the character Kento Nanami grabs villain Haruta Shigemo by the hair during an interrogation. After the anime adaptation aired in October 2023, the scene went massively viral on X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok, driven almost entirely by hornyposting from fans who found the aggressive hair-pulling extremely attractive rather than intimidating.

jujutsu kaisen memeshornyposting memesanime mangathirst memes

Overview

The meme centers on a specific moment from *Jujutsu Kaisen* where Grade 1 sorcerer Kento Nanami, furious after discovering his injured colleagues, corners the cowardly villain Haruta Shigemo. During the confrontation, Nanami grabs Shigemo by the hair and demands information about enemy positions2. What was written as a tense interrogation scene became, in the hands of the anime fandom, prime material for thirst posts and comedic fantasies about being on the receiving end of Nanami's aggression.

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The anime adaptation made a small but significant change: instead of grabbing Shigemo by his hair generally, Nanami yanks him up by his ponytail, which fans and commentators noted made the moment even more charged2.

Origin & Background

Platform
*Jujutsu Kaisen* manga (source scene), X / Twitter (viral spread)
Key People
Gege Akutami, MAPPA
Date
2020 (manga), 2023 (anime viral moment)

The scene first appeared in chapter 100 of the *Jujutsu Kaisen* manga, titled "The Shibuya Incident, Part 18," published on March 23, 2020 in Japan2. In the original manga panels, Nanami grabs Shigemo by the hair and interrogates him about the location and number of his allies. The manga version didn't generate the same level of fan frenzy that the animated adaptation later would.

On October 12, 2023, episode 12 of *Jujutsu Kaisen* season 2, titled "Dull Knife," premiered1. The episode adapted the Shibuya Incident arc, including the confrontation between Nanami and Shigemo. Studio MAPPA animated Nanami grabbing Shigemo specifically by his ponytail rather than just his hair, a creative choice that fans immediately noticed and praised2.

The episode also featured Nanami at peak fury. After finding the heavily injured Kiyotaka Ijichi lying in a pool of blood, Nanami tracked down Shigemo, removed his tie, and proceeded to smash the villain against walls with enough force to dent them and flicker the lights1. Voice actor Tsuda Kenjiro delivered Nanami's rage so convincingly that Hatano Wataru, who voiced Shigemo, admitted in an interview with MANTANWEB that he felt genuinely scared during the recording sessions1.

How It Spread

The scene went viral within hours of the episode's premiere. On October 12, 2023, X user @biyuuji posted the clip with the caption "THE HAIR PULLING???? OH MAPPA WANTS NANAMI BAD," pulling in over 64,000 reposts and 227,000 likes within two months2. The post set the tone for the fandom's reaction: less "wow, intense fight scene" and more collective thirst.

That same day, X user @fushiqruo posted about the scene and picked up over 17,000 reposts and 141,000 likes2. User @ghostcoochie leaned fully into the hornyposting angle and racked up over 46,000 reposts and 205,000 likes in the same period2. Fans flooded the platform with posts expressing their desire to be in Shigemo's position, creating a silent consensus that being grabbed by the hair and punched into a wall by Nanami would, in fact, be a privilege1.

The meme jumped to real life on November 22, 2023, when cosplayer Julia Stunts posted a TikTok montage from Anime NYC showing herself being grabbed by the ponytail by multiple Nanami cosplayers. The video hit 3.1 million views and 416,000 likes on TikTok within a single week2.

On November 27, 2023, X user @mickeykkuma reposted the cosplay video to X, where it went viral again2. The same day, @tanijrou captioned the video with a "Would You Rather Have a Gay Son or X" joke that also referenced the Makima Woofers meme, earning over 5,300 reposts and 50,000 likes in three days2.

How to Use This Meme

The Nanami Hair Pull meme typically appears in a few formats:

1

Direct thirst posting — Share the clip or a screenshot of the hair-pull moment with a caption expressing desire to be on the receiving end. Common variations include "me next," "I volunteer," or similar sentiments.

2

Cosplay reenactment — At anime conventions, fans often recreate the scene with Nanami cosplayers grabbing other attendees by the ponytail for photos or TikTok videos.

3

Reaction format — The scene is used as a reaction to express feelings about dominant or aggressive behavior, usually in a comedic/thirsty context rather than a genuinely threatening one.

4

Comparison posts — Fans sometimes pair the manga panels with the anime frames to highlight how MAPPA's ponytail change elevated the scene.

Cultural Impact

The hair-pull scene's reception highlighted the *Jujutsu Kaisen* fandom's particular relationship with Nanami Kento, one of the series' most popular characters among adult fans. The massive engagement numbers across posts, with individual tweets reaching six-figure like counts, showed how a single animated scene could dominate anime social media for weeks2.

The voice acting drew specific attention. Tsuda Kenjiro's performance was widely praised for conveying raw fury, with fans and even his co-star Hatano Wataru acknowledging how intense the recording sessions were1. The cosplay trend at Anime NYC, with Julia Stunts' video crossing 3 million views, demonstrated how the meme bridged the gap between online hornyposting and in-person fan culture2.

Fun Facts

The anime changed Nanami's grip from a general hair grab to a specific ponytail yank, which fans widely credited MAPPA for doing on purpose to maximize the scene's appeal2.

Shigemo's voice actor Hatano Wataru admitted in an interview that Tsuda Kenjiro's Nanami performance scared him during recording because of how genuinely angry it sounded1.

The scene where Nanami punches Shigemo was so forceful in the anime that it dented the wall and made the lights flicker, details fans praised as going beyond the manga's depiction1.

Despite the scene being a violent interrogation, the overwhelming fan response was romantic and comedic rather than focused on the fight choreography1.

Derivatives & Variations

Anime NYC ponytail grab trend

— Cosplayers at conventions began recreating the scene, with Julia Stunts' November 2023 TikTok compilation being the most prominent example at 3.1 million views[2].

"Would You Rather" edits

— Posts combining the hair-pull video with joke formats like "Would You Rather Have a Gay Son or X," sometimes crossing over with other anime thirst memes like Makima Woofers[2].

Frequently Asked Questions