Marisaface — Blob-bodied Marisa Kirisame with witch hat and simple derpy face

Marisaface

2015reaction imageclassic

Published November 11, 2026

Marisaface, also known as Kanjuden Marisa / KanMarisa, is a vacant, glassy expression worn by Marisa Kirisame in ZUN's 15th Touhou Project game 'Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom,' which debuted at the Reitaisai 12 convention on May 10, 20151. Japanese imageboard users on Futaba Channel's /55/ board began splicing the dead-eyed stare into photo collages by late 20154, and in December 2016 Team Shanghai Alice released an official LINE sticker set using the face and the line 'Who the Heck Are You'3.

touhou memes japanese internet memes facial expression memes imageboard memes otaku culture memes

Overview

On Futaba Channel's /55/ (Alt-Touhou) board, Marisaface photo collages took her hollow, dead-eyed look and pasted it onto emotional scenes for parody effect4. She got her own invented personality tics along the way, speaking with a '-je' (じぇ) sentence-ending suffix and the signature line 'Who the heck are you?' (誰だお前, Dareda Omae)6. Those jokes travelled off the imageboard through matome blogs that scraped anonymous posts6, and ran alongside a parallel joke stream about 'ShinMarisa,' the version from 'Urban Legend in Limbo' released at the same convention4.

Fan illustrators also piled onto the tag on Pixiv and Nico Nico Seiga, where artists redrew the slack face into gag illustrations and manga panels7.

Origin & Background

Platform
Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom demo (source art) / Futaba Channel 2chan (viral spread)
Creator
Unknown
Date
2015

ZUN drew the face for Marisa Kirisame in the demo build of 'Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom' (東方紺珠伝, Touhou Kanjuden), which he debuted at the Touhou-dedicated convention Reitaisai 12 on May 10, 20152. The 15th main-series title shipped with ZUN's unstable art style, which fans nickname 'ZUN-style Illustration' (ZUN絵, ZUN E), and the character's unusually glassy stare drew immediate reactions1. To separate this version from Marisa's other game-specific looks, Japanese Touhou fans started calling her 'Kanjuden Marisa' or shortened to 'KanMarisa'1.

How It Spread

By late 2015, parody threads on /55/ were pairing the stare with text captions and photo backdrops, and a Japanese 2ch observatory blog logged a 'What exactly is KanMarisa' discussion in December 20156. Anonymous posters invented Marisa's new catchphrase 'Who the heck are you?' and the '-je' speech affectation during that run, neither of which appeared in the game itself4.

Western Touhou fans picked up the gag on 4chan's /jp/ board in April 20165. On December 22, 2016, Team Shanghai Alice released its 2nd edition of Touhou LINE stickers, a set ZUN designed himself that bundled the Marisaface expression with the 'Who the Heck Are You' caption3.

Timeline

2015-05-10

ZUN shows the 'Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom' demo at Reitaisai 12, where fans first notice Marisa's glassy expression[2].

2015-12-27

A 2ch observatory blog catalogues the 'What exactly is KanMarisa' discussion, with parody photo collages circulating on Futaba Channel's /55/ board[6].

2016-04-13

Marisaface surfaces on 4chan's /jp/ board, bringing the gag to the Western Touhou fandom[5].

2016-12-22

Team Shanghai Alice releases its 2nd edition Touhou LINE sticker set, with ZUN drawing the Marisaface expression and the line 'Who the Heck Are You'[3].

How to Use This Meme

Fans typically paste the vacant face onto photographs or splice it into a scene where a strong emotion is expected, using the contrast between a tense setting and Marisa's empty stare for comedy4. A common convention is to pair the image with the catchphrase 'Who the heck are you?' (誰だお前) or add a '-je' ending to her dialogue, both fan inventions rather than in-game lines6.

Frequently Asked Questions