# That's Forbidden Love "That's Forbidden Love" is a catchphrase and image macro pulled from a line spoken by Hitomi Shizuki in the 2011 anime Puella Magi Madoka Magica. After a 4chan /a/ poster paired a screencap of Hitomi with the quote in January 2011, the format spread as a reaction to taboo relationships, usually between two girls, and became an exploitable redrawn with countless other characters. ## Origin The quote comes from Hitomi Shizuki in Puella Magi Madoka Magica, which first aired in Japan in January 2011. On January 29th, 2011, an anonymous poster on 4chan's /a/ (anime and manga) board uploaded a screencap of Hitomi with the comment "But that's forbidden love," which is the earliest known use of the exact phrasing attached to her image[1]. The original image was a plain screencap rather than a designed macro, and the identity of the poster is not recorded in the archived thread, so the meme has no confirmed individual creator[4]. - **Platform:** 4chan /a/ (origin and viral spread) - **Creator:** Unknown - **Date:** 2011 ## Overview The format pairs a screencap of Hitomi Shizuki, a side character from Puella Magi Madoka Magica, with the caption "But that's forbidden love," delivered as a flat observation about a taboo pairing[1]. The joke almost always targets a romantic or sexual implication between two female characters, which is why the macro became shorthand on /a/ for calling out yuri subtext in any series[2]. A companion macro built on the same character carries the line "Girls can't love girls," lifted from the English dub of the show, and the two images are often used side by side as a one-two punch[3]. Over the following years, the panel became an exploitable, with artists redrawing Hitomi's pose and expression using characters from other anime, games and cartoons to apply the same forbidden-love punchline to new fandoms[4]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is That's Forbidden Love? It's an image macro of Hitomi Shizuki from Puella Magi Madoka Magica paired with the caption "But that's forbidden love," used as a reaction to taboo pairings, usually between two girls[1]. ### Where did That's Forbidden Love come from? The caption was first attached to a Hitomi screencap in a 4chan /a/ post on January 29th, 2011, shortly after Madoka Magica began airing[1]. ### What does That's Forbidden Love mean? It flags a relationship, usually a yuri or lesbian one, as off-limits, and is often paired with the related line "Girls can't love girls" from the show's English dub[3]. ### How do you use That's Forbidden Love? People drop the macro into threads where a scene reads as romantic between two female characters, and artists also redraw the panel with other anime or cartoon characters as an exploitable[4]. ### Is That's Forbidden Love still popular? It's a classic /a/ reaction image from the early 2010s Madoka Magica era, and the exploitable redraws kept it circulating in anime communities well after the show ended[4]. ## References 1. [https://archive.moe/a/thread/45319831/#45323061]() 2. [https://archive.moe/a/thread/46885794/#46886452]() 3. [https://archive.moe/a/thread/61268782/#61272544]() 4. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/thats-forbidden-love]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/thats-forbidden-love Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library