What is X Plays the Tambourine?

It is a Japanese MAD video series that remixes a tambourine-shaking scene from the ending credits of the anime Working'!! into parodies featuring characters from other franchises.

Where did X Plays the Tambourine come from?

The base clip aired on October 1st, 2011 in the first episode of Working'!!'s second season, and the earliest viral remix was uploaded to Niconico by Shinra-P on October 17th that year.

What does X Plays the Tambourine mean?

It is a visual format where any two characters are shown shaking tambourines in sync behind a reaction character, imitating Aoi Yamada and Hiroomi Souma's choreography from the Working'!! ending.

How do you use X Plays the Tambourine?

Swap Yamada and Souma for any two characters, retain the synchronized tambourine motion and the deadpan foreground figure, and loop the result under a chosen song.

Is X Plays the Tambourine still popular?

The series peaked on Niconico in the early 2010s, and while fresh uploads have slowed, more than 340 videos were still tagged under 叩いてるだけシリーズ as of June 2017.

X Plays the Tambourine

2011viral videodeclining

Published November 9, 2026

X Plays the Tambourine took off in October 2011 when Niconico users began remixing a tambourine-shaking moment from the Working'!! anime ending credits, with character Aoi Yamada's deadpan stare fixating viewers. A Touhou Project parody featuring Suwako Moriya helped define the template within a week of the episode airing, and by June 2017 over 340 parody videos had been posted under the 叩いてるだけシリーズ tag on Niconico.

anime manga nico nico douga memes mashup video memes japanese internet memes otaku culture memes

Overview

The source clip comes from the ending credits of Working'!! (titled Wagnaria'!! in North America), where Aoi Yamada and Hiroomi Souma slide into frame behind coworker Souta Takanashi and shake tambourines in time with each other1. Yamada stares directly at the camera without blinking, and the pair's goofy choreography sits oddly on top of the cheery ending song 'Always Love & Peace!!'2. Parody videos swap the two characters for figures from other franchises while retaining the tambourine motion and the fixed camera angle.

Most edits are short looping MADs set to anime theme songs or Vocaloid tracks. Common subjects include Touhou Project characters, Pokémon trainers and Hatsune Miku, and the humor comes from how absurd the chosen pairing looks locked into the same rhythmic shake3. Japanese illustrators extended the idea to still-frame art posted under the same 叩いてるだけシリーズ (Tataiteru Dake series) tag4.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

Working'!! anime (source clip) / Nico Nico Douga (viral spread)

Creator

Kurobe Rapid

Date

2011

Working'!! premiered on Japanese television on October 1st, 2011 as the second season of A-1 Pictures' adaptation of Karino Takatsu's comedy manga2. During the first episode's closing credits, Aoi Yamada and Hiroomi Souma appeared behind Souta Takanashi and shook their tambourines in perfect sync, with Yamada looking straight into camera1.

Niconico user Shinra-P (神羅P) uploaded the first notable remix on October 17th, 2011, looping the clip and setting it to the full ending theme 'Always Love & Peace!!'4. A week later, on October 24th, user Kurobe Rapid (黒羽ラピッド) posted 'Suwako Plays the Tambourine' featuring Touhou Project characters Suwako Moriya and Kanako Yasaka, which drew more than 290,000 views on Niconico before being removed from the site5.

How It Spread

Kurobe Rapid's Suwako parody turned the tambourine scene into a reusable template, with Niconico creators substituting Yamada and Souma for Pokémon trainers, Vocaloid characters and Idolmaster cast members3. By June 2017, Niconico's 叩いてるだけシリーズ tag held more than 340 parody videos4. Fans later mirrored many of these edits to YouTube, including a Pokémon-themed hand-drawn version that became one of the recurring crossover favorites6.

Illustrators picked up the joke in parallel, drawing their own characters into the tambourine pose and posting the artwork to pixiv and Nico Nico Seiga under the same tag. The format's appeal came from how little needed to change to make a new version: the two-shaker rhythm, Yamada's unblinking gaze and the song loop under it stayed intact, so almost any character duo could slot in without breaking the gag.

Timeline

2011-10-01

Working'!! second season premieres in Japan, debuting the tambourine ending credits scene in episode one.

2011-10-17

Niconico user Shinra-P uploads a looping remix of the clip set to the full ending theme 'Always Love & Peace!!'.

2011-10-24

Kurobe Rapid posts 'Suwako Plays the Tambourine' featuring Touhou Project characters, drawing 290,000+ views before removal.

2011-11-02

A Pokémon-themed hand-drawn parody is uploaded to Niconico, adding one of the earliest major crossover fandoms.

2017-06

Over 340 parody videos were tagged 叩いてるだけシリーズ on Niconico, with pixiv and Nico Nico Seiga hosting still-art versions as well.

How to Use This Meme

Creators typically substitute Yamada and Souma with two characters of their own choosing, retain the tambourine-shaking rhythm and the deadpan foreground character, and loop the clip beneath an anime theme song or Vocaloid track3. Still-frame illustrators often reproduce the pose instead of animating it, tagging the work with 叩いてるだけシリーズ so it groups with the video series.