Analysis 1: Longcat

In the spirit of Throwback Thursday, I will be making my first meme analysis on one of the earliest internet memes known to man:  Longcat.

What is the Longcat meme?

Longcat, whose real name is Shiroi, was first featured on the internet on Japanese site 2chan around 2004-2005. She was described simply as "long." Images of this long cat spread around the internet rapidly, until Shiroi, or rather, Longcat, became a viral sensation by 2008. Edited images featuring Shiroi were top-notch internet humor at the time.

Here are some examples of said images:

 

Longcat's Destiny

Legends say that Longcat is destined to fight her evil twin, dark copy, anti-self, whichever you want to call it, Tacngol. It is said to be a great, legendary fight that will wreak destruction on the world, and nothing will be the same. The very fabric of reality depends on the outcome of this battle, everything hangs in the balance until it is concluded.

Deeper Meanings?

Longcat seems to be a pretty straightforward, simple meme. But is there a deeper meaning? Let's take a look at the phrase often associated with Longcat: "Longcat is long." It's short, sweet, and to the point. But what does it mean? Is it simply just passively observing the extraordinary length of Shinoi, or is something more sinister going on here?

Longcat is long. Longcat is long. Longcat is long. Longcat is long. Longcat is long. Longcat is long. LONGCAT IS LONG. LONGCAT IS

Long. 

If you analyze this sentence at length (pun intended), you may begin to notice something. Look at the A if we capitalize LONGCAT. What do you notice?

It looks like a triangle.

A triangle has 3 sides.

There are 3 words in the sentence, "Longcat is long."

There are 4 letters in the word "long."

4 - 1 = 3.

"Cat" is 3 letters long.

There are 3 sides in a triangle.

The word "is" has an I.

"I" sounds like "eye."

There are 3 sides in a triangle.

What has a 3-sided triangle and an eye?

Longcat is long.

Longcat Today

Nowadays, Longcat is far from viral, and we hardly see anything about her anymore without having to search. She is a dead meme, if you will. But I think we all owe Longcat a little place in our hearts, and remember her as she was: long.