Chances are, you've definitely seen the iconic "Reaction Guys" meme. In Japan, this set of images is often called "Gaijin Yonkoma" (Foreigner Four-Panel Comic) and is frequently used to show a dramatic shift from indifference one moment to absolute hype the next.
Recently, Japanese Twitter user "Ryoichi (@ryo1kato)" was reading a book when he stumbled upon a photo that looked incredibly familiar. The book in question was "Disrupting the Game" by former Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé, with the Japanese title translating to "The Man Who Revived Nintendo of America from the Brink."
The photo in the book was captioned, "Excited journalists at Nintendo's E3 2004 presentation." This discovery quickly blew up among Japanese netizens, with many expressing shock that they'd only just realized the men in the photo were journalists.
Others commented that they'd always found the photo familiar but never imagined its original source was E3. Some even joked they thought the guys were just hyped up watching a soccer or baseball game.
Another netizen was curious if the contrasting "calm" version of the meme also appeared in the same book. The original poster confirmed that it did, appearing a few pages earlier.
The origin of these photos traces back to IGN. The 2003 image shows the four looking rather bored and disappointed, generally believed to be their reaction to Nintendo's E3 presentation that year, which featured "Pac-Man Vs." Compared to other console platforms dropping major titles, the quartet seemed utterly uninterested, forming the first half of the now-famous meme.
Fast forward a year to E3 2004, and the atmosphere at Nintendo's "The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess" reveal absolutely exploded with cheers. The four guys in the photo went absolutely wild, creating a stark contrast to their lukewarm reaction from the previous year and cementing this iconic meme into internet history.
With E3 now officially a thing of the past, such classic scenes are unlikely to be recreated. But as long as this meme keeps circulating, the memories of those epic E3 moments will live on!