Feliz Jueves

About

Feliz Jueves or Running Asuka refers to a GIF and viral video featuring Neon Genesis Evangelion character Asuka Langley running towards the viewer and wishing them a happy Thursday. The contrast between the innocent nature of the message and the dark themes of the series brought fame to the mashup, and the phrase "Feliz Jueves" is occasionally posted on Thursdays across several platforms and social media.

Origin

On March 13th, 1996, episode 24 "The Beginning and the End, or 'Knockin' on Heaven's Door'" of the anime mecha series Neon Genesis Evangelion first aired in Japan.^[1] The episode starts off with a flashback of Asuka running to tell her mother she was selected as an EVA pilot, only to meet her body hanging from the ceiling after ending her life (shown below).

The red-dress running Asuka GIF has been posted in forums as early as September 9th, 2006.^[2][3] However, variants of other colors have been posted in other sites as early as May 28th, 2000.^[4][5][6]

On July 5th, 2018, the Facebook page Mi Lugar Favorito,^[7] dedicated to sharing motivational images, posted a video featuring a running Asuka accompanied by playful music and the text "Vengo Corriendo Que Quiero Ser La Primera Persona En Desearte un Feliz Jueves!!!" (eng. " I Come Running 'cause I Wanna Be The First Person To Wish You A Happy Thursday!!!"). The post got over 12,000 reactions and 20,000 comments, and has been shared over 105,000 times and viewed over 3.8 million (as of October 2020). According to the Wikia site Memespedia,^[8] at some point in time, Alita Moli, the page's administrator, decided to remove or hide the post because of the GIF's origin, but due to its good reception, she reposted it (shown below).

Spread

Ever since 2018, many Spanish-speaking communities and individuals continue to celebrate Thursdays with memes and pictures related to Asuka accompanied by the catchphrase. Many posts, pages and communities referencing the meme can be found in platforms such as Taringa!,^{[9][10][11][12]} Facebook^[13][14][15] and Reddit.^[16][17][18]

On September 23rd, 2018, Alita Moli created the Facebook page Mi Lugar Favorito, Anime,^[19] which shares motivational posters featuring anime characters, and makes "Feliz Jueves" posts occasionally.

On October 27th, 2019, YouTuber Fonzii^[20] uploaded a video featuring the Asuka's GIF running to the song Runaway Baby by Bruno Mars. The video has gained over 135,000 views as of October 2020.

On April 16th, 2020, the Facebook page Animal Crossing: Memexico^[21] posted an Animal Crossing rendition of the meme (shown below), which has gathered over 3,000 reactions in less than 6 months.

Asuka's Voice Actress Reaction

During a Facebook livestream in 2019, Georgina Sánchez, Asuka's voice actress for the Latinamerican dub of the Netflix Neon Genesis Evangelion release, expressed she knew about the "Feliz Jueves" video and later voiced phrase. On June 7th, 2019, user #Hal2814^[22] uploaded the clip to YouTube (shown below, left) and gathered over 870,000 views in less than two years. On June 11th, 2020, user 少年Shōnen^[23] uploaded a mix of Georgina's voice with clips from the anime to YouTube (shown below, right), which gathered over 450,000 views as of October 2020.

Happy Thrusday! But I don't know to say it with German accent- Is that the only thing she says? Happy Thrusday?

On May 17th, 2020, YouTube user Aaron Yagual^[24] uploaded a clip from a Twitch stream of Argentinian soccer player Sergio "Kun" Agüero, in which he reacts to Asuka saying "Feliz Jueves" and realizes he lost track of time. The video has gained over 12,000 views as of December 2020. A reupload on June 6th by the user Themingo^[25] has gained over 527,000 views (shown below).

- Happy Thrusday!
- Ah, Ohh! Today's Thrusday! I really forgot. Today's Thursday, of course! How lost in time I was..

Templates

Search Interest

Search queries for "feliz jueves asuka" start from July 2018, day of Mi Lugar Favorito's Facebook post. Queries for "feliz jueves meme" preceed that date most likely due to motivational posters and images with the phrase "feliz jueves".

External References