Hadouken! Powerful photo craze strikes the internet (photos)

The latest photo fad sweeping the internet has been dubbed ‘hadoukening’ and looks to be inspired by classic video games and action scenes from manga comics and anime animations. While the trend appears to have originated in Japanese schools, the images are quickly spreading online and it won’t be long until the world at large is getting in on the act.

The word ‘hadouken’ comes from Street Fighter and was an attack move used by a number of characters. Literally translated, it means ‘wave motion fist’ or ‘surge fist’ and involves pushing the palms forward to shoot out a ball of energy towards an opponent.

The original images, spotted on a Japanese bulletin board by Kotaku’s Brian Ashcraft, aren’t strictly hadouken manoeuvres, though. Here we see Japanese schoolgirls recreating manga-style martial arts scenes, and Imaging Resource’s Tim Barribeau wonders if these images stem from the upcoming release of a new Dragon Ball Z anime film.

But whether you want to call it hadoukening or Dragonballing, the heart of the matter is that these well-timed photos are on the rise just like the planking, owling, horsemaning and cat breading photo trends that came before them.

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