Jujutsu Kaisen's 'Naoya Hair Flip' meme takes social media by storm, but what's the big deal?

A single hair flip ignites a global phenomenon, but what's the big deal?

The crown for the first global meme of 2026 goes to anime studio Mappa for its work on Jujutsu Kaisen season 3, specifically what the internet has dubbed the “Naoya Hair Flip.” In the two-episode premiere, the newly introduced Naoya Zenin uses his cursed technique to deliver an effortless superspeed beatdown on Choso, a former villain who’s quickly become one of protagonist Yuji’s closest allies. While one fist continues to pummel Choso, Naoya turns toward the camera and casually drags a free hand up over his head to tussle his own hair. Instantly, we understand that Naoya is vain, overpowered, and loves himself almost as much as he loves beating up cursed spirits. And the internet loves him for it.

In the weeks since, that moment has been spoofed across social media, parodied and repurposed to feature characters from other anime series, countless games, and the NFL’s Houston Texans, whose mascot Toro shared the meme on X to celebrate the team’s decisive win over the Steelers. Even McDonald’s got in on the trend, sharing a picture of the Hamburglar quickly snatching a burger out of Yuji’s bag. In a climate where artificial intelligence has begun to set social media trends, like last year’s Studio Ghibli generative AI trend, the Naoya hair flip is instead a piece of original animation driving the conversation and inspiring fan-created art.

Perhaps the most significant thing about this delightful moment from the JJK anime, however, is that it never happened in the manga from creator Gege Akutami that the series is based on.

Season 3 adapts the Culling Game arc from the manga, where the villain Kenjaku forces jujutsu sorcerers from across Japan into a battle royale to the death. In the fallout of season 2, huge portions of the country are overrun by monstrous curses. At the start of season 3, which begins with the manga’s 139th chapter, Yuji and Choso are doing their best to destroy curses and save people when Naoya shows up out of nowhere looking to kill Yuji's friend Megumi Fushiguro. The newly crowned head of the Zenin Clan quickly attacks Yuji and Choso, seemingly just to flex.

There are only a couple of panels that display this brief skirmish in the manga. Naoya overwhelms Yuji and Choso with ease, but there’s no decadent hairflip. However, Mappa’s animation team extended this brief moment in season 3 with an original sequence to depict Naoya’s cursed technique. And the hairflip isn’t the only liberty they took here. Throughout this brief encounter and the subsequent fight between Naoya and Choso, Naoya’s cursed technique is animated in a totally different way than we’ve seen before with his father, Naobito, who wielded the exact same power in season 2.

One of the Zenin Clan’s inherited cursed techniques, Projection Sorcery, divides time into 24 frames per second, letting the user pre-plan movements for themselves or others that unfold faster than the blink of an eye. Anyone who touches the user must follow these movements, or they freeze for a second, leaving them open to an attack. However, the user must stick to the physics of their planned path or risk freezing themselves. Since Naobito is part of an older generation, Mappa depicts his frame movements to resemble traditional hand-drawn animation. Naoya’s frames are rendered in CGI at 24 frames per second. Though the technique is identical, Naoya’s upbringing with modern technology — smartphones, CGI, and the like — gives him a more nuanced, contemporary visual during its execution.

Everything, from Mappa’s cinematic depiction of Mahoraga vs. Sukuna and season 3’s new symbolic opening, which references famous paintings throughout art history, showcases how much Mappa understands the source material. In the same opening, there are even abstract visuals that tease Kenjaku’s villainous plans and personality as a mastermind puppeteer, showing just how much Mappa understands its villain. Just like with the very similar Jujutsu Kaisen 0 meme (a sequence that also didn’t happen in the manga), Mappa knows when to take liberties, how to masterfully streamline Gege’s complex Culling Game rules, and deliver scenes that resonate with fans — showcasing how an anime adaptation can elevate its source material and extend its impact with new interpretations and memorable moments.