Dame Da Ne

Description[]

Dame Da Ne refers to a lyric from Baka Mitai, a Japanese pop ballad music, composed by Mitsuharu Fukuyama, which can be sung in karaoke sections of the Japanese action-adventure video games Yakuza 0 and Yakuza 5. It has been sung by Yakuza characters Kiryu (voiced by Takaya Kuroda), Akiyama (voiced by Kouichi Yamadera), Saejima and Nanba. The song has been paired with numerous humorous videos in remixes on YouTube, before gaining its popularity in First Order Motion Model Deepfakes in July 2020.

Origin[]

In Yakuza 0, Yakuza 5, Yakuza Kiwami and Yakuza: Like A Dragon, the player can choose to have the main character Kazuma Kiryu sing karaoke as a side mission. One of the songs he can sing is called "Baka Mitai" (eng. "I've Been A Fool"), whose chorus starts with the lyric "Dame Da Ne," (eng. "It's no use").

Web usage[]

Parodies of the song began appearing on YouTube in 2018. On May 11, 2018, user Baku Haku posted a parody that gained over 201,000 views in two years. On August 27, user doodlepoo gained over 234,000 views with their parody of the song.

Recent examples include a video posted April 24, 2020 by Rusty Studio using VLive YouTubers that gained over 14,000 views. On February 26, YouTuber Raven Hellkite posted a variation using K.K. Slider's voice from Animal Crossing, gaining over 220,000 views.

Deepfakes[]

In 2020, internet users utilized a deepfake technology to have various characters sing Baka Mitai song. These edits tend to use footage from a video by YouTuber Dobbsyrules in which he lip syncs to the Shun Akiyama version of the song, originally uploaded on November 27, 2017. The template would be made three years later, on July 20, 2020, when YouTube user shaggySuave would upload a template for the facemorphs, but synced with the Kazuma Kiryu rendition of the song.

On July 10, 2020, a Twitter video from content creator heyitswindy helped popularize the First Order Motion Model deepfake method used in future videos. On September 20, 2018, YouTube user Gliv created the first known example of the meme. A clip was made using the Magic Mirror from Shrek to create a deepfaked version of Bakamitai. A couple years later on July 17, 2020, Twitter user @Tortokhod posted a doctored video of YouTuber Linus from Linus Tech Tips singing the song. The tweet seemed to have popularized the meme.

Later that day, @Torokhod shared a version featuring a photo of video game developer YandereDev. The following day, Facebook user Magnus shared the video, which received more than 1,400 reactions and 3,800 shares.

Facebook user AW Davis uploaded a video using Sad Linus photo to create the parody, gaining 178 reactions and 554 shares.

The meme also spread on YouTube. For example, on July 25, 2020, YouTube user Azura uploaded video of GigaChad singing Baka Mitai. On July 19, 2020, YouTube user HeyItsWindy uploaded a video explaining the meme. The video received 6,600 views.

Chess Variants[]

In 2020, versions of the meme took the form of chess videos on YouTube. The earliest known example, "Typical 800 chess match (Baka mitai)," published on August 31, 2020, received more than 1.1 million views in less than one year. These videos show a digital chess match being played with Baka Mitai played over the soundtrack. The signature "Dame Da Ne" lyric occurs when one player makes a blunder, a bad move that likely costs them the game.

Dame Da Ne Guy / Damedaneposting[]

Dame Da Ne Guy or Damedaneposting refers to a series of Yakuza shitposts that involves intentionally misnaming Kazuma Kiryu "Dame Da Ne" or "Dame Da Ne Guy." The practice was popularized by Twitter user @Zari_Wari in May and June 2021.