Back when Japan was still at the mercy of the midsummer heat, a group of…creative anime fans tried to cool off with bowls of shaved ice. Ordinarily that wouldn’t be so weird, except that they set up their strawberry syrup dispenser to look like their treats were being flavored by an anime girl’s menstrual flow.

But hey, what’s the alternative to anime fans getting excited over 2-D characters having their periods? Anime fans getting excited about 2-D characters not having periods! Otaku around Japan have been sharing retouched pics of animation stars showing off pregnancy test results, and the trend isn’t limited to anime’s ladies.

It doesn’t take a whole lot of artistic skill to get in on the action. All you need is this started image of a hand pointing to a pregnancy test indicating a positive result.

Next, grab a picture that conveys the emotion you’ve always assumed the character would respond with when finding out there’s a tiny life growing inside her.

Now, overlay the first picture onto the second, and you’re all done.

Given the relatively young ages of anime heroines, the predictable result of the trend has been a rash of teen pregnancies.

https://twitter.com/dragons_soul8/status/522776213970882560 https://twitter.com/R0806N/status/522725991961993216

▼ Chunibyo’s Sanae is understandably overwhelmed, given that she’s supposed to be in the ninth grade.

https://twitter.com/kisa_216/status/522888619355570176

Some of anime’s tougher women, though, are less distraught. Kurumi from Date A Live seems to be taking the news of her impending motherhood with more aplomb, as you’d expect from a super-powered killing machine.

Likewise, Jormungand’s gun-running protagonist Koko seems unfazed.

https://twitter.com/bein_916RAF/status/522734204195336192

▼ We think Attack on Titan’s Annie is happy, but it’s always tough to tell what’s going on in that girl’s head.

https://twitter.com/_chamele_/status/522672073361997824

If you’re more into manga than anime, you’ll need to convert the hands and pregnancy test to black and white, but otherwise the process is the same.

The Love Live! cast seems to be especially sexually active, as we see two of Eri’s bandmates are also expecting.

https://twitter.com/wuftukbg/status/522870584598728704

The family tree of the A Certain Magical Index/A Certain Scientific Railgun franchise is also set to grow by three.

https://twitter.com/gabriella_a_mo/status/522742389614456832

Of course, the anime medium means creators aren’t bound by the rules of reality. For example, here’s Dragon Ball Z’s Vegeta exclaiming “Fun time bingo!” as he points to the proof that he, too, is pregnant.

https://twitter.com/Okojyojyo/status/522752492900073472

Gundam Unicorn villain Full Frontal, on the other hand, has a much more stoic reaction.

▼ Really, when you get stuck with the name Full Frontal, it’s pretty hard for anything to shock you after that.

https://twitter.com/pokechiroru33/status/522886585360982017

Recently, there’s been a surge in popularity of shows about high school boys’ athletics. At least a part of their success is from fans who enjoy watching the guys get all hot and sweaty, and hopefully someday pregnant, it seems. Nagisa and Rin from Free!, for example, might both have to skip swimming practice for Lamaze class in the not-too-distant future.

https://twitter.com/hrk18love/status/522723804653449217

The volleyball games of Haikyu!! look to be down two competitors as well.

https://twitter.com/bsrgiktama0729/status/522769101215653888

And finally, road bike racing anime Yowamushi Pedal takes the men’s crown with three male pregnancies.

Geez, someone should really remind those guys about taking their birth-control pills.

Source: Hachima Kiko