The rule was simple: draw a finger pointing to “yes” or “no.” The response was an endless stream of funny and clever ways to respond.

It all started with a tweet by Twitter user Toshihiro Anzai who posted an image of an RSVP presumably for a wedding. On the paper is the outline of a fist and two options at the top to either attend (left) or be absent (right).

Potential guests were to draw in a finger pointing at their intentions, but as Anzai noticed, the fist was skewed a little too much to the left, making it hard for people to point to “absent.”

▼ “It seems difficult not to attend.”

Little did Anzai know that this request would send ripples across the Japanese twitterverse and bring in scores of clever ways to circumvent the RSVP issuer’s trickery.

Sting once said there are 50 ways to leave your lover. Well, here are 50 (give or take) ways to leave other lovers alone on their special day. Enjoy…

As with most situations, magic was a highly recommended way out of the predicament by blasting “attend” with a finger beam.

https://twitter.com/_ukai_/status/704917437725196288

But not so fast…just as the laser struck “attend,” it suddenly slid to the right side and survived.

https://twitter.com/Rion4_6/status/704949170965245952

Only for a moment though! The pinky beam took care of it for good.

https://twitter.com/_ukai_/status/705013675866738689

Oh no…

Some took advantage of the original hand’s lack of definition, which many would assume was the back side pointing straight ahead. However, a few creative strokes of the pencil will solve that!

https://twitter.com/1374SP/status/705090170161205249

▼ “I can’t see it!”

Many others didn’t see a hand at all and used the base image as a head of the refusing party.

▼ “Sorry…”

https://twitter.com/takowasabi0/status/705765664120672256

Some took this concept further and employed various characters from manga, anime, video games, and even convenience stores to help out.

▼ That pink thing is one of 7-Eleven’s Valentine’s Day Chocoman snacks.

https://twitter.com/siduyamasan/status/704909388339875845 https://twitter.com/1tsuda9/status/704986673591906304 https://twitter.com/m521318/status/705576086747217923 https://twitter.com/meilerdeamon/status/704941746719948800 https://twitter.com/me8lapple/status/705119769842700288

Then there were those who just said, “To hell with it.” and engaged in some leisure activities instead.

https://twitter.com/Free__Wifi__/status/704899674411540481 https://twitter.com/spyair_0131/status/704931750770827265 https://twitter.com/ticrinko/status/705100514506121217

However, when the games and nose picking ended the question still lingered. This caused many to react in anger.

https://twitter.com/10hiken08/status/704906714089459718 https://twitter.com/acul_acul2/status/705008986282545152

And of course, there were many middle fingers bandied about. Although not nearly as notorious in western countries, flipping the bird has been rapidly catching on among younger Japanese people in recent years.

Bold respondents flipped the script on the event holders and created challenges of their own.

This one has two replies, one of which is an amidakuji (ghost leg) game and the other a QR code.

This one instructs the receiver to cut along the bottom line and then fold along the vertical lines to get the answer.

Then there were those who decided to disregard all laws of nature, physics, and logic.

https://twitter.com/whitecat_0001/status/704890250276028421

The meme got so big that even Starscream from Transformers joined in.

▼ “Which one should be the Decepticon Leader?”
[Starscream (left), Megatron (right)]

▼ “Not so fast Starscream… You are the fool!!”
[Bottom line was altered to read “Please, choose which one is the idiot.”]

▼ “Gyah! Lord Megatron!!”

In the end it turned out that it wasn’t really hard to say “no” after all using technology.

https://twitter.com/HaruBoc/status/705000760153501696

▼ Button underneath: “confirm”

https://twitter.com/mumentan/status/704999552659513344 https://twitter.com/la_forge/status/705060932104290304

Or simple common sense.

https://twitter.com/4423Makuharist/status/704891373170892801

With all the rejections we’ve seen today, you might be worried that no one will attend this gathering. Luckily, someone took mercy and pointed to yes…about 12 times over.

https://twitter.com/_ukai_/status/704928858085179392

I tried to create my own, but since I didn’t feel confident writing in Japanese I decided to use a universal language.

If you have your own creative way to refuse someone’s special day, let us know in the comments below and maybe we’ll post it along with the rest.

Source: Twitter/@ToshihiroANZAI (Japanese)