How to Do the Kabedon and When It's Appropriate

If you’re an anime fan, you may have seen the kabedon, an act in which a character pushes another character against the wall. While this may sometimes be an act of intimidation, it is mostly associated with romance series and viewed as a flirtatious action. In this article, we’ll teach you everything you need to know about the kabedon, including what it means, the action’s origins, how to perform the kabedon, and whether it is appropriate to do in real life.

What is the kabedon?

The kabedon is the act of pushing someone against a wall, typically in a flirtatious manner. The act was popularized by manga and anime, and has since become a meme in which fans poke fun at the trope. Cosplayers may perform the kabedon with friends, but it is typically seen as inappropriate in Japanese society.

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What does kabedon mean?

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Kabedon is the act of pushing someone against a wall. While this act can be done to intimidate someone, it is mostly viewed as a flirty action because it is often performed during romantic confessions in various anime and manga.^{[1]
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Expert Source

Brandon Riley
Anime and Manga Content Creator

Expert Interview} The kabedon is typically performed by a man to a woman, though it can be performed to and by any gender.^{[2]
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- In general, the person doing the kabedon will slam one hand against the wall and lean into the other person to intimidate or fluster them.
- The word “kabedon” comes from the Japanese “kabe,” meaning wall, and “don,” meaning “bang.” Slapping the wall produces the “don” sound.
- Many believe the kabedon became so popular in anime and manga because it appeals to women’s romantic fantasies, in which men sweep them off their feet with their assertiveness. This could be because Asian men are rarely depicted as assertive or masculine in media.
- When a woman is the one performing the kabedon, it is sometimes called a reverse kabedon.

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Kabedon Origins

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The kabedon was popularized by the shojo manga LDK. LDK by Ayu Watanabe, which ran from 2009 to 2017, follows high school girl Aoi Nishimori as she must share an apartment with Shusei Kugayama, the “prince” of her school who has a reputation for turning down girls. Kugayama eventually performs the kabedon on Watanabe.^{[3]
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- Shojo anime and manga cater toward girls and young women, so the kabedon is typically used as a romantic gesture.
- The term “kabedon” may have been coined by voice actor Ryoko Shintani in 2008, in which she referred to it as “a lovely situation.”
- The kabedon has since been seen in various anime and manga, including Say I Love You, Snow White with the Red Hair, and Junjou Romantica.
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Fans soon turned the kabedon into a meme. While the kabedon may be romantic in anime, fans quickly realized it would probably be creepy, or at least awkward, in real life, and began poking fun of the trope online. Fans began posting humorous fan art on sites like Tumblr, with seemingly random characters performing the act.^{[4]
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- For example, one popular piece of kabedon fan art comes from Tumblr user yokoshimako, who drew Sans from the video game Undertale performing the kabedon on the much taller character Papyrus.
- Artists also began to draw characters performing humorous variations of the kabedon, like pinning the other person to the wall with their leg rather than their arm.
- Anime and manga series also began poking fun at the trope.
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Users started the Kabedon Challenge on TikTok. As knowledge of the kabedon became more widespread, TikTok users began reenacting it in real life and recording their reactions. Girls often had their boyfriends push them against the wall to see if the act was actually flirtatious in real life, though some users performed the act as a joke with their friends.
- Some Kabedon videos have surpassed millions of views.
- The exact origins of this challenge are hard to pinpoint, but it seems to have gained popularity between 2020 and 2022.

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