When Twitter doubled the length of tweets to 280 characters in 2017, the platform exploded with outrage and memes. One of them was this video, which I discovered a year later.

Some background for those who do not want to Google it: a classic Japanese story begins with an indecisive couple unable to name their newborn child. They approach a priest for suggestions, who in turn comes up with a string of names that refer to long life, health, an ancient kingdom, its king, his famous concubine and their long-lived daughters

The parents eventually decide to use all those names, resulting in the unfortunate child being called “Jugemu Jugemu Go-Kō-no-Surikire Kaijari-suigyo no Suigyō-matsu Unrai-matsu Fūrai-matsu Kū-Neru Tokoro ni Sumu Tokoro Yaburakōji no Burakōji Paipo Paipo Paipo no Shūringan Shūringan no Gūrindai Gūrindai no Ponpokopii no Ponpokonā no Chōkyūmei no Chōsuke”.

The child is naturally the subject of several widely-known amusing stories in Japan. When the popular anime series Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood released as DVD box sets in 2009 and 2010, one of the minute-long extras showed two canonically nameless characters, Scar and King Bradley, who reveal to each other as they set off into a fight that their real names are this mouthful. The clip is, of course, hilarious for Japanese audiences, but it also excels as an expression of the classic absurdity of Twitter.