What do people mean by "the shark" and why it goes viral on the regular? Check out the illustrations!!

The term "IKEA shark" refers to a shark plushie that one can find in IKEA, a Swedish furniture company and the world's largest furniture volume seller.

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About IKEA Shark

The term refers to a big shark plushie that one can find in IKEA, the world's largest furniture retailer. The official name of this plushie is blåhaj, which is the Swedish word for blue shark.

The plushie went viral on a global scale starting from the end of 2018 to the beginning of 2019 and the boom has even reached the realm of creativity in Japan.
pixiv Encyclopedia

There are various opinions regarding the origin of the plushie's popularity, but some attribute the latest boom to certain photographs that people posted on social media, including those that feature a group of IKEA sharks sitting down on a table or staring at a monitor.

The shark's unguarded expression and the size that makes it perfect to hold and carry tempt some on pixiv into posting illustrations of characters with this very plushie in their hands.

An idol whose spirit animal must be a shark fanned people's obsession with the IKEA shark!

On January 10, 2019, the smartphone game The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls introduced a new character named Akira Sunazuka.

For starters, she is known for her shark-like jagged teeth. Secondly, the name of her inherent technique is Shark Teeth--in short, she possesses several attributes that will remind you of a shark. For that reason, some illustrations on pixiv feature her together with the IKEA shark.