Let's face it: Modern otaku memes wouldn't be the same without Nico Nico Douga, Japan's Youtube-killer video service. One of its unique traits is its use of scrolling text overlays to display comments, rather than threading them below the video itself.

The feature allows users to comment more or less in real time as events fold out, giving a sort of "stream of consciousness" effect to any given video. Otaku have taken to the feature, twisting it in ways both hilarious and terrifying, as the video above might show.

Now it seems that Nico Nico may be making a journey westward, as Nicovideo's US page reports that the site will be streaming the launch of the Space Shuttle Atlantis live on November 16th.

Nico's had an English page for a while, but this is the first time I've ever actually seen it used. If this turns out to be part of a greater attempt to get the concept rolling on the English-speaking internet, I can only shudder at the thought of what memes may crawl out of its maw.