“Olive et Tom” meme: meaning, origin and rare card

What does the “Olive et Tom” meme mean?

The Olive et Tom meme pokes fun at anything that takes forever for a tiny result. The pitch that never ends, the shot that lasts three episodes: the image sums up a viewer’s impatience with an action stretched to the extreme. People post it for a meeting that drags on, an endless drive, a queue, or a match where nobody scores. It also carries some fondness for a childhood cartoon whose slowness became its trademark.

Where does the “Olive et Tom” meme come from?

Olive et Tom is the French version of the anime based on Yoichi Takahashi’s manga Captain Tsubasa. The Japanese series began on TV Tokyo on 13 October 1983 and ran for 128 episodes in its first cycle, covering the first 25 volumes of the manga. It reached France on 5 September 1988 on La Cinq, then on TF1 inside the Club Dorothée block from 20 April 1991. A whole generation grew up on matches of unreal dimensions, where one run to the goal fills several episodes. That stretched time turned into endless jokes, which is where the meme comes from.

1. 13 October 1983The Japanese anime premieres on TV Tokyo.
2. 5 September 1988The series reaches France on La Cinq as Olive et Tom.
3. 20 April 1991TF1 airs it in the Club Dorothée.

How to use the “Olive et Tom” meme

• Describe a meeting that takes three episodes for one decision.
• Comment on a car ride where the arrival keeps moving away.
• Tease a video game action that takes forever to land.
• Recall a childhood memory of watching TV after school.

The “Olive et Tom” card in MyMemeCards

Number	No. 2675
Rarity	Rare
Collection	Memes FR pack
Fame	50/100 · #753 of 3496
Recycle value	10 MemeCoins (30 in Shiny)
Suggested by	@chmeu

How to get the “Olive et Tom” card

Every pack holds 5 meme cards, the first 3 of them Common; Olive et Tom comes out of the Memes FR pack as a rare card. The pack odds say what each rarity weighs.

Your first pack is free and needs no account. After that a new free pack lands every 10 minutes, up to 3 waiting for you. You can also buy the card with MemeCoins on the market, bid for it at auction, or trade it — and a double recycles into 10 MemeCoins.

The reprint of the “Olive et Tom” card

The “Olive et Tom” card was reprinted as Epic (No. 4,682). A reprint is the same meme printed again, with a number of its own and a higher rarity than its first printing, which was rare. Its face reads “Reprinted card · Higher rarity”.

Every printing is dealt in the packs of the Memes FR pack, each at its own rarity: the higher it is, the rarer the card is to pull. Copies of the first printing already pulled stay as they are, and any printing counts toward completing a set.

MyMemeCards reprints a meme when it deserves more than the rarity of its first printing, such as a classic that became iconic after it came out: the reprint gives it a place among the most sought-after cards without taking anything from the players who already had it.

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