Such is the popularity of Malaysia’s hit cartoon Upin & Ipin in Indonesia that one character’s planned departure from the show caused emotional shockwaves throughout the archipelago.
Upin & Ipin is undoubtedly one of the most popular and beloved family shows in Indonesia, and Indonesians have long found representation of themselves in Susanti, who is the titular characters’ classmate from Indonesia.
The show’s latest episode, which aired on Monday afternoon on MNC TV in Indonesia, was about Susanti having to leave Malaysia after her dad’s employment in the neighboring nation came to an end.
Yet after all of the tears were shed (who else remembers the pain of saying goodbye to childhood friends?), the show delivered a twist in which Susanti was able to stay in Malaysia after all, as her dad secured another job there.
The term “Susanti” became the top trending topic on Twitter in Indonesia this morning, as netizens in this country reacted to what they called an emotional “prank” by the show. It’s worth noting that Susanti also finally displaced “Messi,” “Mbappe” and other World Cup related tweets at the top of the platform’s trending topics list since the final on Sunday evening.
“Susi is not moving after all. I almost cried,” the tweet above reads.
“I was sad that Susanti was moving back to Indonesia, and it turned out she came back. I have trust issues with Upin & Ipin,” another user wrote.
Indonesian netizens also recalled another “prank” in an earlier episode of the show, in which the character Ehsan was supposedly leaving the show as his family was moving away, only to inhabit another house in the neighborhood.
In another testament to the show’s popularity in Indonesia, the term “Ehsan” is also one of the top trending topics on Twitter this morning.
No more emotional manipulation please, Upin & Ipin. Tak nak lah…
