Kiran comes from the Japanese onomatopoeia kira-kira, which describes something glittering, sparkling or twinkling in light. In manga the effect is drawn with star shapes, and in anime it became a matching bell-like chime for shining eyes, gems, clean surfaces and magical items. The single drawn-out kiran variant is widely shared on soundboards as a standalone reaction effect. Editors keep reusing it because the meaning is instantly understood across languages, turning an ordinary object into something that looks special, cute or valuable in under a second.