The effect comes from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, tied to DIO and his Stand named The World, whose ability is to stop time for several seconds. The distorted ticking and pressure-drop tone became instantly linked to frozen-time moments after Stardust Crusaders was adapted into anime. Clips of the time stop spread across YouTube, TikTok and meme pages, where editors reused the audio for freeze-frame jokes and dramatic reveals. It endures because anime fans recognize it immediately and it signals total control over a scene.