The sound comes from the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai fighting games, the PlayStation 2 series that brought the anime's battles into 3D arenas in the early 2000s. The pause cue was one of the menu sounds players heard while stopping a match to check controls, change options or take a break. As clips from the games were shared on soundboards and in fan edits, the brief chime became a shorthand for stopping the action. It is still used today because Dragon Ball fans recognise it instantly, and because a short, clean game sound fits into short videos, streams and memes.