Cultural References in Lucky Star

[Pellissier]

I think that each one of us following this show will agree that references are definitely a key element in Lucky Star. Being them a quote from a different series, a citation from a tv spot, a joke about the anime business, or simply the depiction of a particular habit of daily life in Japan.

This thread is meant to discuss these subjects in all of their aspects.

On the same time, the objective is that of gathering the references we can get in Lucky Star, in order to create a list including all of them, possibly with explanations, useful links and so on. It's highly possible that a sticky will be created to serve that purpose.

Thread Guidelines:

- Always keep the discussion civil ad be polite with your fellow members.
- Don't go off-topic. This thread is about references, if you need to discuss events from the episodes, you have the episode threads.
- As usual, have fun.

[Pellissier]

This post will serve the purpose of keeping the seeking/organization of infos organized.

• An episode marked in Red means that informations for it are completely gathered and there wouldn't be further need to work on it. However, you might still point out if you think that a reference has been missed, or if you want to provide your own (yet unprovided) point of view.
  
• An episode marked in Blue means that there's a Work In Progress, some informations have been gathered but there's a need to check if some others can still be added.
  
• An episode marked in Black means that no infos (or a very minor number of infos) were gathered until this moment.
  
• An episode marked in Gray means that the episode hasn't aired yet.

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Episode 15 ---> Up (auto reminder, need to add the Da Capo reference)
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Episode 22 ---> no submissions yet
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Episode 24 ---> no submissions yet

[Kaioshin Sama]

Episode 1:

Spoiler:

- When Konata tells the story of how she saved Tsukasa from an evil foreigner, the video of her beating up the foreigner shows her using the Tatsumi Senpuu Kyaku (Ryu and Ken's special move) on a Foreigner who looks like Street Fighter 2's Guile in Ryu's Japan Stage from the same game. Also the Street Fighter 2 Interface is used for this scene as well.

- The ending theme sung by Konata is the opening from an old 1976 Metal Hero Series called Uchū Tetsujin Kyodain.

Episode 2:

Spoiler:

- During the arcade sequence Konata plays a Crane game with Keroro Gunsou characters as the prize.

- During the arcade sequence Konata plays the Haruhi ending theme Hare Hare Yukai on Taiko Drum Master

- During the arcade sequence the fighting game Konata is playing is similar to Tekken with Konata's character resembling Craig Marduk and her opponents character slightly resembling Ling Xiaoyu.

- During the sequence where Konata talks about the Dentist, she says Change Getter with a picture of a dentist in the background. Change Getter is a command that the Getter Robo pilots shout in order to shift the Getter Robo into different forms. The picture also seems to be meant to invoke an image of Shin-Getter 2

- Following the Shin Getter reference is a parody of the opening to Gunbuster by Gainax, with the Exelion in the background and the first few bars of the Gunbuster opening Active Heart playing in the background.

- In one scene there is a poster with a picture of Lisianthus from Shuffle! on it.

Episode 3:

Spoiler:

- The Train is a common method of travelling in Japan and can often be very cramped and overheated. The train ride highlights and plays the riding of trains in Japan as well as inverts the common problem of perverted men gropin females by instead having Konata lift her shirt while fanning herself and a man turn away in embarassment.

- Japanese High School Students often where lighter clothes in the summer and Kagami was seen changing into her summer uniform.

- Tsukasa's winter uniform that she mistakenly puts on bears a remarkable resemblance to the one's seen in the eroge To Heart and worn by Akari Kagamigishi who Tsukasa resembles aside from the purple hair.

- During one of the sequences characters appear who resemble those from Cromartie High School including Takeshi Kamiya (center-bottom) and Shinjiro Hayashida right.

- During another sequence characters who resemble those from Pani Poni Dash appear including one who resembles Rebecca Miyamoto and Rei Tachibana.

- One of the games played by Konata and Kagami resembles Virtua Fighter with Konata's character resembling Akira Yuki.

- The game that Konata beats Kagami at is a quiz game. Quiz Games are quite popular in Japan, but if one practices with the same game long enough they can memorize the questions and patterns, and even answer before the question is finished. This is something Konata knows and takes advantage of, but Kagami also knows showing that this is fairly common knowledge in Japanese culture.

- The Ending Theme is Sorega Ai Deshou, which is the Opening Theme from Full Metal Panic: Fumoffu.

Episode 4:

Spoiler:

- At the party Konata gives Tsukasa an outfit that resembles the one's worn in To Heart and even exclaim's "To Heart".

- Konata mentions she is late because a girl who stole Taiyaki bumped into her on the way to school and dragged her off. This is a reference to Ayu Tsukimiya from Kanon, which of course was a Kyoto Animation Project with Key.

- The Armband Given to Tsukasa resembles the one worn by Suzumiya Haruhi in the popular anime.

- Konata mentions Comiket, which is the premier event for Manga and Doujin writers to hawk their wears to the public and generate publicity and awareness of their projects. It's essentially the E3 of Manga.

- Part of the segment leading up to eyecatch appears to lampoon Japan's troubles with crimes of sexual deviancy that have been coming to the forefront of Japanese culture in recent years.

- Konata makes light of the recent lolicon trend in Japan and how the flat chest has become to be seen as status symbol. This appears to refer specifically to a quote by the character Maiyumi Thyme from Shuffle! who frequently justifies her sexual appeal with the words "A flat chest is a symbol, it has immeasurable value."

- The character Maiyumi Thyme also appears in a poster on Konata's wall, further establishing her apparent high regard for the character from the earlier scene.

- The set on which Konata appears during her imagined interview bears a remarkable resemblance to the flashy set of the American Gameshow Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.

- Konata is reading a volume of Blade of The Immortal in one scene.

- In one scene Konata watches the infamous episode of Haruhi where Nagato is sitting reading a book for 3 minutes straight and nothing is happening. This episode was seen as a budget savour by many and came under some harsh criticism. Konata notes the flame war on 2channel, which is seen as the largest Otaku community in the world, and is noted for its users ability to generate a large number of posts in a very short amount of time over the simplest of subjects that often decay rapidly into flame wars.

- One of Konata's books has the Kame School of Martial Arts Symbol on it from Dragon Ball.

- Konata mentions CompMatsuri which appears to be a summer festival for the Comptiq magazine. However I can find no information on its actual existence in real life (tentative).

- Konata uses a quote by Captain Juzo Okita from Space Battleship Yamato reffering to everything feeling nostalgic.

- Kagami has a Bonta-Kun doll in her room from Full Metal Panic: Fumoffu.

- Konata has a fan with the character 柊　瀬芦里 from Ane Chanto Shiyou Yo on it. I would provide a link about the game proper, but I can't find one that doesn't link through to H content.

[Pellissier]

This is an excerpt of what JEEB wrote on the other thread:

Originally Posted by JEEB

A good start, in my humble opinion, would be the usage of Suzuki Shuuta's quiz blog (clicky) to bring out the most easily spottable ones (more or less, that is...) and then add more if they seem reasonable.

On the other hand the first post'll go pretty long then, as it was not exactly something small when I tried to write out the references for Episode 06 (clicky). It's not that long when it's just about one Episode, but there'll be 24 of them...

I like the outline he proposed, for a list. Of course, it doesn't necessarily have to be that long for each episode (even if it would be cool ^^), but I'd like if that kind of plan could be more or less followed

Kaioshin_Sama also offered his help.

Originally Posted by Kaioshin_Sama

I could do it I suppose. All of it probably. I'm a fast typer with a great memory and a lot of time on his hands late at night. Of course since the plan is for a straight up list I won't do my usual opinion piece to go with the references.

It doesn't have to be a straight list, I'd like it to have some commentaries and links like in the example above. But of course, to bring the starting informations from the episodes would be a good start, and appreciated

What we need to do at this point of time, is to gather informations from episodes 1-8. (episode 6 can be not counted, since if JEEB gives me the permission, I might use that directly ).

Meanwhile, the references discussions on this thread can start.

[aorta]

The controller used in Episode 8 is called a Hyper Shot.



The game is Hyper Olympic.

[JEEB]

Originally Posted by Pellissier

What we need to do at this point of time, is to gather informations from episodes 1-8. (episode 6 can be not counted, since if JEEB gives me the permission, I might use that directly ).

You can count that as a-OK. You can use it directly. I'll be writing Episode 07 after this, since it doesn't have a list that long.

<EDIT> The link to the Episode 07 text. Not that much QC'd and misses some kanji (more rooma-ji) and might not have as lengthy explanations as with Episode 06's text. But still, it's not bad. Referenced through Suzuki Shuuta's quiz site and through various Wikipedia articles plus the Hatena Diary Keywords. </EDIT>

[PirateSkittles]

Eh, here are the references I've found. Except those in my post, I either didn't find them or someone else already mentioned them. Most, if not all of them, are from Anime/Manga, so I'd like to learn more about "other" cultural references. ^^; I only did a couple of episodes, as I'm a bit too busy to watch them all at once, but I'll continue during my free time.

Spoiler for Episode 01:

Opening: "Yoshimizu Kagami Theatre" refers to Yoshimizu Kagami, mangaka of Lucky Star

Food talk: I'm not sure about this, as it might be completely random...but when Tsukasa says that mayonnaise goes well with everything, there's a character in "My-HiME" that eats everything with mayonnaise, so it might be a reference to that.

Spoiler for Episode 02:

Not sure about this one, but in Tsukasa's room, when they compare what the twins are doing during their break, there's a green plush toy with an orange hat...it looks a lot like the frog in "Negima?!".

Kagami's eating our beloved treat, Pocky. <3

Konata reads Comptiq magazine

When Konata talks about Drama CDs not having the same cast as the anime, Lucky Star's Drama CDs don't have the same casts (amongst other series with the same dilemma).

The karaoke (ending) song sung by Konata is the opening of Akumaizer 3, "Victory! Akumaizer 3".

Spoiler for Episode 03:

When Konata speaks of detectives, she mentions Conan from "Meitantei Conan" (Detective Conan) and Kindaichi from Kindaichi Shōnen no Jikenbo (Kindaichi Case Files), both manga series about detectives.

The gaming console used when Kagami and Konata were playing was most likely a PS2.

The karaoke (ending) song sung by Konata is "Sore ga Ai Desho", the opening of "Full Metal Panic" (which Kyoto Animation has worked on).

[Claies]

Spoiler for Episode 4:

Konata's second lateness explanation refers to a scene in the first episode of Kanon (2006 remake), where Ayu crashes into Yuuichi with a bag of taiyaki that she accidentally "stole" in a panic.

Miyuki's gift package may be a reference to the American jewelry company Tiffany & Co.

Kagami's birthday gift is the Brigade Chief armband, worn by Suzumiya Haruhi from Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu, a Kyoto Animation production.

Tsukasa's birthday gift is the school uniform from anime To Heart. Konata notes that it is very similar to their school's uniform.

Konata imitates Crayon Shin-Chan while commenting Kagami while they ate the birthday cake,

While wondering whether Konata would do better in school with a study-related game, Kagami references Moe Drill, a spinoff quiz game from Lucky Star the manga for the Nintendo DS.

An action figure of Akuma (or is it from DBZ?) sits on Konata's desk while she studied.

Konata reads __________ while taking a break. (Please fill this in)

Konata criticizes the typically long scenes in Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu involving character Nagato Yuki, along with episode director Yutaka Yamamoto. She then reads a thread on 2channel, Japan's largest internet forum community.

Konata reads another issue of the Comptiq magazine, noting that the summer Comp Festival is about to begin.

[[[ What light novel was Kagami reading? ]]]

Kagami sings "Sailor Suit and Machine Gun" in the end credits.

[aohige]

Oh good grief... it'd take me a whole day if I had to list them all. Not to mention having to watch them over again.
I'll skip the ones that's already mentioned in this thread, and obvious and repetitous references to Keroro Gunso and Top of Nerae! Gunbuster BGM reused.

Originally Posted by PirateSkittles

Spoiler for Episode 01:

Opening: "Yoshimizu Kagami Theatre" refers to Yoshimizu Kagami, mangaka of Lucky Star

Food talk: I'm not sure about this, as it might be completely random...but when Tsukasa says that mayonnaise goes well with everything, there's a character in "My-HiME" that eats everything with mayonnaise, so it might be a reference to that.

The opening sequence for every episode is a direct quote from opening sequence of Kaibutsu-kun anime series of the 80s.

As for the mayonnaise bit, it's not a particulary "anime" thing.
There's set of people in Japan that likes to eat everything with mayonnaise, and they are called "mayolers" by others.

Spoiler for Episode 1:

-The newspaper article Kagami was reading, is lifted from the Yasuyoshi Kobayashi case. Kobayashi kidnapped and held a girl in confinement with a dog leash on her. He confessed to wanting to keep her as his slave.
His nickname among some people was "prince Kobayashi", due to his looks. On Internet, many referred to him as "confining prince".
The newspaper Kagami is reading says "confining princess", as a reference to this incident.

-Many of the stores you see in the show are slightly modefied names of stores near the Kasukabe train station.

-The way Shiraishi calls out the next episode preview is mimicking how the popular cartoon series Sazae-san introduces the previews.

Spoiler for Episode 2:

-The voice actors changing from Drama CD to Anime is also poking fun at this show itself.
The same thing happened to Lucky Star CDs and Anime.

-When the sisters are imagining Konata working as a part-timer at a fast food restaurant, you see "Smile 0-yen" on the menu.
This was a slogan that McDonalds of Japan used to run many years ago.

-When Shiraishi greets on the Lucky Channel, he almost mubles his line as Taniguchi from Suzumiya Haruhi, going "Wa-wa-wa" (continues to wasuremono)
This line got very popular among fans on the net, and has been used in numerous MADs.
The voice actor is aware of this, and that's why he used the joke.

Spoiler for Episode 3:

-The bleeeeeped out "magic spells" Konata says are "Behoimi" and "Ionazun", a popular healing spell and damaging lightning spells in Dragon Quest series. She's talking about Dragon Quest 5 where you have to pick between two brides, Flora and Bianca. Kagami replies "Bianca, of course!".

(Btw, I have been an avid Bianca-person for years until I played the DQ5 remake in recent years... and found Flora to be just as attractive. Now every time I play, I don't know who to pick! HELP!! )

-When the girls are talking about brides... the anime-reference Konata abruptly makes are talking about the girls Angel Salvia and Angel Daisy from Wedding Peach anime.

-Ranking of the game consoles. Pipin, 3DO, and PS2.

Spoiler for Episode 4:

-The reason why Konata used the To Heart costume as the gift for Tsukasa, is the anime staff's self-parody on the fact that Tsukasa looks almost exactly like the heroine Akari Kanzaki from To Heart. This joke comes up again in episode 9.

-There's a doll of Bonta-kun from Full Metal Panic behind Miyuki when they are eating cake.

-Figure on Konata's desk resembles Dragon Ball character, and is creating a genki-dama.

-Konata is reading volume 19 of Mugen no Juunin manga. (American title, Blade of Immortal)

-There's a poster of Mayumi Thyme from Shuffle! in Konata's room.

-Konata's notebook in class has the Kame in circle mark from Dragon Ball's Kame-sennin dougi.

-Konata's line "everything is so... nostalgic" is the famous line by Captain Okita in Space cruiser Yamato series.
The reason why Kagami tells her why she's using such an old joke. It's from back in the 70s.

-The fan Konata is using to cool herself is of Kinu Kanisawa from Tsuyokiss, the original video game version.

-Akira's "Mammoth ureP!" is a catch phrase used by Noriko Sakai, affectionately called NoriP, back in the 80s.

There are tons of 70s and 80s Japanese cultural references.

Originally Posted by Claies

Spoiler for Episode 4:

Konata reads __________ while taking a break. (Please fill this in)

In the above spoiler tag for ep4.

[aohige]

It's getting really long, so I split my posts.
Here's episode 5-9.

Spoiler for Episode 5:

-Obvious online MMORPG jokes... tons of commonly used MMO terms like pulling, tanking, death penalty, debuff, etc.

-A lot of people may not be familiar with traditional Yukata wearing called "kitsuke".
Tying the sash properly is very hard, and not commonly known how to do by most people..

-The obvious Comiket references. Yes, you stand in the line from the morning (or for some people... from night before!)
and is very tiring, and East and West sides are far apart. Summer time Comiket is hell on earth... I will never, ever go there in the summer again.

-Konata's relative policewoman is wearing the mask of Bonta-kun, from Full Metal Panic.

-Kagami's "Getto daze!" when she catches the goldfish is catch phrase (no pun intended) of Satoshi (Ash in american version) of Pokemon anime.

-Kagami names her goldfish Gyopi-chan, which is the name of the goldfish in Kingyo Chuuihou! anime.

-Tsukasa's "Balsamicosu" line is refering to Balsamico Vinegar, popular italian vinegar.

-Konata and Tsukasa's conversation on the phone "looks like a frog" "I see, depleted uranium" is refering to the mech RK-92 Savage from Full Metal Panic.

-The chat window on the MMO they are playing is very faithfully Japanese. The use of "WWWW" is like american "LOL", and one of the quote said by one of the quoters is famous quote from a FF11 player.

-Nekama is refering to guys who use female avatars (toons, characters, w/e) and pretend to be a female player in the game.
The opposite of that, girls pretending to be guys, is called Nenabe.

-"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah" in front of the fan. Come on, I'm sure it's an universal thing, and not unique to Japanese. You know you're guilty!

-Konota's talking about experience in the popular online game Monster Hunter 2 in the preview for the next episode.

-Ending song is the world-famous Dragon Ball theme song Cha-la-Head-Cha-La, but does anyone even need to mention this?

Spoiler for Episode 6:

-Initial D. Need I say more?

-Konata wearing her grade-school issued swimsuit from sixth grade and saying some people like it, is referencing to some Japanese otaku's fondness with "sukumizu" swimsuits. Those lolicon bastards.

-Watermelon splitting is a traditional summer event in Japan, where you hide the participant's eyes with cloth, and spin the person. After several spins, he/she has to swing the stick aimlessly, and hope to hit the watermelon, busting it open.
The "busting the Watermelon with gun" bit that Konata mentions is reference to Full Metal Panic.

-The "take off your glassess and your eyes look like this ( 3 3 )" was a commonly used expression in old manga, notably Fujiko Fujio mangas.

-When Tsukasa sits down, she says "Yokkoishouichi"... ths is a very, VERY old fad from the 70s. It's mixing "dokkoisho", and the stranded Japanese soldier Shouichi Yokota (Yokota shouichi). It's one of those old phrases that used to be popular, but no longer used in modern times.

-Umi no Ie (house of sea) are beach side restaurants, that serves very simple food for jacked up price. Like, curry rice with nothing but curry and rice.

-When asked if the food tastes that good, Konata says it's not so good that I'd run around the beach in fundoshi underwear.
This is a joke referencing to the cooking manga, Mister Ajikko.

-Konata does parody of Timote shampoo commercial from the 80s.

-Konata's "Mmmmm... Mandom" is also a TV ad reference. In the 70s, they had Charles Bronson star in the ad, saying those exact phrase. The ad got so popular, this phrase was widely used by many during the 70s.

-Konata's "Save very often! Are you throwing rocks?" is a joke from Fintal Fantasy Tactics online help, Japanese version.

-Konata's scary talk ends with the man singing DANZEN! Futari wa PriCure, the popular theme song from the girls anime Futari wa PreCure (Pretty Cure).

-Both the Konata's scary mask and sticking leg upside down are reference from Inugamike no Ichizoku TV Drama series, based on the novel of the same title. "Sukekiyo" is a character in the drama.

-The TV show Kagami and Tsukasa are watching at home is obviously "Trivia no Izumi" TV series. (Fountain of Trivia)

-Akira's "Kyaru-n!" is famous greeting from Can Can Bunny's mascot character Swaty, a gal-game incarnation of the goddess Sarasvati.

-Shiraishi's "Maicchingu!" is from the famous 80s anime, Maicchingu Machiko Sensei.

-Shiraishi's phrase "That's when our agent saw..!" at the end of the Lucky Channel show, is famous phrase from the popular variety TV show, Toukou! Tokuhou Oukoku.

-Ending theme is Valentine Kiss from Onyanko Club in the 80s.
The characters are talking about how people get the singer Sayuri's name wrong often.
Perhaps they picked them because, Onyanko Club's most famous song was "Sailor Fuku o nugasanaide"...(Don't take off my Sailor fuku)
And Lucky Star's opening them song is "Take away the Sailor Fuku"

Spoiler for Episode 7:

-Maria-sama ga miteru reference, obviously.

-Sebastian is a popular name for butlers, starting with Heidi.
Anything from Disney's Little Marmaid, to adult game To Heart, anime series Akihabara Denno-gumi, Inukami, etc.
It's even funnier that Tsukasa responds to this, since she looks just like Akari from To Heart.

-When Konata turns on her TV, it's playing the 2nd opening theme song of Strawberry Panic, a yuri anime series.
It seems Konata is into yuri anime these days, along with Marimite. Watch out Kagami...!

-Anime shows often gets pushed back... or in worst case scenario episode canceled entirely because of baseball game getting extended. Damn those sports!

-Curry doesn't usually go bad even if you leave it out a day, if you keep the lid on the pot.
HOWEVER. Just like Konata in this episode... I have had a full pot of curry go bad after one day. I was literally in tears!
Learn your lesson before it hits you kiddos, just to be safe.. always put the pot in the fridge. Those molds can get through anything!

-Konata's phone ringer is Kanon und Gigue in D-Dur, from German composer Johann Pachelbel. Well, it's a very popular classical music, so I'm sure everyone has heard it sometime in their life.

-Konata's ringer is, obviously, Suzumiya Haruhi's ending song.

-Tsukasa is reading the manga Henshuuou. Don't know which volume though.

-Kagami asks them how they felt about Attack No.1, a popular tennis manga and anime series from the 70s.

-Konata goes into the ojou-sama mode, and says the line "Osoroshii ko..." which is a famous (and overused) line from Garasu no Kamen (Glass Mask) manga from the 70s and 80s. Amazingly enough, this manga is still serialized, and has not concluded

yet.

-Kagami mentioned Full Metal Panic's new book is out, and Konata notices Comptique's new issue is out too.
So she offers to go to "Gamers", a popular anime-oriented book and goods store in Japan.

-With the points acquired at Gamers, Konata wants to buy a Shakugan no Shana item.

-Lucky Channel's Shiraishi has his hair in twin-tail. This is a inside-joke from the Weekly Lucky Channel online radio show.
Here you can see the real Minoru Shiraishi in twin tail.
It's... horrifying!

-When Akira says make it twin drill, he imagines the drills and say "Don't underestimate the speed of Getter", to which Akira

replies "heh, Getter 2 eh?". Shiraishi's quote is famous quote by Hayato, the pilot of Getter 2 in Getter Robo.

-The ending song is Chijou no Hoshi (The star on earth) by Miyuki Nakajima.
Prior to this, Konata asks her to sing Omoide Ippai, which is an ending theme song to the anime "Miyuki".
That's why she mentions the Miyuki connection.

Spoiler for Episode 8:

-Teacher "It's a mistake, blamed on youthfulness" Konata "So you're a kid"
These are reference to the famous (and again, over-used) lines from Char Aznable of Mobile Suit Gundam.

-The video game they are playing is Hyper Olympic from Konami.
And yeah, the metal ruler method seemed to be the fastest way of getting fast record.
Used to beat the crap out of that special controller...

-Konata says "Girls have to be elegant", which is a line by Lumiere in Kiddy Grade, who happens to have the same voice

actress as Konata, Aya Hirano.

-At the hardles, Tsukasa says "Ajapa-" as she fall to the ground. It's a famous joke by Zaburou Banjun, a famous comedian
during and after WWII. He passed away in the early 80s.

-The BGM playing during the relay race is from Initial D.

-When Tsukasa was imagining her and her sister's role reversed, the background effect is the same as that of Gundam's
Amuro and Lala's contact scene. It even does the newtype flash effect at the end.

-Konata mentions that her letter sent to Newtype was published on the new issue.
This really happened. If you check the June issue of Newtype, her letter really is there.

-Accourding to fans, the book Konata has in her right hand is .hack//XXXX, a spin-off manga of .hack series and right is Suzumiya Haruhi no Koushiki official fanbook. Otaku fans have keen eyes...

-When Konata finds the Shuffle! volume 5, it plays the newtype awakening sound from Gundam, as well as the effects.
I guess all these Gundam in-jokes suddenly popping out all over this episode is because of Konata's Newtype letter event.

-The book shelf at the store has tons of galgame/eroge related books... most are vague, but you can spot stuff like To Heart,

DaCapo, and Higurashi. For some reason, adult porn manga artist Cuvie's manga was there too.

-Ending song is, Monkey Magic by Godiego, the theme song for the Saiyuuki live action TV series in the late 70s. This series
aired in some english speaking countries as Monkey. Awesome, awesome show. There hasn't been ANY TV series, live or

cartoon, based on Saiyuuki that comes even close to this show, even to this day.

Spoiler for Episode 9:

-Konata's "pochittona" when she pushes the key is famous and overused line from the Time Bokan anime series. The skinnier bad guy (who's name is diffrent from show to show) always says that when pressing a button in the robot.

-The TV Drama Tsukasa wanted to watch (but decided to record) is 14 sai no haha (14 year old mother) series.

-Kagami says she likes shooting games, and Konata likes gal-game and RPG.
When Japanese gamers say "shooting games", we don't usually mean FPS. The old-school shoot-em-ups where you control a flying fighter, and shoot stuff off the screen like Gradius, Xebius, 1942, R-Type, and whatnot.

-The reason why the girls are laughing about Konata being a "gari" on the sushi-fortune telling, is because gari is a side-dish and not really a sushi at all.

-As some mentioned, the horror flick the girls went to see seems to be Saw 3.
Dunno, I don't watch scary movies. I like to sleep.

-Konata's line "Buffet... it's land of women's greed" is a direct reference to a line from ToraDora! novel series, except in there the chararcter says "Pudding in bucket" instead of buffet. Japanese refer to buffet as "Viking" style restaurant.

-The girls keep saying "that" athelete, but they are all refering to real-life sport athletes of course.

-When Kagami said this year's championship was "that" team and "this" team, she meant Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters and Chuunichi Dragons. That's why Konata asks "isn't there something like bargain sales on ham?"

-When they introduced Tsukasa, Akira starts to say "Kamigishi Akari from To Heart?", which Shiraishi bleeped out by yelling out Koi no Mikuru densetsu from Suzumiya Haruhi. It's yet another joke at Tsukasa looking just like Akari of To Heart.

-Shiraishi wimpering as he mutters "I've never been hit even by my dad" is a famous and popular line by Amuro Rei of Mobile Suit Gundam.

-Ending song is Kogarashi ni Dakarete, by Koizumi Kyouko... affectionately known as "Kyonkyon", idol singer in the 80s.

-Konata is talking about the famous Super Mario Bros. trick in the preview of the next episode.
Where you could stomp on a turtle shell on the stairs infinitly, and get infinite 1UPs... but when you hit 129 man, it reaches a cap, and if you die even once after you reach the cap, it's game over.

[Pellissier]

The sticky is now up. At the moment I've only included the infos provided by JEEB about episodes 6 and 7, because they were well sorted out and I just need to copy/paste them (though it took me a while to change the tags to fit into this forum )

Thanks for the all contributions that came so far. They will be included soon.

Since I can't include everything (a post also has a digit limit), please make sure not to excessively repeat what others have already submitted (unless you provide new links, informations, point of views and so on )

[Risaa]

Thanks for making it... it's so neat and spiff!

Unfortunately I'm not otaku enough to catch un-obvious references that haven't already been mentioned, so I'm going to *slink away* now. (And I think the "mayolers" thing is really bizarre... there's a group of people who eat everything with mayo, and furthermore... there's a name for that group of people too. O___o)

[Kaioshin Sama]

I see Konata reading a Galaxy Angel Rune Graphic Novel, which is published in Comi Di Gi if that's what people are referring to as the mystery novel in episode 4.

[Boukenxha]

This is pretty cool, absolutely mind-boggling to look at those long reference lists. There are a few more which I know but not mentioned yet and some I feel are missing some interesting details. And anyone who spot errors please correct me so as not to spread wrong information.

Spoiler for ep 2 - Koi no Apron:

The Koi no Apron show which Kagami mentioned in ep 2 is apparently a real show on Japanese TV, though it only exists as two special shows for the Ai no Apron format of TV reality cooking contest, which mainly pits female celebrities/idols against each other individually or in groups with the task of completing a given menu and have the dish tasted by the judges. The novelty is that not all of the celebrities invited are apt cooks, especially the younger ones. Imagine them wrecking havoc in the kitchen and later have their "masterpiece" judged and getting punished for making poison, that's supposedly one of the selling point of the show.

The reference was at the most in name only, since Kagami was watching a drama serial and not a variety show.

Spoiler for ep 2 - man who balances a red wash basin on his head:

The entry in the japanese wiki is named 赤い洗面器の男 (romanized as "akai senmenki no otoko", meaning "red wash basin man"). Apparently, it is a running gag found in Mitani Koki's work, a famous Japanese playwright in Japan. Most of them appeared in Furuhata Ninzaburo, a popular detective drama serial from the 90's, where Tamura Masakazu (some J-dorama fans should be able to recognize him) plays the title character. The gag is such that a character will talk about the red wash basin man and ask the question "why does he balance the red wash basin on his head?", but the punchline is always never given.

Spoiler for ep 3 - Ladybug Samba:

てんとう虫のサンバ (romanized tentoumushi no samba, meaning Ladybug Samba). That is a classic Japanese song from the 70's usually sung in wedding receptions/dinners. The Ladybug Samba "punk version" is a reference to one of the lines spoken by Oosaki Nana in ep 50 of the NANA TV animation series. I haven't read the manga so I'm not sure if it's originally from there.

Here is a youtube clip of a cover.

Spoiler for ep 4 - figurines on Konata's computer:

On top of Konata's computer is a figure of Kooh, a character from the popular Korean game, Sukatto Golf Pangya. It has the same pose as the market released figure though in a different color. See link here and here.

Unfortunately, I still can't identify the other figure. I have a large pic (1.35MB) of the figures, but it didn't help much.

Spoiler for ep 4 - Kanisawa Kinu:

Mentioned by aohige already. Just want to add that the fan which Konata was using is a real Tsuyokiss merchandise. See link here.

Spoiler for ep6 - Initial D:

The Vivio vs FD race sequence was more or less lifted from Intial D First Stage ep 5 (not sure where in the manga) where it was the AE86 vs FD. Yui passed the FD in the same way Takumi claimed victory on the 5 hairpin turns with the same gutter move following a high speed entry into the turn.

It doesn't end here. Next we have Konata teasing Kuroi-sensei with the same lines which Natsuki told Takumi at the beach, also from Intial D First Stage ep 5.

I recall more references some of which kj1980 mentioned in the ep threads, MakubeX2 also mentioned a few including the Ponytail references and one of a game poster, someone noticed that Kagami was reading Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo, Kaoru Chujo verified that the smoking middle age man is Ishihara Tetsuya, and Level E has a very good list on his forum. Seriously there are a lot of references!

[Pellissier]

Sticky now completely up to date! Thanks to all the contributors.

Please try not to provide further informations about episodes 6-7 (unless they're strictly necessary), since they're full.

By the way, is that all about episode 1? (not that I'm particularly surprised, just asking ^^)

[Willen]

Originally Posted by Pellissier

Sticky now completely up to date! Thanks to all the contributors.

Please try not to provide further informations about episodes 6-7 (unless they're strictly necessary), since they're full.

By the way, is that all about episode 1? (not that I'm particularly surprised, just asking ^^)

Well, there is an unconfirmed reference (post by Skane, replying to CrowKenobi's theory): http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost...postcount=1002...

[HashiriyaR32]

Spoiler for EP6, ID:

The corresponding ID manga volume for the AE86 vs FD race is volume 2. Yui's Subaru Vivio RX-R is a BLATANT reference to Bunta Fujiwara's Impreza WRX STi Type R (GC8V). Kagami's outburst ("What's with the Initial D-like driving?!?!") made the parody extremely obvious.
Here's another tidbit on the Vivio. It's the only K-car to have a supercharged engine (all other K-cars I know, such as the Cappuccino, i, Wagon R, Copen are powered by turbocharged engines). I'm very surprised the producers didn't add in a supercharger whine for when doing the interior shots for the Vivio.

[MissInformed]

I need some help with this one...I remembered more similar scenarios...what I have sounds like a stretch. But, eh, just throwing this out there.

Spoiler for Episode 1:

In episode 2 of Suzumiya Haruhi, Suzumiya is asked why she won't join a sports club since she is so athletic. Kyon describes how she goes from club to club each day, but doesn't join any of them. She is shown running fast (and playing tennis).

Likewise, in episode 1 of Lucky Star, Konata is running FAST and Tsukasa asks, "Why aren't you on any sports teams when you're so athletic?"

(I thought someone asks Haruhi the same thing almost verbatim...did my husband and I imagine this? I think it's early on but I couldn't find it.)

It's funnier since Konata and Suzumiya have the same seiyuu. But then, a lot of things are funnier with that in mind.

[Claies]

Originally Posted by MissInformed

I need some help with this one...I remembered more similar scenarios...what I have sounds like a stretch. But, eh, just throwing this out there.

Spoiler for Episode 1:

In episode 2 of Suzumiya Haruhi, Suzumiya is asked why she won't join a sports club since she is so athletic. Kyon describes how she goes from club to club each day, but doesn't join any of them. She is shown running fast (and playing tennis).

Likewise, in episode 1 of Lucky Star, Konata is running FAST and Tsukasa asks, "Why aren't you on any sports teams when you're so athletic?"

(I thought someone asks Haruhi the same thing almost verbatim...did my husband and I imagine this? I think it's early on but I couldn't find it.)

It's funnier since Konata and Suzumiya have the same seiyuu. But then, a lot of things are funnier with that in mind.

Nah...both come originally from their respective printed forms (novel and manga). It's all too common.

Good spot though. Common as it is, I missed that.

[HashiriyaR32]

Spoiler for EP9:

Saw III, anyone?