Cultural References in Lucky Star

[AVPlaya]

Spoiler for Long post! Unhide to read.:

Melon Pan!
Hiyori's lunch is another otaku staple food called the Melon-pan. It's a sweet-bread that's popular in Japan and Asia. Although mostly green, Melon-pans are not made from melon fruit but it's named after its appearance. It gets its flaky top via a thin layer of cookie dough, while the rest is a sweet bread. Sometimes you can find them filled with custard or other fillings. Melon pan became an otaku favorite since it's the only food Shana from Shakugan no Shana will eat. A version of Melon pan also exist in HK and Taiwan, where its called "Pineapple Bread". It's unclear where the bread originated, but it's pretty much certain that is not Europe.

Also many Westerner will find it strange, but bread is absolutely huge in Japan. Every street has a bakery or sorts and most Japanese eat toasts for breakfast now (as you can tell from anime). IMHO bread in Japan and other part of Asia are 100 x better than the bread in the US, and since they really fuse the best of all worlds, the best bakeries in Japan are even better than the best bakeries in Paris. You really have to visit one of them to really know the incredible variety and flavors Japanese bread offers. Same goes with Cakes and other sweets, but that's another post altogether.

One of the best selling lunch food:



Bizarre Jump
Hiroyi's Awesome Twisting Action is A Reference to ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure), one of the biggest shonen manga ever. At 92 plus volumes, it's also one of the longest. What she was parodying I have no idea; never got into Jojo.

It's bizarre that Jojo never got himself an anime.



Apollo Who?
The two chara in Hiroyi's non-slumping sketches are 王泥喜法介 (Odoroki Housuke) and 牙琉響也 (Garyuu Kyouya) from the DS hit game 逆転裁判４ (Apollo Justice, Ace Attorney in the West). This is the 4th game of the Gyakuten Saiban series, the first 3 is know as "Phoenix Wright, Ace Attorney" in the West. Non-gamers like Yutaka have no idea who they are. Hiroyi is probably going to yaoi them in a doujin... from the looks of it, Odoroki is seme and Garyuu is uke).

Odoroki in the middle, while Garyuu is on top:



Cosplayer in Saitama
The cosplayers the girls meet are of course cosplaying Edward and Roy of "Full Metal Alchemist". The keitai strap "Ed" was holding is Al, Ed's poor body-less brother.

Even cosplayers are cuter in Anime...



Bowling Fun
The pseudonym Fujoshi Hiroyi reserved their bowling lane under was 枢木スザク (Kururugi Suzaku) of "Code Geass - Lelouch of the Rebellion" The CLAMP series seemed to be a favorite doujin target for the BL community.

SOS-Dan Bowlers and their score by the 7th frame:

• HARUHI: 155 (she's good!)
• KYON: 88 (he sucks!)
• YUKI: 129 (she sucked at first but got better)
• MIKURU: 19 (she's there for Kyon's enjoyment)
• ITSUKI: 92 (busy watching Kyon's, most likely)

Spoiler for A little NSFW...:

Okay, I think Suzaku's a uke...

Poster Bug
The poster Yutaka's trying to post is a newsletter from the Nurse's Office on Athlete's Foot (水虫, mizumushi) prevention. Due to the long raining season and the mostly humid condition of an island nation, Athlete's Foot is a problem bothering most people, especially active students. Everyone is taught how to prevent Athlete's Foot in school, and medication for them is a big category in Japan.

An office poster on Mizumushi prevention:



Attack of the 50 foot Yutaka
In our favorite Fujoshi's imagination, Yukata-chan became a gozilla-like monster. The picture she has in her head is a parody of the poster of the 1958 science fiction classic, "Attack of the 50 foot Woman". Compare the anime to the poster below:

I think we'd all prefer a 50 foot tall Yutaka:



YAOI?
These no-ota L*S girl sure know how to ask questions. First we have a question about chinchin, now Yutaka drops the bomb and ask the forbidden question: What is Yaoi. I think most people knows about it, so I'll just post the two possible meanings Hiroyi could have given:

Accepted Definition： "山なし", "落ちなし", "意味なし" (Yamanashi, Ochinashi, Iminashi), signifying the lack of climax, punchline, and meaning in a graphical story about two men having sex.

"Real" Definition ： "やめて", "おしりが", "いたい" (Yamete! Oshiri ga Itai!), signifying what's usually said after the aforementioned men on men sex took place: "Stop! My butt hurts!"

Super Yaoi!



Sea of Trees
In the LC, Shiraishi bragged about being an "outdoorsman" for going to popular vacation spots like Jogashima Island (the location for all the live-action EDs). Akira then mentioned the benefit of "Forest Bathing", a popular excuse for outdoor travel as it was wildly believed that the air in the woods contain a lot of negative ion which will improve your health. I have never heard anyone using this term in the West.

Akira-sama then asked Shiraishi to take a trip to the "Tree Sea of Mount Fuji". The stated reason for the trip was to "fetch her some of Fuji's famous water". While Fuji-san's water is famous for tea-making (quality of water is a huge deal for tea-otakus), the parody here is that in a 1993 special of a very popular comedy show "ダウンタウンのガキの使いやあらへんで!! (Downtown no Tsukaiyaarahende!!) called the 罰ゲーム (Batsu Gemu), where a comedian was punished to goto France to fetch some Evian water from the source. The REAL reason for the trip was that the famous 青木ヶ原 (Aokigahara or"Tree Sea") in the foothills of Mout Fuji is a popular suicide spot for the Japanese. Due to it's location, it's also considered THE most haunted place in all of Japan, inhabited by kami, oni, and ghosts of past victims of suicide. Shiraishi is scared for that reason, but of course Akira-sama just wanted him to off himself while he's there... That's why Akira said "you have past the line of Death." The producers were probably to film his suicide for the finale ED. Oh Joy! I think death of Shiraishi is what many viewer were calling for.

Stuff on Shiraishi's neck: A cross, ring of garlic, and a couple of Japanese charms - all good stuff to bring to a haunted forest.

Spooky!

[AVPlaya]

Originally Posted by CrowKenobi

I bet this stumped the otakus!

Actually they've caught it. I think their more likely to be stumped by current Japanese TV shows than Sci-Fi classics.

[Pellissier]

I was waiting for your submission before updating the sticky. Update now done.

I must say episodes 13 and 14 feel a bit lonely if compared to the others

[AVPlaya]

Originally Posted by Pellissier

I was waiting for your submission before updating the sticky. Update now done.

I must say episodes 13 and 14 feel a bit lonely if compared to the others

I might go back and complete them... if I have the time, I may do the whole series. Just not sure who would read them though...

[bullrogg]

FOMA SH903iTV Black- i wish they made this phone in america -_-, thx avplaya for the info

[darksider]

EP20
Another moment Minami feeling uneasy about her chest, like following

Yutaka: You'll look nice in yukata!
Minami: ...I know you are being nice, but somehow I can't heartily enjoy it.
It's just like... you're saying I don't have...

Behind this conversation, Minami had in her mind a rather common assumption that people with larger breasts doesn't fit in the kimonos very well, being easier to look fat and tubby.
(And probably Yutaka had no idea about it, or simply no idea about Minami's source of grief itself.)


(Superfluous comment: I thought it goes without saying if you are a Japanese, but it looks like many failed to catch the idea, so for that reason.)

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by darksider

EP20
(Superfluous comment: I thought it goes without saying if you are a Japanese, but it looks like many failed to catch the idea, so for that reason.)

No, you're going to find you often need to explicitly note the "obvious" because many anime watchers are staggeringly unfamiliar with "things taken for granted" in Japan.... or anywhere else sometimes

[TnAdct1]

Episode 21 reference spotted:

Spoiler for Episode 21:

During the bit where Hiyori comes up with funny comic idea when she goes to bed (only to forget about it when she wakes up) a poster of Kira and Athrum from Gundam SEED can be in the background as Hiyori tries to remember the funny idea that she had.

[AVPlaya]

Spoiler for Long Post, unhide to view:

Shokukan and Kaado
The very first sketch is devoted to Kona's awesome skills at finding rare prizes in snack boxes and rare game cards. The included prizes in these snack foods are called 食玩（Shokugan, short for "food toys"), and there's an incredible amount of variety of them in Japan. Although some snacks include prizes in every pack, most of the treasured prizes are limited edition promotional items made to boost sales. They are highly popular because they are usually very well-made for a free toy; some good ones even rival the the detail offered by PVC figurines. Like Gashapons, real otas would collect the rare ones. Same goes with collectible game cards, which in Japan there are about 10x more variety; finding the rare ones takes skill.

It's ironic that Kona's showing off her l33t skills since just recently she was found with tons of choco wafers from "神羅万象" (Shinranbanshyo) card/snack pack. It means she DIDN'T get the card she wanted and was forced to buy so much packets that she has to give the wafers away. Another thing I found reading otaku blogs is that almost everyone of them said you CANNOT shake the boxes because 1. the store owners will kick you out, and 2. You may damage the precious prize inside. It's fascinating to see L*S otas went against their patron saint. Now I'm not sure exactly which prize/card she was after (and no one in Japan knew either), which is surprising given the number of real world references in the show.

The Ultimate Shokugan for Kagami and Konata: Pocky x Gundam!


Shelf filled with Gundam cards and Shokugan snacks: the kind Kona loves




Otaku in the Media
When Kona was complaining about otaku portrayal in the media, she was refering to the sudden surge of interest in otaku culture in the mass media in the last few years. While there are specials on TV focusing on Akiba or talk shows on Otaku crime, the most popular property was of course 電車男 (Densha Otoko), a story about a 2ch otaku's quest to GET a hottie he rescued from a drunk on a train. Another one was a best selling book called "腐女子彼女" (Fujoshi Girlfriend), an excerpt of a blog in book form written by a regular guy dating a pretty Fujoshi. It's a pretty funny read about his mis-adventure with a fully blown fujoshi who makes Gundam references when she sees fast red cars (Red ones are 3x faster) and steals his credit card so she can buy Fate/stay night game on Amazon (too embarrassed to use her own name!). They generally give good impression of otaku to the rest of the world, so I'm not sure exactly why Kona's still angry.

"Fujoshi Kanojo"'s funny TV CM:

Spoiler for For size. Unhide to view video:

Katsukabe Anime Club
The two guys behind Konata while she's talking about otaku on TV was holding a copy of "涼宮ハルヒの公式" (Suzumiya Hauri no Koushiki) Anime Guide Book. Those two guys actually looked like Computer Club members from Haruhi anime, according to some ota.

Required Otaku Reading



The Exploding Insects
Cultural and Anime references relating to killing insects. First Kona-jiji told Konata about the story of how the Master Swordsman, 宮本武蔵 (Miyamoto Musash), captured a fly with his chopsticks. Musashi is a legendary samurai in Japan, considered by most to be the best swordsman in history. He's won a number of famous duels and lived a long, fruitful life; even wrote a book on swordsmanship and philosophy called the "Book of Five Rings", a tome that's still studied today.

As Kona bare-handedly murdered a mosquito filled with her dad's blood, the sound she made and the flashing graphics is a reference to "北斗の拳" (Hotoko no Ken or Fist of the North Star). That's the sound effect when an enemy is damaged by Kenshiro's Hokuto Shinken. When Kona-jiji trapped another mosquito by flexing his arm, he was then transformed into the Great Kenshiro himself, and performed his most famous line, "お前は既に死んでいる" (You're already dead). This is due to the effect of the Hokuto Shinken, which kills its victim moments after the Shiken was performed on the poor guy by exploding them into a bloody mess. Kona-jiji though the mosquito would suffer the same fate by sqeezing harder, which is of course otaku delusion.

Bad-ass Musashi-dono



Sexy, Manga-Reading Kagamin
The manga Kagami was reading were volume 1-3 of 喰霊 (Garei) and volume 1-3 of 未来日記（Mirai Nikki, The Future Diary). We don't know what game Kona was playing exactly, but some people have said it felt like Kanon, which is definitely possible since it was KyoAni's last big project before L*S.

Great Kadokawa manga you better buy right now!



Sweet Fountain of Aura
The show on TV as the Chibko-sisters were watching TV was a very strange "spiritual" program called "国分太一・美輪明宏・江原啓之のオーラの泉" (Gokubun Taichi, Miwa Akihiro, Ehara Hiroyuki's Fountain of Aura). This is a basically a new age "spiritual" show about ghosts, ESP powers, and past live viewing/fortune telling. Anything relating to the spirit world can be discussed here. It's a show hosted by Gokubun Taichi of the idol group TOKIO, plus a "Preacher of Love" and a "Spiritual Counselor" who can see ghosts. Each week a guest is featured and his or her "spiritual sensitivity" is measured. It's as wacky as they come; I can totally see why KyoAni wanted to mention this show.

While shows about the unknown and the world of the spirits hosted by male idol or grade school children (I'm not kidding here) are super popular on Japanese TV, everyone knows that the only thing more popular than a Johnny's boy is FOOD. There are endless number of foody shows on TV. From food competitions (Douchi no Cooking Show, one of my favorite that has since ended), competitive eating (the big eaters are usually skinny guys or women), celebrity cooking (of uneatable food), cooking on a budget (live one month off 10,000 yen!), cooking your own catch, to comedians eating anything and everything for laughs. But just in case you didn't get enough food, there's a number of specials throughout the year about food. One of these special about Sweets ( a summer favorite) is what Yutaka wanted to watch.

Now one of a well-known (note not popular) "reporter" on the show is a fellow named 彦摩呂 (Hiko Maro), who often are the taster of the food featured on these specials. One of his famous (or rather infamous) line after eating is this line "まるでXXXの宝石箱やぁ～～！！" (It's as if it's a Jewel Box of XXX!). Most people feel this line and all his other line are pretty lame and dishonest, so even KyoAni decided to make fun of it by having him say this line in L*S (He's the dude on TV eating the cake): "まるでスイーツのハレ晴レダンスやぁ～～！！" (It's as if it's the Hare Hare Dance of Sweets!) So now you all know how lame this dude is. But the food featured on these shows are pretty sweet; it really show you how much better Japanese food/cooking is compare to the food show we have here. The Sweets especially.. you have not tasted dessert until you've tried a Mount Blanc cake made from fresh cream and chestnut paste...

I was going to show a photo of that creepy show but a really gorgeous Mont Blanc is better:

[AVPlaya]

Spoiler for Long Post - unhide to read:

Suzumiya Haruhi no 巨乳
The big breasted girl asking you to buy her big-sized soft drink is of course everyone's favorite deity, Haruhi-sama. The can in her hand looks like a coca-cola parody, but I believe it should be a self-parody for the Mikuru Tea drink sold in Akiba recently. There's even sign telling the otaku to "just buy it".

Although most people know about Coka-cola in Japan, Coke doesn't really make their money with cola. Like other beverage companies, their main products are tea, coffee, and sports drink. Cola and other soda don't sell nearly as well.

Tea made by Mikuru!


Bonus: I don't really know which Coke CM they're trying to parody, so here's a Coke (Tea) commercial featuring, eh, similar theme The actress here, Tokiwa Takako, is an dorama actress famous for her, eh, attributes (got a famous nude scene to prove it). Plus 2 extra coke CM - featuring two other popular actresses.

Spoiler for Video - unhide to watch:

Coca Cola Sokenbicha CM - Tokiwa Takako & Nishida Naomi

Coca Cola Sokenbicha CM - Yada Akiko

Cocal Cola Karada Meguricha CM - Hirosue Ryoko

Algae Monster of Hokkaido
When Kagamin was enjoying Misao's ice cream, she said "(It's like) Marimokkori's Eyes!". What she was referring to was how the ice cream made her so happy that her eyes looked like the funny-looking eye of Hokkaido's Mascot character, まりもっこり (Marimokkori). Named after a special local algea, it's a cute green chara with a bulging crotch (see below). Marimokkori is a popular mascot character for Hokkaido; visitors usually brought one home along with other Hokkaido omiyage like the "White Lover" Cookies (the non-stale kind).

Check out his eyes and other interesting bits



How-to Enter ToDai with Manga
When Misao told everyone that she think she can enter Tokyo University, Japan's #1 University and one of the most difficult place to attend in the world, she go the idea by reading a manga called "ドラゴン桜" (Dragon Sakura). The manga was then remade into a highly rated 2005 dorama starring Abe Hiroshi and Johnny's Yamapi (Yamashita Tomohisa). It's basically about a loser of a lawyer who decided that he can help 5 failing students from a crummy school enter Todai with his special training. His "classes" involving mixing sports with rote memorization and ignoring school teachers for subject matter exerts. He also, of course, teachers life lesson to these delinquent kids.

When Kagami was questioning Misao, she was specifically calling her out that such teacher, classmates, environment, and training exist only in manga and TV. It was really a great reference because MANY kids DID believe they have a chance for Todai after watching the dorama. "Hey! Yamapi got in by playing catch while doing chemisty, so can I!". Kagamin is of course, the only one in the room with a real chance at Todai future. Hohoho. I personally liked the show for Abe-san; one of the great Japanese actors unknown to the West. I liked Yamapi in "Nobuta wo Produce", but he's really too Johnny's pretty for me. The show was utterly ridiculous but good acting and style saved it for me.

Abe-sama will MAKE a Todaijin out of you!



Summer Test Preparation
The reason why Konata (and everyone else) is paying attention to Summer assignment this time is because that this particular summer is special. The Summer vacation of a 3rd year HS student is spend doing special home work design to help you review the entire 1st and 2nd year of HS. This is to prepare them for the big tests in a few month. Good schools like Katsukabe would give them a review that's going to really help them do well on the tests, and anyone wanting to be in an elite University has best take advantage of it.

There's a saying: "夏休みを制する者が受験を征する" (Those who controlled their Summer vacation will conquer the test). A student wanting to enter a public college will study for 10 to 12 hours a day. Good schools will even arrange special Summer camp where the students can concentrate on studying all summer long. Still think Japanese school is all fun and games? The Hiiragi girls even said they skipped the Matsuri held by their own Jinja. Even in L*S, the pressure of the 3rd year is evident. It seemed that our little Kona is serious about going to college after all.

Students at a Summer Study Camp:



The Girls and their Eki
This episode finally showed us a couple of JR stations. The following are the new Holy Sites:

Konata's Home Station: 幸手駅 (Satte Eki)

Spoiler for Video of the Satte Eki:

Station for the Big Meeting: 東武動物公園駅 (Toubu Doubutsu Koen Eki)

The sign's changed slightly like the other names:



The Great Lucky Star Hanabi Daikai
By now we now know exactly which city Konata and the Hiiragis live, but we were never told here Miyuki/Minami resided, aside that it's closer to Tokyo. Some of you may know this, but Japan has a special breed of otaku called the Densha-Otaku; the train fanatics. Some of them are also anime-otakus. Some of these hybrid-otas analyzed the train scenes, station location, and clues from the dialog in trying to discover which Matsuri the girls went. Basically there are two candidates, and I'll just post them both. You can be the judge.

First candidate is the famous 江戸川花火大会 (Edogawa Hanabi Daikai) held 8/4 of this year. Over 1.3 million people watched it live and over 14,000 fireworks were used last year. Video links below:

Spoiler for Video - unhide to watch:

The Second candidate is somewhat famous 川崎市多摩川花火大会 (Kawasaki City Hanabi Daikai), held on the 3rd Saturday of August. Video below:

Spoiler for Video - Unhide to watch:

Tsukasa's Quick Quips
She made two one-liner references during the Masuri scetch:

1. When she was trapped by the ticket gate in the stations: "なんじゃこりゃー" (Nanja Koryaa!) It was the last word of Detective ジーパン (Jeans) in a legendary police drama "太陽にほえろ!" (Taiyou ni Hoero!), which was aired from 1972 to 1986.
2. When Tsukasa was scratching her mosquito bites, she let out "かい～の" (Kai-no~~). This phrase is a famous gag line of a popular comedian named 間寛平 (Hazama Kanpei).

She also printed on her paper fan her most favorite thing in the world: "バルサミコ酢" (Balsamic Vinegar). I'm sure KyoAni will have this out for sale any day now.

Hazama-san, Master of low-brow humor:



Lucky Dog
In Lucky Channel, new pretty-boy assistant Ono Daisuke made a reference to the past characters he and Imano Hiromi (Akira's seiyuu) played on the anime "AIR". He was the character 国崎往人 (Kunisaki Yukito) and she was the dog ポテト (Poteto).

Hiromi-chan was so cute...



The Groom's Rumba
The latest Shiraish ED again featured a song written and performed by the great Mr. White Rock. The song, "お婿ルンバ" or "Groom's Rumba" is a parody of a very popular wedding song by 70-80's idol 郷ひろみ (Gou Hiromi), "お嫁サンバ" or "Bride's Samba". I only knew about him because he dated Matsuda Seiko back in the 80's. You can watch the original song below (not the same one I posted before):

Oyome Samba performed by Gou Hiromi back in '84:

Spoiler for Video - Unhide to watch:

[AVPlaya]

I've looked around but I have not yet found this one. Since I have no official ref post for the OP, here it is.

The sideway gun guesture Konata made during the OP, in which she jabs the viewer with her index finger several times, seemed to be a reference to a part of the Akiba-idol group AKB48's dance for their single "Aitakatta". At the end of the chorus, during the line "Kimi ni...", all the girls would point their right hand up in the exact fashion as Konata and point forward as the finish the line.

I believe this is a reference because 1. The song came before L*S started, and 2. We know KyoAni watches idol groups obsessed by the Wotas like Momusu to get their idea for their OP/ED dances. An online discussion revealed that several famous ota-gei movements were performed by the SOS-dan during the full Hare Hare Yukai dance. I'm quite sure they must have viewed all available video on the rising star of the Wota scene - AKB48 - when planning their dancing segments.

You can reference these two videos - the gesture is pretty much the signature move of the song. I'm sure it performed many a moe-death to the otageishi screaming below.

Spoiler for Unhide to view Moe Video:

Aitakatta MV

Aitakatta Concert performance

No I'm not a full fledge WOTA - I just happen to like AKB48. I caught this song accidentally on Youtube once and got hooked. Plus they're quite popular with girls now; even my wife liked them.

[Pellissier]

Added in the episode 1 post.

[PirateSkittles]

Since the season is now finished (hoping for a 2nd season x.x), I went back and re-watched the episodes that aren't completely done in references (according to the list on the first page). So...yeah. These are the references I found that weren't mentioned.

Spoiler for Episode 13:

During Konata's 'Yu-Gi-Oh Poem' game idealisation, she mentioned Semimaru doing a shining attack and Ono no Komachi using a lovely attack.

Semimaru is a poet and musician of the early Heian period. Ono no Komachi was a famous waka poet during the early Heian period, noted as a rare beauty - thus lovely attack.

Coming of age Ceremony: (from wiki) Since 1948, the age of majority in Japan has been 20; persons under 20 are not permitted to smoke, drink, or vote. Coming-of-age ceremonies, known as seijin shiki, are held on the second Monday of January. At the ceremony, all of the men and women participating are brought to a government building and listen to many speakers, similar to a graduation ceremony. At the conclusion of the ceremony, the government gives the new adults money.

In the past, coming-of-age ceremonies were largely reserved for noble and samurai families. A ceremony called genpuku was celebrated for men of such ranks at an age varying from 12 to 16. The equivalent for women was called mogi (裳着, mogi?), and was celebrated for girls between the ages of 12 and 14.

A Asahina Mikuru (battle waitress from the future version) figurine from Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu is on Konata's television.

Kagami mentions that Tsukasa often stays near the Kotatsu. A kotatsu is a low, wooden table frame covered by a heavy blanket, where a table top sits. Underneath is a heat source, often built into the table itself.

Konata's Future: Kagami thinks about possibilities about what Konata could do as a job, and some of them (if not most) are jobs the mangaka of Lucky Star, Yoshimizu Kagami, does. At least the 'using random material' part. xP And when Konata says "Megas smoked cheese-nyoro," it's a reference to Chuyura-san.

Anime Tencho: When Konata finally goes to the register to pay, the shopkeepers all lean over to have a closer look, and their faces are in the style of characters in Keroro Gunso.

Ending: The ending song, of course, is a reference of another of Shiraishi Minoru's roles, Taniguchi. Taniguchi, from Suzumiya Haruhi, sang "Wa-wa-wa-Wasuremono" when he walked in on Kyon and Nagato Yuki.

Previews: The previews for the next episode is narrated by Keroro Gunso characters. The one who is mostly speaking (one who says "Giro-giro") is Corporal Giroro. The invasion of Pekopon is a reference to the Keroro Gunso series: Giroro is focused on invading Pekopon (Earth). Keroro is the one going 'Ge-Gero!'. There's also Tamama speaking. The tree store clerks in the Animate scene are those who voice for Keroro, Tamama and Giroro from Keroro Gunsou.

Spoiler for Episode 14:

Yutaka's Graduation: Kagami asked Yutaka if she received a second button from anyone. That's apparently because giving a girl the second button from your school uniform on the day of graduation is a sign of crazy mad love.

Lucky Channel: "Final Answer", as well as Akira's further lines, are a reference to Hiromi Konno playing the role of the Quiz Show Contestant, when the Hiiragi family was watching Quiz $ Millionaire, the Japanese variant of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.

Lucky Paradise is a reference to Lucky Star's informational ad section, which is basically the same thing as Lucky Channel.

The ending song is Hare Hare Yukai, from Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu. Also a slight reference of him being featured in the series as Taniguchi.

Spoiler for Episode 21:

Yassai Mossai: When Tsukasa is dozing off while doing her homework, she wakes up suddenly and mentions 'Yassai Mossai'. I think that it's a reference to this dance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qn_rI7qGEt4

Pocky: When Kagami buys a little keychain, Konata highly 'recommends' her to buy a box of Pocky.

Wish Tree: Konata says that someone wrote "Konata is my wife." That's a reference to the reception of Lucky Star where a sign was posted up in Washinomiya Shrine that says that exact same thing.

Koizumi: In the bus, Konata talks about Koizumi's character style being in the style of Izam. Itsuki Koizumi is a character from Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu, who realesed a character song album. Izam is a japanese actor and singer.

Souryuuden: During dinner, background voices were talking about a story of four brothers, "Souryuuden". That's a reference to "Gin-Ei-Den Souryuuden", a doujinshi by CLAMP.

Lucky Channel: Hiromi Konno (Kogami Akira) and Ono Daisuke (himself) both voiced in the series 'AIR'. Konno played the role of a dog named Potato, who only says 'picco' (which is why Akira said 'picco'). Daisuke played Yuki, but also Sora the crow. That is why Akira said that Daisuke isn't a crow, and Daisuke said that Akira isn't a dog. It's also the reference behind the previews of the next show, featuring their 'animal talk'.

Ono Daisuke called his corner 'This Week's Maggare', a reference to his role as Itsuki Koizumi from the series Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu. Itsuki Koizumi is an Esper, and one of his character songs was called 'Maggare Spectacle'.

Shiraishi Minoru works at CoCo-ichi, where apparently he serves meat cakes there. xP

[AVPlaya]

All of my EP23 References in 1 post:

===

Spoiler for Long Post, Unhide to read:

=== Part A

Kona's Haruhi Love
Konata's Computer Wallpaper is the picture Haruhi 2nd Season Announcement graphic. It looks like the top half of this:

Where can I find this wallpaper?!


Tsuruya Spam
When Konata discovered that her mailbox is full of spam, she said 「メールがめがっさ溜まってる！」 (Meeru ga megassa tamatteru!, or I've got a LOT of mail!). めがっさ (megassa, a large number), like Nyoron!, is one of Tsuruya-san's trade mark sayings.

Megassa Chaos, a Tsuruya-san only compilation doujinshi



www.tsunderelabulabu.co.jp
It seemed that Konata is busying copying an image folder named TSUNDERE (ツンデレ) from her computer to a.. website? What is she copying? Her secret webcam candid photo of Kagamin? Does she have a pay-only site for the Tsundere Lovers which offers "candid" photos of a certain purple-haired girl with twin-drills? Where do I sign up? NOW we know why she goes to the Hiiragi house all the time now... new source of COMIKET fund no doubt. OKOK She's only copying to her E: drive, but a guy can dream, can't he?

What was that flashing red light in your bathroom, Kona-chan?



The Real Reason the PS3 Failed in Japan
Is due to the fact that Kona-chan's still playing old PS2 games, even while sick at home. If Kona-chan ain't buying, you ain't selling. Them's the rules. Wrapped under her warm and compy futon, Konata is playing one of the best games of 2005, "ワンダと巨像" or "Shadow of the Colossus" in the West. This game became part of Sony's Greatest Hits title, and that's probably the version she's playing.

Cover of the Playstation 2 the Best collection version:



Yet Another Minomonta TV Show
Minomonta-san is the most exposed person in the world - he's on TV on average of 20 hours a week, a world record. That's how popular he is as a host. He does a LOT of shows, including the one watched by Miyuki and her Momma, an daily afternoon house-wife information show called "午後は○○おもいッきりテレビ" (Gogo wa Marumaru Omoikkiri Terebi). It's a show only a house wife or husband would enjoy. In this show, the pink-haired pair learn about the incredible hype surrounding Xylitol, a sugar substitute marketed all over Asia as some magical dental health aid.

Since I can't find a single video on this show, I can only imagine how boring it must be:



The Magic of Xylitol!
Speaking of which, the very next scene we saw Miyuki bought into the hype surrounding this Finnish fake sugar made from wood, and she GET herself a family bottle of the New Lime Mint flavor of Lotte Xylitol Gum (キシリトールガム). Since the darn gum did cause her to visit a dentist needlessly and ended up getting another cavity taken out, I'd say this gum works! I can't believe people who bought into this marketing scam... Xylitol has minimal dental benefits - the best thing it can do is to make gum sweet while not giving you cavity, that's all.

These family bottles are quite handy!


DVD Recoder for Kona
Kona mentioned to Nanako-sensei that she wanted to get a DVD recorder. In Japan, as the sale of DVD players fall, the sale of DVD recorder is rising. It seemed that the DVD Recorder adaptation for the Japanese market is faster than the hard-drive based DVR's North American adaption rate. This is probably because the marketing focus of the major Japanese electronic firms are focused on DVD and nex-gen Blu-Ray and HD-DVD technologies and less on the HD technologies, where Japan has no real tech advantage. I do hope she gets a DVD-recorder for her late night anime.. how did watch ALL those shows without one? Most likely she download them from Winny like everyone else too. But really, HDD recorers are so much better, Kona-chan... don't you know at least one AV-otaku (Audio Visual, not the other one)? Like these new sexy Panny Digas... I know you want a Blu-Ray recorder so this Panny BW-200 HDD/BD hybrid recorder is exactly what you'll need to get all your akiba-kei anime in HD! It's a little expensive but you get to burn your own BD anime collection neh...

Just look at this beauty.. you know you want it, Kona-chan...


=== Part B

Cake-flavored Strawberries
Tsukasa made an interesting observation that the strawberry has a "cake" flavors to it. It's funny because Strawberry Cake is the best selling cake in Japan by far. In fact when people mention ケーキ, the first image that pops up is a creme-layered pound cake with a strawberry on top. Japan is filled with Bakery/Pastry shops selling cakes and other baked-sweets by the piece, and every one of them feature a signature Strawberry Cake. Buying and eating cakes is an everyday occurrence in Japan, that is in contrast with the West where we mostly eat cakes at Birthday parties or eating out in a fancy restaurant. Japanese cakes are also special in that they're mostly sold in pieces, exquisitely encased in its own plastic wrappers. The cream is not very sweet, unlike the diabetes-inducing sugary thing we called frosting here; the cake itself is also light and fluffy, not dense and again, sicken-ly sweet like the boxed cake found on Safeway shelfs. Numerous strategies has also been developed for eating a strawberry cake, as EP1 as eluded to.

In short, Japanese cakes are 10x better than anything in the US, and only select European cities can boast better cakes than the ones found in any normal street in Japan. If you ever go to Japan, please do make sure and visit a Japanese pastry and try a strawberry cake or mount blanc - you will be amazed. Japanese and Asian-style pastry shopped can also be found in large American cities; you just have to know where to find them. This was supposed to be a short entry, but as you can guess, I'm a big fan of Japanese pastries.

These strawberries all taste like cake!



Tsundere Doggie
The show Yutaka watched with the Izumi's after she woke up is a segment of a morning information show ala The Today Show from Fuji TV called "めざましテレビ" (Mezamashi Terebi, or Alarm Clock TV). At every Monday to Friday around 7:54AM, they will do a segment called "きょうのわんこ" (Today's Doggie). In L*S the segment is called "きょうのわんわんわん"; both Wanko and Wanwan are children's term for puppies or dogs. As you might have guessed it, it features a puppy a day to doggie-moe everyone before they go to work or school. The only difference is, The segment is about "Today's Doggie", so only 1 dog is featured per day, yet the show in L*S featured at least 2.

The Dogs Featured on "Today's Wanwan":

• Welsh Corgi- cute, smallish dog with big face and short legs - the Chibi'kko of dogs
• Siberian Husky- Appearantly the Tsundere of dog breeds. Not sure where do they have a "twin tail" though; the Mascot Animal for Lucky Star for the past 13 episodes.

Some video of "Kyou no Wanko":

Spoiler for Unhide to watch Videos of Cute Wanko:

If I bite you, it's because I love you.



Patti Rocks
Patti, like most gaijin-otas, listen to a lot of J-pop music. However, like most of us, she only listen to a band when they have an anime OP/ED, and mostly will only listen to their anime work. For example, Orange Range was the biggest act in Japan back in 04 and 05, and yet most of us here only knows about them because of Bleach. It's a shame, really; I always think that if you dig anime songs, you should also dig right into J-POP/Rock scene and look for non-anime works of a good band/singer.

One thing I'd like to add is that if I'm a gaijin-ota in Japan and I'd like to hide that fact to a non-outlaw Japanese, I would do exactly what Patti did - name these popular mainstream bands but never mention the fact I only listen to their anime songs. Of course I'll never ever bring up names like "Function Junction", "angela" or *ugu* "ALI Project".

I'm going to list all the JPOP/Rock acts Patti listed for Kagami and a mention just 1 anime song from each band; for the complete list go here.

• ORANGE RANGE - BLEACH OP: "*~Asterisk" (This is really not made for Bleach)
• CHEMISTRY - Gundam SEED Destiny OP: "Wings of Words"
• SUNEOHAIR - Honey and Clover ED: Waltz (I LOVE THIS SONG!!!)
• Porno Graffitti - FMA OP: "Melissa" (Awesome song)
• Laraku - FMA OP: "Ready Set Go" among many others (Are they otakus?)
• Jinn - BLOOD+ OP: "Raion"
• Nightmare - Death Note OP: "The World"

We give otaku nightmares


BTW, I have to give Patti's seiyuu props again. When she said "maid" to Kagami the first time, she used correct American English pronounciation, not "ME-I-DO". That's why Patti has to repeat it. Perhaps her OL job has to do work with English a lot, or that she'a good NOVA student.


Kona Ota Compilation
Sine I'm lazy, I'm going to list a bunch of ota references Kona-chan (and some by Kagami/Tsukasa) here:

When Kagami/Tsukasa walked into Kona-chan's room while she's watching anime, Kagami said "Oosu" and Tsukasa said "Meesu". This is supposed to be a reference to "鉄コン筋クリート" or "Tekkon Kinkreet" manga and anime movie. I haven't watched the series even though I wanted to, so I'm not sure but these seemed to be the catch serifu for the 2 main characters.

The Mecha anime with bishounen/shoujo Kona was watching is "機神大戦ギガンティック・フォーミュラ" or "Kishin Taisen Gigantic Formula". The song playing is the OP from the series, "United Force" by seiyuu/singer Kuribayashi Minami (rather catchy).

Yeah! Kona-chan watches us for our moe-ness, not our mecha!



Gamers Deeto
So Konata asked Kagami out on a date, and they went to the Gamers store in Oomiya-ku of Saitama City. There's only 18 gamers in all of Japan, and although this one is in Saitama, from school they would have to travel West to Oomiya Eki instead of North to Satte Eki (Kona) and Higashiwashinomiya Eki (Hiiragi Twins). Since it's out of the way and time-consuming, Kona wanted her favorite Tsundere to go with her. *Holy Site Alert!*

At gamers the girls played a self-referential game. First Kona picked up the Character Single CD for an anime she never "watched". This single CD features Kahlua/Tequila Marjoram of Galaxy Angel Rune or II (a Brocolli property, owner of Gamers). Of course Kona would be feel connected to the slutty Tequila/Kahlua-chan since that's another character played by Hirano Aya. Kagami's eyes just so happen to land on the vol 8 of the "Damashite! Power Puff Gilrs Z" Collector's Edition DVD, of which she felt an instant connection. That's because Kagami's seiyuu, Katou Emiri, also played Hyper Blossom in that series. Sometimes serendipity has some marketing undertone too.

Yes, the entire Galaxy Angel manga/anime/game universe is one of my guilty pleasures.

Do you find me hot now, Kagamin?



Vampires and Small boobs
The light novel Kagami used to annoy Misao with is "レンタルマギカ吸血鬼VS魔法使い" or "Rental Magica: Vampires VS Wizards" I really, really want to watch this anime now.

The nikoniko-eqsue words flying above the girls after Kona proclaiming her breast-based advantage to Minami called the girls "胸ぺったんガールズ", which is a slangy term for "Flat-breasted Girls", a new sub-group for the Lucky*idols. Watch for their new single soon.

Let us remind ourselves why a pair of flat boobies is precious and rare.



Gottouza-sama's Ride
Since we've talked a lot about the origin of Gottouza-sama (gosh I wish we can see more of her), I'm just going to add a bit. Her ride in anime and real life is the Honda CB400 Super Four, in which she has posed with on the cover of her single, "Red Zone". The bike debuted in 1992, and has a nick name of "Project Big 1". It's a 4-cylinder bad boy and capable of 105 mph, which back in 92 is pretty awesome. Honda still make a version of CB400SF, so I'm not sure what year is her lovely bike. I'm pretty sure it's a vintage model though.

Also some info on the kanji sowed on the sleeves and the back her yankee uniform - it's "音舞羅" (nebura) or the kanji-fied name of her radio show "ねぶら".

Oh Ride me, Gottouza-sama!


Also, the song for the ED is of course the battle insert song for "Asahina Mikuru no Kibou Episode 00". I can't believe I missed it because I loved that song. I blame Shiraishi.. the guy can't even hum a song!

[Pellissier]

Updated

@AVPlaya, though my favourite Suneohair's song is Split (H&C2 ED), and I agree about Melissa.

@All: we might as well take that list of all the series mentioned and update it. I'll put it after episode 24's post. Anyone willing to do it? I'm extra busy at the moment (and until the end of the month ^^)

[jsrv]

Episode 19

Originally Posted by AVPlaya

Spoiler for Long post! Unhide to read.:

Melon Pan!
Hiyori's lunch is another otaku staple food called the Melon-pan. It's a sweet-bread that's popular in Japan and Asia. Although mostly green, Melon-pans are not made from melon fruit but it's named after its appearance. It gets its flaky top via a thin layer of cookie dough, while the rest is a sweet bread. Sometimes you can find them filled with custard or other fillings. Melon pan became an otaku favorite since it's the only food Shana from Shakugan no Shana will eat. A version of Melon pan also exist in HK and Taiwan, where its called "Pineapple Bread". It's unclear where the bread originated, but it's pretty much certain that is not Europe.

Also many Westerner will find it strange, but bread is absolutely huge in Japan. Every street has a bakery or sorts and most Japanese eat toasts for breakfast now (as you can tell from anime). IMHO bread in Japan and other part of Asia are 100 x better than the bread in the US, and since they really fuse the best of all worlds, the best bakeries in Japan are even better than the best bakeries in Paris. You really have to visit one of them to really know the incredible variety and flavors Japanese bread offers. Same goes with Cakes and other sweets, but that's another post altogether.

One of the best selling lunch food:



Bizarre Jump
Hiroyi's Awesome Twisting Action is A Reference to ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure), one of the biggest shonen manga ever. At 92 plus volumes, it's also one of the longest. What she was parodying I have no idea; never got into Jojo.

It's bizarre that Jojo never got himself an anime.



Apollo Who?
The two chara in Hiroyi's non-slumping sketches are 王泥喜法介 (Odoroki Housuke) and 牙琉響也 (Garyuu Kyouya) from the DS hit game 逆転裁判４ (Apollo Justice, Ace Attorney in the West). This is the 4th game of the Gyakuten Saiban series, the first 3 is know as "Phoenix Wright, Ace Attorney" in the West. Non-gamers like Yutaka have no idea who they are. Hiroyi is probably going to yaoi them in a doujin... from the looks of it, Odoroki is seme and Garyuu is uke).

Odoroki in the middle, while Garyuu is on top:



Cosplayer in Saitama
The cosplayers the girls meet are of course cosplaying Edward and Roy of "Full Metal Alchemist". The keitai strap "Ed" was holding is Al, Ed's poor body-less brother.

Even cosplayers are cuter in Anime...



Bowling Fun
The pseudonym Fujoshi Hiroyi reserved their bowling lane under was 枢木スザク (Kururugi Suzaku) of "Code Geass - Lelouch of the Rebellion" The CLAMP series seemed to be a favorite doujin target for the BL community.

SOS-Dan Bowlers and their score by the 7th frame:

• HARUHI: 155 (she's good!)
• KYON: 88 (he sucks!)
• YUKI: 129 (she sucked at first but got better)
• MIKURU: 19 (she's there for Kyon's enjoyment)
• ITSUKI: 92 (busy watching Kyon's, most likely)

Spoiler for A little NSFW...:

Okay, I think Suzaku's a uke...

Poster Bug
The poster Yutaka's trying to post is a newsletter from the Nurse's Office on Athlete's Foot (水虫, mizumushi) prevention. Due to the long raining season and the mostly humid condition of an island nation, Athlete's Foot is a problem bothering most people, especially active students. Everyone is taught how to prevent Athlete's Foot in school, and medication for them is a big category in Japan.

An office poster on Mizumushi prevention:



Attack of the 50 foot Yutaka
In our favorite Fujoshi's imagination, Yukata-chan became a gozilla-like monster. The picture she has in her head is a parody of the poster of the 1958 science fiction classic, "Attack of the 50 foot Woman". Compare the anime to the poster below:

I think we'd all prefer a 50 foot tall Yutaka:



YAOI?
These no-ota L*S girl sure know how to ask questions. First we have a question about chinchin, now Yutaka drops the bomb and ask the forbidden question: What is Yaoi. I think most people knows about it, so I'll just post the two possible meanings Hiroyi could have given:

Accepted Definition： "山なし", "落ちなし", "意味なし" (Yamanashi, Ochinashi, Iminashi), signifying the lack of climax, punchline, and meaning in a graphical story about two men having sex.

"Real" Definition ： "やめて", "おしりが", "いたい" (Yamete! Oshiri ga Itai!), signifying what's usually said after the aforementioned men on men sex took place: "Stop! My butt hurts!"

Super Yaoi!



Sea of Trees
In the LC, Shiraishi bragged about being an "outdoorsman" for going to popular vacation spots like Jogashima Island (the location for all the live-action EDs). Akira then mentioned the benefit of "Forest Bathing", a popular excuse for outdoor travel as it was wildly believed that the air in the woods contain a lot of negative ion which will improve your health. I have never heard anyone using this term in the West.

Akira-sama then asked Shiraishi to take a trip to the "Tree Sea of Mount Fuji". The stated reason for the trip was to "fetch her some of Fuji's famous water". While Fuji-san's water is famous for tea-making (quality of water is a huge deal for tea-otakus), the parody here is that in a 1993 special of a very popular comedy show "ダウンタウンのガキの使いやあらへんで!! (Downtown no Tsukaiyaarahende!!) called the 罰ゲーム (Batsu Gemu), where a comedian was punished to goto France to fetch some Evian water from the source. The REAL reason for the trip was that the famous 青木ヶ原 (Aokigahara or"Tree Sea") in the foothills of Mout Fuji is a popular suicide spot for the Japanese. Due to it's location, it's also considered THE most haunted place in all of Japan, inhabited by kami, oni, and ghosts of past victims of suicide. Shiraishi is scared for that reason, but of course Akira-sama just wanted him to off himself while he's there... That's why Akira said "you have past the line of Death." The producers were probably to film his suicide for the finale ED. Oh Joy! I think death of Shiraishi is what many viewer were calling for.

Stuff on Shiraishi's neck: A cross, ring of garlic, and a couple of Japanese charms - all good stuff to bring to a haunted forest.

Spooky!

Good list.

It could just be a coincidence that the tunes sound very similar, but doesn't the BGM that plays when Yukata's trying to put up the poster sound almost something out of Diebuster? (Buster Machine's Sadness? I'm not sure if the original Gunbuster also had a similar sounding track like many of Diebuster's music)

[endlezz]

I am not quite sure, but isnt Konatas teacher (first shown in episode 2, right before the crane game) a reference to Kamio Haruko from AIR? I mean she has the same facial expressions, a fang and the accent.

And in the scene where Konata and Kagami are in the book store, doens QUO card sound a lot like Clow Card?

[bayoab]

Originally Posted by endlezz

And in the scene where Konata and Kagami are in the book store, doens QUO card sound a lot like Clow Card?

They are real items: Quo Cards

[Kyomi]

About episode 16 I'm pretty sure people already talked about it but since it's not in the reference list, about the

[Haruhi cosplayers actualy being the original Voice Actors from the show.
-Kyon clerk (Tomokazu Sugita)
-Yuki Waitress (Minori Chihara)
And of course Konata using Hirano Aya's voice while picking up the girls order]


Meh, not sure if it makes any sense but just throwing it in.

[Dee Eon]

(No need to credit me. Too many others contributed here!)

From Boulder Japanese locals: most jars used in pre-war Japan and some today opened clockwise, as opposed to the West's counter-clockwise so not to be associated with imitating "inferior foreigners." So how can Konata close Yuu-chan's jar by twisting it counter-clockwise? Also, it could be inferred that Yuu-chan being unable to close her jar (a simple act) but makes it crooked is a metaphor for how Westernization has "broken" (or "screwed-up"?) Japanese traditions.

From Boulder Japanese locals: Konata's struggle with the chips bag is very likely a take off of a late-nineties "Tylenol overboard" damages case brought by relatives of an elderly man who was found dead with angina pills in his hand but supposedly couldn't ingest them in time because of an fatal seizure brought on by the struggle to open the bottle's complicated locking cap.

From James Burke's "Connections" PBS TV show tape on Japan's emergence: In Edo days, during the occasional blight (and famine) a succulent such as Japanese sweet potato (as Kagami was eating) was extremely hard to come by, so to offer one to another over one's kin during one was considered an expression of greatest regard. (notice that despite first balking, Konata pigs out on it anyway!)

Minor inconsistency point: Unlike other episodes, in ep 22, Tsukasa's bed is up against a wall instead of perpendicular to it.

Peeking into kitchen, Sou-kun is sweat-drop concerned of Kanata exhausting her frail state while trying to cut a daikon, which can sometimes be as dense as a turnip to dice.

Poor Kanata stops, falters, then drops(?) or passes out while bringing tea to Sou-kun?

Kanata's spirit would've dropped in on a "ghost month" in Japan (a full moon exactly on middle of month) when spirits can be briefly draw down to earth by the recollections and dreams of the living. Kanata must've paid a call more often than the series lets on since she states that she hadn't been there "for a while".

The reason Sou-kun and Yuu-chan and Konata were so upset by Kanata's "spirit shadow" in a photograph (nensha) was because it posed a triple threat; in pre-Edo times people were afraid of ghosts returning to their homes because they would jinx the prospects of their relatives and cast a pall over the house so they'd sometimes torch the room and effects of the deceased to destroy their link with the living, which is mild compared some areas where you purged female ghosts by burning down the hut in which the oldest woman of a family died to ward off her ghost's return (pretty expensive cure); also, since late Edo times a photograph with three people in it is extremely unlucky because the person in the middle will die soon; in late 19th century Japan the big dread among couples was that a photographic session might "capture" a spirit happening by and so cursed you as above and you had to swiftly destroy "the trap" (photograph) to set them free by the same means. In Japan, by and large, it was more the omen the ghosts dragged in with them than the ghosts themselves you had to worry about.


Dee