Nyaruko: Crawling with Love/Trivia

"Mahiro: "I don't need a thousand-faced little sister!""
 * Actor Allusion
 * Nyarko (Kana Asumi) imitates Miya Tachibana's "Nii-nii" while roleplaying as Mahiro's little sister in Episode 3, then when she switches to older-sister mode, she appliex Shizuka Sado's suffix "-chan" onto his name. In Episode 8 she gets to dress up as and even imitate the hairstyle of Popura Taneshima.
 * Additionally, during the Working segment, Eri Kitamura's role as Yachiyo is referred to with the comment about the beautiful waitress with a katana.
 * Yoriko (Aya Hisakawa) has referenced Sailor Mercury's rollcall phrase "[douse yourself in water and] you should apologize" and Catch Phrase "Let's analyze that".
 * The only difference between Cthugha and Isumi Saginomiya are the lines themselves, they have the same delivery.
 * There's a moment early in the second season's first episode when Mahiro tells the three aliens -- yes, including the one voiced by Rie Kugimiya: "Urusai urusai urusai!!!"
 * Colbert Bump: The day the anime hit the airwaves sales of the collected works of HP Lovecraft surged in Japan.
 * Expy: Ato-ko looks like Hirasaka Hatsune in a kimono.
 * Hey, It's That Voice!: From the Drama CDs and anime.
 * Kana Asumi (Nyarko)
 * Eri Kitamura (Mahiro Yasaka)
 * Miyu Matsuki (Cuko)
 * Rie Kugimiya (Hasta)
 * Kikuko Inoue (Yoriko Yasaka)
 * Aya Hisakawa replaces her in the new TV series.
 * Daisuke Hirakawa (Nyar-o)
 * Takeshi Kusao takes the role in the new TV series.
 * Mariko Kouda (Luhi Siston)
 * Satomi Arai as Shanta-kun
 * Mythology Gag:
 * Considering the titular character, Nyarlathotep references are common:
 * In the Mythos, Nyarlathotep can change to a wide range of forms, including some horrific humans. For fans, it's hilarious (but not far fetched) that the unspeakable, world-ending abomination would take the form of a bubbly schoolgirl.


 * The three-lobed red single eye in darkness with bat wings is a form of Nyarlathotep described in The Haunter in the Dark... and a description of Nyarko's Henshin Hero form's helmet.
 * Nyarko's brother, Nyar-o, has a pharaoh-like costume. Another usual trait of Nyarlathotep is being associated with Ancient Egypt (thus the -hotep suffix).
 * Related to the above, Nyar-o's Full Force Form resembles yet another known avatar of Nyarlathotep - The Bloody Tongue - which is encountered in the Call of Cthulhu adventure module Masks of Nyarlathotep.
 * Nyar-o randomly crying out "Tezcatlipoca!". In the Call of Cthulhu RPG, the Aztec deity was also one of the Crawling Chaos' thousand masks.
 * Nyarko's police car is called... the Nephren-Car. Nephren-ka, otherwise known as the Black Pharaoh is, depending on the source (Robert Bloch's Mythos stories or Call of Cthulhu), a corrupt Egyptian ruler using the name of Nyarlathothep, his worshipper, or actually is the Black Pharaoh, another of the thousand masks of the Crawling Chaos.
 * Cuko having a crush on Nyarko is likely a reference to "The Dweller in Darkness" by August Derleth. Nyarlathotep and Cthugha appear in the story
 * Shantak-kun being weak against Nightgaunts. In "The Dream Quest Of Unknown Kadath", Shantaks fear the Nightgaunts. They are the servants of Nodens, hunter of Nyarlathotep's servants. Nodens himself plays a minor role in the tale.
 * The superhero show in episode 1 mentions "Star Vampire Crusaders!" in Gratuitous English. Star Vampires are another mythos species.
 * R'lyeh, the unspeakable, maddening pelagic house of Cthulhu... turns out to be an Amusement Park. The "taxi" taking the heroes to R'lyeh is Dagon, the male leader of the Deep Ones - worshipers of Cthulhu in the Lovecraft tales.
 * The "BLT" sandwich from the first episode turns out to be made of Byakhee, Lloigor and Tsathoggua. Unlike the first two, the latter is not a species, but an individual Great Old One. This may or may not be an error. She might be referring erroneously to the whole species by that name, as most of the individual mythos gods are members of wider species in this series, but generally with an added suffix, not given in this case, to differentiate them from the individual being. But being Nyarlathotep, wanting a specific Great Old One for a sandwich ingredient isn't out of the question either.
 * YOU FOOL, CUUKO IS DEAD! from the fifth episode, is the last sentence in The Statement of Randolph Carter (well, the original says "Warren", not Cuuko).
 * Cthulhu Inc. being rivals to the CCE, Hasta's father's company. This is an allusion to Hastur's and Cthulhu's own sibling relationship.
 * Hasta previous employment as a "librarian at the Celaeno Library". In The Trail of Cthulhu, Library of Celaeno is an repository of elder lore on another planet. Byakhee, the servants of Hastur, infest the place and can take travelers there.
 * Episode 7: "The rats in the walls!"
 * Shout-Out: This anime is like a geek test. Indeed, a blog was specifically set up to catalogue most of the references found per episode. Some of the more obvious Shout Outs in the series can be seen below.
 * The series loves to reference other (yes, there are more) "Moe Mythos" series. In Episode 1, a little figurine on the anime store is the version of Nyarlathotep from the manga Igyou tachi ni yoru to sekai ha.... The cover of the "recalled Eroge" is from Maumi Shoujo R'lyeh ruru light novels. And two girls in Mahiro's class are characters from R'lyeh High School, which shares the same illustrator with this series, Koin.
 * "SAN" is an attribute in the classic Tabletop RPG Call of Cthulhu by Chaosium. You can even see a glimpse of a character sheet and the trademark percentile dice of the Chaosium RPG systems in the first episode, and a Storyteller screen in the ED. The roll shown is accurate as well, illustrating either a legitimate failed SAN roll (with the amount of lost sanity not shown), or the roll for said amount. Incidentally, a d100 like the one shown would be appropriate for seeing Nyarlathotep in one of its monstrous forms.
 * At the sight of Nyarko giving a brutal beatdown on a Nightgaunt, Mahiro looks away, crouches and covers his ears while repeatedly telling himself "I hear nothing...", in the same way as Mio Akiyama.
 * There are more than a few shout outs to Kamen Rider. Nyarko is a big fan of the series and she drops poses and references to the franchise non-stop. You could make a whole subpage devoted just to these references.
 * When Nyarko sends out Shantak-kun poke-ball, she copies Ash Ketchum, minus the hat spinning.
 * In an episode of the first anime series, Cuuko mentions the line "swans look calm but are actually kicking furiously under the water" while a Fender bass guitar floats on the background, a reference to K-On!'s first season ED song lyrics.
 * Nyarko cries names of various Sunrise's Humongous Mecha whenever being attacked by Mahiro (mobile suits' models in first episode, heavy mecha in second). Cuko pulls out CQC Type 100 (Hyaku-shiki) in her first appearance and her telepathic laser drones resemble first generation funnels.
 * The third episode exclamations (Pazuzu, Nalagiri and Tezcatlipoca) are from Shin Megami Tensei (Nyarlathotep is a character there, too).
 * Fourth episode has only one yelp (Eroba!), this one from Fist of the North Star
 * Fifth episode has another single yelp, this time from Kinnikuman (Hell Missionaries)
 * The last (broadcast) episode of the first anime has Nyarko assure Mahiro that everything would be alright as they would erase everyone's memories once they were done. Then she takes out the neuralyzer.
 * Cuko used to play make-believe Saint Seiya in space kindergarten and Nyarko liked to break up make-believe games, earning the nickname of Imagine Breaker
 * Nyarko pulls off an Exterminating Last Bullet.
 * Let's head for the Grand Line!
 * Do you remember our love?. Also, a "superdimensional circus" is better known in this wiki as the Macross Missile Massacre.
 * Nyarko wants to know if Cuko's grandfather was a negotiator in the City of Amnesia.
 * In episode 2 of the anime series, "There's only one reason for your defeat. One simple answer. You... You made me angry., followed with "MUDAMUDAMUDAMUDA" and ended with "Yare yare da ze". For those who don't know the first one, that's what Jotaro said when he defeats Dio.
 * The "MUDAMUDAMUDAMUDA" is also shared with her brother in the next episode.
 * In Haiyoru! Nyaruani, there are portraits of H.P. Lovecraft and August Derleth on the living room walls.
 * In Another Crawling Chaos, R'lyeh has a "Arkham Haunted House". Arkham House was the publishing company operated by Derleth and Donald Wandrei, founded to print Lovecraft's anthologies.
 * A blasphemous hand grenade?
 * In episode 3, Cuko quotes the law of Equivalent Exchange.
 * Also in episode 3, after killing a bunch of Ghouls and Nightgaunts with a chainsaw, Nyarko says, "Once again, I have cut a useless object."
 * Also in episode 3, Nyarko asks Mahiro if he wants her to call him "Nii-nii". That term is frequently used by Miya Tachibana, who, like Nyarko, is voiced by Kana Asumi.
 * Nyarko goes on to make a gununu face when confronted with DK-do 10 year premium anniversary cake. Also from Ichigo Mashimaro, Cuuko's face-plant is a trademark of that series resident twintails, Miu.
 * The vignette that appears in the first episode of the second anime while Nyarko says "Earth, what a terrifying child you are!" is from Glass Mask.
 * The line Nyarko uses to introduce herself to the classroom is from the OP of Braiger (and the music from the Monster Hunter videogame).
 * R'lyehland's mascot, Insmouthboy, looks a lot like another fish-boy, Ponyo
 * The "trapezohedrons are unbreakable" from episode three is both yet another reference to Jo Jos Bizarre Adventure ("Diamonds are unbreakable") and the "shining trapezohedron" from Lovecraft's The Haunter in the Dark.
 * The dog chasing Hasta in episode 4 looks like Marron from To Love Ru, which, like this series, is produced by XEBEC.
 * In the first episode, replace the miso soup bowl with a beer can and you get a perfect reference to Neon Genesis Evangelion Misato Katsuragi's Beergasm moment. Also, Luhi makes the Ikari Gendo pose right down to the Scary Shiny Glasses.
 * Luhi Siston drives a Delorean that leaves fire tracks when reaching warp-speed.
 * Nyarko's car can use a Super Robot Wars-style MAP attack.
 * In the seventh novel, Shantak-kun turns into a little girl with help from Cuuko. Nyarko's reaction is to claim that There's no way my pet can be this young a girl.
 * In episode five Hasta says he wants to "combine" with Mahiro. At the end of the preview for the next episode, Mahiro asks why Nyarko hasn't made a "combine" robot joke this time: Nyarko answers that "it was a little too adult". Of course, there's a Humongous Mecha series where mecha "combining" has a Does This Remind You of Anything? quality, Sousei no Aquarion. Hasta also has an unusually sharp sense of smell, just like Aquarion's Apollo, and he makes an absurdly long-reach love promise with Mahiro, too.
 * It should be noted that gattai can mean just that.
 * In a later episode he goes full circle calling it Final Fusion instead.
 * When Mahiro learns that Hasta had to perform CPR on him and thus has stolen his first kiss, he mutters "No count, no count!" in Gratuitous English, just like Kaoru did in Amagami SS when she accidentally kissed Junichi. That would make it the second Kaoru reference in the series, if you count Nyarko using her belly-exposing stance in episode three.
 * Nyarko follows the Ran Mori school of thinking: karate kicks can solve anything!
 * The Nephren-car can negotiate even Red Canyon and Fire Field! Good thing if you're playing F-Zero.
 * Hasta's father is president of CCE - Carcosa Computer Entertainment. Carcosa is the city associated with Hastur in The King in Yellow, the company full name is Shout-Out to SCE - Sony Computer Entertainment.
 * After giving a Panty Shot to Mahiro (and only him) Nyarko turns and does Machiko's catchphrase "how shameless" and pose (but fully clothed) from Maicchingu Machiko Sensei.
 * Mahiro's mom breaks out her Musou attacks in episode 6.
 * Also in episode 6, Cuuko falls from the sky while wrapped in a futon. She says she was "cordless bungee-jumping," which may be a pun on the series title ("denpa" = wireless radio wave/signal).
 * In Episode 7 Nyarko makes a direct reference to Daitarn 3, then after Mahiro bluntly tells her he doesn't like her, she goes totally pale, then the following Eyecatch shows her slumped on a stool, mimicking the famous scene in Ashita no Joe where.
 * Episode 8 has a heap of them in the Dating Sim:
 * It opens with Nyarko running into Mahiro in a manner similar to the dream sequence from episode 26 of Neon Genesis Evangelion
 * Mahiro and Kuko's first encounter is from Mariasama ga Miteru (except here, it's Azathoth watching over them).
 * Cuuko does a pretty good Ryoko Asakura impersonation, sans the cheerful disposition and plus a BFS for Ryoko's knife.
 * This is immediately followed by Nyarko in a Playboy Bunny getup attempting to play the Lovecraftian version of "God Knows".
 * The restaurant scene is taken straight from Working, complete with Nyarko in a Poplar-esque ponytail.
 * In the fight scene, Nyarko is dressed as Pai Chan, Cuuko as either Kasumi or Mai Shiranui, and Hasta as Bridget. The stats given are their actual ones from the Call of Cthulhu RPG.
 * The Gay Option ending from True Love 95 gets brought up as a possible route by Yoriko, who tells her son that even Yoichi, his Bromantic Foil, might confess to having feelings for him, just like how Kazuhiko Miyoshi, the foil in that game, did the same towards the end of the game if the player was unable to choose a girl for Daisuke.
 * Nyarko, Hasta and Cuuko strike a pose very similar to Keima from The World God Only Knows, complete with glasses
 * The point when Yoichi shows the status each girl, those status' are lines from J Pop songs:
 * For starters Nyarko's status was Advancing Love Heart
 * For ten thousand years and two thousand more Hastur has wanted to combine.
 * Tamao Seriously fell in love 555 seconds ago.
 * Episode 9 features Dagomon.
 * Tamao wields a reflex camera like a gun, referencing the Ichigan Buster.
 * Nyarko sports a Cat Smile and red glowing eyes akin to the infamous Kyubey.
 * The ""On the Next..."" preview for Episode 10 has Nyarko thinking of using Mahiro's voice, exclaiming the "I'm so stupid!" quote of Sayaka Miki, who shares Mahiro's voice actress, Eri Kitamura,.
 * The opening of the second anime season's first episode is alleged by Nyarko to be a video report she's putting together for her superiors, but it's based on the opening credits animation from Bewitched: Nyarko flies around on a broom, then she's shown cooking, Mahiro kisses her cheek and she vanishes, a cat jumps into his arms and turns into Nyarko ... and just about then Mahiro interrupts to protest how thoroughly false all this is.