View source for Cultural Cross-Reference

{{trope}}
[[File:conchiponchi.jpg|link=Shaman King|frame|Say hello to [[The Ren and Stimpy Show|Ponchi and Conchi.]]]]

You're watching the dub of an anime, playing a localized version of an imported game, or reading a book or manga in translation. You stumble across a cultural reference that you're absolutely sure [[Woolseyism|couldn't have been in the original]]—it just seems too culturally out-of-place to have been in the original source. Except that it ''was'' in the original.

Thanks to the increasingly international nature of popular culture, combined with [[Popcultural Osmosis]], an all-too-familiar cultural reference has managed to make its way halfway around the world, showing up in a completely unexpected place.

{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* ''[[Tower of God]]'': Repellista Zahard's door has a sign with [[The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim|Fus Roh Da]] written on it.
* Being a series [[Reference Overdosed|based around pop-culture-themed alternate dimensions]], ''[[Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi]]'' runs up and down the buffet line between western and eastern popular culture of multiple genres.
* The notorious ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeDBIwRe2AE Daicon IV]'' short film made by then-unknown [[Gainax]] animators. The video itself is set to an [[Electric Light Orchestra]] song, and the animators took the opportunity to include as many [[cameo]]s of sci-fi, animation and fantasy characters as possible: not only Japanese [[Sentai]] and [[Anime]] characters show up, but a crapload of Western characters appear as well, including but not limited to the [[The Wizard of Oz (film)|Tin Man]], [[Escape from New York|Snake Plissken]], the female robot from ''[[Metropolis]]'', a Martian from the 1953 film version of ''[[The War of the Worlds (2005 film)|The War of the Worlds]]'', and even...[[Wacky Races|Muttley]]!
* ''[[Risky☆Safety]]''
** There's one line in which the protagonist's relationship is compared to that between [[Star Wars|Anakin and Amidala]].
** Another pair of episodes are titled in a way <s>evocative of</s> ''directly copying'' the Japanese names of the first two movies in the ''[[Austin Powers]]'' movies.
* ''[[Azumanga Daioh]]''
** In a Christmas episode, Osaka rambles in her typical [[Cloudcuckoolander]]ish way about [[Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer]].
** The manga also contains a reference to the movie ''[[Runaway Bride (film)|Runaway Bride]]''.
* ''[[Fruits Basket]]''
** The conflict between Kyo and Yuki is compared to that between another famous cat and mouse, ''[[Tom and Jerry]]''. Turns out that cartoon is quite popular in Japan, the only American series amongst [http://www.animenewsnetwork.cc//news/2005-09-23/tv-asahi-top-100-anime the top 100 animated series in Japan].
** There's also a reference to ''[[Friday the 13th (film)|Friday the 13 th]]'' in the chapter where some of the characters go on a vacation to a cabin in the woods.
* ''[[Pani Poni Dash!]]''...oh God, where to even start?? That show has references to almost ''anything''.
** For instance, a shot-for-shot [[Shout-Out]] to the Catwoman origin scene in ''[[Batman Returns]]''.
** It has several [[Chuck Norris]] jokes in the original Japanese dialogue. This eventually culminates in a still of Chuck Norris' character lying dead after his fight with [[Bruce Lee]] in that one movie.
** And then there is the ''[[Discworld]]'' reference in episode 15 with Himeko as A'Tuin.
** Hell, episode 15, wherein the class is trapped on a bus teetering on the edge of a cliff, seems to be based on an episode of ''[[South Park]]''.
** And the repeated references to ''[[Full Metal Jacket]]''. Someone ''really'' loves that movie, goddamn. "This private's rifle is named Charlene, sir!"
** And a shout out to Carl Lewis in one of the chalkboard gags. The DVD covers are also strongly referential; you have Becky dressed up as [[Terminator (franchise)|The Terminator]] and Slash from Guns n' Roses, and in one of the eyecatches she dresses as the Bride from ''[[Kill Bill]]''. Another scene transition features the manly Mesousa as Jack Torrence from ''[[The Shining]]'' and Akane Serizawa as ''[[Franchise/Spider Man|Spider Man]]''. Later that same episode, you have scene transitions that feature the cast as the cast of ''Armageddon'' and ''Ocean's Twelve''. Episode 20 opens with a montage featuring a [[Captain Ersatz]] version of the ''[[Star Wars]]'' movies.
** And episode 19 features Himeko talking about [[Hellboy (comics)|Hellboy]] and [[Daredevil]]. And in another episode, an [[Info Dump]] is given by the girls as the Tracy family of ''[[Thunderbirds]]'', complete with the blinking-eye paintings.
** Then there's Colonel Sanders, and Alien Captain is [[Star Trek: The Next Generation|Captain Picard]]. This is taken to the extreme in the last few episodes, where the Alien Captain and both Alien Subordinates have straight up become Picard, Riker, and Geordi physically, except wearing sunglasses to provide plausible deniability as to their identities.
*** As the pop-up trivia track on the original US release reveals, the Captain is even voiced by the same man who dubbed Picard in Japanese.
* ''[[Dai Mahou Touge]]'' references ''[[Platoon]]'' and ''[[Apocalypse Now]]'', among others, during a sequence showing how Paya-tan saves the entire area from a nuke that Punie summons up because she can't pass a test.
* ''[[Anne of Green Gables]]'' is surprisingly well-known in Japan; it helps that an anime series was based on it. For example:
** ''[[R.O.D the TV]]'', as part of the bond between one main character and her best friend.
** [[Pollyanna|Kafuka]] is compared to her in the first episode of ''[[Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei]]''.
** Referenced and quoted a couple times in ''[[Wandering Son]].''
* ''[[Little Women]]'' is also surprisingly well-known in Japan, being adapted into at least 3 anime movies and mini-series, not including ''[[Burst Angel]]''.
** Lillian's Drama Club do a stage version of it in the fourth season of [[Mariasama ga Miteru]]
** Well, ''[[Burst Angel]]'' just used the main characters' names, actually.
* Two words: Colonel Sanders. The founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken has shown up everywhere from ''[[Slayers]]'' to ''[[Project A-ko]]'', usually in the form of the statue that apparently stands in front of every KFC in Japan.
** ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' in particular has a glaring example: Albiero Imma enters a tournament under the name "Ku:nel Sanders" and insists that everyone refers to him by that name.
** ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro ni]]'' sees Keiichi helping Rena retrieve a discarded Kenta-Kun doll (Colonel Sanders statue) from the dump [[I'm Taking Her Home with Me|because she thinks it's cute]].
** The ridiculous propensity of the Colonel's popularity is almost a case of real life Cultural Cross-Reference. Firstly, for the role of one of those famous statues in the long-standing ''Curse of the Colonel'' haunting the Hanshin Tigers, and the very means of KFC's popularity in Japan: Due to the sheer lack of turkeys in Japan, KFC promoted its fried chicken as the closest thing to an honest-to-god classic Christmas Dinner. [http://www.longcountdown.com/2006/11/27/its-a-kfc-christmas/ It's overwhelming enough that not only is fried chicken now considered the Japanese Christmas staple (enough that you need RESERVATIONS to make sure you have a dinner to take home on the holidays)]...but that it's ingrained enough that some in Japan actually believe the company to be natively Japanese.
*** [[Incredibly Lame Pun|Kyoto Fried Chicken]]?
* ''[[Project A-ko]]'' also contains cameo appearances by [[Superman]] and [[Wonder Woman]]...as ''the title character's parents''.
* ''[[Urusei Yatsura]]''
** At least a third the episodes in the anime have an obvious Superman pastiche somewhere in the background—and in one episode as a throwaway one-shot character. (In one sequence where Ataru was fantasizing about all the "cool alien babes" at a celebration he had been invited to, one of the "cool alien babes" was obviously Supergirl in her 1960's blue dress.)
** ''Urusei Yatsura'' also frequently features background cameos from [[Batman]], [[Frankenstein]], [[The Wolf Man]], etc. in addition to similarly iconic Japanese characters ([[Kamen Rider]], [[Ultraman]], and so on). Episode 54, "The Big Year-End Party Lum Is Planning!" takes the cake, with references to [[Sherlock Holmes]], [[The Lone Ranger]] ("Hi-ho Silver!"), [[Arsène Lupin]], and an ''[[Arabian Nights]]'' style genie, in addition to the aforementioned background cameos and a host of native Japanese references. ''UY'' loved its Shout Outs.
** Episode 89 also made an [[Star Wars|"It's a]] [[Memetic Mutation|TRAP!"]] reference over two decades before anyone else. It's part of a fantasy sequence that's basically one big reference to ''[[Return of the Jedi]]''.
** There are many episodes where Onsen-mark reads various bits of English to the class; in one of these (specifically, episode 139), what he says is "[[The Beatles (band)|Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away. Now, I need a place to hide away. Oh, I believe in yesterday.]]" (Incidentally, the song does not have that exact sequence of lyrics; it is parts of two different verses mixed together.)
* ''[[Lucky Star]]'' in one scene references ''[[The Karate Kid]]''.
** Many viewers were surprised when the clock/split-screen style of ''[[24]]'' was parodied while the cast was preparing Konata's birthday party. Apparently, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_swFUVeVKo Jack Bauer is just as popular in Japan].
** And then there was Episode 9, where the girls went to see ''[[Saw]] III''. Unsurprisingly, Tsukasa didn't enjoy it much.
* The "walls of Jericho" bit from ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'' (see [[This Is My Side]]) would qualify. It's quite obscure (and at first appears to be part of the show's [[What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic]] vibe) but is in the original version and refers to the [[Clark Gable]] film, ''[[It Happened One Night]]''.
** Voice actress Yuko Miyamura compared the experience of playing Asuka with being Anne Sulivan (Helen Keller's teacher, see ''The Miracle Worker'') in an interview later reprinted in the English Language edition.
** Being a Gainax production, ''Evangelion'' is ''packed'' with references to popular and classical culture from around the world. The Judeo-Christian themes and imagery are only the tip of the iceberg. See the [[Shout-Out]] list on the series page for more details.
* Kouta of ''[[Elfen Lied]]'' once wore a T-shirt with a [[Batman]] logo.
** And Nana from the same series sometimes wears a hoodie with a little [[Pac-Man]] logo on it.
*** Though Pac-Man is originally a Japanese series. It's [[Germans Love David Hasselhoff|not as popular in its home country]].
* Tsubaki Domyoji uses an obscure quote of Ernest Hemingway's (which Tsukasa proceeds to mutilate in his typical fashion) in the j-drama ''[[Hana Yori Dango]]''.
* ''[[Full Metal Panic!]]''
** In the first episode, one of the things in Kaname's school bag is a copy of ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy|So Long and Thanks for All the Fish]]''.
** Not the only ''Hitchhiker's'' sighting in an anime, either. One blackboard gag in ''[[Pani Poni Dash!|Pani Poni Dash]]'' mentions The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.
** Chidori also likes to watch a mashup of what seems to be [[Spider-Man]] and [[Lone Wolf and Cub]] (or any other shogun series)called ''Spider Detective''.
** In the [[Light Novel]] series upon which the anime is based, Mardukas is a fan of ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]'', as indicated by his threatening to inflict punishments like "Silly Walk" and "teaching self-defense class with a banana" on Sosuke. These were mostly removed from the anime for fear that nobody would get the reference, except for one instance that ends up a double [[Shout-Out]] - a parody of the famous ''[[Psycho]]'' shower scene, with the stalker wielding a banana.
*** Although it's important to realize that the first Monty Python movie, ''And Now for Something Completely Different'', while a huge flop in the states and Britain, made mad money in Japan. And, indeed, the "self defence against fresh fruit" sketch is included therein.
** One episode of ''Fumoffu'' has Sosuke training the school's rugby team. Sosuke trains them in the style of a Marine Sergeant, a lot of his dialogue comes from Gunnary Sergeant Hartman of the similarly named ''[[Full Metal Jacket]]''.
** "Tokko Yarou?", the series' Next Episode Preview song, is a [[Suspiciously Similar Song]] version of ''[[The A-Team]]'' theme song.
* ''[[FLCL]]''
** The infamous ''[[South Park]]'' sequence in episode 5. Interestingly, in the US DVD commentary, director Tsurumaki mentions that when they made that episode (in 2000), nobody in Japan had ever heard of ''South Park'', so the reference went completely over viewers' heads.
** Freeze-frame and you can also catch a ''[[Hellboy (comics)|Hellboy]]'' brand pencil case in one episode.
** Haruko name drops [[Jimi Hendrix]] and [[Paul McCartney]] near the beginning of episode 5. Yes, it's in the Japanese script too.
* The beginning of the ''[[Geobreeders]]'' OVA features a bad guy in an [[Professional Wrestling|nWo]] hoodie.
* In ''[[Shaman King]]'', the characters Ponchi and Conchi (pictured) bear a striking—and wholly intentional—resemblance to ''[[Ren and Stimpy]].'' (The artist, not surprisingly, is a fan.)
* In ''[[Potemayo]]'', the amount of [[Ho Yay]] between [[Those Two Guys]] is only aided by the way one of them refers to ''[[Brokeback Mountain]]'' and says, "Isn't friendship between men beautiful...?" In another episode, two students discuss the plot of the movie ''Some Like It Hot''—turning out to be a [[Meaningful Background Event]], as the main character is forced to wear a [[Wholesome Crossdresser|girl's outfit]] after his own clothes got dirty.
* As well as Anne of Green Gables being mentioned above, there are references to the band Kiss, Bob Ross, and ''[[Hellboy (comics)|Hellboy]]'' in ''[[Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei]]''. [[Michael Jackson]] even got a cameo appearance in the OVA.
** One blackboard gag references Hiro and Sylar from ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]''.
* [[Comic Book Adaptation|In the manga that leads]] to ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS|Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Striker S]]'', the trainees of the Ground Forces Military Academy are seen using one of the [[Sound Off|cadences]] from ''[[Full Metal Jacket]]''.
* Kotomi of ''[[Clannad (visual novel)|Clannad]]'' is quite fond if this. Her often repeated "Day before yesterday I saw a rabbit, and yesterday a deer, and today, you." is a quote from [https://web.archive.org/web/20080513144815/http://www.scifi.com/scifiction/classics/classics_archive/young2/young21.html The Dandelion Girl]. Also, for her [[Magical Girl]] incantation, Kotomi uses an invocation from the De Vermis Mysteriis, a grimoire found in [[H.P. Lovecraft]]'s [[Cthulhu Mythos]].
** When Tomoya asks Fuuko [[It Makes Sense in Context|to act like a zombie]], Fuuko acts like zombies in [[Michael Jackson|Thriller]]
* In ''[[Hayate the Combat Butler]]'', when the show isn't referencing Japanese television, it throws in a few American references to shake things up. In one instance, there's a very obvious ''[[Knight Rider]]'' parody.
** In fact, the series at one point makes reference to Neverland, and briefly features Michael Jackson.
* Learning foreign ship-naming conventions (or knowing who to ask), seems to be a common manga-ka talent. ''[[Ah! My Goddess]]'' plays with this by naming a submarine in the "Terrible Master Urd" arc USS Sea Monkey.
** ''[[Full Metal Panic!]]'' has several scenes where the Mithiril sub plays games with the USS Pasadena ([[wikipedia:USS Pasadena (SSN-752)|no such boat, but it is a Los Angeles Class...clever]]).
** There's also the food stand ''Ohio'' that sells ''Trident'' (missile-shaped instead of fish-shaped) bean pastries. Punning on Ohio being a homonym for ohayo (good morning/''it's early'' and the class name for the USA's "boomers" (which carry Trident missiles).
* ''[[Genshiken]]'' once had someone compare Kasakube to an elf character from ''[[Record of Lodoss War]]'', and she responded by talking about the elves from ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' (probably the movie).
** Also, the ''[[24]]'' ticking clock when preparing for ComiFes.
* In addition to all its references to other anime, ''[[Suzumiya Haruhi]]'' also has quite a few cross-cultural shout-outs, to things like the ''[[Hyperion]]'' novels (one of which Yuki is seen reading a hides a message in) and ''[[Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead]]''.
** Shout Outs? More like source material. Often whatever Yuki is reading has something to do with the plot at hand, as if she's studying up on what Terran literature has to say about the situation. Haruhi herself transcends the concept of [[Genre Savvy]] and sits as a God above all tropes. "Essays could be written here" doesn't even begin to describe the vast amount of references within the franchise. There are even musical ones, notably during the finale which plays Mahlar's "Symphony of a Thousand." The lyrics of the [[Ominous Latin Chanting]] is not only important to the scene at hand frame by frame, but to the franchise overall.
** Kyon name-drops [[H.P. Lovecraft]] in [[The Movie]].
** The bit where Yuki is communicating with Kyon via the computer (Sleeping Beauty) surely has to count as a [[Shout-Out]] to [[The Matrix]] (Follow the white rabbit).
* ''[[Excel Saga (manga)|Excel Saga]]'' has all sorts of references to western pop culture, including an [[Homage]] to both several pieces of anime and western animation in episode 17.
** In volume 19 of the manga, this exchange occurs:
{{quote|'''Iwata:''' Wind, clouds, and the sun! Tell me if you have a thought!<ref>The editor's notes mention that this is a reference to ''[[Choujinki Metalder]]''.</ref> What is love?
'''Sumiyoshi:''' [[Funetik Aksent|Ah aanly knaa]] [[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy|th' answaa t' life, th' universe, an everything. It's 42.]] }}
** In volume 18 (?), when Iwata's coworkers asked him how much the (spoiled) meat they'd just eaten cost, Iwata answered, in English, "Priceless", in an apparent reference to the MasterCard ads.
* The cockpit of one Gunmen in ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]'' has a freeze-frame cameo of ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants|Squidward Tentacles]]'' of all people.
* Nearly half the episodes of ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]'' [[Idiosyncratic Episode Naming|are named after]] songs in English (Wild Horses, Speak Like a Child), the only one that's not named after one exactly is "Stray Dog Strut" (a play off of "Stray Cat Strut").
** ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]'' is ''filled'' with these. During the course of the series, the main characters fight bounties named after Babe Ruth, [[The Blues Brothers]], and [[Disney|Huey, Dewey, and Louie]], and one clearly modeled after [[Woody Allen]] and named after [[Blade Runner|Deckard]]. The episodes include the ''[[Alien]]'' parody, the [[Blaxploitation]] episode (which features not only parodies of ''[[Foxy Brown]]''/''Cleopatra Jones'', but also ''[[Shaft]]'' and the [[Spaghetti Western]] ''[[Django]]''), and an homage to ''[[Batman: The Animated Series]]''. And, of course, there's a strong influence from Westerns, as the title implies. And in one episode, the bounty head was one Baker Poncharello, named after the cops from ''CHiPs''.
*** And of course the three old guys who randomly show up on every single planet (and the movie) are named [[w:Antônio Carlos Jobim|Antonio, Carlos, and Jobim.]]
* The opening of Chapter Three of ''[[Highschool of the Dead]]'' features a blond, goateed gas station attendant standing at his cash register. He wears a white shirt, a red tie, and a nametag reading (in kanji) "Saimon". If all of this still doesn't [[Shaun of the Dead|clue you in]], there's a cricket bat resting against the wall behind him.
* In Chapter 10 of the [[Yonkoma]] strip ''Inaba of the Moon & Inaba of the Earth'', one of the few official derivative works in the ''[[Touhou]]'' series, child historian Akyuu asks resident moon rabbit Reisen if it was true that youkai rabbits could [[Killer Rabbit|decapitate prey with their teeth]] and if their weakness was [[Monty Python and the Holy Grail|Holy Hand Grenades.]] If that wasn't enough, the title of the strip translates to ''[[Alice in Wonderland|Vorpal Bunny]]'' and the hand grenade in question is spelled, in English, ''[[Wizardry|HHG of Aunty Ock]]''. This, asked of a character whose game was inspired by a classic Japanese folk tale.
* Probably the strangest reference out of them all, ''[[Digimon]]'' season two had an episode that was one long shout out to the [[Cthulhu Mythos]].
* The sixth episode of ''[[Gun X Sword]]'' opens with a parody of the opening to ''[[Pulp Fiction]]''. Adding to the reference, the female robber in the pair is nicknamed "Honey Cherry", real first name Bunny; in ''Pulp Fiction'', the female robber is "Honey Bunny"...
* ''[[Cromartie High School]]'' has one student named Freddie, who looks an awful lot like Freddie Mercury from ''[[Queen]]''. In the live-action movie adaptation, just to be certain everybody got it, they play a [[Suspiciously Similar Song]] version of "Another One Bites The Dust" when he appears on-screen.
* ''[[Keroro Gunsou|Sgt. Frog]]'': Giroro screaming "[[300|This]] [[Punctuated! For! Emphasis!|is!]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfS6lXtGhA8 SPARTA!]" as a battle cry. It's also an [[Actor Allusion]] when you realise who dubbed Leonidas in the Japanese dub of ''300''.
** Also, in the manga, Natsumi is seen with a Bubbles (from ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]'') keychain hanging from her bag. Then in the thirteenth volume, the chairman of the Pokopen Concealed Alien Friendship Association greatly resembles Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup (connected by the hands to form a single entity.)
* In the second ''[[Lupin III]]'' TV series, one episode involved Lupin and Jigen breaking into some sort of government building. Two of the secret passwords to open the door are Beatles references. (strangely, the dub replaces these with ''[[Star Trek]]'' references)
* In ''Secret of Cerulean Sand'', we see one of the guards reading ''Amazing'' Magazine.
* The first season of ''[[Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex]]'' is chock-full of references to J. D. Salinger, particularly the story "The Laughing Man" and ''[[The Catcher in The Rye]]''. The mysterious hacker at the center of the plot is apparently a fan; he took his name from the former and the quote in his logo from the latter.
* In ''[[Vandread]]'', Dita greets Hibiki (whom she believes to be an alien) with the hand signals from ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind''.
* In ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam Wing|Gundam Wing]]'', Relena compares Heero Yuy to [[The Little Prince]]. And that's not even going into all the references to ''[[The Wizard of Oz (film)|The Wizard of Oz]]''.
** The prologue of the manga ''Gundam F90'' has a transport ship named ''[[Star Trek|Kobayashi Maru]]'' destroyed by mysterious forces, foreshadowing the main plot.
** In ''[[Mobile Fighter G Gundam|G Gundam]]'', the Japanese warships are shaped like the Enterprise but with spherical main hulls; of course, the show's director is an unabashed ''[[Star Trek]]'' fan, even putting himself in a ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation|TNG]]''-era uniform in the second opening.
** ''Advance of Zeta'' names all of its experimental mobile suits for the characters of ''[[Watership Down]]'', with Hazel being the primary Gundam and Woundwort being the [[Super Prototype]] to end all Super Prototypes.
* Ama-warashi of ''[[×××HOLiC]]'' wears a Victorian-style black dress and flies around using an umbrella, in a clear imitation of [[Mary Poppins]].
** The manga also has Yuuko making a reference to Casshern and Watanuki mistaking for a ''[[Star Wars]]''. The translation notes at the end of the Del Rey edition go out of their way to point out that it was indeed that way in the Japanese language version as well.
* ''[[Bleach]]'' contains numerous references to the band Nirvana, of which the author is a fan, [[Word Salad Title|possibly including the title]] which was the title of one of their albums.
** This is an especially prevalent facet of the series in the early manga volumes, where Ichigo idolizes [[Al Pacino]] and Chad's theme song is "No Song Unheard" by the Hellacopters.
** More recently, some shadowy monsters in the anime are clearly the characters from the first wave of ''[[Transformers Animated]]'' toys.
* ''[[One Piece]]'' has [[No Celebrities Were Harmed]] version of several western celebrities including [[Jim Carrey]] (Franky), Michael Jackson (Jango), and <s>possibly</s> Eminem (Eneru). Emporio Invankov basically [[Expy|just is]] [[The Rocky Horror Picture Show|Dr. Frank-N-Furter]]'s [[Evil Twin|Good Twin]].
* In ''[[Naruto]]'', Hachibi (the eight tails) uses the phrase "[[Muhammad Ali|Fly like a butterfly...sting like a bee]]".
* ''[[Slayers]] Revolution'' has a pirate captain who looks like [[Pirates of the Caribbean|Jack Sparrow]].
* ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' has several others besides the Colonel Sanders mentioned above. For example, when the characters are talking about the existence of [[Time Travel]], the background shows pictures of a [[Terminator]] shortly after a time jump and the [[Back to The Future|DeLorean]]. In a later arc, when Akira and Natsumi are talking about their situation, Natsumi makes a censored reference to ''[[The Matrix]]'' when she mentions the possibility of being trapped in a Virtual Reality machine.
** The Cassiopeia [[Time Machine]] itself was named after a mysterious time traveller's turtle from the German fantasy novel ''[[Momo]]'' by [[Michael Ende]]. In fact there are several western literature referenced in the manga. For instance, Negi found ''[[Earthsea Trilogy|A Wizard of Earthsea]]'' in a bookshop while he was looking for more novels with a mage hero.
** Not to mention that all the members of the treasure hunter group that Nodoka joins [[Shout-Out Theme Naming|are named after characters]] in James P. Hogan's ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20110907032616/http://www.webscription.net/10.1125/Baen/0345301072/0345301072.htm Inherit the Stars]''. Also featuring a rare [[Shout-Out]] to ''[[Ghostbusters]]'': [http://www.mangafox.com/manga/mahou_sensei_negima/v09/c074/11.html they're totally wearing proton packs].
** Heck, the [[Big Bad]]'s ultimate ability, "Code Of The Lifemaker", is also the name of a James Hogan [[wikipedia:Code of the lifemaker|novel]].
** At one point Tosaka [http://www.mangafox.com/manga/mahou_sensei_negima/v27/c245/5.html is seen reading] [[wikipedia:Charles Baudelaire|Walter Benjamin's translation of Charles Baudelaire.]] Talk about obscure...
** [http://www.mangafox.com/manga/mahou_sensei_negima/v30/c274/12.html Haruna name drops] ''[[H.P. Lovecraft|Cthulhu]]''.
** And in the ''[[Alternate Continuity|Negima?! Neo]]'' series, Asuna is obsessed with the Chupacabra of all things.
*** Also in ''Negima?!'' there was a ''[[South Park]]'' parody. The style was more so chibi then straight SP however it was obviously a parody, down to the <s>South</s> "Sayoth Park" sign and "Oh my god! [[They Killed Kenny|They killed]] [[Cute Ghost Girl|Sayo!]] You bastards!" scene.
* [[Ken Akamatsu]]'s previous series, ''[[Love Hina]]'', had a lot of ''[[Star Wars]]'' [[Shout-Out|Shout Outs]], such as the license plate on Seta's van being "R2-D2", and lightsabers make several appearances.
* In ''[[Nerima Daikon Brothers]]'', one of the villains is a ''very'' [[No Celebrities Were Harmed|thinly veiled parody]] of Michael Jackson. He's building a theme park, dresses up like Peter Pan, insists on calling the female lead "Wendy", has a group of mooks that are basically mummies that dance "Thriller", and is revealed to have a fake nose which later falls off, revealing nothing but an empty hole.
** And a lot of ''those'' elements are taken directly from the infamous "Mr. Jefferson" episode of ''[[South Park]]''.
* In the ''[[Saki (manga)|Saki]]'' anime, the book that the title character was reading in the first episode is shown to be ''[[The Lord of the Rings|The]] <s>Lord</s> [[Japanese Ranguage|Rord]] [[The Lord of the Rings|of the Rings]]''.
* Miyako of ''[[Hidamari Sketch]]'' is able to quote Western classics like [[Mother Goose]] rhymes or ''[[The Gift of the Magi]]'' at will, [[Adaptation Exaggeration|especially in the anime]]. Certainly, her co-tenants don't understand them at all.
* One episode of ''[[Godannar]]'' has Shinobu telling to Anna the plot of [[wikipedia:The Miracle of Marcelino|Marcelino Pan y Vino]], an old-ish Spanish book that is [[Adaptation Displacement|more popular for its film adaptation]].
* ''[[JoJo's Bizarre Adventure]]''
** The series has so many Western music references, most from 1980s rock, that it's actually rare for anything from Japanese media to be referenced at all. Especially with character names like Robert E.O. (or REO) Speedwagon, Dire Straits, and Tom Petty.
** They even go meta; Joseph Joestar is seen listening to [[The Beatles (band)|The Beatles]] "Get Back" on his cassette player twice, which is where the "JoJo" in the title comes from.
** For that matter, Stands were inspired by an issue of ''[[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]'' where Professor X fights the Shadow King using spectral avatars of themselves.
* In ''[[Maison Ikkoku]]'', tennis coach Shun Mitaka names his dog "McEnroe".
** Also there's a character who owns several dogs and is named Asuna [[Cujo|Kuj]]ō. Might be a coincidence, since Kujō is a real surname that fits the [[Numerical Theme Naming]].
* ''[[Kikaider|Android Kikaider]]'' begins with a retelling of ''[[Pinocchio]]''...and the references to that story don't end there. Indeed, one reference is specifically to Disney's version of the story: Kikaider's conscience circuit is known as ''Gemini''. (Get it?)
* One bit in the seventh episode of ''[[Maria Holic]]'' references MasterCard's "priceless" commercial campaigns, complete with "priceless" in [[Gratuitous English]].
* One of the ''SD [[Gundam]]'' shorts is a full-on parody of ''[[Wacky Races]]'', with ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ|Gundam ZZ]]'' villains Yazan Gable and Gemon Bajack taking the places of Dick Dastardly and Muttley, complete with the costumes and gadget-laden car.
** It seems [[Wacky Races]] has enjoyed some cult popularity in Japan; apart from the Daicon IV video and SD Gundam, ''[[Asobi ni Iku yo!|Asobi Ni Iku Yo]]'' also features an [[Expy]] of Muttley as the villain's sidekick.
* ''[[Red Garden]]'' has a reference to the [[Seinfeld|Soup Nazi]], of all things. But the characters ''are'' Americans in New York, so why not.
* The last episode of ''[[Nurse Witch Komugi]]'' featured a cameo of Luke and Blubber Bear in the Arkansas Chuggabug, late of ''[[Wacky Races]]''.
* Virtually everything in ''[[Eureka Seven]]'' is a reference to some English-language cultural thing. Renton is named after the main character from ''[[Trainspotting]]'' and his last name, Thurston, is taken from Thurston Moore of [[Sonic Youth]]. His father Adrock and his associates are based on the [[Beastie Boys]], Jobs and Woz are named after Apple cofounders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, Dr. Greg "Bear" Eagan is named after Sci-Fi authors Greg Bear and Greg Eagan, Gidget and Moondoggie are named after the characters from the movie ''Gidget'', LFO, the show's mechs, are named after the British techno pioneers, Ray and Charles Beams are named after Ray and Charles Eames and maybe Ray Charles, every episode is named after a song...
** I recall a mention of the Sacred King and the Lake of Niemi—which are right out of ''The Golden Bough.''
* In one [[Shout-Out]]-crammed page of ''[[Akumetsu]]'', amongst all the various Japanese references, is...[[Star Trek: The Next Generation|Picard and the Enterprise]]?! [https://web.archive.org/web/20100109113219/http://www.onemanga.com/Akumetsu/16/17/ See for yourself.]
** Akumetsu in general is crammed with references, almost entirely by virtue of Shou's weird taste (and possibly 'his' attempts at populism), but most of them are to Japanese television. Periodically a Cultural Cross-Reference works its way in there, simply because whatever-it-is is big enough in Japan to contribute to the mood.
* In the ''[[The Electric Tale of Pikachu|Electric Tale of Pikachu]]'' manga, Ash mentions offhandedly that he gives his Pokémon nicknames but never really uses them. Pikachu's nickname is Jean-Luc Pikachu; he even has a Starfleet insignia on his chest when this is revealed.
* While not prevalent in the animation, the visual style of much of the illustrations for the original ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam]]'''s supplementary materials, particularly ''MSV'', appears to be based on animated Soviet sci-fi shorts such as ''[[Firing Range]]''.
* ''[[Ranma ½]]'' has the [[Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs]] training technique called "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire", the name of which is taken from the lyrics from "The Christmas Song" (written by Mel Tormé and Bob Wells, performed by Nat King Cole).  (This, however, is a [[Woolseyism]] from the English translation; the original name of the technique is ''Kachū Tenshin Amaguriken'', which is rather more literally translated as "Imperial Roasting Chestnuts in the Fire Fist".)
* ''[[Megazone 23]]'' Part 2 briefly features ''[[Thundercats]]'' and ''[[Silverhawks]]'' pinball machines, and has "[[Blue Devil]]", [[The Wonderful Wizard of Oz|"Frank Baum", and "Dorothy"]] on computer screens.
* The ''[[Kare Kano]]'' manga contains [http://www.mangafox.com/manga/kare_kano/v09/c041/4.html a reference] to the [[Stephen King]] novel and film ''[[Carrie]]'', using it as a visual-only metaphor for someone snapping under the strain of having perfectionist, controlling parents.
** One episode of the anime has characters playing [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnhi6mnz4Lk Uno], complete with licensed card images.
* In ''[[Kimagure Orange Road]]'', there's a couple that's constantly quoting the "Wherefore art thou" dialogue from ''[[Romeo and Juliet]]''. Surprisingly, this ''isn't'' a case of [[Cultural Translation]]--- that's actually what they're reciting in Japanese.
* In ''[[Eyeshield 21]]'', the Devil Bats are aghast when they see that Yamato Takeru has neutralized Sena's Devil Bat Ghost maneuver. "The Devil Bat Ghost...''busted''?!"
** Suzuna actually complains about this one. "Wait, who still makes ''[[Ghostbusters]]'' jokes?"
** The Bando Spiders' uniforms are [[Spider-Man|red (with web pattern) and blue]]. Then again, Spidey ''did'' cross the Pacific [[Japanese Spider-Man|in the 70s]]...
* The entire point of ''[[Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt]]'', with everything from animation styles to episodes to background details referencing something. The second episode alone is essentially a [[Whole-Plot Reference]] to every USA High School film in existence, along with the "sex education" scene in ''[[Mean Girls]]'' taken almost word-for-word, a doll that looks like a [[The Powerpuff Girls|Powerpuff Girl]], and [[Ghostbusters]] equipment. The character Chuck even owes its existence to this, being one huge reference to GIR of ''[[Invader Zim]]''.
** It also contains a scene where the titular girls dance to "Telephone" by Lady Gaga and Beyoncé.
* A chapter in ''[[Princess Resurrection]]'' is very [[Back to The Future|Back to the Future-esque]] in its plot line complete with a car going up to 88&nbsp;mph.
* ''[[20th Century Boys]]'' has a character mistake another for Hulk Hogan of all people. Although he does look like him in a way.
* A significant subplot in ''[[Whisper of the Heart]]'' revolves around translating John Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Roads" into Japanese for a school performance.
* ''[[Ichigo Mashimaro]]'': The [[Big Friendly Dog]] is named [[Red Hot Chili Peppers|Frusciante]]. There are also some goldfish named after the members of [[Aphex Twin]] (which might possibly double as a [[Red Dwarf]] [[Shout-Out]] on the grounds that Lister owned robot goldfish named [[The Beatles (band)|Lennon and McCartney]]).
* ''[[Magical Pokaan]]'': The geek in the first episode is wearing a ''[[Red Dwarf]]'' tee shirt.
* ''[[Sailor Moon]]'': Among other things, the episode "Loved and Chased: Luna's Worst Day Ever" contains several references to Gone With the Wind, which were oddly excised from the dub version. Also, Rei is a [[Michael Jackson]] fan.
* ''[[Nyaruko: Crawling with Love]]'' is fond of referencing the SAN checks from the Western tabletop RPG ''[[Call of Cthulhu (tabletop game)]]''.
* ''[[Fighting Foodons]]'' features the Burger Brigade, which are based of the Japanese ''[[Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger]]'.' American fans recognized them as a reference to the first season of ''[[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers]]''.
* A manga-only storyline in ''[[Ah! My Goddess]]'' is resolved by Keiichi {{spoiler|deliberately copying the solution to the crisis in the pilot episode}} of ''[[Thunderbirds (TV series)|Thunderbirds]]''.

== Comic Books ==
* An issue of ''[[Spider-Man]]'' involving [[Time Travel]] and alternate universes had the phrase ''Bad Wolf'' appear as a graffiti in one panel. ''Bad Wolf'' was the [[Arc Words]] in the first series of the new ''[[Doctor Who]]''.
* One ''[[Asterix]]'' comic involved a war between two groups of aliens over the Gauls' super strength potion. One group was based on [[Mickey Mouse]], and their name was an anagram of [[Walt Disney]]. The other one? Anagram of [[Manga]].
* The Super Young Team of [[The DCU]] aren't that referential on the surface. But then you notice that Big Atomic Lantern Boy looks exactly like Hayashida from ''[[Cromartie High School]]''.
** Big Science Action is more appropriate in this case, though, because while they're all based on heroes from Japanese media, Senior Waveman is based on the super obscure Marine Boy. The others are more familiar; Ultimon is Ultraman, Boss Bosozoku and Boss Bishounen are based on Kaneda from ''Akira'' with elements of [[Ghost Rider]], Goraiko is [[My Neighbor Totoro]] (though he was originally conceived as the Hulk [[Captain Ersatz]] in the Ultramarine Corps), etc.
* Apparently [[Deadpool]] [http://ozbot.typepad.com/marvelflipside/2011/01/dating-deadpool-january.html is a fan of ''Naruto''.]
* In ''JLA #27'' the Martian Manhunter, disguised as a Japanese woman, introduces "her"self as [[Sailor Moon|"Hino Rei"]].  Amusingly, the ''Batman'' catches the reference.

== Film ==
* In ''[[Yes-Man]]'', [[Zooey Deschanel]]'s debut involves her appearing in [[Jim Carrey]]'s life on a Vespa, [[FLCL|which may sound familiar.]]
** ''[[Roman Holiday]]''?
* There's this cop movie from Hong Kong where a jaded veteran cop has accepted his lot, having been crippled in the line of duty but winding up with a promotion. He says that his daughter got him hooked on ''manga'', where he learned about something the subs called "fair trade". [[Fullmetal Alchemist|Think the actual translation might be "equivalent exchange"?]]


== Literature ==
* The Japanese novelist [[Haruki Murakami]] does this a lot, and it's considered one of the distinguishing features of his popular style from more traditional Japanese literature. It also makes sense, as he lived in the U.S. for much of his life. Examples include:
** The novel ''[[Norwegian Wood]]'' is named for the song by [[The Beatles]], which plays a pivotal role in the story. (It's also a bit of a pun, since the song refers to "Wood" as in wood and the novel's title refers to "wood" as in a forest.)
** ''[[Kafka on the Shore]]'': the title character is named after [[Franz Kafka]] and the plot alludes to [[Oedipus Rex]], which are not so unusual for literature, but the novel also features Colonel Sanders (as a pimp!), and Johnnie Walker  {{spoiler|as a cat-killer and possibly Kafka's father}}.
** The title would also seem to be a riff on Philip Glass's ''Einstein on the Beach''.
* In the first ''[[Night Watch]]'' book, Anton briefly considers telling Egor he can be a [[Star Wars|Jedi]] of the Light, but quickly decides it's a bad idea. He also specifically explains that Night Watch agents are different to [[Superman]].
** Another book has a girl named Alita wearing a t-shirt of Battle Angel...[[Battle Angel Alita|Alita]].
** 'Who is James Bond?' 'A mythological character.'


== [[Live-Action TV]] ==
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_ls7Rxr7Zk This] clip from an Israeili juvenile drama, where two kids are being [[Interrogated for Nothing]], and are forced to feed their captor with names...from [[Tekken]].


== Tabletop Games ==
* An American example: ''[[Twilight 2000]]'' has some of the early modules set in Poland after WW III. Some of the Polish gamers can't believe that this game exists.
** Not only exists, but is actually [[Shown Their Work|reasonably well researched]] as to the setting (by the often quite low standards of RPGs anyway), the frequent misspellings and [[Blind Idiot Translation]]s aside).
** An old computer game version used this setting.


== Theater ==
* In-universe example: "''[[Uncle Tom's Cabin|The Little House of Uncle Thomas]]''" in ''[[The King and I]]''.


== Video Games ==
* The Mad Butcher enemy from ''[[Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia]]'' looks an awful lot like Leatherface from ''[[The Texas Chainsaw Massacre]]''. He even has the chainsaw, despite the game taking place in the 19th century.
** Another good example from the same game is the [[wikipedia:Jersey Devil|Jersey Devil]] that shows up in the Agila Swamp.
* ''[[Battalion Wars]] II'''s last boss was described by Kaiser Vlad as a "fully armed and operational mining spider". [[Star Wars|You do the math]].
** Hell, Marshall Nova is pretty much a [[Captain Ersatz]] of [[Rocky IV|Ivan Drago]].
* The ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' series has recurring minor characters known as Biggs (occasionally mistranslated as "Vicks") and Wedge, named after Luke Skywalker's fellow Red Squadron pilots in ''[[Star Wars]]''.
** In addition to "Biggs" and "Wedge," ''[[Final Fantasy VIII]]'' had a character named "Piett" (as in The Imperial Admiral from ESB and RotJ) as well. The characters Nida (like "[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Lorth_Needa Needa]") and Martine (who was named "[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Jan_Dodonna Dodonna]" in the Japanese version) are also Star Wars references.
** Not to mention the [[Giant Space Flea From Nowhere|final boss]] of the ninth game quotes Yoda: "Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering."
** Vicks, Wedge, and Piett also appear as part of a guessing game in ''[[Chrono Trigger]]''.
** Aside from Balthier's uncanny resemblance to Han Solo, ''[[Final Fantasy XII]]'' also throws in several [[Homage Shot]]s to ''[[Star Wars]]''.
* While ''[[Viva Pinata]]'' is native to Britain, one pinata species' [[Punny Name]] references the popular Japanese cookie snack Pocky. (The pinata in question is the Ponocky, by the way.)
* ''[[Mega Ten]]'' tosses in a few of these. Possibly the most famous are a [[No Celebrities Were Harmed]] version of Michael Jackson and [[Lawyer-Friendly Cameo|Lawyer Friendly Cameos]] of Audrey Jr. and Betelgeuse in ''Shin Megami Tensei II'', but they take demons and other things from such diverse sources that they're hardly the only ones. Among others, the inhabitants of the Velvet Room in the ''Persona'' series have theme naming from ''Frankenstein'' that goes far deeper than the cursory knowledge one would expect, and ''Persona'''s Philemon is derived from a Jungian figure that's obscure in cultures you ''would'' expect to be familiar with his work.
* At one point in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass|The Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass]]'', Link must go through a quiz to become an honorary member of the Goron village. This quiz is rather reminiscent of ''[[Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?]]'', including the whole "final answer?" routine, increasing prizes for each question, and having a lifeline to eliminate one of the wrong answers. It's not a coincidence; there was indeed a Japanese version of ''Millionaire'' on Fuji TV.
** Even the very title character of ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]'' is a case of this: [[Word of God|Word Of Miyamoto]] states that she was indeed named after Mrs. F. Scott Fitzgerald.
** Jo, Beth, Meg, and Amy from ''[[Little Women]]'' all show up in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time|The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time]]'' and, much less prominently, ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask|Majora's Mask]]'' as ghosts you kill.
* The ''[[Metal Gear]]'' series contains so many [[Shout-Out|Shout Outs]] to American and [[James Bond (film)|British]] action movies you could easily forget it was made in Japan. The surprise was ''[[Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots]]'' including a [[Shout-Out]] to ''[[Police Squad!]]''.
* When Gig of ''[[Soul Nomad and The World Eaters]]'' is asked about any of the other World Eaters, he responds by describing Superman, Martian Manhunter, a generic Green Lantern, and The Flash.
* One of the club games in the ''[[When They Cry]]'' visual novels is noted to be a "foreign game", and it becomes clear that they're playing a modified version of ''[[Clue (game)|Clue]]'' (with the board game's characters replaced by cards with the club member's names on them and instead of moving from one location to another to guess they just take turns).
* ''[[EarthBound]]'' was made in Japan, but has a ''huge'' number of [[Shout-Out|Shout Outs]] to [[The Beatles]] and others.
* In ''[[Dragon Age]]: Origins'' you are asked a riddle that begins 'The smallest lark can carry it...'. One of the multiple choices is 'A coconut'. However, ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' probably has more cultural penetration than any film you can think of. How often do you hear "I'm not dead", "It's just a flesh wound", etc. More than one game has sentinels asking "What is your name", "What is your quest" followed by something difficult. And the ancient game Wizardry 1 has the Vorpal Bunny that had only a few hit points but could suddenly do 100 damage.
* The first ''[[Silent Hill]]'' game, during a level in the school you can obtain a list of teachers, which reads: [[Sonic Youth|K. Gordon, T. Moore, L. Ranaldo, S. Shelley]]. A much larger [[wikipedia:Silent Hill (video game)#Influences and references|list of references is available]] on [[That Other Wiki]].
* ''[[Nostalgia]]'' features a minor pair of NPCs, the newlywed Anastasia and Dmitri. Yes, like the Don Bluth ''Anastasia'' movie.
* ''[[Touhou]]'', given that it references ''[[Reference Overdosed|everything]]'', inevitably contains this, ranging from the overt (a lot of the gameplay in ''Undefined Fantastic Object'' is one big ''[[Space Invaders]]'' reference) to the subtle (Flandre's theme music and one of her Spell Cards take their names from [[Agatha Christie]]'s ''And Then There Were None'') and everything in between.
* In [[Yoake Mae Yori Ruriiro na]]: Moonlight Cradle (a collection of side-stories), there's a scene in which ''Stars and Stripes Forever'' appears as background music.
* The Quox in ''[[The Tower of Druaga]]'' is apparently named after a dragon from ''Tik-Tok of Oz''.
* ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' has a quest called "A Tiny, Clever Commander" featuring Commander Nazrim of the rat-like kobold race, all of which is a rather unexpected [[Shout-Out]] to ''[[Touhou]]'', specifically to Nazrin and her [[Leitmotif]], "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jumPYqjkwaA A Tiny, Tiny, Clever Commander]".
** The [http://www.wowpedia.org/Singing_Pools Singing Pools] in the ''Mist of Pandaria'' expansion are a fairly blatant [[Shout-Out]] to ''[[Ranma ½]]'', especially with the pandas running around.


== Western Animation ==
* Too many Japanese video game and anime characters to count appear in [[South Park]]'s "Imagination Land" three-parter. Among them include [[My Neighbor Totoro|Totoro]] and [[Street Fighter|Akuma]].
** Totoro is also parodied extensively in "Mysterion Rises".
* An episode of ''[[Transformers Generation 1]]'' has a ''[[Godzilla]]'' poster in the background. Reversing this, an episode of ''[[Transformers Masterforce]]'', Shuta compares Ginrai to [[Superman]].
** ''[[Beast Machines]]'' had Jetstorm reference ''[[Pokémon]]'s'' slogan, "[[Gotta Catch Them All]]". The tank drones were frequently shown with a single point moving from side to side in their visors, reminiscent of the Cylons in ''[[Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)|Battlestar Galactica]]''.
* In an episode of ''[[The Simpsons]]'' in which a new comic shop opens, Lisa is revealed to be a fan of ''[[Tintin]]'' and ''[[Asterix]]''. Previous episodes referenced ''[[Mr. Bean]]'' and ''[[Hello Kitty]]''.
** Also, one [[Couch Gag]] has the family running in, [[Cosplay]]ing as various Japanese pop culture icons—Maggie is [[Pokémon (anime)|Pikachu]], Lisa is [[Sailor Moon]], Bart is [[Astro Boy (anime)|Astro Boy]], Marge is [[Science Ninja Team Gatchaman|Jun the Swan]], and Homer is [[Ultraman]].
** Bumblebee Man was inspired by ''[[El Chapulin Colorado]]'', and the channel he works at (Canal Ocho) is a subtle reference to ''[[El Chavo del Ocho]]''.
* ''[[Megas XLR]]'' is pretty much one big Shout Out to the various anime that has made it to North America over the years, from ''[[Captain Harlock]]'' to ''[[Sailor Moon]]'', and even some that haven't, such as Victory Gundam.
* ''[[Ben 10]]'': a Holiday Special featured three kids from ''[[Naruto]]'', Konohamaru, Udon and Noegi.
* ''[[Transformers Animated]]'' director Derrick Wyatt cited ''[[ABC Warriors]]'' as his biggest influence in character design. He also said that Dirt Boss was based on the Lagann of ''[[Gurren Lagann]]''.
* In one episode of ''[[Batman: The Brave And The Bold|Batman the Brave And The Bold]]'', Blue Beetle manifests a [[This Is a Drill|gigantic drill]] and holds it over his head in [[Gurren Lagann]]'s trademark pose.
* In one sequence in an episode of ''[[Kids Next Door]]'', Numbuh Four and the Delightful Kids fight over a package as [[Dragonball Z|Goku and Frieza, respectively.]] The whole scene parodies the frequent transformation sequences, as when the Delightful Kids transform into a bigger, uglier, and more ferocious monster, Numbuh Four goes Super Saiyan....and only his hair grew longer.
** ''[[Dragonball Z]]'' is pretty common fodder for parody in western animation, being the basis of an episode of ''[[The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy]]'' and one of the longer sequences in one of the ''[[Fairly Oddparents]]'' movies.
* ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]'': Beast Boy once got a part-time job in order to save up for [[FLCL|a yellow Vespa with a white "T!" on a black circle in its front.]] The episode itself is just as surreal and nonsensical as the series it referenced.
** Along the same lines, in the episode where Robin breaks his arm, there was also a ridiculously-powerful being that emerged from his head and ended up the cause of trouble.
** In the episode where Robin uses a modified version of his costume with a cape that he can use as wings is an obvious shout out to ''[[Science Ninja Team Gatchaman|Gatchaman]].''
* A [[My Neighbor Totoro|Totoro]] doll appears in ''[[Toy Story 3]]''.
* With emphasis on the "Cultural" part of the trope, the ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' episode "The Show Stoppers" involved a stage act with a Halloween-looking hanging display, with bats, spiders and ghosts - except the 'ghost' is clearly a ''teruteru bozu''.
* The ''[[Justice League (animation)|Justice League]]'' episode "Legends" starts off with the League fighting a robot that looks very much like an [[Neon Genesis Evangelion|Eva Unit]]. It acts as the prologue to having four of them wake up in a [[Silver Age]] [[Alternate Dimension]], extending the reference to the [[Gainax Ending|ending]].

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