Shout Out / Anime Crimes Division

Anime Crimes Division has many, many references to nerd culture.

---

Season One

Episode 1: "Subs vs. Dubs"

• The first episode has a gun from Psycho-Pass.
• As Joe monologues to Senzaki about the specifications of his gun, he briefly asks Senzaki if he fired twenty-six airsoft pellets or twenty-five.
• When the Chief assigns Diesel as Joe's partner, he makes a reference to Lone Wolf and Cub.
• Diesel is a fresh graduate from Little Police Academia and her favorite anime is Digimon.
• Furuya asks Diesel which character from Yuri!!! on Ice has the juiciest butt. It's Christophe.
• Gundam makes frequent appearances throughout the series, and is the subject of the third episode.
• The first episode's plot is kickstarted by the defamation of a statue in Tetsuokanedatetsuokaneda Park.
• Several characters from various shows (such as C.C. from Code Geass), as well as a couple from video games (D.va from Overwatch and 2B from NieR: Automata), appear on body pillows in the pilot bust.
• The ad bumper references Cowboy Bebop.
• The leaders of the Subber and Dubber gangs fight each other with both halves of the Rending Scissors.

Episode 2: "Playing for Keeps"

• The auction in the second episode has a prop from Neon Genesis Evangelion sold to a man in Tuxedo Mask getup. Also up for sale is the rarest Yu-Gi-Oh! card in existence (the Super Saiyan Dark Magician), but it's been stolen and replaced with a Diglett card. Other attendees include a woman dressed as Saber and a man in a Survey Corps jacket.
• When Joe and Diesel place two plays-for-keepsers under arrest, Joe reveals that they are ACD officers by playing a "You're Under Arrest" card, featuring Joe in a suit, standing in a courtroom, giving the pointer finger. It is highly likely that this is a reference to Ace Attorney.^note Also, the card's flavor text are the Miranda Rights. Not a shout-out, just funny
• Drinks seen include Yubaba Bobba and Naruto marble soda (Furuya is referred to as "Chunin Exams Rock Lee" in the scene where he drinks it).
• The ad bumper references "Who's that Pokémon?" from Pokémon.

Episode 3: "The Gundam Killer"

• Furuya's personal collection includes, among many other things, part of Cloud Strife's hair, and the tooth of the cat from Azumanga Daioh.
• It's subtle, but the tone that Joe's vault plays upon him entering it is highly reminiscent of Just Communication.
• The zoom-ins on the Gundam model "corpse" in Furuya's flashback feels reminiscent of the corpse discovery zoom-ins from Danganronpa.
• "I only have one book on my shelf, and it's Death Note."
• "My heart is like the ending of Neon Genesis Evangelion: complicated, sad, confusing...and fundamentally broken."
• At one point in Episode 3, Furuya says, "See you, space..." before being cut off by Diesel.
• The ad bumper references Initial D.

Season 2

Episode 1: "The Case Promised in Our Early Days"

• The title itself is a play on The Place Promised in Our Early Days.
• In the introductory voiceover, Diesel compares the city (happy vs. hiding a dark secret) to the first and third episodes of Puella Magi Madoka Magica.
• In a video, Furuya says his hatred for anime is larger than Yoko's breasts or the black goo at the end of Paranoia Agent and harder to cover up than the plot holes in Bleach.
• While Furuya is watching said video, the guy he's coaching in golf assumes he's a stern coach like Ukai from Haikyuu!!.
• Joe compares his feelings towards Neo Otaku City to the anime adaptation of Princess Jellyfish not getting a second season.
• Joe's Transformation Sequence evokes Sailor Moon, and he caps it off with "Believe it."
• The murder in the opening is an imitation of an iconic Disconnected by Death scene in Fullmetal Alchemist.
• The ad bumper is a reference to Sailor Moon as well.

Episode 2: "ACD AMV"

• Hideki "Naruto-runs with" a group in AMV Alley.
• The visit to Sasuke references Boruto and Attack on Titan.
• The name of infamous piracy hotbed website The Pirate Bay is sneaked into dialogue.
• The show keeps a "Joe's love of anime" percent counter, just like the counter from Mob Psycho 100 that counts down how close Mob is to a meltdown.
• The eyecatch is a rule from the ACD's handbook, written ala the rules of Death Note.
• Joe threatens Sasuke that by the time he'll be out of prison, Berserk will be done.
• The murders in this episode evoke iconic deaths from Death Note and Dragon Ball Z. The ACD is threatened by a Grave of the Fireflies setup.

Episode 3: "Silence of the Fireflies"

• The title is a twofer, referring to both Silence of the Lambs and Grave of the Fireflies.
  • Diesel's visit to the ex-chief is a homage to Clarice Starling's visit to Hannibal Lecter.
  • The golf players are kidnapped and held in a cave, since the siblings in Fireflies stayed in one.
• The little girl outside Joe's apartment gives Joe a drawing of him as Luffy from One Piece.
• One of the prisoners seen during Diesel's visit throws a Pokeball at her and creepily says "I choose you!"
• A few to My Hero Academia:
  • The Chief correctly pinpoints it as a recent series Diesel's been watching.
  • The eyecatch layouts the title like the manga's logo, with the sound effect used is similar to the eyecatches from that show.
  • Diesel refers to Joe as her All Might.
• The aforementioned conversation between Diesel and the Chief also references Neon Genesis Evangelion ("as alone as Shinji at the end"), Breaking Bad ("Breaking Bad-dites" are residents of Prestige TV City) and Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (with the Chief even offering to settle for fansubs at the quality of Warriors of the Wind).
• Joe plays a virtual reality game called "Solitaire Art Online", a play on Sword Art Online.
• While stalling for time to trace the killer's location, Joe tests the killer anime knowledge with Dragon Ball Z trivia.
• The captives are found at Maiden Abyss, a play on Made in Abyss.
• After the captives are rescued and the mayor is killed, Chief Brody makes a joke about Case Closed, AKA Case Closed.
• The ending montage is overscored with blues in the style of Cowboy Bebop.
• A Freeze-Frame Bonus during Sasuke's funeral sees several Pokemon figurines, a Rosalina figurine, and a Naruto sticker on the table.
• The billboard for Prestige TV City has the tagline "Because you liked Mad Men".

Episode 4: "Beach Episode"

• Joe greets someone with "I am the danger."
• Before Joe's interview with Diesel's mother, he attempts to break the ice with a joke about Lost.
• During Joe's interview, he launches into a rehearsed spiel about how much he loves Game of Thrones. He also mentions Breaking Bad and Mad Men.
• Diesel's mother extols the otherwise widely panned Dragon Ball Evolution, to Joe's disgust.
• A Prestige TV City officer finds Joe vomiting, joking that he must have been watching the latest season of American Horror Story.
• When discovering TOXIC's plan to overtake Neo Otaku City, Joe remarks that anyone who is dubbed a "fake fan" will be left with nothing but Family Guy.
• Diesel compares the Will They or Won't They? trope to Ross and Rachel on Friends.
• Joe's Pre Ass Kicking One Liner: "I watched the first episode of The Wire. It was boring."
• The Idiosyncratic Wipes of the episode is a reference to the scene transitions from Batman (1966).

Episode 5: "Blood: The Last Hard Drive"

• The title is one to Blood: The Last Vampire.
• The brainwashing scene is reminiscent of A Clockwork Orange.
• Mrs. Prestige calls their Evil Plan worthy of Game of Thrones's Cersei Lannister. Later, Joe references Robb Stark and the Red Wedding.
• "It's siphoning away all of the good anime... and Neo Yokio."
• Diesel mows down the corrupt cop squad sent to arrest her in a manner similar to John Wick, before head-shotting the person who sent them in the middle of their Evil Gloating similar to how John killed Santino in John Wick: Chapter 2.
• In a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment, it's shown that part of Joe's brainwashing was a binge of The Walking Dead.
• At the end of the episode, Joe parrots a memetic misquote of Hayao Miyazaki: "Anime was a mistake."

Episode 6: "The Saddest Anime Death of All Time"

• Joe gets to say "See you, space cowboy" this time.
• "Anime...the only thing worse than the last season of Dexter."
• Child Joe proclaims to love anime more than Pikachu loves Ash and more than Bulma loves Vegeta, and plays with Dragon Ball figurines and points out posters right after.
• Joe's love for anime ticking up and beeping is reminiscent of Mob's feelings building up in Mob Psycho 100.
• Joe goes Super Saiyan to save the city, with his love for Anime going over 9000.
• Joe's death is a direct reference to Spike's, complete with the same song playing over the end credits.

---