Blue Archive is a game about youth, and what kind of youth these days doesn't know about memes and references?
- In the story, two students say "We will never be slaves" or something like that. In the Korean version, it is a clear reference to World of Warcraft.
- In Episode 8 of A Revolutionary Ivan Kupala event, Minori says this line too.
- In Episode 4 of The Clumsy Sister and the Magician of the Old Library event, Natsu also says this line.
- In the last episode of V3C2, upon seeing some rain clouds, Hiyori complains about them because "It's wet and cold and irritating... and it gets everywhere." just like sand does.
- Metal Gear:
- In V4C1 Episode 8, Saki mentions "some legendary agent who would hide under boxes and barrels to pull off impossible infiltration missions.", someone you would see in action in the games.
- Yuzu's Maid alternate outfit clearly references the video game series with the event Alabaster's Calling Card and her EX Skill, which also has the interface of the original game, outright showing her hiding from Shanhaijing's Genryumon guards with a cardboard box.
- In V4C2 Episode 22, Otogi greets Yukino with "Kept you waiting, huh?" Pretty fitting, seeing as a spec ops squad taking on spec ops-turned-terrorists to stop a warhead from detonating sounds straight out of Metal Gear.
- The end of the Foreclosure Task Force Group Story is a Hitler Rants parody.
- The Public Safety Bureau's Group Story is titled You're Under Arrest!.
- Kaede plays a card game called Mushiqueen, a parody of both Kouchuu Ouja Mushiking and Yu-Gi-Oh!.
- In the intro of the Get Set, Go! event, Hanako suddenly spits obscene words on the podium. Her latest lines came from Kamille's Mental Collapse Series (カミーユ精神崩壊シリーズ), Japanese fan-made Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam videos.
- In the Operational Plan: Nisir's Summit event, you can shout "Go, Infinite Sushi Squad: Kaiten FX Mk.∞!" before Kaitengers' battle against Perorodzilla. But there are two other choices; "Krak! Krak! Kraken!" and "Kela! Kela! Okelampa!" They are references to villains that appear in the Hikari Sentai Maskman and the Choushinsei Flashman, respectively, and both can make other villains grow.
- In The Red Winter Tour Log Group Story, Makoto boasts she has no regrets, and Cherino gifts her a statue of Makoto that raises its right arm. It is a reference to Fist of the North Star.
- In the Japanese version, Pina's Exclusive Weapon is named "Gunfight Without Honor and Humanity" (仁義なき撃ち合い). This is a reference to a Japanese movie series, Battles Without Honor and Humanity (仁義なき戦い), which features lots of yakuza.
- Shigure's MomoTalk bio is "Mix a drink and change your life!", a near one-for-one reference to "Time to mix drinks and change lives", Jill's Character Catchphrase from VA-11 HALL-A.
- When you pick up Michiru in the unit formation screen, Michiru says "Domo, Sensei=dono. My name is Michiru" (ドーモ、センセイ＝ドノ、ミチルです). It is a reference to Ninja Slayer.
- In the Café, Hibiki quotes Dr. Nitro of Montana Jones' and denies that quote.Hibiki: What if I had more time and a bigger budget...? No, that's just an amateur's excuse.
- Some of Kirino's relationship story titles are references to police fiction:
- "Relaxed Shakedown", a parody of the Japanese police drama Bayside Shakedown.
- "Gunfire and Zirconia", to Japanese video game Juusei To Diamond (銃声とダイヤモンド, "Diamond and the Sound of a Gunshot").
- In the Korean version, her fourth Relationship Story is titled "Cop at Kindergarten", similar to Man at Kindergarten, the localized title of Kindergarten Cop.
- In Suzumi's third Relationship Story, she subdues some hoodlums and forced them to listen to Austin Dieber's "Baby" on repeat.
- Maki's second relationship episode sees her hacking and installing BOOM on electronics, a video game about a character named BOOM Guy taking on aliens with a shotgun.
- Konoe Mina herself is a parody of Heroic Bloodshed.
- Whenever she uses her EX Skill, she burns a meal ticket the same way Chow Yun-fat burns a bill in A Better Tomorrow.
- In her first relationship story, she tries to call Sensei by various names. Most of them are already being used in other Gacha Games.
- In the second relationship story, she mentions a movie in which the protagonist plays the clarinet for his fallen partner. It is a reference to Hard Boiled.
- Monty Python:
- Koharu's EX Skill has her throw a Holy Hand Grenade (not "of Antioch"). Fittingly because it is written in the Book of Armaments, it has a cost of 3.
- Main Story Volume 4 is titled "Rabbit of Caerbannog", whose deadlier namesake is found in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
- In V4C2 Episode 3, Saki mentions a novelist of Trinity, who was sick of canned spam and replaced all food in their work with it to protest. Miyako then refers to a rabbit in the same author's other novel, which is how their seniors named their squad with, telling of a mighty rabbit that fights against knights who search for the Holy Grail until they were killed with a grenade.
- Also in V4C2 the Name of the Warhead and the Project are called Antioch
- Berserk:
- V2C1 Episode 7 is titled "Much Too Big to Be Called a Gun", bringing to mind a certain slab of raw iron. Fittingly, this is when Aris acquires her Supernova: Sword of Light, a 200kg intergalactic battleship railgun.
- During Shimiko's first relationship story, she smashes an obnoxious patron's head with the corner of a book.
- The Godfather:
- In Volume 1, Black Suit says "I'm going to make you an offer you can't refuse." He mentions it is a quote from his favorite movie.
- In the Final Volume, Mina quotes "keep your friends close but your enemies closer." She says this line came from the masterpiece movie "The Godmother."
- During Main Story Volume 1, one of Nonomi's ideas to keep Abydos from shutting down is to become school idols to raise interest and increase enrollment, which she saw in anime. This is essentially the plot of Love Live!.
- During Main Story Volume 2:
- In Chapter 1, many familiar video games with their names changed by one letter or two are mentioned: Dead Crimson, The Fable of Heroes, Final Fantasia, Chrono Diger, Legend of Zinda: Lonk's Awakening, Romancing NaGa, Strategem Ogre, Castlemania, Dragon Crest, Tails of Destiny, and Pyre Emblem.
- In Chapter 2, Episode 3, when the Game Development Department brainstorms for their next game, Aris mentions a retro game about playing as a spy fighting in an elevator.
- In Main Story Volume 4, Chapter 2, Niko, Kurumi, and Otogi deliver inarizushi to Sensei under the cover name of "FOX EATS", which is most certainly a parody of Uber Eats (minus them blowing up doors).
- There are three zones named "Helmet Gangsters' Worst Cruise Ship" in Beach Shack Franchise Plan event. These zones are labeled Prelude (序), Break (波), and Quickening (急) in the Japanese version. In the English version, these are numbered 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0, respectively. They are clearly labeled or numbered after the first three of Rebuild of Evangelion.
- When Hare uses her EX Skill, she sometimes quotes Half-Life, especially lines that became memes in Korea due to bad voice acting. Nexon did this localization, so it can be a sort of Company Cross References.
- Kasumi:
- Her Basic Skill is named "It's the message that matters." In South Korea, this is the well-known translation of a line from The Dark Knight, "It's about sending a message."
- The name of her Sub Skill is "Has the drill stopped making a noise?" This one is an indirect reference to "Have the lambs stopped screaming?" a line from The Silence of the Lambs.
- In Minori's fourth MomoTalk chat, she discusses the theoretical problem of half of Kivotos being miserable because there's not enough luxuries to go around. She then proposes cutting the number of students in half to solve the problem—an extreme answer the Mad Titan would agree with.
- In Chihiro's Memorial Lobby, you can see a Maki-like creature drawn on the vending machine. This is a reference to a Korean Brave Nine meme named Yudori, the mixture of the said game's character Yuri and the Japanese character Nagano Kuma.
- Misaki's Unique Equipment, a FIM-92 Stinger anti-aircraft missile launcher nicknamed "Saint Predator", is a possible reference to "Saint Javelin", a nickname for the FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank missile launcher that became popular after the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
- In Chapter 1 of Volume F, Sensei orders Arona to send a message to 'everyone' about the incoming crisis. Arona asks Sensei to clarify what he means by 'everyone,' to which Sensei answers, "Everyone!"
- Megu’s flamethrower is a customized Flammenwerfer 41
that wouldn’t look out of place in the Imperial Guard.
