Shout Out / Cat Planet Cuties

• There's a race of Sufficiently Advanced Aliens called the Orsonians, and a sentient computer system named HAL.
  • In Episode 11, we learn that the Orsonians can (and have) taken away a entire race's ability to think if they break galactic law enough times. Perhaps they are a reference to the Organians in Star Trek TOS, whose god-like power is sufficient to impose a treaty on the Federation and the Klingons. Or they could be a reference to Orson Scott Card (note that Itokazu-sensei's codename is Ender) or to an alien from another TV show. Or all of the above.
• Eris' assist droids sneak into an airfield under the cover of a cardboard box.
  • It's something of a trope in anime for there to be a mikan^note mandarin orange box with a puppy or kitten in it and a sign that says, "Please take home". In this case, the box said, "Please don't take home."
• In episode 2 when breaking Eris out of the military base, Kio's uncle set explosive as distractions. He yells "Ka-BOOM".
• When Eris drops the hammer, her lines are suspiciously similar to those uttered by the pilot of a certain hammer-wielding robot.
• In episode 3, at the beginning, you can see Natsuru Senou and Shizuku Sangou (accompanied by Harakiri Tora and Kaden Yamaneko) from Kämpfer. Hell, they are even drawn in the artstyle of their own series!
  • Akane Mishima and Mikoto Kondou from the same anime also appear in the 7th episode.
• Episode 4:
  • Appearances◊ from◊ Louise, Cecily, Luke and Lisa.
  • There is also an Iron Man 2 poster in the background of one scene.
  • Really, just about anything while they were in that shop is a Shout-Out to something, from the anime posters on the walls, Shana, to cosplayers, to figurines.
  • Hell, look closely and you'll see characters from CLANNAD, and Dead or Alive.
• In the same episode, the four characters do a Beatles' Abbey Road album cover reference as they walk from the station to the store.
• Manami names her assistDroid Yun-Fat. It even summons white doves.
• Aoi names hers Chiba-chan and Kin-chan. They even use lines from their movies; Shogun's Samurai, to be precise.
• When Aoi tries to prevent Kio and Eris from being kidnapped, she gets shot with an x-shaped projectile similar to the ones Milly Thompson's stun-gun fires in Trigun.
• Each episode has an opening narration that parodies other TV shows, including Star Trek, Bewitched, Mission: Impossible, Starsky & Hutch, I Dream of Jeannie, 'The Greatest American Hero, and others.
• Star Trek has been mentioned outright twice, besides the opening narrations and several visual references. Once when Itokazu-sensei whines about catgirls being such ludicrous aliens that even Trekkies would find them silly, and another when they time an attack on a military base with a Star Trek rerun because the base is full of trekkies.
  • Star Trek has catgirls - interestingly enough, referred to as "Caitians". Then again, Itokazu-sensei is a Hard Science Fiction fangirl, not a Trek expert.
  • Another Star Trek reference is in the Super Multi-Purpose Room, which is a direct copy of Star Trek: The Next Generation Holodeck. Several other pieces of Catian technology are also directly named after other familiar Star Trek aspects, such as warp drive, phasers, sick bay, and so forth.
  • And for more nerd points, Kio has a jersey with the number 47.
  • The famous Opening Narration of TOS is copied almost word-for-word in the opening narrations of later episodes, except that it refers to the Catians rather than the Enterprise.
• Jens, the dog girl, has her own assistdroid, which looks like, laughs like and is actually named Muttley.
  • Some translations for Episode 9 have him named "Matray" - possibly a Double Translation Mutation, like "Verthandi" into "Belldandy" in Ah My Goddess.
  • There's a member of Beautiful Contact in Episode 2 who looks remarkably like Shaggy.
• Itokazu-sensei is reading Robert L. Forward's Dragon's Egg in episode 7, a classic SF work on Starfish Aliens.
• Kio and Aoi are movie buffs, and it shows. In their first conversation, they talk about Green Aesop works Koyaanisqatsi and Gaia Symphony, and obscure short thriller The Abductor by Alex Portugal.
• The club room for the school film club has posters of The Grandfather Part VI, Armageddon, and The Man Who Was Too Fat.
• Episode 9 pays tribute to Captain Future, a show based on a series of novels by pulp SF author Edmond Hamilton.
• After the end credits of Episode 9, Lawry apparently sinks to the bottom of the water in a fashion eerily similar to a certain famous death in Final Fantasy VII.
• In Episode 10, the church bell of the black and white film "espousing the virtues of kindness and generosity" is the final shot of the heartwarming Frank Capra Christmas classic It's a Wonderful Life. The directors show their love for classics by having Chaika openly saying "Oh, no matter how many times you see it, this is still a lovely, lovely film."
• There's a sight-gag in Episode 4 with a couple of black cat assistdroids delivering a package to Aoi - a shout-out to the well-known Kuroneko (Black Cat) Transport Service, a.k.a. Yamato Transport.
• The Dogisian Assistroids all look like Mousers but with arms and dog ears.
• Tilsonite is a fictional meteoric mineral appearing in Ultra Q, the first installment of the Ultra Series. Tektites, by the way, are real glassy rocks of meteoric origin.
• Leave it to Itokazu-sensei to exclaim "Professor Jameson!" upon seeing Rulos' walking core.
• Episode 12 features Sol Tekkamen Power Suits.
• Manami, Aoi, and Eris becoming Kio's lovers all at once is reminiscent of Tenchi Muyo!, another anime series produced by AIC.

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