The high amount of Shout Outs is unsurprising due to Katawa Shoujo's origin from 4chan.
- The class overview CG is a good start.
- Contains at least Lezard, Ikuno, and gender-bent Haruhi.
- The original release of Act 1 has also Lelouch but he was taken out in the full release, replaced with a more generic-looking guy.
- The official blog has confirmed another: Ritsu. She was intended to be an original character, but by sheer coincidence resembled Ritsu when K-On! finally aired. Rather than change the design, the developers performed a "retcameo".
- Also, the chubby guy in the top right corner looks a bit like Peter Griffin.
- Tea house Shanghai was originally supposed to be a Higurashi: When They Cry reference, but the devs quickly backtracked and made it a Touhou Project one instead.
- Another Higurashi one: the name Yamaku originally came from an erroneous transliteration of the Yamainu force's name. (狗, the second kanji in Yamainu's name, can also be read as "ku". In-game, Yamaku's "ku" is instead written with 久, which also happens to be the "hisa" in Hisao's name.)
- After a conversation with Kenji, Hisao mentions a book he is reading about "an underground postal system that may or may not exist", a reference to The Crying of Lot 49.
- When Hisao wonders if he is Only Sane Man, Kenji says that he is the only sane man in the school, and as a certain foreign film puts it, "there can only be one!"
- It is also possible Kenji was referring to Jet Li's "The One", which has a similar premise.
- Hanako is reading a book about "a boy and a tiger on a boat". This is Life of Pi. If Hisao does not scare Hanako away in the library, she'll even namedrop it. At one point, Hanako also reads "Dance Dance Dance" by Haruki Murakami.
- If Hisao joins the student council, Misha will clap and repeat the word "Congratulations!". Hisao points out how needlessly repetitious this is.
- Shizune also makes the classic Gendo pose whilst playing chess with Hanako. Her glasses even shine at one point!
- There is also this line from Hanako's route- "Waking up to an unfamiliar ceiling is an uncomfortable feeling"
- At least in the Japanese translation, a 'Light Music Club' is mentioned among the various clubs that Lilly lists.
- If Hisao helps Lilly's class with painting, a part of the world map from the latter part of Code Geass R2 shows up in the background.
- In the Tanabata CG with Misha and Shizune, C.C. is in the background at one of the stalls.
- Rin does mention Lilly using golden butterflies to spy on people, but luckily, no "ahaha.wav" soundclips exists in Katawa Shoujo.
- Even Hisao believes that Poor, Predictable Rock is unbeatable.
- Kenji ends one of his rants by saying "And the future refused to change."
- Kenji feeling tired after having sex with his former girlfriend and concluding that she must have sapped his life energy is what started his hatred of feminism; it could be a reference to General Ripper from Dr. Strangelove, who had similar beliefs in the film.
- When talking to Hanako about a certain book series, Hisao recommends she read the original book, but warns her that the sequels are not nearly as good. However, he does concede that "The God Emperor" is pretty good.
- During a train ride, Lilly mentions that the book she is reading is And Then There Were None. Hisao picks up a random book in braille in her room, whose title (not in braille) reveals it to be Death on the Nile. Lilly apparently likes Agatha Christie's detective fiction. During this scene the background is replaced with an image of a Braille page, supposedly from Death on the Nile. But the actual text
is the first page of Call of Cthulhu. - Kenji mentions at some point that he sees Shizune at Hisao's door, intending to give him his mail, and how he warded her off with the shine from his glasses."It was like behold, optic blast."
- The nurse warns Hisao not to hurt Emi if he does not want to be late, as in the late Hisao Nakai, then admits that it sounded better in his head.
- When Hisao meets Shizune's father Jigoro and wonders if he avoids to see him, then he also cannot see Hisao, just like the Bugblatter Beast of Traal.
- Hisao mentions having read somewhere that "You're responsible for what you tame."
- In Hanako's animated interlude, Hisao is carrying ''The Setting Sun'' by Osamu Dazai.
- Emi's route contains a scene in which Hisao can press her for more information or let it rest, which should be obvious what the reference is.
- Kenji mentions at one point, "She's like the Picard to my Kirk, or even the Janeway!"
- During Shizune's path, Kenji says, "Like that movie about the life of William Wallace, where they took his stuff but not his freedom, and then they killed him."
- In another of his rants, Kenji says "We live in a society".note
- No glasses. No napkins. Whiskey only. The beverage of true men, and Kenji said that while Hisao is heading for his literal Final Destination (the rooftop where he'll fall down and die)
- In Shizune's route, Hisao is annoyed at Shizune's father, who is acting as though "he had to walk fifteen miles in the snow to ride a coal train".
- In Emi's route, Mutou, hoping to inspire a love for science in Hisao, offers him "A Brief History of Time."
- In Lilly's route a scene in act 2 has the title A brief history of thyme
- Kenji states at some point: "You're already spending less time here. That's the first thing they do. They'll try to split us up. Divide and conquer. Sun Tzu said that."
- In Emi's route, Kenji asks Hisao to deliver his hidden journal to the media if something should happen to him.
- Said journal is hidden in the false bottom of one of his desk drawers.
- When Hisao asks why Kenji is collecting items to maintain a fallout shelter in Hanako's route, Kenji praises him for being familiar with the Protect and Survive booklets.
- The Written Sound Effects during Hisao and Emi's pillow fight are most likely inspired by the old Batman TV series. WHAM! BIFF! SOCK!
- When Hisao's in Rin's room for the first time, she says the line "Are you going on some training camp where they make men out of boys? Or mountaintop meditation?"
- The chapter in Emi's route, when Hisao has dinner at the Ibarazaki house, is called "Guess Who's Coming... Never Mind".
- The description of the second-to-last chapter in Emi's good ending is "Sex, drugs, but no rock 'n roll".
- At the age of eight, Kenji sent a letter to LEGO, requesting them to make Dragon Ball-themed Legos, but the company responded that they could not get the rights to produce it.
- Hisao tells Kenji that Shizune has the habit of lifting her glasses just like he does, so naturally he concludes that she must be copying him and screams that she could be one of those pod people.
- In Shizune's path, Kenji also mentions Sex and the City during one of his crazy rants against feminism.
- Hisao's thoughts in Shizune's route: "I crush the note in my fist dramatically, but no one is there to see it, and that makes me sad".
- Early on, Hisao says that when they heard about his arrhythmia, his parents "practically had two hemorrhages apiece," a reference to The Catcher in the Rye, in which Holden says something similar about his parents in the first chapter.
- Hisao also says "phony" a couple of times during Rin's path.
- One of the late scenes in Emi's route is entitled "Hooray for Socks".
- One scene in Hanako's path is called "Equivalent Exchange"; ironically, she is one of the girls with no missing limbs. It likely refers to how the good ending requires Hisao to open up with his problems and allow her to grow a little and help him as well, rather than white knighting and therefore expecting to get "something for nothing" out of the relationship.
- During Lilly's path, Hisao makes a comment about her making "a pilgrimage to the past".
- One of Kenji's rants includes a phrase: "Beyond The Impossible."
- Rin mentions that naming her art "unnamed" is still a name: "Like that Greek guy with the sheep".
- Mutou bears more than a passing resemblance to the Tenth Doctor and thinks in the same general way that all incarnations do.
- Misha quotes President Kennedy at one point during Shizune's path. "Ask not what your school can do for you...but what you can do for your school!" This moment hints towards her fondness of American culture, especially when she also mentions paper football.
- In Act I, Emi asks Hisao "Whatcha doin'?" .
- Before Misha confronts Hisao about Emi, he wants to read a new book about a couple of con men in Ancient Persia.
- During Rin's path, Nomiya quotes the first stanza of "Auguries of Innocence" by William Blaketo explain what it means to be an artist.
- When first meeting Rin, Hisao compares her personality to Sherlock Holmes due to her blatant honesty and the way she analyses him.
- Lilly's appearance is similar to that of Saber Lily◊, an alternate form of Fate/stay night 's Saber shown in Fate/unlimited codes. Her sister Akira, meanwhile, bears a superficial resemblance to Saber◊ as she appears in Fate/Zero note . Of course, the fanbase ran with this.
- During Act 2 of Rin's route, Emi will say that she isn't made of sugar when Hisao asks her why they didn't take umbrellas when it looked like it was going to rain.
- In one scene, Hisao compares Shizune and Misha's badgering of him to Kafka's The Trial.
- In one of Rin's scenes Hisao is reading "a story about three guys drinking beer for two weeks straight and doing little else". The scene's writer Aura has confirmed this is a real book but hasn't revealed the name.
