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Shout Out / Pop Team Epic

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Manga Original:

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Anime adaptation:

    In General 

Season One

    Episode 1: Encounter 

    Episode 2: Vanver - A Game in Another Dimension 

    Episode 3: The Documentary 
  • The main segment, a documentary called "The Documentary: ~On The Other Side of an Idol's Dream~":
    • It takes tons of jabs at idol culture, besides itself being a parody of Fuji Television's documentary series The Non-Fiction and a pastiche of the theme song of NHK's Professional Shigoto no Ryugi by kōkua.
    • You can see posters of PriPara, Osomatsu-san, Nogizaka46, and Takeshobo.
    • Popu-chin's initial outfit is a Shout-Out to Ai Kago in her Mini Moni era. Her smoking behavior is a reference to Ai's habit back in her Morning Musume era.
    • The other idols are voiced by former AKB48 member Amina Sato and former SKE48 member Sawako Hata, and they even look like their respective voice actors.
    • Popu-chin's outfits are directly taken from wardrobes of AKB48, Momoiro Clover Z, Nogizaka46, and Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. Exactly in that order, to be specific, because that order is exactly the order each idol group (and solo act) debuted.
    • The factory where Pipi-P clones tons of Popu-chins has a striking resemblance to the logo of Factory Records.
    • After Pipi-P takes over the world with Popu-chin clones and becomes the ultimate dictator, she is dressed as M. Bison. Made an Actor Allusion in the retake because Pipi-P is voiced by Norio Wakamoto. The post-apocalyptic background and the stone throne she's sitting on in that scene are straight from AKIRA.
  • The dying boxer and his coach are undoubtedly based on Joe and his coach Danpei Tange, though they're Palette Swapped to match Little Mac and Doc Louis, and in the same poses as X and Zero in the first Sigma stage. Once Popuko takes off, she enters a shmup with elements lifted from Cho Aniki (in the Ultra Garrison outfit, no less), R-Type, Gradius, Xevious, and Darius, while the colorful background comes from Fantasy Zone. It then ends when Pipimi pulls a perfect Red Arremer impression, complete with turning Popuko into a skeleton.
  • The red panda ends up looking like the evil "Noroi" from Gamba no Bouken.
  • Pipimi reads a letter that the anime has way too many lame parodies and must challenge with original contents. Popuko seems moved... and says "Kashikoma!"
  • Ryūsei Nakao hams it up with his Frieza voice for several of the sketches, most notably the "Your life ends in 30 minutes" sketch, and his Baikinman voice during one of the eye catches.

    Episode 4: SWGP 2018 

    Episode 5: IMO☆YOBA 
  • The episode opens up with a Nice Boat, while background noise outright reveals that it's covering this parody of Steamboat Willie from the manga. The rerun manages to play the Steamboat Willie intact, although skid with mosaic.
  • The "Gundam motion dancing" refers to "Char's Gelgoog Dance", an evasion technique used in the Gundam Vs Series by rapidly waggling the joystick left and right. In the second half of the show, Pipimi proclaims that she and Popuko are the "SGGK of the night".
  • The first "Pop Team 8bit" segment mocks the "RTA Douga" style of videos, where the video game player keeps themselves anonymous by using a text-to-speech synthesizer and an anime avatarnote ; the first run of the segment even has RTA-style faces of Popuko and Pipimi appear on screen for a couple of seconds for fans to capture and use for themselves. However, the video being played is a batting cage replacing the real footage via another Nice Boat situation; the visuals, and partial soundtrack, are from Winnie the Pooh's Home Run Derby. There's also a reference to the infamous Takeshi's Challenge.
  • Pop Team Cooking parodies NHK Today's Cooking television show.
  • The sudden appearance of the owl parodies The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time where another owl suddenly appears and sends our hero on a quest.
  • In the first half of the episode, the petting sequence has Popuko mentioning Marilyn Monroe as Pipimi's neck unusually gets longer and crosses the screen. In the second half, Yuuichi Nakamura and Tomokazu Sugita apparently break character, talking about how long and empty this sequence is with the joke being stretched out, before it reminds them of "that 90s detective show So-and-so-zaburo So-and-so-hata", and wonder if the staff could put their producer's credit over that scene like how the credits appeared in the show,note  even suggesting it could be added with a simple overlay.note  And the animators follow through.
  • We have our Popukos impersonating M__key Mo_se. Nakamura's surprisingly good.
    Pipimi: "M**key doesn't laugh like that..."
  • The ending sequence features a rabbit late for a tea party, and while Popuko chases after it, the opening riff of the ending theme song's special Route66 remix begins to play, revealing a Suspiciously Similar Song of Steppenwolf's "Born to Be Wild". The second half has Sugita as the rabbit singing a popular mondegreen of the song while also doing his Norio Wakamoto impression.
    Rabbit: "Itsumo no ramen..."
    Popuko: "Say, are you listening?"
    Rabbit: "Tamago wa muryou..."
    Popuko: "Stop singing that song!"

    Episode 6: The 30th Cyber War 
  • In the Pop Team Story segment, Pipimi is depicted as a parody of Sai from Hikaru no Go, what with her having the same outfit, being a ghostly companion to Popuko, and having a "Divine Move" that she and Popuko perform together.
  • The pair are participating in a Ryuo tournament, complete with parodies of the opposite-sex commentators and giant shogi board visuals seen in televised tournaments.
  • Chieko Ittzeon is a parody of Japanese comedienne Chiemi Blouson, as both are flanked by attractive men. She then turns to ash like the Orphnochs.
  • Keicho Okusenman is a blatant reference to Heihachi.
  • HAL-2000, meet PP1000.
  • PP1000 throws down a Yu-Gi-Oh! card and a Go stone during the match with Popuko.
  • The supercomputer powering Mother AI PP1000 are modeled after the K computers at RIKEN.
  • The building where the shogi tournament is held is almost certainly similar to that of the Tyrell Corporation.
  • Popuko and PP1000 throw a Kame Hame Hadoken attack called Kiminonawa at eachother. Their intonations when they call the attack are even identical to Kamehameha.
  • After PP1000 is destroyed, all that left is her ribbon.
  • "Dymlos!!!!!"
  • Some of the adlibbing performed by Hiro Shimono and Yūki Kaji refer to their roles in Uta No Prince-sama.

    Episode 7: Hellshake Yano 
  • The first hater who read Popuko's Pop Team Epic manga is a fusion of Cartoon Network's Regular Show main duo, Mordecai and Rigby.
  • Throughout episode the first half of the episode, Satomi Koorogi and Akiko Yajima used their Crayon Shin-chan voices for a few of their eye catches, with Yajima doing Shinosuke's "Whoa," and Koorogi just making baby sounds as if she was Hima.
  • The animation style AC-bu uses during the Pop Team Story segment is the same as their entry into the 18th Japan Media Arts Festival.
  • Yano's manager bears a rather uncanny resemblance to Danpei Tange.
  • "Big Budokan" refers to the Nippon Budokan, a major sports and music arena in Tokyo, and Big the Budo.
  • Both "Pop Team 8bit" segments start out as Super Mario Kart parodies.
    • The first one diverges into an Undertale parody featuring Pipimi as Mettaton (complete with a recreation of the cutscene when the form change to Mettaton-EX happens) and ends with a "thank you screen" from Osomatsu-kun: Hachamecha Gekijou, an obscure licensed game only really notable for being the sole Japan-exclusive launch title for the Sega Genesis.
    • The second "Pop Team 8bit" segment diverges into a Pokémon parody with the Robopon UI. Popuko uses Minimize while fighting a three-headed Pipimi resemlbing a Dugtrio, which then uses Hell Southern Cross.
  • The sketch where Popuko turns into a baby has different jokes in each half. For the first half, Pipimi says "Baby baby baby be-be-be-be baby", which is a reference to Tomoyasu Hotei's hit song "Thrill". The second half has Pipimi say "Baby, Baby, Baby, Baby, Baby", a reference to "Mass Destruction" from Persona 3, as this time around Pipimi is voiced by Kosuke Toriumi.
  • The end of the "There, there" sketch zooms out to a sepia photo with "Fin" written on it in cursive. This is how CGs were designed in Doukyuusei 2, a dating sim game that both Satomi Koorogi and Akiko Yajima worked on.
  • In the first fishing sketch, when Pipimi complains she hasn't caught anything, she uses the same line as in Pokémon when the player fails to catch any Pokémon while fishing. The second part is a full reference to Tsurikichi Sanpei.note  Once Pipimi lands a fish, she copies Sanpei's famous fish-catching pose, complete with yelling for his mentor Gyoshin in the second half.

    Episode 8: The Dragon of Iidabashi ~Pipi's Revenge~ 
  • The main Pop Team Story segment is one big ode to yakuza films, especially the Battles Without Honor and Humanity series and the yakuza films of Takashi Miike, particularly Dead Or Alive. In addition, Popu and Pipi's outfits in this segment definitely resemble Jake and Elwood's.
  • Popuko says "Kashikoma!" again.
  • The Bamboozle Gang is a visual pun for, naturally, the first kanji in the name 竹書房 (Takeshobo). 竹 ("take") means "bamboo," so the yakuza members are all anthropomorphic pieces of bamboo. The group's Japanese name "Chikushokai" is also meant to sound like the common Japanese swear "chikusho".
  • Pipi's outfit on the outside, with the hat, pays homage to Naze Turbine, as well as other white suit wearing yakuza like Kazuma Kiryu.
  • Popu and Pipi attack a rival gang whose members includes Mafia Kajita-kun.
  • When Popu and Pipi crack down on the YouTuber gang members, a lighter is near the trash, referencing this unfortunate YouTube moment.
  • One of the gamblers who witness Popu's death resembles Araiwa Kazumi.
  • Popuko's Eisai Haramasukoi dance has the same moves as Blanka's heavy punch and crouching heavy kick.
  • After Popuko and Pipimi reveal their short bangs, they want to be joined by John McClane, Alcindo Sartori, and...Saint Francis Xavier.
  • "Heaven or Hell, Duel 1, Let's Pop!"
  • Popuko busts out some of M.Bison's moves while Pipimi gets Axl's dash and counter. Pipimi then insta-kills Popuko with a Shining Finger right out of Mobile Fighter G Gundam.
  • The title sequence for the "Pop Team Epic Fairy Tales" sequence is taken from a key visual from opening credits of the series it directly parodies, Manga Nippon Mukashibanashi (Cartoon Ancient Tales of Japan).
  • Upon its premiere, the broadcast version of this episode (both halves) was aired eight consecutive times. They even went as far as to call it an "Endless Broadcast". The English dub took it a step further by having the voice actors for the segment be Johnny Yong Bosch and Stephanie Sheh, both of whom were part of the main cast of Haruhi Suzumiya.

    Episode 9: Dancing with a Miracle 

    Episode 10: Ginza Hostess Detective 
  • The "Lord Takeshobo Hikomaro" sketch, although an adaptation of a strip from the manga, is itself a reference to the 1978 jidaigeki film The Yagyu Clan Conspiracy, otherwise known as Shogun's Samurai. The art style, however, riffs off The Tale of the Princess Kaguya.
  • The opening sequence in the episode's second half opts to include realistic sound effects for the various actions on screen, such as a muted intro while it is playing on the CRT television, the sound of the TV screen shattering, and the sound of massive baguettes slamming into the Earth's crust. This is a nod to Kamikaze Douga's work on the opening sequences for JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, which also used SFX filled versions of the openings towards the end of the ongoing story arcs in the show.
  • In the second half of the episode, at the end of the Pop Team Cooking segment, when Pipimi chastises her co-host for daring to ask her where she found the high-quality wagyu beef at such a low price, Wataru Takagi uses his Okuyasu Nijimura voice, accompanied the sound effect used by his Stand The Hand.
  • The Pop Team 8bit segment goes full on Puyo Puyo.
  • The soccer sequence has the characters screaming lines from other series when calling out their attack moves, which differs between the two versions:
  • "Ginza Hostess Detective" is filled to the brim with references to Case Closed and The Kindaichi Case Files, aside from the opening sequence which has Nippon TV's Tuesday Suspense Drama fanfare:
    • Voicing the Popuko and Pipimi during the second half of the episode are Rikiya Koyama (Kogoro) and Wataru Takagi (Genta and Wataru).
    • Detective Higure is an obvious nod to Case Closed character Inspector Megure (right down to his voice actor playing the part). This is further played up in the second half:
      Pipimi: (Wataru Takagi) "Did he say 'Detective Higure'?"
      Popuko: (Rikiya Koyama) "Can they use that name?"
      Pipimi: "It is 'Higure'!"
      Popuko: "Seriously?!" [laughing]
      Pipimi: "They named the detective 'Higure'!" [both laughing] "They have no fear."
      Popuko: "I'll say."
    • The girls also mention Conan's "There is only one truth" catchphrase: Popuko accuses the masked man while saying it in the first half, while Pipimi closes her statement to the killer by saying there's "probably one truth" in the second half. This phrase ends up on the soundtrack as well.
    • The doors that appear during the show's episode title cards and eyecatch show up when Popuko and Pipimi round up the suspects to reveal who killed the inn owner.
    • The list of surviving suspects in the eyecatch are presented in the format of The Kindaichi Case Files.
      • The style of the faces drawn is similar.
      • The man with the burlap sack on his head is a reference to one of the suspects in a Kindaichi case who the readers are expected to find him suspicious.
    • The B part for this segment has Pipimi slapping the murderer, accompanied by the loud, gunshot-like impact of a Stand delivering a particularly nasty punch.
    • While in the second half of the episode Popuko and Pipimi are voiced by Case Closed voice actors, in the first half they are voiced by other detectives: Suzuko Mimori (Sherlock) and Sora Tokui (Nero).
    • Kinshicho is the setting of You're Under Arrest!.
  • While Popuko and Pipimi are investigating the murder, Popuko ends up dressed up like the former Japanese scientist whose research was found to be falsified and was much maligned for a photograph of herself in the lab while dressed in what appears to be a kitchen apron instead of a lab coat, while Pipimi has her ear to the ground much like the Japanese politician who was caught for embezzlement and then cried on live television.

    Episode 11: Cursed Mansion -JUKAN- 
  • The Pop Team Story in this episode is an almost direct allusion to The Shining, while the title is an allusion to Ju-on. The second half of the episode has Japanese comedian B.B. Goro doing an impersonation of actor Junji Inagawa, who made similar picture-in-picture commentary on the special features for Paranormal Activity.
  • Popuko asking Pipimi how she became a giant parodies a commercial for Japanese company Hikkoshisha that also deals with a giant.
  • In the second half of the episode, during the title card for the "JAPON MiGNON" segment, Banjo Ginga (Pipimi's voice in Part B) says, "Beware of self-destruction and secondary explosions" (Jibaku, yuubaku, goyoujin), just as was said during the On the Next segment to Episode 5 of Armored Trooper VOTOMS. Banjo Ginga was the narrator and the voice of Col. Rochina in that series.

    Episode 12: THE AGE OF POP TEAM EPIC 
  • The opening theme is replaced with a parody of opening to the infamous Sega Saturn game Death Crimson. They even go the extra mile of getting the original developers behind the game, Ecole Software, for assistance in this one skit (and are thus credited under "planning assistance" in the end credits), and they even revisited the physical location used to film the Full Motion Video portions. Director Makoto Yamashita revealed that there is a full parody of the video game that got cut for broadcast but will be in the special features of the DVD and Blu-rays.
  • The five Kings are seated together in a manner not unlike SEELE when discussing the Human Instrumentality Project.
  • William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night of all things gets brought up, if only to reference the anime's purported plot of "There is no darkness but ignorance", although presented as "With the ignorance with which darkness cries".
  • "Oh, I hate Pi**chu! 51 is Dug—"
  • The Kings' vision of what a proper Pop Team Epic anime should have been looks like anything out of Manga Time Kirara, including the Kirara Jump.
  • The Hamlet's Death Gods seem to share tailors with the Galactic Empire.
  • One of Hamlet's Death Gods ends up like Yamcha against the Saibamen.
  • The mobile game parody bears a striking resemblance to the UI of Fate/Grand Order. In the first half, Kotono Mitsuishi reuses a line of hers from Sailor Moon R: The Movie.
  • Ponta the hamster is voiced by Kurumi Mamiya, voice of Hamtaro. In the second half, she even adds in Hamtaro's Verbal Tics of "heke" and ending all sentences in "na no da". His owner and her classmate have the same hairstyles as the gender-flipped Kyon and Haruhi.
  • The song sequence "Kokoro no Taiju" parodies the "Hail Holy Queen" scene from Sister Act. During the song, Popuko also manages to split the earth in half like Arale-chan, a double parody considering Mami Koyama voices Popuko in the first airing.
  • In the second half, when Popuko and Pipimi destroy the Takeshobo building, Joji Nakata as Pipimi calls out Sol Badguy's Grand Viper.
  • In the first half, Popuko asks the Takeshobo people if they sent the assassins, and if he doesn't answer, she'll punish them in the name of the moon. An odd choice, considering Popuko is voiced by Mami Koyama, while Pipimi is voiced by none other than Usagi herself Kotono Mitsuishi.
  • In the second half, Popuko demands answers from the Takeshobo people by telling him "don't lie to a grownup", as Terryman famously says in an early chapter; this time, Popuko is voiced by Show Hayami.
  • One of the Takeshobo workers meets his fate in the infamous death pose of Orga Itsuka in Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans.
  • The eyecatches that at appear just before the Popuko and Pipimi invade the King Records castle spoofs the ones featured in Mobile Fighter G Gundam. The complex circuitry behind Popuko's eyecatch, however, is a map of the railways of Osaka and its surrounding area.
  • The King Records castle's front door is closed with a Psyche-Lock.
  • Both Popuko and Pipimi call out "Service, service!" during the fight in the King Records castle hall. Pipimi also tells Popuko to "Target the center, then switch"...which is actually one of Shinji's lines.
  • In the first half, when Popuko starts swinging Pipimi around as a weapon, Pipimi says "Put your hands together and be happy", it's a reference to a recurring Japanese commercial for the Hasegawa company.
  • In the second half, when Popuko and Pipimi break into the King Records headquarters:
  • Behind Popuko wielding Pipimi as a weapon are several King Records soldiers in poses of a memetic photo of two girls jumping on a bed, DIO, and Morisaki.
  • When King Records transforms themselves into Akashic Records, in the second half Popuko and Pipimi say that the Akashic Records aren't anything special, despite their prominence in the Nasuverse.
  • Popuko and Pipimi's fusion references Knight Gundam and Satan Gundam's fusion into Superior Dragon in Episode 4 of the SD Gundam Gaiden OVA. More specifically, it's referencing the version from Super Robot Wars BX.
  • At the end of first half, the state of Pipimi's body is similar to that of Vegeta's after his Heroic Sacrifice in an attempt to defeat Majin Buu in Dragon Ball Z.

    Pop Team Epic Kinen 
  • Much of the mini-episode is Self-Deprecation directed at JRA's own horse racing betting, such as Pipimi acting as a predictor for the winning horse. Said horses are:
    • Subprime Loan, referencing the American subprime mortgage crisis
    • Zarigani Mobile, referencing the much-mocked Nissan V2G, which looked remarkably like a crayfish (zarigani)
    • Takeshobinbou, a portmanteau of publisher Takeshobo and binbou, or "poverty".
    • Haribote Legacy, referencing Haribote Elegy, a "horse" from JRA's parody video game series JAPAN WORLD CUP. It consists of two guys in a papier-mâché horse costume with a steel drum for a body, who are very prone to tripping in mid-race.
    • Poison Gnocchi
    • Konagonaabara, referencing the haka found at the start of this Terminator 2 meme on NicoNico Douga
    • Ikenomizuzenbu ("All the Water in the Lake"), referencing a TV Tokyo show that once got rid of all of the water in a lake to see what lived in it
    • Nanyakanya, referencing Takashi Fujii's song "Nanda Kanda"
    • Kamonohashi, "platypus"
    • Mochigometaketa, "cook glutinous rice in a rice cooker"
    • Banana of Power
    • Silicon Shoulder
    • Hanage Wavy, "wavy nose hair"
    • Nanachi Konanachi
    • Yogafla Command
    • King Spirit, an actual race horse in Japan, apparently
    • Subculkusohinbanote , a suspiciously familiar-looking horse whose name is a variation on the "Subculture Bitch" that Pop Team Epic maligns so often.note 
    • Yanosan Black is a Call-Back to the rock star who shakes Hell itself, plus a reference to famous Japanese race horse Kitasan Black.
  • Nitro Pipipippi gets wheeled out onto the racetrack like Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs. She also seems to look like an Uma Musume version of herself.
  • John K. and J. Kavy are back to comment on another race.

    Episode 13: Convenience Store 

    Episode 14: Edo Era Pop Team 

Season Two

    Episode 1: Identity 

    Episode 2: Here We Go! Biggus McHugeGuy Combination 
  • Popuko and Pipimi parody the Pixar logo intro, with Pipimi posing as the letter T in the "PPTP" logo and Popuko (who's wearing a head lamp) being the one to jump on her like the Pixar lamp Luxo Jr.
  • Main episode segment:
  • Post credits talk:
    • Hiyama-Popuko comments he'd rather spend his cash on purchasing the Blu-Ray/DVD edition of Sanjuro by Akira Kurosawa over Pop Team Epic.
    • Morikawa-Pipimi shamelessly advertises for Inori Minase, who's an artist and voice actress under Morikawa's agency AXL ONE.

    Episode 3: Poputan 
  • The main story "Poputan" parodies Dora the Explorer, with Popuko and Pipimi drawn in a similarly cute style and mimicking the show's format of interacting with the audience while visiting a farm to get milk.
  • When Popuko and Pipimi stumble into the alien realm, a tune eerily similar to The X-Files theme starts to play out.
  • Made in Abyss's Nanachi makes her official debut in the anime when she's fed the top dishes requested by fans.

    Episode 4: Train Battle 
  • First Skit:
    • Popuko fighting Pipimi and blasting a beam at her all the while still floating in the sky parodied the typical fight between Dragon Ball characters, with its scenery based on the video game, Dragonball Z: Super Butouden.
    • The overall setting is aligned with Hunter × Hunter's Gon and Killua's training sessions during the Greed Island Arc. Made complete with the Affectionate Parody between Popuko and Pipimi's Part A actresses, Megumi Han and Mariya Ise, who play the two characters.
      Popuko: "Rocks may be the norm to go first in Rock–Paper–Scissors, but I'm hella using PAPER-PER-PER-PER-PER-PER!!!" note 
    • Ishimaru-Popuko unleashes her beam in the same manner as when he piloted a mecha in 'Mazinger Z''.
  • Main episode segment:
    • The train's interior looks suspicously similar to the one present in Bullet Train. The train even travels pass Mount Fuji near the end.
    • Popuko attributes her victory to a Lawyer-Friendly Cameo by Doctor Yellow (albeit with its name and appearance heavily censored), the sight of which passengers believe is a sign of good fortune due to it being a test train that has no set schedule.
  • Blooper cuts are added in the ending credits of Part B as a nod to the preference of Hong Kong films rolling bloopers in their credit rolls. They even show "The End" in traditional Chinese characters at the end of the post-credits talk.
  • In post-credits talk, the female cast acknowledge they were called in to do this project (again) because Hunter × Hunter will be back in print just a few days later.

    Episode 5: Shining Shoulder 
  • In the opening skit, as Popuko and Pipimi travel the land, Popuko breaks into song with a lyric and melody parodying Queen’s "We Are the Champions."
  • The train skit:
    • Popuko and Pipimi parody Thomas & Friends and appear as anthropomorphized trains.
    • The girls comment on how anthropomorphized trains are a trend, with Pipimi asking how she looks. Popuko responds with "10 points is not enough"—a popular hashtag used on Pixiv back when image ratings were done with points, with 10 being the highest rate. If viewers believed the image deserved higher appraisals, the hashtag was given to the image.
    • Bicycling by the girls' side is Cthulhu doing the Enoden Bicycle Bro photobomb.

    Episode 6: Pop Memories to You 
  • Main episode segment:
    • The dating sim parody is homage to the entire Tokimeki Memorial Dating Sim franchise — the classic branch for Part A, and the Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side branch for the gender flipped Part B.
    • The game's cut off ending in Part B is a spoof to the Unlockable Content at the end of Namco's 1988 Family Computer game, Erika to Satoru no Yume Bōken (Erika and Satoru's Dream Adventure), where the messages contained a developer's lengthy profane complaint about his coworkers' behavior.
  • The ending credits segment where Popuko sings at the microphone is a parody of THE FIRST TAKE, a Japanese Youtube channel that hosts various musicians performing some of their songs in one shoot.

    Episode 7: Rising Hell—The Arrow of Hellshake 
  • The main episode segment, which focuses on Hellshake Yano's adventure to pick up his music career once again, is a homage to The Legend of Zelda franchise:
    • It specifically references The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, given the map layout, an owl to send The Quest, and the usage of music instruments to move the plot.
    • The Master Pick that Hellshake Yano needs to play the Purifying Guitar is an obvious nod to the franchise's divine sword, the Master Sword.
  • The way each and every character role in the Part B credits is credited under Kōichi Yamadera's name is a gag reference to him being credited in a similar manner for works like Higanjima X where he voices the entire cast for an episode.

    Episode 8: Pop Team Epic Battle Royale 
  • Main episode segment:
  • The game glitch skit:
    • When an older Pipimi demonstrates how video game cartridges were cleaned in the past, the cartridge is show to be connected to the Sega Tower of Power.
    • As the supposedly glitch-fixed Popuko enters the scene for the second time, she ends up glitched again in the same style as JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind's 2002 Playstation 2 game that was documented by a Nico Nico Douga user, which showcased an incident of Bruno Bucciarati balding with remaining hair turning into skin color.

    Episode 9: BUMP-BOO-CRUSADERS 
  • Main episode segment:
    • The Popuko Pipimi Cthulhu trio assemble a vehicle that parodies the lead Molcar from Pui Pui Molcar.
    • One opposing delinquent blatantly wields a lightsaber, the iconic weapon from Star Wars.
  • The ending credits segment stars a Mini 4WD chassis escaping Popuko's ownership to travel the world while keeping her updated via postcards on its adventures. The chassis also parodies the Dash-1 Emperor from Dash! Yonkuro , with the coloring and front bumper taken from Gou Seiba's Cyclone Magnum in Bakusou Kyoudai! Let's & Go!! and Hayato Kazami's Asurada in Future GPX Cyber Formula.

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