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Shout Out / The World God Only Knows

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Organized in the order of appearance. Citation(s) would be appreciated.

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    In the Manga 
  • Dokuro Skull asks for a Billy's Bootcamp DVD as a souvenir. (chapter 1, p.3)
  • Keima, the ultimate Strategist with god-like tendencies. (chapter 1, p.12 & p.14)
    • Keima's outfit has got to be a shout-out to Austin Powers. Wonder if he has bad teeth?
  • Multi and Saber are two of the 2D girls Keima mentions while ranting about girls in real-life. (chapter 1, p.13)
  • When Keima states that he's the "God of the Game World" (chapter 1, p.14), the image he uses is based on the 19th century painting of Jupiter and Thetis by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres. This planted more than a few Epileptic Trees when the Jupiter sisters showed up.
  • So the collars will explode if one of the partners dies, huh... (chapter 1, p.29)
  • An unintentional one that becomes harsher in hindsight. There was a quote that sent me into despair at the thought: "A girl who is a member of the track-and-field club definitely must have her hair tied up!! Don't you know that the girl's soul stays in that tie which holds the hair." (chapter 1, p.32)
  • The classmates' laughter and the Art Shift involved is a shout-out to Peanuts. (chapter 2, p.5)
  • BMW - Imouto metaphor. Specific model featured is a E63 model 6-series. (chapter 2, p.13)
  • In the top-left panel, Elsie is singing "lun lun, lululu, lun lun (ルンルン　ルルル　ルンルン)". It's the opening phrase of the anime song for The Story of Perrine. Hear it for yourself. (chapter 2, p.20)
  • Keima is playing a galge in the middle of class as usual, but if you pay attention to the text that comes out of his headphones, you'll notice he's playing School Days. (Chapter 3, p.2)
  • The two girls shown on the top panel are Elchi Cargo (middle) and Rag Urao (right) from Combat Mecha Xabungle. (chapter 4, p.13)
  • A Zaku head, an interstellar locomotive, and lastly a pumpkin carriage for our Tsunderella. (chapter 4, p.13-14 & chapter 5, p.2-3)
  • The cover of chapter 6 is an allusion to Edward Burne-Jones' painting, The Golden Stairs◊. (chapter 6, p.1)
  • Elsie singing "My, my, kare is (わたしのカレーは)" is a pun/allusion to Asaoka Megumi's song, "Watashi no Kare wa Hidarikiki (私の彼は左利き)". Here, "kare" is a homophone that can either be the informal Japanese pronoun "boyfriend" or "curry" in Japanese. (chapter 6, p.2)
  • Dying(?) from Capturing God Mode, Keima states "This is a blood-stained road after all... (所詮血塗られた道...)". This line is from Kushana in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. (chapter 6, p.11)
  • Fujisaki Shiori, Saber, Kohaku, Hoshii Miki & Miura Azusa to name a few of the girls on the last page of Keima's dream. Here is the full version.◊ (chapter 6, p.16)
  • The former singer/idol wife of Ken Akamatsu (of Love Hina fame) is named Kanon. (Chapter 7-present)
  • Keima's uniform, the Roman salute and D-pad flags to promote The Game Idol's Era. (chapter 7, p.4)
  • The final comment in chapter 9: "is Kanon's real identity alien, time traveler or slider?" (chapter 9, p.18)
  • Invisible Kanon's descent is a shout-out to Ghost in the Shell. (chapter 10, p.3)
  • Doraemon, Haruhi Suzumiya, and Maetel are the characters on the background. (chapter 11, p.4)
  • Elsie is magically speed-growing some hell strawberries with an umbrella. (chapter 11, p.13)
  • Keima sings "Let It Be!!" with a piano out of nowhere. (chapter 12, p.9)
  • Kodama-sensei (in drill instructor uniform): "What's wrong...... That Billy guy [Billy Blanks] can run 20 laps more...." (chapter 12, p.10)
  • Elsie's drawing is a reference to the arrival of Commodore Matthew Perry's four Black Ships on July 14, 1853 at Uraga Harbor in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. (chapter 13, p.3)
    • The text on Keima's right, "上喜撰 / たった四杯で / 夜も眠れず", is an excerpt from a famous kyoka. The "jōkisen" here is read the same as "steam-powered ships" and shihai can also mean "four vessels". Thus, the reference. (chapter 13, p.3)
  • The ad "○ki hatsuratsu!! (○気ハツラツ!!)" is a direct parody of Oronamin C's slogan/ad, with the initial spokesperson of the campaign Kon Omura. (chapter 13, p.12)
  • "I'm telling you Lucky Star—" "Oh be quiet—" (chapter 15, p.2)
  • Keima-Black Jack with reverse seams. (chapter 15, p.9)
  • Elsie with drills. (chapter 16, p.7)
    • Done again by Haqua during the Goddess Capture Arc. (chapter 128, p.2)
      • A little tidbit: The background on the title for the said chapter resembles a widened Core Drill without the handle.
  • The three delinquents from Seikesshou Albatross. On a side note, it's a manga series, also by Tamiki Wakaki, making it a Mythology Gag as well. (chapter 18, p.7)
  • Sasuke is a Japanese soft drink introduced in 1984. Not to be confused with some emo ninja. (chapter 20, p.4)
  • Keima-Pikachu is both cute and strong. (chapter 21, p.9)
  • In the bottom-left of the fifth panel, cameos of Yukiko Mamiya and Noriko Momoi from Esper Mami can be seen. (chapter 23, p.4)
  • Keima's explanation of escaped spirits uses Boos to represent the spirits. (chapter 24, p.4)
  • "Ac-chan···!! Please take Minami to the Koshien Stadium···!!" (chapter 24, p.9)
  • The escaped spirit looks like a certain boss (chapter 24, p.18)
  • Keima is seen dragging a cross on his back. (chapter 27, p.2)
  • Katsuragi art shifts into 10th century Buddhist Monk Kuya Shonin.◊ (chapter 28, p.4)
  • To the number of escaped spirits left on earth, Keima complains: "With a task like this, normally, you only need about 7 pieces. Imagine 60,000 D-gonballs!!" (chapter 28, p.5)
  • Keima seems to be learning a few stunts from a certain skeleton. (chapter 28, p.8)
  • Keima-Snoopy refuses to capture a certain target. (chapter 28, p.13)
  • Keima is transformed into a cockroach, and he quotes The Metamorphosis. (chapter 29, p.12)
  • RUN! IT'S KEIMA-ZILLA! (chapter 30, p.9)
  • Keima explains the power of analyzing situations to Chihiro with a bit of Bullet Hell. (chapter 30, p.14)
  • The enclosed octagons on Chihiro's umbrella form the pattern of the Absolute Terror Field. (chapter 32, p.10)
  • The Axis 3D is intercepted by Londo Bell 2D girls in the third panel. (chapter 33, p.10)
  • The inverted logo of Dreamcast on Keima's mask. (chapter 33, p.16)
  • "As usual, this mart feels like zombies are going to haunt—" (chapter 34, p.8)
    • The name of the mart contains the word "INAZUMA", the alternate name for Satou Shouji, the artist for High School Of The Dead.
  • Captain Bright from the original Gundam series, working as a galge developer. (chapter 35, p.14)
  • The person Jun admires is Jumbo Tsuruma, taken from the real Japanese wrestler Jumbo Tsuruta (chapter 36, p.4)
  • Keima is imitating Sherlock Holmes' manner of speech and "Elsea-kun" is a reference to Dr. John Watson. (chapter 37, p.3)
  • The explanation of the relationship between teacher and student, illustrated with the arcade game Donkey Kong. (chapter 37, p.11)
  • The hell bureaucracy had that... board-like thing. (chapter 42, p.2)
    • They even had an inverted iPod in the meeting. (chapter 42, p.3)
  • Keima-Adam with the broom. (chapter 42, p.6)
  • Chihiro references Riki Takeuchi in her conversation. This doesn't appear in the scanlation. (chapter 42, p.8)
  • Chihiro-Nana sings the song she wrote about the "bittersweet feeling of love". (chapter 42, p.9)
  • "No," says Keima-Shinnosuke. (chapter 43, p.12)
  • Keima, who is in withdrawal after Tsukiyo laughs at Yokkyun, is facing a familiar mecha with LCL in the background. (chapter 43, p.13)
  • Shinku, is that you? (chapter 44, p.11)
  • In the non-bonus 4-koma, Tsukiyo comments that she might be able to take a milk bath with her shrunken size, to which Keima responds, "Who are you, Shizuka-chan?" (chapter 45, p.6)
  • "A board game...? Your pastimes are on par with Sunset on Third Street." (chapter 47, p.6)
  • A certain bowling ball next to Haqua. (chapter 48, p.1)
  • Ayane as one of the Miss Fan's Healthy Tai-Chi instructors. (chapter 48, p.3)
  • Arale Norimaki's Angel Wings Hat, with the letters replaced, alongside Yukie calling Hakua "Hac-chan". (chapter 48, p.4)
  • Keima as Shigeo Takahashi from the Japanese comedy duo Savanna (サバンナ). (chapter 48, p.8)
  • The two-piece cross pendant from one of Honda Keiko's works on the last panel. Confirmed by the author here. (chapter 49, p.11)
  • Minami's Annoying Younger Sibling using Kamen Rider Zolda's belt and gun. (chapter 52, p.5)
  • Wait a minute, isn't that Revolver by The Beatles? (chapter 54, p.1)
  • A poster of a girl playing bass, with the letters "[Kei]on! ([けい]おん!)" visible on the bottom. (chapter 54, p.2)
    • In the second panel, Giant appears to illustrate just how bad the girls' music is. (chapter 54, p.4)
    • After pulling names from a tissue box, Ayumi accuses Chihiro of cheating, which Chihiro rejects with a face like Kaiji's. This is a reference to Kaiji in the Tissue Box Raffle, where he did cheat in the game. (chapter 54, p.5)
    • The four girls on a crosswalk? It's from the album cover of Abbey Road. (chapter 54, p.6)
    • The girls try to start a light music club. Where'd they get the idea? From watching K-On!, of course. (chapter 54, p.7)
    • Kodama also mentions that he cannot recognize such groups as the Card-Battling Club or the Voice Actor Studies Club. (chapter 54, p.8)
    • Also for Sengoku Basara in the scene where they get permission for the club. (chapter 55, p.16)
  • Keima-Mario and 1UP (chapter 57, p.4)
  • TOYOTA - Osananajimi metaphor. (chapter 57, p.14)
    • "Drive Your Dreams." is one of Toyota Motor Corporation's slogans.
    • The specific model is the one-off 2000GT roadster built specifically for You Only Live Twice (the 2000GT is only available to the public in coupe form).
    • Keima's explanation of what a childhood friend is suppose to be like. Anyone's who's played the first Tokimeki Memorial will know that that's the basic setup for main heroine and childhood friend Fujisaki Shiori.
  • What do you give to a woman with no lover? The F4! (chapter 59, p.12)
  • Where's Keima? Oh, there you are! Hmm? What's with that red-and-white striped shirt and that bobble hat? (chapter 61, p.5)
  • A shout-out to the cover of the Summer Wars light novel◊. (chapter 66, p.1)
  • The picture on one of the bowls Katsuragi Denma crafted... (chapter 66, p.7)
  • "You can say it's quiet, but... the countryside is its people. Without the people, traditions also die out.... It's like cleaning up the charred remains of a mansion, burnt down at the end of a serial killer streak, by a stranger who took advantage of the dispute between the head and branch families, or was set ablaze on a whim by someone like a resident with a strong dialect, or eventually someone like a suspicious shinto priest and a miko... Who'll clean it up?" (chapter 66, p.11)
  • Keima's somniloquy: "Another ending... The party got wiped out." (chapter 66, p.15)
  • The omake for volume 7 includes Diana claiming to have once "split the sea" and "control the weather" much like a certain biblical patriarch a.k.a Moses. (chapter 66.5)
  • The front cover of vol. 8◊ is an allusion to Raphael Sanzio's painting, "The School of Athens". Observe the pattern of the vault on the background of the painting and cover. Also, the three Keimas represent Plato (pointing upwards), Aristotle (palm facing the ground), and Heraclitus (head leaning on the hand).
  • An elder with 100+40 years of experience in ramen teaches a stranger (Elsie) how to properly appreciate a bowl of ramen... Then, it's revealed that Elsie was actually reading it off a ramen guide, just like in the movie Tampopo. (chapter 69, p.2) Sumire is the name of a flower, like Tampopo, and the store's name changes to its owner's later on. (chapter 72, p.3)
  • The logo of Chinese restaurant Hanamura (ハマムラ) parodied in the fourth panel. (chapter 69, p.10)
  • The pig face is common in Black Jack (chapter 71, p.3).
  • Plea~sed to~ meet you~ I am a Voltorb~~ (chapter 71, p.4)
  • Tenri's western clothing is from the schoolteacher Clara Clayton in Back to the Future Part III. (chapter 73, p.1)
  • Tenri and Nora as Hammer Brothers Sisters, Airi as Lakitu, and Sumire as Blooper on Keima's illustration. Additionally, the Arkanoid reference on the same page. (chapter 73, p.3)
  • I'm pretty sure this robot is a shout out to some manga (chapter 73, p.6)
  • How Keima walks in on Hakua is a parody of a scene from Visual Novel/Shuffle!. Here's the anime verson. (chapter 73, p.8)
  • Kobayakawa Rinko of Love Plus. Judging from the screen, it appears the PFP has a built-in microphone. (chapter 74, p.17)
  • The initial part of the imagination sequence is a reference to Heidi (chapter 75, p.7)
  • In a political debate at the United States Capitol, "YES WE CAN" is written on the lectern. (chapter 75, p.7)
  • The entirety of the original Gundam series gets played out in Keima's intergalactic war between the single- and multi-heroine armies, right down to Char and Amuro's climatic sword fight. (chapter 75, p.10-14)
  • One of Zero's poses from Code Geass, played by Keima. (chapter 77, p.7)
  • Near's LEGO minifigs used to illustrate Keima's 3-step plan for capturing Nanaka Haibara. (chapter 78, p.1)
  • Saint Seiya style shogi battle between Diana and Keima. (chapter 78, p.3)
  • Keima questions how a retro game has any connection with shogi. (chapter 78, p.11)
  • Umm... Okaa-sama, was that Hokuto Hyakuretsu Ken? (chapter 83, p.8)
  • Soaring high... Keima is the Tower of Babel. (chapter 86, p.12)
  • The Ivory Tower... A world of intellectuals... (chapter 86, p.16)
  • "God Is Dead." our Otoshi-kami decried.◊ (chapter 86, p.17)
  • The front cover of vol. 10◊ is a shout-out to the poster of The Return of Godzilla.
  • "The further away you are from each other, the stronger your feelings will become. It's like a Choro-Q love!!" (chapter 88, p.5)
  • When a Soul Level 4 Weiss appears, it spells: BIG TROUBLE. (chapter 89, p.5)
  • Ayumi and Chihiro perform a Cross Bomber on Keima. Note how his glasses are knocked off. Then they mercilessly stomp him with insults. Just look at them go. (chapter 89, p.13)
  • Hinoki encourages Keima, "Boys, be ambitious!!" (chapter 91, p.16)
  • Keima drawn with Pablo Picasso's surrealistic gusto from "Guernica". (chapter 92, p.2)
  • Reappearance of Keima-Takahashi. (chapter 92, p.12)
  • Intentional or not, but when a character shouts "Urusai, urusai, urusai!!", it reminds you of that red-haired loli. (chapter 92, p.13)
  • Elsie is watching Magnum Robo Gashigo on the TV. (chapter 93, p.4)
  • You know you heard it when you saw it... "Rider Kick!!" (chapter 93, p.12)
  • The chapter cover is from Shinkenzemi, an online study course. (chapter 94, p.1)
  • The opening song lyrics are from the Kougaman anime segment, which features cameos from Kyokyoku Chojin R. (chapter 94, p.4)
  • The two mascots are from Ponkickies, while the background is a homage shot to the SF anime genre. (chapter 94, p.5)
  • Keima's face when he throws the letter is the face of Yuuki-sensei. (chapter 94, p.6)
  • Eeney, meeney, miney, Keima-Moai. (chapter 94, p.9)
  • Silhouettes of Doraemon, Nobita, and Shizuka. (chapter 94, p.10)
  • It's unintentional, but Keima's face is from Kaitei Jinrui Anchovie, a manga by Yasunaga Kouichirou. (chapter 94, p.10)
  • Elsie's art style is from Love Cocktail. (chapter 94, p.14)
    • BGM "The Nearness of You" by Hoagy Carmichael & Ned Washington on the second panel.
  • The kites are from Nipponkodo's incense stick commercial. (chapter 94, p.17)
  • At the end credits Elsie sticks a disclaimer notifying Keima's comments are fictitious, referencing the events in The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya. (chapter 94, p.18)
  • Keima-Tarao: "An Anime?!" (chapter 94, p.19)
    • Tarao Fuguta from Machiko Hasegawa's Japanese comic strip Sazae-san.
  • Pac-Man as the runaway spirit and the pellets as its food. (chapter 96, p.8)
  • The vertical sign that reads "IOIO". An allusion to The Bee Gees' second single "I.O.I.O." from their seventh album Cucumber Castles. (chapter 97, p.2)
  • "Just according to plan..." states Kira Kusunoki. (chapter 97, p.15)
  • "The iron hammer of evil... will be swung down on the impure and filthy new devils!" Okay, seriously, we don't need any crazed implacable maids here. (chapter 97, p.16)
    • Original lines translated via formal equivalence: "To those impure and filthy new devils... The iron mace of evil!!"
  • The silhouette of Hinoki lovingly strangling Kusunoki. Hinoki sure does love her little sister! (chapter 99, p.13)
  • The first panel is awfully similar to the introduction in chapter 1, is it not? (chapter 104, p.1)
  • Due to an excessive rainfall, Japan Sinks! (chapter 104, p.5)
  • <Insert Universal Studio music here.> (chapter 104, p.6)
  • Thirsty for a sip of politics? Try the National Diet of Japan... with a fairy on top! (chapter 104, p.7)
  • During the Serious Business meeting of the inner Keima's Congress to prioritize what kind of game is considered a galge game, games that have the theme of capturing girls and an ending, one Keima asks "What about a scrolling shooting game with girls?". Hmm, how many of those do we have? More than one but he is probably referring to that game. (chapter 104, p.10)
  • Military general Keima from the Normal Game Department uses the famous quote from John S. Mill's book, "Utilitarianism": "It is better to be a human dissatisfied than a pig satisfied." (chapter 104, p.13)
  • One of the posters they're holding shows Nene Anegasaki from Love Plus, complete with a plus! (chapter 104, p.14)
  • While at an amusement park, the gang go on Splash Canyon a.k.a. Splash Mountain. (chapter 106, p.13)
  • The dominant 7#9 chord, colloquially known as the Hendrix chord. (chapter 107, p.1)
  • Keima has upgraded his game accessory to Virtual PFP 3D. (chapter 107, p.2)
  • Chihiro's punch sends Keima to the moon. (chapter 108, p.4)
  • Love Romance Preparation Kit from... Tamiki. The stars in Tamiya Corporation's logo are replaced by hearts. (chapter 109, p.1)
  • Akari's shabby appearance and outworn backpack give her a striking resemblance to Asakura of Seikesshou Albatross. (chapter 109, p.17)
  • Keima imitates Peko-chan's face, the mascot of confectionary chain Fujiya Co. (chapter 110, p.15)
    • In the same chapter above, the nerds helping a small robot with a smiley face is actually based on an experiment in New York called tweenbots.
  • Allusions in Akari's Imagine Spot (chapter 112, p.9):
  • Keima's perfect human is just a Kewpie doll...with a convincing story to make it so. (chapter 113, p.2)
  • At the end of the Akari faux-arc, Nikaidou refers to the 1953 romantic comedy movie Roman Holiday. (chapter 113, p.17)
  • The very first page of chapter 117 is a take on the Hell part of The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch.
  • Keima says that right now they need to think how to raise an Idol when Kanon is stabbed by Vintage, then Haqua calls him on it, saying it's not time to think about games. (chapter 118, p.10)
  • Keima declares that he'll cease being a god and instead become a demon of the game world while adopting one of Lelouch's gestures. (chapter 121, p.19)
  • One of the chapter's segments is titled "A Hard Day's Night". (chapter 122b, p.5)
  • Professor Layton's emblem appears on the cover of the book Shiori is removing when she sees Keima on the other side of the shelf. (chapter 124, p.6)
  • Komaki Manaka can be seen on the cover of the Best 50 Dating Sims book. (chapter 124, pg.13)
  • Using The Game of Life to demonstrate the power of after-school events. (chapter 126, p.3)
  • Little Red Riding Hood Tsukiyo. (chapter 126, p.6)
  • Playboy Bunny Head Keima. (chapter 129, p.6)
  • When Keima explains that you should play games more often, the background is from Super Mario Bros. (chapter 130, p.18)
  • Hinagiku can be seen on one of the posters. (chapter 131, p.13)
  • A recipe for vegetable soup by Cook[ing] Mama. (chapter 133, p.8)
  • KNN48. (chapter 137b, p.3)
  • Wakaki Tamiki-sensei, the author of TWGOK, seems to really like Mitsuru Adachi-sensei. Besides the fact there are the most numerous and most obvious references to Adachi-sensei's works, Keima also makes a direct reference of Adachi-sensei's name. Unfortunately, I forget which chapter this was in but its in there somewhere.
    • The scenes that would have made it to the current anime were either altered or removed, most likely due to copyright issues and the fact that many current viewers may not be familiar with Adachi-sensei's works.
  • "I have no interest in humans." (chapter 140, p.11)
  • Haqua is wearing a PETA apron (chapter 144, p.9)
  • Keima is dressed up as Conan on the back cover of volume 16. (Chapter 156.5, Bonus materials)
  • Ayumi is Heidi (chapter 157, p.2)
  • Ayumi and Chihiro have eyes that are reminiscent of Picasso's drawing style◊. (chapter 162, p.5)
  • A railroad-variant of Pipe Mania!!. (chapter 172, p.4)
  • Keima describes how agile and fast Ayumi is by using a map made up of squares, with colored squares representing how far they can go. Keima, who is in a square with trees, cannot go as far as Ayumi. (chapter 174, p.6)
  • The Mai High Festival Arc revolves around three days where the hero must awaken ancient beings to help save the world from the end of the world occurring at dawn after the third day. Now if Keima or someone in Ayumi's band only played an ocarina.
  • Mars is using an NES controller. (FLAG 178.5, pg. 6)
  • Alien!Keima takes on the look of a classic Grey. (FLAG 216, pg. 19)
  • Is the word on the background Kei-chan's Kiai? If that's so, then he's quoting Harry Ord... (FLAG 219, pg. 7)
  • Grandpa Shoutarou is driving a Jaguar XJS (FLAG 219, pg. 16)
    • Ten years later, he switches to a Toyota Land Cruiser as he comes to aid three goddesses. (FLAG 252, pg. 18)
  • Yui is holding a PS2 controller (FLAG 220, pg. 2)
  • Urara: "We'll go to school wearing roller skates!" (FLAG 221, pg. 8)
  • A scheming Keima looks an awful lot like Pigma from Star Fox 64 (FLAG 223, pg. 14)
  • Mami, Emi, and Yumi (Flag 226, pg. 8)
  • Keima claims that if he were conquering a queen character in a game, he would just hold her citizens at ransom. While he says this, you can see a female noblewoman famous for sticking up for her subjects, Lady Godiva herself (with Godiva Hair of course), in the background. (FLAG 236, pg. 6)
  • When Keima and Tenri saw the word "KISS" on the script... (FLAG 237, pg. 13)
  • In order of appearance, Keima pretended to be an alien, an esper and a time traveller
  • The face Keima makes when whining is the face made by exasperated (AUGGGGHHHHHH!) Peanuts characters (FLAG 240, p.4)
  • Wait, did Skynet send those skeletal thugs to take out "Romeo"? (FLAG 245, p.4)
  • In case of boredom, Shiori always carries around a Club Nintendo released Game & Watch. One that has Octopus (FLAG 252, p.5,11)

    In the Chapter Titles 
Chapters are called FLAGs, referring to the corresponding mechanism in games.
  • FLAG.03 "Baby, You're a Rich Girl": "Baby, You're a Rich Man" by The Beatles
  • FLAG.04 "Drive My Car" by The Beatles
  • FLAG.05 "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party" by The Beatles
  • FLAG.07 "IDOL BOMB!": Japanese Idol magazine "BOMB"
  • FLAG.08 "UP TO BOY": Japanese Idol magazine "UTB"
  • FLAG.10 "Shining Star": Japanese Idol magazine
  • FLAG.13 "The Inside and Outside of a Big Wall (大きな壁の中と外)": A novel by Motoko Arai
  • FLAG.14 "Inside of Me (私のなかの･･････)": A novel by Motoko Arai
  • FLAG.15 "Open the Door (扉を開けて)": A novel by Motoko Arai
  • FLAG.16 "The Last Day (おしまいの日)": A novel by Motoko Arai
  • FLAG.28 "Rainy Days And Mondays" by Carpenters
  • FLAG.29 "If You Find Your Ways, It Always Rains (たどりついたらいつも雨ふり)" by Takuro Yoshida
  • FLAG.30 "If the Rain Stopped (雨がやんだら)" by Yukiji Asaoka
  • FLAG.31 "10% Expected Rainfall (10%の雨予報)" by H20, also OP for the anime Miyuki
  • FLAG.32 "Singing in the Rain" by Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown
  • FLAG.34 "Demolish the Bricks (つみき くずし)": Japanese TV drama
  • FLAG.35 "The Dawn of Something (なにかの☆よあけ)": Japanese TV drama or Variety Program
  • FLAG.37 "2年B組長瀬先生": Parody of Japanese TV drama
  • FLAG.38 "School Wars (スクール☆ウォーズ)": Japanese TV drama
  • FLAG.39 "Eager Times (熱中時代)": Japanese TV drama
  • FLAG.40 "Scrapped Teacher (スクラップト・ティーチャー)": Parody of Japanese school drama
  • FLAG.41 "In the Heart, the Sun Will Always... (いつも心に太陽を)": Japanese title for To Sir, with Love (1967)
  • FLAG.44 "The Half Moon is the Color of Love (ハーフムーンはときめき色)" by Syouko Minami
  • FLAG.45 "The Moon and a Glove (月とテブクロ)" by Kinniku Shōjo Tai (KING-SHOW)
  • FLAG.46 "Mr. Moonlight" by The Beatles
  • FLAG.47 "The Girl's Her (彼女の彼)" by Misato Watanabe
  • FLAG.48 "Kano-Kano (彼女彼女の事情)": Parody of Masami Tsuda's His and Her Circumstances
  • FLAG.49 "Kano x Kano x Kare (彼女X彼女X彼)" - Parody of CROSS-NET's galge 彼女×彼女×彼女 (Kanojo x Kanojo x Kanojo)
  • FLAG.50-53 "H2O", "Touch", "Slow Step", "Mostly Sunny": Mitsuru Adachi-sensei called, he wants his copyright fee.
  • FLAG.55 "Help!" by The Beatles
  • FLAG.66 "Nights in White Satin" by The Moody Blues
  • FLAG.67 "Ride My See-Saw" by The Moody Blues
  • FLAG.68 "Every Good Girl Deserves Favour": Parody of The Moody Blues' sixth album "Every Good Boy Deserves Favour"
  • FLAG.73~74 "The Escape from the Seraglio", "The Magic Flute" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
  • FLAG.75 "Summer Wars" by Mamoru Hosoda
  • FLAG.80 "Pajama de Ojama" by Yuu Watase
  • FLAG.81 "Young Girl, Young Boy (少女・少年)" by Yuu Yabuuchi
  • FLAG.82 "She and My Eye×Eye" (僕と彼女の目X目) - Parody of Ai Morinaga's "Boku to Kanojo no XXX"
  • FLAG.83 "If Only I Could Exchange Them (とりかへばや)" - Reference to the literary work "Torikaebaya Monogatari"
  • FLAG.84 "Pretty Faces" - Reference to Yasuhiro Kano's Pretty Face
  • FLAG.85 "Twinkle Trick Star" - Parody of Hikaru Toyama's "Twinkle Twinkle Idol Star"
  • FLAG.86 "I'm That Guy and the Heroine is Inside Me" - Parody of Hisashi Yamanaka's children's literature "I Are You, You Am Me"
  • FLAG.87 "Princess Doubt" - Probably a twist on Princess Debut
  • FLAG.88 "Body Jack" - Reference to "Body Jack - Tanoshii Yutai Ridatsu"
  • FLAG.89 "Turn A" - Could be a direct reference to ∀ Gundam.
  • FLAG.102 "Devil May Cry" - An allusion with potential foreshadowing and wordplay?
  • FLAG.105 "Triangle Love Letter" by Triangle
  • FLAG.106 "Three of a Perfect Pair", album/song by King Crimson
  • FLAG.107 "Run Run Run" by the Velvet Underground
  • FLAG.108 "Venus in Furs" by the Velvet Underground
  • FLAG.110 "Do Androids Dream of Chicken Cutlets?" - An allusion to the sci-fi novel by Philip K. Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
  • FLAG.111 "Mannequin" - Could be a reference to the movie
  • FLAG.112 "Absolute Girlfriend" - An allusion to the shojo manga Absolute Boyfriend by Yuu Watase
  • FLAG.113 "A・I" - A reference to the sci-fi film A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, which is based on the short story "Super-Toys Last All Summer Long" by Brian Aldiss
  • FLAG.114 "Apollo"
  • FLAG.115 "Debris of the Sun" by Yutaka Ozaki
  • FLAG.118 "Scramble Formation" - Known as "Tokio" Japan, it's a 1986 Shoot'em-Up game developed by Taito Corp
  • FLAG.119 "Look Back in Anger" by David Bowie and Brian Eno
  • FLAG.129 "Close to the Edge" by Yes
  • FLAG.130 "Cheap Trick" - one of the best known Power Pop bands and quite popular in Japan
  • FLAG.134 "Strike Witches"
  • FLAG.135 "Mission Incomplete"
  • FLAG.145 "Close Romantic Encounters of the Third Kind"
  • FLAG.149 "About Me" by Shizuka Kudo
  • FLAG.153 "I, Me, 'My'ne" - play on "I, Me, Mine" by The Beatles
  • FLAG.154 "Play the Game" by Queen
  • FLAG.159 "Aqua Lung" by Jethro Tull
  • FLAG.171 "For a Few Lovers More" - A wordplay on For a Few Dollars More from the Dollars Trilogy by Sergio Leone.
  • FLAG.172 "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" by Sergio Leone.
  • FLAG.178-2 "Once Upon A Time in Majima" - Based on Once Upon a Time in the West by Sergio Leone
  • FLAG.195 "Beyond the FLAG" - derived from the song entitled Beyond the Time by TM Network.
  • FLAG.196 "Child In Time", a reference to Deep Purple's song Child in Time
  • FLAG.201 "A New Career in a New Flag" - A reference to David Bowie's song A New Career in a New Town
  • FLAG.212 "Flashpoint" - the title references multiple media that also have it as a title.
  • FLAG.216 "E.T.". Yes, freaking E.T.
  • FLAG.221 "The Pleasure Land", a throwback to the amusement park in Pinocchio.
  • FLAG.222 "Owner of A LONELY HEART" is a call out to the song by YES.
  • FLAGS 236 to 248 (with the exception of 240) are references to the works of William Shakespeare:
    • FLAG.236 "Love is a Smoke" - from Romeo and Juliet.
    • FLAG.237 "Romeo's Cloudy Skies" is double reference to Romeo and Juliet, but more specifically a play on Romeo's Blue Skies.
    • FLAG.238 "Smiles and Villains" is taken from a line in Hamlet: "That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain-"
    • FLAG.239 "NOT TO BE" is another reference from Hamlet, this time from Hamlet's famous soliloquy.
    • FLAG.241 "Love's Labour's Lost", from the play of the same name;
    • FLAG.242 "Tempest" - Given the context, could be a reference to The Tempest.
    • FLAG.243 "Love's not Time's Fool" - from Shakespeare's sonnet #113.
    • FLAG.244 "Much Ado About 'Something'", playing on Much Ado About Nothing.
    • FLAG.245 "As You Like" - could be a play on As You Like It.
    • FLAG.246 "Nicely Tangled Threads, Badly Tangled Threads"note  is a reference to "The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together"note , a line from the play All's Well That Ends Well, 4.3.
    • FLAG.247 "The Taming of the Shrew" - another title from a play of the same name.
    • FLAG.248 "The Better for My Enemy" seems to be based on the line "Truly, sir, the better for my foes and the worse for my friends" from the play Twelfth Night.
  • FLAG.253 "All Together FLAG" might be a pun to title of the song "All Together Now" by The Beatles, which is a children's sing-along about a group of friends who gets together to play. Alternatively, it could be reference to the anti-war song "All Together Now" by The Farm. Both of them fit nicely with the themes of the chapter.
  • FLAG.256 "From Beyond", originally "彼方から" (Kanata kara), is the Japanese title of the shoujo manga From Far Away.
  • FLAG.257-264 were named after songs by The Rolling Stones:
    • FLAG.257 "Undercover of the Night".
    • FLAG.258 "Let's Spend the Night Together".
    • FLAG.259 "Shattered".
    • FLAG.260 "Paint It Blank", a pun to Paint It Black.
    • FLAG.261 "No Expectations".
    • FLAG.262 "Heart of Stone".
    • FLAG.263 "You Can't Always Get What You Want".
    • FLAG.264 "Shine A Light"
  • The last four chapter titles are internal self-references to the anime adaptations and vocal albums of The World God Only Knows:
    • FLAG.265 "World Fortune" is a reference to Haqua and Elsie's Image Song of the same name, which can be described as a very upbeat Badass Boast of role of the new devils like them in the story.
    • FLAG.266 "Romantic☆2Night" is also the name of Elsie's Image Song about her "date" with Keima in FLAG.103.
    • FLAG.267 "A Token of Love" is titled after the ending theme of the first TV series.
    • FLAG.268 "Door to Tomorrow" is titled after the second OAV's ending theme.

    In the Anime 

Season 1

  • Episode 1
    • The main character accepts his "contract" to catch "loose souls" while saying "Boku wo dare da to omote yagaru." Although not used in the English dub, a lot of people, particularly Mecha fans, fairly recognize this as "Just who the hell do you think I am?!"
    • Just before that, we get a peek at his mail and he has an email signed by Konoha Sakura.
  • Episode 2
    • Chapter 2's BMW metaphor and Peanuts Art Shift. The 6-series model was altered by changing out its front fascia with that of the late-production E46 3-series.
    • Elsea says "I'm one hell of a little sister!", a reference to Black Butler.
  • Episode 3
  • Episode 4
  • Episode 5
  • Episode 6
    • Kanon's pet turtle is named Keitaro
  • Episode 7
    • Kanon's descent as Elsie wonders how they can find someone who's invisible is a shout-out to the Major's descent from Ghost in the Shell.
  • Episode 8
    • Chapter 11's silhouettes.
    • The title of Keima's segment is "I Think, Therefore I Fantasize", a parody of René Descartes' famous quote "I think, therefore I am".
    • Near the beginning of Elsie's song, she grows the "strawberries" using the method from My Neighbor Totoro.
  • Episode 9
    • The arrival of the Black Ships from chapter 13.
    • Keima henshins while shouting "KAAAMIIII NOOOOMIIII" with all the original sound effects.
  • Episode 10
    • During the library club's meeting regarding adding a new electronic media section, someone suggests Idol Master and Dead or Alive to be part of the check-out material.
    • The name of the guy that suggested Idol Master and Dead or Alive is Wakaki.
    • Shiori quotes Otto von Bismarck: "Only a fool learns from his own mistakes. The wise man learns from the mistakes of others." (There's a similar quote in the manga, chapter 14, p.17, but it seems to be garbled by the translation.)
    • Chapter 15's Black Jack shout-out becomes a full-on Imagine Spot, with Keima as Black Jack and Elsie as Pinoko.
  • Episode 11
    • At one point, Shiori is reading a novel called Ergo Proxy.
  • Episode 12

Season 2

    In the Novel 

Volume 1

Volume 2

  • Aoba receives intensive training from Keima, who's wearing the whole "Coach" Ohta outfit.

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