History GeniusBonus / AnimeAndManga

** The bird-humanoid beastman is named Garuda, which is a reference to [[UsefulNotes/Hinduism Hindu mythology]] - [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garuda Garuda]] was the name of the powerful Eagle connected to Vishnu.

** The Second Season ([[AnachronicOrder kind of...]]) continues this tradition, with Millennium Prize Problems, photons, quarks, electrons, tau neutrinos, gluons, M-theory, supersymmetric GUT, Tsuchinoko, and oddly enough some Nietzsche (Gott ist tot, ha-ah).

*** For those familiar with history, it's Hiyoshi naming his battleship [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_battleship_Mikasa Mikasa]].

*** Episode 27 has Dr. Izumi explain [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tachyon Tachyons]] to the viewer and try to prove that they exist.

* The opening of ''[[LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya]]'' depicts positronium, Lambda baryons, a benzene ring, cyclohexanes, an infinite number, the Titius-Bode law, Planck's constant, the Drake equation, the time-dependent Schrödinger equation, Hubble's law, an infinite product, the definition of information entropy, several large numbers, the time-''in''dependent Schrödinger equation, the theory of relativity, some probability axioms, the definition of Laplace operator, the wave equation in one space dimension, and several small numbers. In case you haven't noticed, [[CreatorThumbprint the author likes math.]]

* When Minatsu teaches math in ''LightNovel/StudentCouncilsDiscretion'', a proof of Euler's identity can be seen on the whiteboard behind her.

* ''LightNovel/CatPlanetCuties'' has quite a few references to obscure artistic films only a handful of film students and hardcore film enthusiasts will know.

* ''LightNovel/DidntISayToMakeMyAbilitiesAverageInTheNextLife'': while trying to figure out how to extract capsaicin from a spicy-water spell, Mile initially rambles about a "VideoGame/LovePlus Demon" that can predict the routes in a DatingSim by knowing all of its code (a pun on [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laplace%27s_demon Laplace's Demon]]), then gives a surprisingly accurate description of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxwell%27s_demon Maxwell's Demon]] but calls it the "Maxwell House's Demon." She tries to use her trusty nanobots to carry out the latter, which doesn't work because spices aren't hot in the physical sense (though the bots still get [[BlazingInfernoHellfireSauce burned]] in the attempt) and because it would, y'know, break the laws of thermodynamics. [[WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong Mile seems unconcerned about the latter.]]

* ''Manga/HunterXHunter'' often contains very minor and obscure details that can actually completely change the perception one has of a character or event if one does get the reference. The most notable case is a dialogue scene in issue 10, chapter 84, between Feitan and Shalnark, where an attentive reader will notice that Feitan is reading a book from ''Trevor Brown'', a RealLife, underground illustrator who specialized in such family friendly subjects as bondage, rape, torture, dismemberment, and pedophilia, all of this with a voluntarily [[UncannyValley uncanny]] style of drawing (his characters often look like puppets). So not only is Feitan a PsychoForHire who completely lacks any kind of patience and [[ColdBloodedTorture uses torture on a regular basis,]] but he is also apparently a sick and sadistic pervert.

* ''Manga/BlackLagoon'':
** The series includes ''loads'' of these. To name a few, several European/Asian dialects are used (from Russian to Romanian), quite a few old movie references are made ("This looks like a remake of the movie "The Last Command") as well as several obscure gun comments ("I mean he's Jewish, right? Of course he'd have an Israeli-made gun!"). References to various philosophers and their view on consequence ethics, like Kierkegaard and Sartre, are made by several of the characters.

* ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' has tons of these in the {{Omake}} in the collected volumes; one needs a decent understanding of physics to understand the explanations of how the spells function. There are also a number of visual {{Shout Out}}s to famous architecture, such as the [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/mahou_sensei_negima/v12/c104/15.html bell tower at Mahora]] being the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_cathedral bell tower on the Florence Cathedral,]] and the background of [[http://www.onemanga.com/Mahou_Sensei_Negima!/100/03-04/ this page]] contains the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suleymaniye_Mosque Suleymaniye Mosque]]. It's [[RealPlaceBackground strikingly realistic]] when compared to [[http://img697.imageshack.us/img697/6215/orto2852006.jpg the actual landscape.]] And the spell incantations actually make a lot of sense if one has a familiarity with ancient Greek, Latin, and Greco-Roman Mythology.

* Surprisingly, ''Anime/PrincessTutu'' is rife with these. Naturally they're all ballet references, but it's still saying something when the translators compiled a list of notable references several pages long and it's likely they missed quite a few.
** Even the [[http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lnz9v5y5fM1qdyi3xo1_500.jpg comedy relief character]] [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/Bakst_Nizhinsky.jpg did his research]].

* Viewers of ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' with a knowledge of physics will be amused when they realize that [[spoiler:Kyubey]] is Maxwell's demon. There's also the scene of [[spoiler:Madoka's ascension to godhood and her wish being granted]]. Upon firing straight up to the sky, the pattern that forms for a split second is a map of the trail particles took in a particle accelerator. There's also the the overarching references to Myth/{{Faust}}, including [[spoiler:Madoka's witch form]] being named Kriemhild ''Gretchen''.
** Though arguably here the Kriemhild part of the name is much more important being an allusion to Der Ring des Nibelungen by Richard Wagner where Kriemhild [[spoiler:after the death of her husband goes insane and in revenge kills everyone ever so slightly involved]].

* A character in ''LightNovel/ProblemChildrenAreComingFromAnotherWorldArentThey'' is confident about the accuracy of a certain prophecy because it was made by the source of all prophecies: the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laplace%27s_demon Demon of Laplace.]]

* On the surface, the concept of ''Anime/StrikeWitches'' is just a [[GuiltyPleasure shallow excuse]] for underage {{Fanservice}}, with storytelling chock full of {{Moe}} cliches. And yet [[ShownTheirWork it's littered with references]] to [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII WWII events]], [[HistoricalDomainCharacter figures]], and especially [[RealLife/CoolPlane technology]] down the the obscure, unimplemented aircraft designs.

* When Minatsu teaches math in ''LightNovel/SeitokaiNoIchizon'', a proof of Euler's identity can be seen on the whiteboard behind her.
* ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'' has tons of these in the {{Omake}} in the collected volumes; one needs a decent understanding of physics to understand the explanations of how the spells function. There are also a number of visual {{Shout Out}}s to famous architecture, such as the [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/mahou_sensei_negima/v12/c104/15.html bell tower at Mahora]] being the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_cathedral bell tower on the Florence Cathedral,]] and the background of [[http://www.onemanga.com/Mahou_Sensei_Negima!/100/03-04/ this page]] contains the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suleymaniye_Mosque Suleymaniye Mosque]]. It's [[RealPlaceBackground strikingly realistic]] when compared to [[http://img697.imageshack.us/img697/6215/orto2852006.jpg the actual landscape.]] And the spell incantations actually make a lot of sense if one has a familiarity with ancient Greek, Latin, and Greco-Roman Mythology.

* ''{{Manga/Berserk}}'' has one of these in MeaningfulName form. CuteWitch Schierke may just have a random Germanic sounding name. Nope. Schierke is a mountain village in Germany right next to the Brocken - the ''mountain of witches''.

* On the surface, the concept of ''Anime/StrikeWitches'' is just a [[GuiltyPleasure shallow excuse]] for underage {{Fanservice}}, with storytelling chock full of {{Moe}} cliches. And yet [[ShownTheirWork it's littered with references]] to [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII WWII events]], [[HistoricalDomainCharacter figures]], and especially [[RealLife/CoolPlane technology]] down the the obscure, unimplemented aircraft designs. Basically, it [[InvertedTrope inverts]] GettingCrapPastTheRadar.

* ''Anime/DennouCoil'' has one right in the title- ''Dennou'' is the archaic Japanese term for ''Computer'' that has long fallen out of use. It literally means "electronic brain".

* In ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', while the soldiers are taking refuge in Castle Utgard, Ymir rummages through some boxes for food and finds a can of herring, declaring that it'll do despite not being her favorite. Reiner in turn asks if there's any more in there. The basic {{Foreshadowing}} is on how Ymir knew what the label said (it's in a language nobody else could read]], but a viewer with an understanding of ichthyology and fishing practice could find out more- [[spoiler: Most species of herring are ''oceangoing'' fish, but the Walls and Titans block any access to the ocean for the supposed last remnants of humanity. Herring being caught and canned is a big hint that there is indeed human civilization outside the Walls, and both Ymir and Reiner knowing what it is points to them being from outside the Walls themselves.]]

* In ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', while the soldiers are taking refuge in Castle Utgard, Ymir rummages through some boxes for food and finds a can of herring, declaring that it'll do despite not being her favorite. Reiner in turn asks if there's any more in there. Viewers with an understanding of Ichthyology will pick up on the fact that [[spoiler:commercial herring are almost exclusive to ocean-dwelling species. Not only was this an ''incredibly'' subtle hint that both Ymir and Reiner are not from the Walls, but it also heavily foreshadowed a significant human presence beyond the Walls long before it was officially revealed]].

** Also, a joke for those who know Chinese - Ran Fan enjoys using explosives. "ran fang" is Chinese for "to light/set off (as firecrackers)". Technically, the actual pinyin is "Luan4 fang4" which sounds similar, and it means "to randomly set off".