History ShoutOut / HonkaiStarRail

* Black Swan and Sparkle's shared quest is an AffectionateParody of murder mystery games like ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}''. The reveal of [[spoiler: Sparkle's dead body is identical to Danganronpa, moving over a zoomed in image of the body while the camera shakes before zooming out on the whole picture. And the reveal that Sparkle is alive and just disguised as Sparkle's dead body is a nod at the huge leaps of logic those games can have, even [[LampshadeHanging called out]] by Black Swan for not making sense.]]

** The debate sections from the "Aurum Alley's Hustle and Bustle" event are very similar to the testimony and cross-examination mechanics from the VideoGame/AceAttorney series.

** Balloon Gakuen 2 and [[VideoGame/HonkaiImpact3rd Balloon Impact 3rd]]

** The Trailblazer is regularly accosted by two IPC thugs wanting to capture their Warp Trotter in a vein similar to Jesse and James.

* There is a visitor at the Golden Hour who takes the form of the teddy bear-like creature from Jarilo-VI. Their name is [[Manga/{{Beastars}} Beastar]].

** On the official soundtrack, the event's battle themes feature the naming scheme "Battle! ''[insert descriptive title]", which was popularized by the ''Pokémon'' soundtracks.

* The entirety of the "Aetherium Wars" event is basically a massive Franchise/{{Pokemon}} reference. Aside from the gameplay being all about capturing {{Mons}}, the setup involves going through various challenges complete with puzzles and battles not unlike gym challenges in-game. The Trailblazer is also regularly accosted by two IPC thugs wanting to capture their Warp Trotter in a vein similar to Jesse and James. [[spoiler:Hook even acts as a {{Superboss}} akin to Red, showing up on a snowy mountain and acting all silent (at least at first)]].

* One of the shots in Sparkle's official character trailer has her making the same expression as [[Manga/FutureDiary Yuno Gasai's infamous expression.]]

* The Wastelander of Banditry Desert Relic set describes a planet called Talia, whose depiction and technological advancement can basically be described as "''{{Franchise/Fallout'' in space".

* In the "Welcome to Dreamville!" animated trailer, Clocky can be seen at one point performing a snippet of the [[Manga/GoldenWind Torture Dance]] as he shuffles offscreen.

* The English dub's take on Clocky is a WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse sound-alike.

* One of the statues that Dr. Ratio can summon with his Technique has him performing Jotaro Kujo's iconic pointing pose from ''Manga/StardustCrusaders''.

* Any time she shows up, Sparkle always asks "Why so serious?" to whoever she's speaking to in a menacing tone, akin to the Joker from ''Film/TheDarkKnight''.

* Black Swan and Sparkle's shared quest is an AffectionateParody of murder mystery games like ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}''. The reveal of [[spoiler: Sparkle's dead body is identical to Danganronpa, moving over a zoomed in image of the body while the camera shakes before zooming out on the whole picture. And the reveal that Sparkle is alive and just disguised as Sparkle's dead body is a nod at the huge leaps of logic those games can have, even [[LampshadeHanging called out]] by Black Swan for not making sense.]]

* Sam's design and fighting style brings to mind {{Toku}} heroes, namely ''Franchise/KamenRider'', especially when he does a [[DivingKick Rider Kick]]. His notably broad shoulders on the other hand, evoke the design of ''Anime/TekkamanBlade'', another armored hero.

* Pela and Black Swan's fighting styles are very similar to the Sage and Astrologian respectively from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'', with Pela's AttackDrone greatly resembling the Sage's nouliths, and Black Swan wielding a star globe with floating cards, the main difference being that they are both offensive attackers instead of healers.

* Penacony has technology that allows visitors to spy on the dreams of anyone in their contacts. It turns out that Herta's android puppets are in fact capable of dreaming, and that the answer to ''Literature/DoAndroidsDreamOfElectricSheep'' is yes.