Not Red Reviews

Late but not less, have some notes for last week’s episode of Nyarlko.

The golden star there is Derleth’s Elder Sign.

***cing Saga 3 is a reference to Romancing SaGa 3. Stygia is a word for the otherworld (“past the river Styx”) and also a land in the Hyborian Age universe.

I got the feeling that the name of the shop might be relevant, and after a short research I found the Showa-era (pre-1990) legendary toymaker Asahi (あさひ玩具 asahi gangu, the same as the shop’s name).

The toy car is a Beat Magnum, there’s also a Tamagotchi in there, two Beyblades hidden in the background, a Yu-Gi-Oh Enemy Controller, and the important pink one is the last WonderSwan console, the SwanCrystal.

Yeah, that’s supposed to be Gunpey. It’s a puzzle game series released for the WonderSwans. Also in the background the boxes (if you look close enough) are labelled 紅の豚 (kurenai no buta). You’ve probably heard of it as Porco Rosso, it’s from Ghibli.

Why is this song so addictive?

Catchphrase of Kazami Mizuho from Onegai Teacher.

This situation is so cliche it hurts.

The player is to become the next queen in Angelique and the Dragon God’s priestess in Harukanaru Toki no Naka de. Both are adventure games by Koei for girls.

The school’s name changed to the one in the episode title, a reference to Tokimeki High School.

Maria fucking where?! Both Cthuko’s uniform and her lines are references to Maria-sama ga Miteru. Azathoth is the Nuclear Chaos at the center of the universe, the Blind Idiot God, the one who spawned Nyarlathotep.

A quite obvious Slam Dunk reference. Number ten with that uniform is Sakuragi Hanamichi.

The famous last words of Julius Caesar.

Saotome Yoshio from Tokimeki Memorial uses these lines almost word for word.

Each one is a parody of a song. Nyarlko’s is Charging Love Heart (突撃ラブハート totsugeki ~), Cthuko’s is Nakamori Akina’s Desire, Hasta’s is from Sousei no Aquarion (yeah, that Aquarion – Hasta keeps making those union (合体 gattai) references all the time too) and Tamao’s is Hirosue Ryoko’s Five Seconds to Love (ＭａｊｉでＫｏｉする５秒前 maji de koisuru gobyou mae) (and also Kamen Rider 555).

The same as the school’s name and the game on the pink console.

A chapter from the Haruhi manga/light novel that notoriously almost took up the entire second season of the anime. First of many delicious Haruhi references.

Keima’s usual phrase from The World Only God Knows when he figures out what to do.

She’s spouting gaming phrases from visual novels. The “Super Nyarlko Time is about to begin” is probably a reference to the spin-off manga Crawling! Super Nyarlko Time. It reminds me a lot of Phi Brain and its “puzzle time” as well. QuickStart is a manga about TRPG’s (the dices are from that manga as well).

Final Fusion is from GaoGaiGar. You should watch it, it’s awesome.

If you don’t get this reference then go and watch Haruhi right away. Her sword is the same as the one Mahiro’s mom uses in episode 4.

Again, go watch Haruhi. It’s a good song too. (Side note: I have the same guitar as what Nagato’s using there.) Nyarlko’s guitar is a Rickenbacker 4000 (in FLCL Haruko’s is 4001, the bass guitar version).

The eyecatches are references to Tokimeki High School and Tokimeki Memorial.

Don’t remind me of Working please. (Poplar Nyarlko there for you.) Derleth is a writer who contributed a lot to the Cthulhu myth. (And Mahiro’s line is such a great pun, isn’t it?) The “employee with a sword” is also from Working, where Yachiyo is always strolling around with a katana. The bell ringing thing is a Working reference as well.

The Japanese sentence doesn’t have a subject which results in complications in English, but this is the same line Poplar uses when someone calls her tiny. (She is.)

This is a paraphrasing of a manga’s title (新感覚癒し系魔法少女ベホイミちゃん). Her hairpin is apparently Kero from Cardcaptor Sakura.

Sengoku Basara weapons there for you.

Nyarlko’s uniform is from Working again. The ice cream thing with tentacles is apparently from Haganai (Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai) but I couldn’t find the relevant scene yet.

Reference to Hirose Koumi’s famous winter song Romance no Kamisama. I remember that last year when we went skiing they were playing this all the time all over the place.

In Hand Maid May the title character is a 1/6 size droid. I have doubts she’d be as willing to get undressed as Hasta.

The first volume of the Nyarlko light novels was published in 2009, her birth date on the form. Nyarlathotep first appears in Lovecraft’s short story of the same title, published in 1920. In Darleth’s Dweller in the Darkness Nyarlathotep occupies a forest in Wisconsin. (Her address and when she moved there on the form.) Her father is “Father of the Million Favored Ones” and her mother is “The Bloated Woman”, both of which are incarnations of Nyarlathotep. The Tokyo address on the form is probably the publisher, Softbank Creative. Harvey Walters (Boston, MA) is a professor at the Miskatonic University from the Arkham Horror board game (and apparently the center of multiple chaotic incidents). Maino Gurako (毎野グラ子) is a reference to Mynoghra, a deity from the Cthulhu myth coined by E. P. Berglund. Nyarlathotep’s cousin.

That’s how the Japanese call the 1929 Valentine Day Massacre. Also an event in Gundam SEED. Nyarlko’s outfit is Pai Chan from Virtua Fighter with the stats of the Thing that Howls at the Moon, Nyarlathotep’s Bloody Tongue incarnation from the RPG. Her pose is Hikaru from Chaos Code (another fighter game). Cthuko’s is Shiranui Mai from Fatal Fury and King of Fighters with the stats of Cthugha from the RPG, posing as Catherine from Chaos Code. Hasta’s is Bridget from Guilty Gear, for some mysterious reason with Cthugha’s stats from the RPG, posing as Rui from Chaos Code.

Her lines here are copied from Kamen Rider 555, Agito and Ryuki.

Clannad, Fujibayashi Kyo. There’s seriously some problem with Mahiro’s masculinity if he misses this chance.

Cthuko was knocked out like this in episode 2 as well. It’s a reference to Strawberry Marshmallow, where you get to see this quite often.

Raoh’s famous line from Fist of the North Star.

Tokimeki Memorial again, the same as in the eyecatch. This whole concept of the game ending with the kiss and all the characters (except the player) forgetting about it is probably from KamiNomi.

The Onomichi three-parter (尾道三部作 onomichi sanbusaku) are the three famous movies by Obayashi Nobuhiko that take place in Onomichi: Exchange Students, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and Lonely Hearts. The title of the next episode (I am Him and He is Me) is the title of the youth novel that Exchange Students is based on (that’s why he asks about “the other two”). She then starts saying “ka-mi…” but is cut off. This is a reference to Kamichu!, which also takes place in Onomichi.

This entry was posted by Vale.