Episode 4: The Girls (and Boy) Who Leapt Through Time |
The name of the Episode itself is a reference to the 2006 animated film,
"The Girl Who Leapt Through Time". The above key art for the film was also
parodied in artwork made to advertise Lucky Star: Ryouou Gakuen Outousai as a whole,
replacing the film's protagonist, Makoto Konno, with Konata Izumi.
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Many story elements of "The Girls (and Boy) Who Leapt Through Time" are taken from
the Stephen King story "The Langoliers". These will be mentioned as they appear,
using screenshots from the TV adaptation for reference, but probably the best way
to appreciate the similarities is to either read the novella or watch its TV adaptation.
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The Unlucky★Sisters segment the protagonist watches before leaving for the first day of school
is about the "Seven Wonders" of the school. Similar to the concept of the "Seven Wonders of the World",
in Japan places like schools will often have "Seven Wonders" of their own.
However, there's a key difference between the Seven Wonders of the World and these more local Seven Wonders.
Unlike the Seven Wonders of the World, which is a list of awe-inspiring places, when people
talk about the "nanafushigi" or Seven Wonders of places like a school in Japan, they are usually referring
to things like urban legends or mysterious phenomenon associated with a place.
The wonders described by Hikage, as well as the wonders listed in the above CG, are some examples of these
kinds of urban legends that may form a school's "Seven Wonders".
Starting with Hikage's wonders, the "red-stained restroom wall" is possibly in reference to the story of "Aka Manto"
or "Red Mantle". This story revolves around a spirit wearing a red cloak that appears to people in public restrooms,
in particular haunting the farthest wall, which may be why Hikage refers to the wall as "red-stained".
The Aka Manto will present people with an option to choose either red or blue toilet paper, and depending on which
color is chosen, the person will be killed in a different manner.
Next there is the "mirror that you can see ghosts in" that Hikage describes,
which may be a reference to the story of "Bloody Mary", a ghost who appears in mirrors when her name
is said repeatedly and can predict the future.
Now, on to the wonders listed in the CG. For "Music Room Painting", the kinds of paintings you may
find in the music room at a school of famous musicians and composers such as Beethoven or Bach are generally
considered to be creepy and are thus easy targets for urban legends to form around them.
Though not from the time period Lucky Star: Ryouou Gakuen Outousai was released in, one example of
urban legends surrounding music room paintings making their way into Japanese pop culture is the
music room portraits that come to life in the "Dandadan" series.
For "Mona Lisa", this is of course referring to the famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci.
Similar to the "Music Room Painting", the Mona Lisa is often a painting that will be featured
in art rooms in Japanese schools, and consequently opens itself up to having similar urban legends
about it. In particular, there are rumors of such replicas of the Mona Lisa being able to curse you
if you stare at the woman in the painting for too long.
For "Statue of Kinjiro Ninomiya", it is in reference to Japanese agriculturalist Kinjiro Ninomiya
who lived in the 18th and 19th centuries and has since been commemorated with statues of his likeness
in Japanese schools across Japan as a role model for virtues such as diligence. Consequently, these statues
have had urban legends form around them in relation to various positive outcomes that may come to you
by praying near or touching the statue. These positive outcomes usually relate to things like getting
good grades or other forms of academic success.
For "Hands of the Pool", I was unable to find any specific urban legends about this,
but one can imagine they relate to the idea of a school swimming pool being haunted and having hands
that come out from the pool and drag victims under the water.
For "Hanako-san of the Toilet", this is arguably the most famous urban legend of the ones
explicitly listed here. It involves the ghost of a girl named Hanako-san, who was either killed or committed
suicide, depending on the specific variant of the story, via drowning in a school toilet. Consequently, she haunts
the toilets of school bathrooms, and may attempt to drag others into the toilet as well.
As for "Angel-sama", this is in reference to a Japanese board game often played among school children,
better known by the name "kokkuri-san". It's played with a pen, paper, and a coin and works similar to a
ouija board. Participants will write the full hiragana table and "yes" and "no" on a sheet of paper, place a coin
on the paper, and then ask questions. The idea is then that the titular "Angel-sama" will move the coin
either to the "yes" or "no" to answer yes/no questions, or move to each hiragana character to spell out answers.
Lastly, for "The Curse of the Seven Wonders", I couldn't find anything in particular that this is referencing,
but one could imagine that it's some sort of overarching urban legend that would surround the Seven Wonders
of a school as a whole.
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After watching the Unlucky★Sisters segment about it, if the protagonist concludes that his uneasiness
thinking about the potential Seven Wonders of Ryouou High School is due to him having psychic powers,
Hinata will chime in saying that everything are "conspiracies foretold my Nostradamus".
As discussed in the notes for Episode 2, this is a reference to the manga "MMR: Magazine Mystery Reportage"
about a group of reporters investigating paranormal phenomena, as well as the prophecies made by Nostradamus
to determine if they are really true. MMR became well known online for its moments in which a character will
dramatically come to a conclusion, with the other characters responding in surprise.
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During lunch on the third day of Episode 0, during the discussion about potentially staying the night
at school in order to get the preparations done in time, Konata will complain that she wishes she had
more time to watch anime. Kagami will then ask why she can't just catch up on it after the festival is over,
leading to Konata saying the above line.
The part about references that aren't fresh being just ordinary references is itself a reference
to the 1992 Hayao Miyazaki film, "Porco Rosso", which is about a bounty hunter and pilot named
Marco Pagot, who goes the title "Porco Rosso" ("Crimson Pig" in Italian). He goes by that title
as he has been turned into an anthropomorphic pig by a curse.
At one point during the film, after surviving being shot down by rival pilot, Donald Curtis,
Marco calls his friend Madame Gina to inform her that he's safe. However, he then follows it up
by asking her to tell Curtis that he'll be seeing him again, as both he and Marco frequent the
Hotel Adriano, which she owns.
However, this remark infuriates Gina, scolding Marco for continuing to be so reckless
even after being shot down and how she doesn't want to see him get killed.
Marco then responds to this by saying "a pig that doesn't fly is just an ordinary pig",
essentially stating that his life would have no purpose if he gave up flying.
It is this same sentiment that Konata is trying to echo by making this reference.
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During the "Occ★ult" Unlucky★Sisters segment exclusive to the Episode 4 version of Episode 0,
when Hikage demands an explanation for why the "2 a.m. Girl" is actually sci-fi and not occult,
Fuyuki prompts Minami to say the above line as the reason why they cannot elaborate.
This is a reference to the character "Mikuru Asahina" from "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya",
who is a time traveller from the future. However, as she is not allowed to reveal details about
the future to people living in the present, she often uses the term "classified information" as a stand-in
for such details. She will also use "classified information" as an excuse to not clarify things further
when she says something that causes characters to wonder what she meant.
Additionally, Minami being the character chosen to say this is because her voice actress,
Minori Chihara, is the same as another "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" character, "Yuki Nagato".
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If the protagonist decides that some people should go to the convenience store to get food
on the night when they're staying late after school, Konata will try to recall which convenience store
is the closest to the school. Tsukasa will then say the above line, telling Konata that she believes it
to be a store called "Sunkyus".
This is a parody of a real chain of convenience stores in Japan called "Sunkus".
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If the protagonist agrees with Konata's idea to explore the school late at night,
Konata will respond with the above line.
As seen previously in the notes for Episodes 2 and 3, this is a reference to a moment from
chapter 4 of "Phantom Blood" in "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure", where Dio Brando forcibly kisses
Jonathan Joestar's girlfriend, Erina Pendleton, stealing her first kiss from him.
In response to this, some fellow bullies admire Dio for his boldness.
The anime adaptation of the scene can be viewed here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLoRiTk-awo
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If the protagonist rejects Konata's idea to explore the school late at night, Konata will end up
saying this when Kagami brings up the fact that they will have to be back at school only 6 hours later.
The "Bravo! Oh, bravo!" is a reference to a famous line said by the character Polnareff
from part 3 of "Jojo's Bizarre Adventure", "Stardust Crusaders".
In the chapters where Polnareff is introduced, "Steel Chariot" parts 1 through 3, an ally of Joseph Joestar,
Avdol, battles against Polnareff. After being hit by a powerful fire attack from Avdol's stand,
Joseph and crew think Polnareff is dead. However, all of a sudden, the armor of Polnareff's stand,
Steel Chariot, is blown off in explosive fashion and Polnareff goes flying into the air.
It's while in the air that Polnareff says the "Bravo! Oh, bravo!" line mentioned above.
Upon returning to the ground, Polnareff reveals that Steel Chariot's armor sustained the attack,
leaving himself relatively unharmed.
The reason Konata brings up this line is possibly due to the fact that it represents how Polnareff
seemed to have been defeated, but then it's suddenly revealed that he was still able to fight.
Similarly, at first it seemed like Konata had lost the argument to stay at the school in order to explore,
but now with the revelation that they have to be back soon anyway, she can now play the angle of
staying the night out of convenience instead.
A clip from this scene can be viewed here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqlSgzFSTMQ
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While the protagonist and the main four are trying to leave the school to go home late at night,
Miyuki will remark on how the situation reminds her of a scary scene from a book she's reading, riling everyone up
and leading to the above exchange between Konata and Kagami.
The "Timori" that Konata is talking about is a parody of the stage name of Japanese comedian
Kazuyoshi Morita, "Tamori". The reason why Konata says that it's "pronounced natively" is something that I'm not
entirely sure of myself, but it's possibly a reference to it being a stage name rather than it being his actual name,
since it'd be the name that native Japanese speakers would know him by. It could also just be her hinting at the fact
that she's intentionally pronouncing his name wrong, since his stage name is "Tamori" and not "Timori'.
Additionally, the "unusual" show the line "the entrance to the extraordinary is just around the corner"
comes from according to Konata is the TV series "Tales of the Unusual", which Tamori is a presenter for.
In the original Japanese, the reference to this show is even more explicit, as the part that got translated into
"at night" in the English translation is 夜にも (yo ni mo) in the original Japanese script. The Japanese name of
"Tales of the Unusual" is 世にも奇妙ななんかの話 (yo ni mo kimyou na nanka no hanashi). The "yo ni mo" part
in the title, 世にも, is pronounced the same as 夜にも in Konata's Japanese line, but has a meaning of
"extremely" rather than "at night".
In case you are wondering, I couldn't find any connection between the line
"the entrance to the extraordinary is just around the corner" and Tamori or "Tales of the Unusual".
However, this kind of phrasing of an "entrance" to another world being "just around the corner"
is very commonly used in supernatural or horror contexts in Japanese.
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Possibly another reference to Stephen King's "The Langoliers" occurs when Konata
says that perhaps they really did pass through the "entrance to the extraordinary" she was talking about
previously, since the hallway seems to be going on forever.
In "The Langoliers", it turns out that the cause of the disappearances is due to the plane passing through
a time rip which evaporated everyone who didn't sleep through it and sent all the survivors to a point a few
minutes in the past. So Konata is similarly suggesting that they passed through something that's resulted in them
being in this strange situation.
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As things continue to get even more strange as the protagonist and the main four attempt to leave the school,
Konata remarks that it's as if they are in a video game world. She then lists off some potential games they could
be in, with even the protagonist chiming in with a suggestion.
The games mentioned are all references to real horror games.
The first, "Quiet Hill", is a parody of Konami's "Silent Hill" series.
The second, "Denizen Evil", is a parody of Capcom's "Resident Evil" series.
If you listen carefully, you might hear Konata pronounce it as "Bio" in the original Japanese.
This is because the "Resident Evil" series is called "Biohazard" in Japan.
The third game, "ALARM", is a parody of the game "SIREN", released for the PS2 by Sony Computer Entertainment.
Lastly, the game the protagonist mentions, "Fatal Photography", is a parody of Koei Tecmo's "Fatal Frame" series.
Additionally, as implied by the name and the protagonist's comment, it's a series that revolves around taking photos
of supernatural phenomena.
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During the scene when Nanako and Hikaru are in the school break room, if Nanako decides to try and scare
the main 4 and the protagonist as punishment for staying late at the school, you'll see the above exchange
between the two about how it'd be similar to what the "namahage" do.
Namahage are a demonlike creature in Japanese folklore and are associated with a New Year's ritual
celebrated in Akita prefecture, thus why it says "The Akita Special" in the above CG.
In this ritual, men dressed as Namahage, wearing oni masks, straw coats, and equpped with knives
and handpails, go around scaring children into behaving. The things Nanako is saying,
"Are there any crybabies around!?" and "Are there any naughty children around!?" are among
some of the common things that are said by the namahage in this ritual.
A video showing this ritual can be viewed here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXK2jaKcW5A
Additionally, the reference to monsters that scare children into behaving may also be intended to
mirror an element of Stephen King's "The Langoliers". In that story, character Craig Toomey is revealed
to have been traumatized as a child into doing well in school by his father, who threatened Craig that
lazy children get eaten by the langoliers. Specifically, Craig's father emphasizes
"lazy bums who lie down on the job" are the ones who get eaten. So, in a similar way, Nanako and Hikaru
are going to be hunting down the protagonist and the others for being at the school too late, which happened
because of them literally lying down on the job and falling asleep.
This is further reinforced when the teachers are seen again later in this Episode by some additional references
to the idea of the teachers eating the protagonist and the others if they were to be caught.
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If the protagonist time leaps to the lunch scene from the second day of Episode 0,
Konata will say this when she thinks she's discovered why the protagonist is acting weird.
The line "All the mysteries have been solved" is the catchphrase of the protagonist of the mystery series
"The Kindaichi Case Files", Hajime Kindaichi, whenever he solves a case.
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If the protagonist time leaps to the time when Konata, Kagami, and Tsukasa left to go
get food at the convenience store earlier in the night, he'll see this exchange between Konata and Kagami.
The anime Konata is referring to, where she'll start eating melon bread again once season 3 starts,
is "Shakugan no Shana". At the time of the original PS2 release of "Lucky Star: Ryouou Gakuen Outousai",
Shakugan no Shana's second season was airing. The reason why eating melon bread has to do with
Shakugan no Shana is because its titular character, Shana, loves to eat melon bread.
Her love for melon bread is a big part of her characterization, and in otaku circles, melon bread in general
is often associated with Shana.
Interestingly, it wouldn't be until October of 2011 that the third season of Shakugan no Shana would actually
release, meaning that if Konata actually stuck to not eating melon bread until then, she would've gone without
it for over three years.
A clip of "Shakugan no Shana", showing Shana's love for melon bread can be seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOrtbbBB84M
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If the protagonist time leaps to Takamiya Shrine during the summer
he'll run into a past version of Tsukasa and Kagami, who are heading somewhere in a hurry.
As part of this interaction, Kagami will reveal that the current date is June 12th.
Admittedly, what I'm about to explain here is more of a fan theory than a definite reference,
but I think it is interesting enough and has enough to it to be worth explaining here.
In 2005, the first Lucky Star video game was released for the Nintendo DS, called "Lucky Star: Moe Drill".
In that game, there are story scenarios featuring each of the main 4 girls as protagonists. The scenario for Kagami
is interesting in that it's explicitly stated that it begins on a Sunday and involves Kagami and Tsukasa being in a hurry
to get to Akihabara to meet up with Konata and Miyuki.
(The above screenshots are taken from my translated video playthrough of the game.
You can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWvzX_LnnNLRkmritPOARc5kb1ox6a3D5
The beginning of Kagami's scenario is featured in part 20.)
Additionally, due to the existence of an Easter egg in "Lucky Star: Moe Drill" in which entering your file's
date of birth to match that of Akira Kogami, February 14th, 1991, results in a secret boss battle near the end
of the game, we know that the game takes place in the game's release year of 2005. This is because Akira claims
to be 14 years old, so for her to be that age if she was born in 1991, the game must take place 14 years after that,
which is 2005. And just in case you're pendantic and claim that it's possible it could be in 2006 before February 14th,
the events of "Lucky Star: Moe Drill" revolve around the school sports festival, which in Japan never takes place
during the winter time. In fact, school sports festivals in Japan tend to take place during the warmer
times of the year.
So, "Lucky Star: Moe Drill" takes place during the warmer parts of the year in 2005, and has a scenario involving
Kagami and Tsukasa being in a hurry on a Sunday. Well, as it turns out, June 12th just so happens to be a Sunday
in 2005. In this Ryouou Gakuen Outousai scene, we see Kagami and Tsukasa in a hurry to get somewhere,
and they're also wearing the same outfits that they are wearing in Moe Drill. Because of all of these details,
it's a fan theory that this scene is actually meant to be taking place during the Kagami scenario in Moe Drill.
Given this Episode has many scenes that take place in the past, as well as the game's heavy amount of references,
it doesn't seem that far-fetched that it would make reference to past Lucky Star video games, but it's up to you
whether you want to believe this theory or not!
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If the protagonist time leaps to ten minutes before everyone originally woke up at 2:00 at the start
of this Episode, Tsukasa will sing a song in her sleep if the protagonist tries waking her up.
The song Tsukasa is singing is based on "The 'What Comes from the Right, I Deflect to the Left' Song"
by Japanese comedian Moody Katsuyama. It's a comedic song consisting of only vocals with no instruments,
and primarily is just Moody Katsuyama repeatedly saying in many different ways that he deflects things
that come from the right to the left, as the name of the song suggests.
The song can be heard here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgyS6I3zXfc
Additionally, the final part of what Tsukasa says, "Tokyo Sabaku" (Tokyo Desert), is in reference to
the final lyric of "The 'What Comes from the Right, I Deflect to the Left' Song",
あぁ、この鳥取砂丘 (Ahh, these Tottori Sand Dunes). This lyric is itself a reference to the song "Tokyo Sabaku"
by the band "Hiroshi Uchiyamada & Cool Five", which has ああ (ahh) and この東京砂漠 (this Tokyo Desert) in its chorus.
The song can be heard here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_q6INQnEYs
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If the protagonist time leaps to the middle of world history class, Nanako will ask him the above question
about an event known as the "Second Impact" taking place in Antarctica on September 13th, 2000.
While this isn't an event that took place in real life, in the anime series "Neon Genesis Evangelion",
such an event did take place at that time and place. The Second Impact is one of the main inciting incidents
of the events of the series, in which an experiment performed by a research expedition in Antarctica led to
a gigantic explosion that melted the Antarctic ice caps, leading to large-scale death and military conflict.
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If the protagonist time leaps to Konata's house when she is a young girl, the young Konata will yell for
her father, saying the above line, accusing the protagonist of being a pervert.
The "PERVERT GETTO DA ZE" is in reference to the catchphrase of the protagonist Satoshi
(known as Ash Ketchum in English), from the Pokemon anime series. Whenever Satoshi catches a Pokemon,
he will often say the name of the Pokemon, followed by "GETTO DA ZE", meaning "I got (Pokemon name)!".
He also says "Pokemon, GETTO DA ZE", at the start of the anime's first OP.
Writing it specifically as "GETTO DA ZE" is an important part of referring to this specific catchphrase, as it is distinct
from when anime characters will say the English word "get" in general, or other instances in which Konata says "GET"
in this game.
The first OP to the Pokemon anime, in which Satoshi says his catchphrase, can be seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZMoQjvoICE
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If the protagonist time leaps to Konata's house when she is a young girl, the young Konata will attack
the protagonist and put him in a submission hold, leading to her saying the above line.
The line "Submission is a princess' way" is the catchphrase of the the protagonist of the series
"Magical Witch Punie-chan", Punie. She is a princess who, in addition to using magical powers to defeat
her enemies, also possesses incredible martial arts ability and can put enemies in extremely powerful
and painful submission holds.
A scene in which Punie says her catchphrase can be seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=He2FFh5N2Sw
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If the protagonist time leaps to the Episode 2 scene where Hiyori and Patty have the protagonist
pinned down in order to blackmail him, you'll see some references that also appeared in the original scene.
For completeness and as a reminder, I have included the explanations for these references here as well.
This moment is a reference to a famous scene from the first "Yu-Gi-Oh!"
series where protagonist Yugi is able to defeat Haga via a maneuver that allows him to attack Haga
repeatedly, continuing long past the point where Haga has lost all his life points out of rage.
Yugi is eventually stopped by Anzu grabbing hold of him.
The "life points dropped to zero" line comes directly from Anzu telling Yugi to stop
as there's no longer any sense in continuing to attack Haga.
As for the "it's our turn forever" line, this isn't something that's directly said in this scene,
but is instead Japanese internet slang derived from this scene, referencing how
Yugi's turn was able to go on seemingly indefinitely had Anzu not intervened.
People will often comment this during moments in turn-based games where a player has set themselves
up such that their turn is able to last a very long time without other players being able to act,
or fighting games when someone is pulling off a very long combo that their opponent can't break free from.
The Yu-Gi-Oh scene in question can be viewed here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqmPknhHEVE
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If the protagonist time leaps to the Episode 2 scene where Hiyori and Patty have the protagonist
pinned down in order to blackmail him, you'll see some references that also appeared in the original scene.
For completeness and as a reminder, I have included the explanations for these references here as well.
While Hiyori and Patty are pinning the protagonist down, he is implied
to accidentally touch Hiyori inappropriately as he struggles to get free,
leading Hiyori to make this questionable remark.
However, this line is just Hiyori referencing a famous moment from "Mobile Suit Gundam"
where Bright Noa slaps protagonist Amuro Ray, leading to Amuro responding that
not even his own father would hit him.
The moment in question can be viewed here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58pNa3o6F60
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If the protagonist time leaps to when he and Yamato did their self introductions back in Episode 0,
and when Nanako asks him if he's nervous, he says that he doesn't really know, he will add that he feels
as if he has gone back in time, leading to the above exchange between Nanako and Konata.
This is a reference to the two methods of performing time leaps between the original novel version of
"The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" published in 1967, and the 2006 animated film version.
The 2006 animated film, which serves as the inspiration for this Episode's title, is actually a sequel
to the original novel. In the original story, the protagonist, Kazuko Yoshiyama, gains the ability to time leap
after smelling a lavender-like scent in her school's science lab, which is later revealed to have come from
a special time-leaping drug from the future. This is why Nanako asks the protagonist if he
had smelled a lavender-like scent.
Meanwhile, in the 2006 sequel, the protagonist, Makoto Konno, accidentally falls onto and crushes a
walnut-like object in her school's science lab, which grants her the ability to time leap a certain number
of times, which gets written as a number on her arm. However, what Konata is specifcally referring to is the
method in which time leaps are performed provided you still have time leaps available to use, which is by
flying through the air at high speed. This is usually done by jumping with a running start.
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If the protagonist decides that he and the others need to just focus on getting moving for now
when he reunites with Konata, Tsukasa, and Miyuki, Konata will say the above line.
Konata is referencing a line from an infamously bad Sega Saturn game called "Death Crimson".
It's a rail shooter that was released only in Japan, and is remembered by Japanese people as one of,
if not the, worst game on the console.
The line Konata is referencing comes from the game's opening cutscene, in which protagonist Kousuke Echizen,
while fighting in the army under the code name "Combat Echizen" (the fact that his "code name" includes his
real last name is one of many points of mockery among Japanese players), comes across some ancient ruins
and decides to open a "red door". In Japanese, he says "せっかくだから俺はこの赤の扉を選ぶぜ！",
which can be translated as "Since I'm here, I will choose the red door!".
There are many things about this line that make it rather iconic and hilariously bad to Japanese people,
but to summarize, the "since I'm here" part comes across as awkward and very nonchalant given that he had
supposedly just survived passing through enemy gunfire. Additionally, given that there is only one door
that appears in the scene, which is not even red, but simply has a red jewel above it, for him to say
that he is "choosing" the "red" door comes across as very strange. Lastly, there's just the general idea
that this line exists as part of a game that's very bad in myriad other ways, and the line is delivered
with poor voice acting with goofy music playing in the background.
Tying it back to Ryouou Gakuen Outousai, Konata's version of the line is also made to capture some of these
elements. She delivers the line with a somewhat similar cadence as the original, and "since I'm here"
has a similar kind of nonchalance given the serious nature of this moment. Additionally, the emphasis
on her "choosing" a "classroom" door is awkward because most if not all doors that would be nearby
would be classroom doors, and "choose" is just a strange way to express it when what she's actually
trying to communicate is merely that they should go inside one of the classrooms.
The opening cutscene to "Death Crimson", which contains this infamous line can be seen here.
The line itself occurs at 2:03.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOz1mSvrAys
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If the protagonist decides that he and the others should stay put and see what happens
when he reunites with Konata, Tsukasa, and Miyuki, Tsukasa offers everyone chocolate
as a snack while they take a break. Miyuki then gets stressed out by the fact that
she is craving some of Tsukasa's chocolate, but has to refrain because she has a cavity.
Everyone then ends up time leaping and the above exchange between Konata and Miyuki occurs.
The "certain someone's 'closed space'" Miyuki is talking about is the concept known
as "closed space" in the "Haruhi Suzumiya" series. In that series, closed space is a type
of alternate dimension that Haruhi unknowingly forms when she becomes angry or frustrated.
When closed space forms, it overlaps with the real world and transports those in the
overlapping area into it.
Essentially, Konata is suggesting that, similar to Haruhi, Miyuki also has the ability to form
closed space when she is stressed, and that the time leap was the result of them being transported
into Miyuki's closed space.
Additionally, Konata's line about her becoming more and more stressed is meant to be a reference to
the fact that her voice actor in this game, Aya Hirano, is also the voice of Haruhi Suzumiya.
Basically, Konata's indirectly warning that one should be careful not to stress her out too much,
otherwise she may form closed space like the character she shares a voice with.
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During the "Tresspasser Elimination Manual" segment of Unlucky★Sisters, Hikage will say this line
as she tries to shoot the protagonist and the others.
This line is a reference to the catchphrase of the character "Sledge Hammer", who is the protagonist
of an American sitcom from 1986 of the same name, "Sledge Hammer!". However, it is not referencing
his catchphrase from the original English version of the show, but rather its Japanese dub, which was
called "俺がハマーだ！" (I am the Hammer!)
In English, Sledge Hammer's catchphrase is "Trust me. I know what I'm doing". For the Japanese dub,
this was changed to "動くなよ？弾が外れるから！" (Don't move now, okay? Otherwise, you'll miss the bullet).
Even though both catchphrases are well-known in their respective languages, and even though the source material
being referenced is an American show that was originally in English, I ultimately decided to keep the
line as a reference to the Japanese catchphrase. This decision was primarily made due to the fact that
the two catchphrases are quite different, and this moment was specifically written based on the
Japanese catchphrase, so the English catchphrase doesn't fit as well.
Additionally, the imagery of the bullet holes going through the screen seen in the second image
is based on the "Sledge Hammer!" opening, where Sledge Hammer fires a bullet towards the screen
after saying his catchphrase.
The opening to "Sledge Hammer!" can be seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGYKU7mbv74
Additionally, the opening to its Japanese dub, "I am the Hammer!", can be seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7UOdpgNmto
In both videos, Sledge Hammer says his catchphrase around the 0:45 mark.
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Following the above "Sledge Hammer!" reference, Konata says this line after the protagonist remarks
how the situation isn't funny if it's meant to be a joke.
As seen in Episode 2's notes, it's a reference to a line said by the character Sleggar Law in "Mobile Suit Gundam".
A clip showing two different instances of Sleggar saying the line, each with a different voice actor,
can be seen here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxVw5qKx7T8
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Following the above "Mobile Suit Gundam" reference, Konata, Tsukasa, and Miyuki all shout this together
as they jump out of the emergency exit to leave the Unlucky★Sisters studio.
This is something that's lost in translation, as it's mostly shown through the way in which this shout
is written in Japanese, ぶぅるああっ！ (buraaah!), but this kind of shout is strongly associated with the
Japanese voice actor, Norio Wakamoto. One of his most notable roles you might know him from is Cell
from Dragon Ball Z.
A video that includes some examples of Norio Wakamoto's famous shout (the moments when the name 若本規夫
appears in red in the top right corner), as well as some people trying to imitate it can be seen here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bvMqb9ea9E
As you can see--or rather, hear--the shout done by Konata, Tsukasa, and Miyuki doesn't really
sound very much like it, which makes this reference pretty much completely lost in the English translation.
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The scene where the cast time leaps to the past, during the time when Soujirou and Kanata are about to get engaged,
is overall a parody of the 1985 American film "Back to the Future", with many moments being specific references to
various parts of the film.
The plot of "Back to the Future" revolves around protagonist Marty McFly accidentally time travelling
30 years into the past and meeting his father during the time when his relationship with his mother first began.
In his attempts to try and return to his present time, Marty unintentionally interferes with the inciting incident
that leads to his parents meeting and eventually getting married. The plot then becomes about both returning
"back to the future" as well as ensuring that Marty's parents still get married so that Marty will still be born.
Similarly, in the Ryouou Gakuen Outousai scene, Tsukasa accidentally interferes with Soujirou's proposal to Kanata
by hitting her head on a door, which makes a noise that distracts Soujirou and Kanata, resulting in Soujirou
backing out before he gets the chance to properly propose. In "Back to the Future", the equivalent
scene is that Marty prevents his parents from first meeting by shoving his father, George McGly, out of the way
before he gets hit by Marty's future maternal grandfather's car, getting hit by it instead.
This then prevents George from being introduced to his future wife, Lorraine.
The scene in question can be viewed here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNEZAq-M2fg
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There's a lot packed into this moment where Konata executes her plan to convince Soujirou
to not give up on proposing to Kanata.
Firstly, the scene continues with the "Back to the Future" references, as this moment is a parody of
a scene from the film where Marty McFly plays a loud guitar riff by Edward Van Halen, cofounder of the American
rock band "Van Halen", into his father George McFly's ears to wake him up suddenly in the middle of the night.
Marty then, dressed up in a hazmat suit, pretends to be the alien "Darth Vader" from the "planet Vulcan",
references to the science-fiction franchises "Star Wars" and "Star Trek" respectively. It's then implied later
that "Darth Vader" told George to ask Lorraine out to the upcoming school dance, which was one of the key moments
in their relationship that led to the two eventually getting married.
The scene in question can be viewed here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHZctSnNrsw
However, that's not all there is to this scene. The song that Konata plays to mirror Edward Van Halen's
guitar riff is an original song that was seemingly made specifically for this game called "電波★体操",
which translates to "Radio ★ Exercise". The song was made by a group known as SHITAGI☆PROJECT, which also
went by the name "ILLEGAL UNDERWEAR", and the singing is credited to a person named "Chihiro-chan",
who is said to have been 12 years old at the time.
Interestingly, after Ryouou Gakuen Outousai, SHITAGI☆PROJECT went on to make a remix of "Radio ★ Exercise"
for the 2009 Nintendo Wii game, "Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekidou", as a song called "Toroden". They also released
an album named after themselves in late 2007 which contained a sequel to "Radio ★ Exercise" called
"電肢体操第二〜恋のイーアルカンフー〜" (Radio ★ Exercise 2 ~Love's Yie Ar Kung-Fu~), named after the 1984 Konami
fighting game, "Yie Ar Kung-Fu".
While you can listen to the full song in-game, to help compare it to the other songs,
you can listen to "Radio ★ Exercise" here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1p1kyxSaZIA
You can listen to the remix "Toroden" here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBCZBiq5ptg
You can listen to the sequel "Radio ★ Exercise 2 ~Love's Yie Ar Kung-Fu~" here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcyaruDYleM
Next, the "Marduk Institute" and the "Human Instrumentality Committee" that "Konatan" says she
is affiliated with, mirroring Marty claiming to be "Darth Vader" from "Vulcan", are organizations
associated with the anime series "Neon Genesis Evangelion". "Konatan's" reference to the Marduk Institute
in particular and how the birth of Konata is essential for the advancement of their plans seems to be in
reference to the fact that the Marduk Institute is the supposed organization that selects children to be
Evangelion pilots. That is, the Marduk Institute needs Konata to be born so she can pilot an Evangelion.
The "Human Instrumentality Committee" from "Neon Genesis Evangelion".
Lastly, "Konatan's" appearance is based on the chairman of the Human Instrumentality Committee,
Keel Lorenz.
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After Soujirou assures "Konatan" that he still fully intends on proposing to Kanata,
Konatan says the above to end off her message to him.
This is another reference to "Back to the Future" and is meant to mirror Marty's parting words
to his parents after he succeeds in ensuring that they will end up getting married. Similar to how
Konata tells her father to spoil his future child, in reference to herself, Marty tells his parents to go
easy on their future child if he sets fire to the living room rug, in reference to himself.
The scene in question can be viewed here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XU19CYiN0LQ
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When the cast time leaps into Konata's room, the Konata from that time will say the above line
as she and Hikage begin their match in the fighting game "Lucky Battle Chronicle".
Konata is quoting and imitating the delivery of what protagonist Amuro Ray shouts
when he heads out into combat in the anime "Mobile Suit Gundam".
A moment where Amuro Ray says this line can be seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwTcoSPPdqo
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Following the above "Mobile Suit Gundam" reference, the Konata that's part of the protagonist's group
says this line as she initiates a special technique to aid the other Konata, who is about to be defeated
by Hikage in Lucky Battle Chronicle.
The line "Look! The Izumi household is burning red!" is based on the line "Look! The East is burning red!"
from the anime "Mobile Fighter G Gundam". Specifically, the line comes from a motto performed between
protagonist Domon Kasshu and his teacher, Master Asia.
A moment when Domon and Master Asia perform this motto can be seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPcCJm6u6iw
Additionally, the Japanese version of this line has another 萌え (moe) vs. 燃える (to burn) pun
in it, as seen in many other lines in this game. The "burning" part of Konata's line is written
as 萌えている rather than 燃えている as both are pronounced the same. However, I decided to prioritize conveying
the Mobile Fighter G Gundam reference over this pun, so this detail was unfortunately lost in translation.
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Immediately following the previous "Mobile Fighter G Gundam" reference, Konata and Meito Anizawa perform
a technique called "Konata Finger Sekiha Lucky Star Tenkyoken", allowing Konata to defeat Hikage.
This moment is a reenactment of a scene from "Mobile Fighter G Gundam" where Domon Kasshu and Rain Mikamura
perform a technique called "Burning Finger Sekiha Love Love Tenkyoken". Meito is performing the part of
Domon while Konata is performing the part of Rain. The reason for Meito's unexpected appearance in this
scene as opposed to someone else playing Domon's part is because Meito's voice actor, Tomokazu Seki,
also voiced Domon Kasshu.
The scene in question can be viewed here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkIJYrjUYyQ
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As mentioned above, the game Konata and Hikage are playing in Konata's room is "Lucky Battle Chronicle",
which can be seen in the short cutscene that plays after the above "Mobile Fighter G Gundam" reference.
Lucky Battle Chronicle is a simple fighting game for the PC that was given as a special bonus
for pre-ordering Lucky Star: Ryouou Gakuen Outousai's PS2 version.
I made a full playthrough of the game a few years ago if you want to learn more about it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pTum1QwBDk
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After defeating Hikage in Lucky Battle Chronicle, Konata says the above lines.
Both sentences are references to lines said by Master Asia from "Mobile Fighter G Gundam"
in his final fight against Domon Kasshu.
The scene in question can be viewed here.
Specifically, Master Asia says the respective lines at the 2:00 and 6:19 marks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biTBr0V0h44
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If the protagonist, Konata, Tsukasa, and Miyuki decide to stay put and see what happens
when they find the Star Sakura Tree glowing, they'll end up running into the current time's
versions of themselves. As part of Konata's conversation with her other self, the two Konatas
will say the above two lines.
As mentioned in the translator's notes for Episode 1, this is a reference to a famous 4chan thread,
the "nice boat" thread, reacting to the airing of the final episode of the anime "School Days"
being replaced with scenic live action footage. This decision to not air the episode was due to the
at the time recent axe murder of a teenage girl by her father in Japan, as the "School Days" episode
featured similar murder scenes involving characters being killed with a knife and a handsaw. The connection
to yandere is because the murders in the "School Days" episode are committed by yandere characters,
those being Sekai Saionji and Kotonoha Katsura.
This clip shows the murder scenes contained within the episode that caused its delay.
WARNING -- GRAPHIC CONTENT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Gd6u8nCIW4
The footage that was aired instead. The "nice boat" appears on screen at the 45 second mark:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwortdC_o14
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If the protagonist, Konata, Tsukasa, and Miyuki find themselves in the gymnasium when they catch sight of
Kuroi Sensei and Sakuraba Sensei, Konata will say this line before kicking the gymnasium door in order
to get the teachers' attention.
Inshallah is an Arabic expression that translates to "If God wills it". Truthfully, I am not entirely
sure why Konata chose to say this of all things, but I don't think there's any deeper meaning to it,
such as it being a reference to something. In Islamic cultures, usage of "Inshallah" in more playful
manners isn't unheard of, but Konata's choice to use it specifically is probably just because it's
an absurd thing for her to say given she's not Muslim.
Additionally, when considering the greater context of this moment, Konata had just gotten permission
from Miyuki to go all out on attacking the door, with Miyuki volunteering to take responsibility for the damages.
Perhaps another way to think about it is that Konata said "Inshallah" to essentially communicate that she's
taking Miyuki's permission to be a sign that it's God's will for her to kick the door, and so she will do so.
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If Kuroi Sensei and Sakuraba Sensei previously decided to walk around and try to scare students who
are staying late at the school, Sakuraba Sensei will ask Kuroi Sensei this question when we later
catch up with what they're up to.
"Go for a ride on a stolen motorcycle" is a lyric from the 1983 song "１５の夜 (THE NIGHT)" by Yutaka Ozaki,
sometimes translated as "A Night at 15". The song is about a frustrated 15 year old who, lacking an outlet
for his feelings, steals a motorcycle and goes for a night ride, seeking an escape from his home and school life.
"A Night at 15" was Yutaka Ozaki's debut song, released when he had just turned 18. Sadly, his career as a singer
was tragically cut short as he died only a few years later in 1992 at the age of 26.
"A Night at 15" can be listened to here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXPCiOBbCMg
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If Kuroi Sensei and Sakuraba Sensei previously decided to walk around and try to scare students who
are staying late at the school, and the protagonist and the others decide to surprise them, Sakuraba Sensei
will say the above as part of their over-the-top response.
This is something that's unfortunately lost in translation, but the original Japanese that was translated to
"BEGONE, EVIL SPIRITS! BEGONE, ECTOPLASM!" is "悪霊退散！ プラズマ退散！" ("Akuryou taisan! Plasma taisan!").
This is in reference to lyrics from the chorus of the song "Let's Go! Onmyouji", which was previously discussed in
the notes for Episode 2. The lyrics in question are "悪霊退散！ 悪霊退散！" ("Akuryou taisan! Akuryou taisan!").
As you can see, it is almost identical except the second 悪霊 (akuryou, meaning "evil spirit")
is replaced with プラズマ (plasma).
The music video for "Let's go! Onmyouji" can be seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-nUIR1Mhnw
Additionally, you may be wondering after reading the above explanation why the translation uses the word
"ectoplasm" when the original Japanese says "plasma". This was done due to the fact that in English,
the word plasma mostly makes one think of the fluid that makes up blood or the state of matter beyond gas.
Given this scientific association English speakers have with the word "plasma", having Sakuraba Sensei
tell plasma to "begone" as part of her rejection of non-scientific phenomenon would have been confusing.
In Japanese, however, the word "plasma" is sometimes used to refer to evil spirits, and so that is why
she is saying that in the original Japanese line. The word ectoplasm was chosen for the English translation
because it is a word that sounds similar to plasma that does have a paranormal association in English.
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As time starts to run out to find Kagami, Konata jokingly suggests that Tsukasa could use her ability to
communicate telepathically with Kagami since they're twins, to which Tsukasa responds with her catchphrase,
"Dondake!"
As explained in the Episode 2 and Episode 3 translator's notes, "dondake" is a slang term that is
derived from the Japanese "doredake", meaning "how much?" or "to what extent?". However, "dondake" is mostly
just used by Japanese high school girls as a general exclamation of surprise, and is similar to "oh my god" in English.
However, Tsukasa's use of "dondake" is also likely a reference to its use in Gintama, being described as an
exclamation for the "tsukkomi" or "straight man" to use in response to any antics performed by the "boke" or
"funnyman" type characters in Japanese comedy. The fact that Tsukasa is meant to be a boke gives her usage
of it a humorous irony. This is why it is left untranslated.
The clip from Gintama can be seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kdZEcZFIkA
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The bottomless pit that Tsukasa and the protagonist fall into as "The Girls (and Boy) Who Leapt Through Time"
reaches its climax is likely inspired by an element of Stephen King's "The Langoliers". While a previous note
suggested that character Craig Toomey's understanding of the titular creatures is represented by Kuroi Sensei
and Sakuraba Sensei, the bottomless pit that used to be a classroom serves to show that the langoliers'
true form is also represented in Ryouou Gakuen Outousai.
As "The Langoliers" reaches its climax, the langoliers finally make their appearance, revealed to be flying mouths
with sharp teeth that consume the remnants of the past once time has moved on from it. It's shown that once
the langoliers are finished consuming a point in the past, all that remains is a pit of complete darkness.
Similarly, the pit we see in Ryouou Gakuen Outousai once used to be a classroom, but the forces causing
the instability of time and space at the school have eaten it away, leaving only a bottomless pit of darkness behind.
References to time being eaten and everything turning to black after this point are also references to the actions
of the langoliers.
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In the ending sequence of "The Girls (and Boy) Who Leapt Through Time", Miyuki's plan to return
back home to their original time is to return to the place where everything began: the school gymnasium.
This mirrors what the cast of "The Langoliers" end up doing in order to return to their original time.
As mentioned in a previous note, the mass disappearance on their flight to Boston and them finding themselves
stuck at a point in the past turned out to be the result of flying through a time rip. Upon figuring this out,
they get the idea to do a return flight to Los Angeles in the hopes they can fly through the time rip the other way,
which will return them to the present time.
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During the Unlucky★Sisters segment that occurs at the end of "The Girls (and Boy) Who Leapt Through Time",
Hinata will introduce the topic of the segment with the above line. The "blue skies and stout horses" she is
referring to comes from a Japanese saying about autumn, 天高く馬肥ゆる秋, which is often translated as
"autumn with the sky clear and blue, and horses growing stout".
The phrase is meant to evoke the feelings of comfort associated with the autumn season due to its nice weather
and it being a time of harvest, which Hinata is using to say how that comfort doesn't just lead to horses
becoming fat, but humans as well.
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At the end of the Unlucky★Sisters segment that occurs at the end of "The Girls (and Boy) Who Leapt Through Time",
Hikage introduces a military-style training program for losing weight called "Ermey's Boost Camp".
The name of this training program is in reference to two different things. First, the name "Ermey" is in reference
to the U.S. Marine drill instructor and American actor R. Lee Ermey, probably best known for his role as
Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in the film "Full Metal Jacket".
A clip from "Full Metal Jacket" featuring Sergeant Hartman can be viewed here.
(WARNING: Contains explicit language and racial slurs)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHxf17yJsKs
Second, the name of the training program is also in reference to "Billy's Bootcamp", an exercise
program developed by American fitness personality Billy Blanks. It went on to become a cultural
phenomenon in Japan in 2007 and even had a video game for the Nintendo Wii based on it.
 
One of the Billy's Bootcamp workout videos can be viewed here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abUtY-RThKI
Footage of the Billy's Bootcamp game for the Nintendo Wii,
"Billy's Bootcamp: Enjoy Dieting with the Wii" can be viewed here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqk30MZ_qBs
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The TV show that's on at the start of the Yukari mini scenario when Yukari wakes up from a nap
is based on the Japanese talk show "Lion no Gokigenyou". The show is well-known for its giant
dice block that guests on the show roll in order to determine the topic that's discussed.
Topics such as telling an embarrassing or sad story are commonly featured on the show,
similar to what we see in this moment in Ryouou Gakuen Outousai.
Additionally, the moments where the dice block is rolled are often accompanied with
a snippet of the song "Hard Days Rag" by Hiroko Yakushimaru, as well as the host of
"Lion no Gokigenyou", Kazuki Kosakai, saying "何が出るかな、何が出るかな" (nani ga deru kana, nani ga deru kana),
which means "What will it be? What will it be?" in this context. Ryouou Gakuen Outousai changes this slightly
to "nani wo daso kana, nani wo daso kana", which effectively means the same thing, but was likely changed
so as to not be directly copying "Lion no Gokigenyou".
A clip from "Lion no Gokigenyou" where the dice block is rolled can be seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeCgs-OqawA
The full song that plays during the dice block rolls, "Hard Days Rag", can be listened to here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DGgB1UiRPY
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The company behind the soap opera Yukari watches in the Yukari mini scenario, "Gao's Love Theater",
is considered to be a reference to Japanese cosmetics company "Kao Corporation". This connection is
stronger in the original Japanese, as the "Gao" in "Gao's Love Theater" is written as "我王",
while the Kao in "Kao Corporation" is written as "花王". As you can see, the second kanji is the same
between both, in addition to both names being similar in pronounciation.
The similarity between "Gao" and "Kao" is even stronger if you understand Japanese phonetics,
as the "g" consonant sound in Japanese is just a voiced version of the "k" consonant sound.
A consonant being "voiced" means that the vocal chords vibrate when saying it.
If you pronounce a "k" sound followed by a "g" sound, you'll notice that you make both sounds in
the same way except for "k" not vibrating the vocal chord while "g" does. Try it for yourself!
A lot of aspects of Japanese phonetics and the language as a whole are built around unvoiced consonants
and their corresponding voiced consonants being connected and similar to each other. For example,
in the hiragana and katakana writing systems, voiced and unvoiced consonant sounds are distinguished only with
the addition of two hash marks known as "dakuten" (literally means "voiced marks") added to the character
for the unvoiced version of that sound. So for example, in hiragana, the character for the "ka" sound, か,
and the symbol for the "ga" sound, が, look almost exactly the same.
What this means is that when written out phonetically, Kao and Gao look almost exactly the same in Japanese,
"かお" (Kao) vs "がお" (Gao), so all this is to say that the similarity goes deeper than you might think.
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In the Yukari mini scenario, when Yukari comes to the door to accept a package, the delivery man asks her
to either provide a signature or her seal. If you are not familiar with this aspect of Japanese culture,
you may be confused what is meant by her "seal". In Japan, in many situations involving signing documents,
instead of providing a signature as is normally done in places like the United States, Japanese people will
have personalized name stamps made and registered with the Japanese government that they use instead.
However, for less formal situations, signatures or name stamps that don't have to go through
government registration can be used.
In Yukari's case, the original Japanese line implies she used a personal stamp rather than a signature
based on the otomotopoeia word she used, which I have tried to preserve with "bam" in English.
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In the Yukari mini scenario, the "Let's" laundry detergent that's being advertised during commercial breaks for the
soap opera Yukari is watching is likely based on the Japanese laundry detergent brand "Attack", as it's owned by
Kao Corporation. This also further strengthens the connection between "Kao Corporation" and "Gao's Love Theater".
Additionally, the tagline for Attack laundry detergent as seen on the box is "Surprising whiteness with one spoonful",
which resembles the taglines of "strikingly white" and "surprising results" used in the advertisement for "Let's".
Lastly, the reason for the detergent being named "Let's" might be so that when its name is placed beside
the name of the real product, it forms the sentence "Let's attack".
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In the Yukari mini scenario, one of the people that shows up at the Takara residence while Yukari is trying
to watch her soap opera is someone from a place called "Mikawaya". That person is meant to be the character
Saburou from the long-running anime "Sazae-san".
In "Sazae-san", Saburou works for an alcohol and soft drink store called Mikawaya. His job involves delivering
drink orders to people's homes on his motorcycle. When arriving at people's homes, Saburou is known for announcing
his arrival by saying "Chiwa! Mikawaya desu!". Ryouou Gakuen Outousai shortens this to just "Mikawaya desu!".
When literally translated "Mikawaya desu!" means "This is Mikawaya!", but I decided to change it to
"Delivery from Mikawaya" in order to avoid possible confusion where players might think that the person at the door
is someone named Mikawaya rather than an employee from Mikawaya.
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In the Yukari mini scenario, the sponsor shown at the end of the recap portion of the three hour
"Alas! My Daughter!" special, VRIDGE CORPORATION, is in reference to VRIDGE, the developers of
Lucky Star: Ryouou Gakuen Outousai.
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In the Kanata mini scenario, one of the quotes Kanata considers saying as a way of telling Soujirou to marry her
is "I've loved you since ten thousand and two or three years ago!". She reasons it might a good choice because
Soujirou "likes stuff involving ancient civilizations".
Kanata's quote is a slight alteration of a lyric from the opening song to the anime "Genesis of Aquarion".
The original lyric is "I've loved you since ten and two thousand years ago!". When comparing how
"ten and two thousand years" and "ten thousand and two or three years" are pronounced in Japanese,
the former being "ichi man nen to ni sen nen" and the latter being "ichi man nen to ni san nen",
you'll notice that they're almost the same except the "sen" becomes "san" in Ryouou Gakuen Outousai's version.
So the two lyrics are very similar, but was slightly changed in Ryouou Gakuen Outousai in order to
not be an exact copy.
As for the connection to ancient civilizations, this is because the setting for "Genesis of Aquarion" is based on
a war that took place twelve thousand years prior to the events of the story, which was between humans
and creatures known as Shadow Angels.
Lastly, as an interesting observation, the Kanata mini scenario takes place approximately twenty years prior to the
events of Ryouou Gakuen Outousai, since it takes place during the time before Konata was born, placing the scenario
sometime in the 1980s. However, "Genesis of Aquarion" debuted in 2005, making this an anachronistic reference.
This is likely an oversight by the writers of Ryouou Gakuen Outousai.
The opening to "Genesis of Aquarion", which is also called "Genesis of Aquarion", can be listened to here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuR3AtWe_rE
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In the Yutaka Lucky Lucky Memorial route, during the scene where Yutaka and Minami confront the protagonist
about the fight he got into with Konata, if you do not have sufficient favorability with Yutaka, you will see
the above lines as part of the "bad" version of this scene. In this interaction, Minami offers an explanation
for why the protagonist had a vision the night before of Yutaka being very sad that the protagonist and Yutaka
find to be reasonable, which impresses them.
The protagonist calling Minami a "Humanoid Interface" is a reference to a class of characters from the
"Haruhi Suzumiya" series. In that series, there is a type of alien data organism known as a "Humanoid Interface",
who are able to resemble and imitate the behavior of a real human being despite not actually being one.
Notably, the voice actor for Minami Iwasaki, that being Minori Chihara, also voices the most notable
Humanoid Interface in the "Haruhi Suzumiya" series, Yuki Nagato, which is further reason why Minami
is being compared to a Humanoid Interface.
As for Minami's response of "...That is classified information", as explained earlier in the notes
for this Episode, it's also in reference to the "Haruhi Suzumiya" series. Specifically the character
Mikuru Asahina, who is a time traveller from the future, and often uses this line as an excuse to not
provide explanations or clarify certain statements she makes, as she is not supposed to disclose information
that reveals too much about how things are in the future.
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On the morning of the first day of the Minami Lucky Lucky Memorial route, the protagonist says this line
in response to Konata complaining about how hard it is being his childhood friend.
The protagonist is directly quoting a line from Episode 24 of the anime "Neon Genesis Evangelion",
in which protagonist Shinji Ikari must kill his newfound close friend, Kaworu Nagisa, after Kaworu
is found out to be a type of entity known as an Angel, which would bring about the destruction of humanity.
Shinji is in great disbelief at this revelation, and is greatly conflicted about killing Kaworu, and tells
Kaworu that he doesn't understand what he is saying when he thanks Shinji for giving him the opportunity to die.
The scene in question can be viewed here, albeit with a minor edit by the video uploader near the end.
As with other references to "Neon Genesis Evangelion", I have chosen to translate it such that it matches
the ADV English dub for the most part, so that is why it doesn't perfectly match the subtitles.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbN-dubqANU
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During lunch on the first day of the Minami Lucky Lucky Memorial route, the protagonist says the above lines
as he explains how we was able to purchase bread at the bread stand in the cafeteria despite the large crowd.
The threat that the protagonist gives as an example of something he DIDN'T do is in reference to a moment
from the series "Full Metal Panic!". Specifically, in Episode 2 of the spin-off season,
"Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu", protagonist Sousuke Sagara makes exactly this threat in order to get
a plain roll from the bread stand during lunch period.
The moment in question can be seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ui44DTtu_bM
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After play practice on the first day of the Minami Lucky Lucky Memorial route, after Minami falls into
the protagonist's arms after she trips over her feet, leading to them hugging for a while, the two end
up rapidly separating to avoid having their hug noticed by Yutaka. They do this so quickly that
the protagonist says the above line, comparing it to them activating "Acceleration Mode".
This is in reference to an ability in the series "Cyborg 009" known as "kasoku souchi".
While it literally means "accelerator", it is often translated as "Acceleration Mode".
When one of the series' cyborgs activate this mode, they gain the ability to move at
speeds so incredibly quick that it's as if time is moving much more slowly than usual.
A compilation of moments from "Cyborg 009" where "Acceleration Mode" is used can be seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lBpTY5mJKU
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After play practice on the first day of the Minami Lucky Lucky Memorial route, after Yutaka
thinks she saw the protagonist and Minami hugging, the protagonist tries to distract Yutaka
from what happened by taking the drink that Yutaka got for him and chugging it, leading to
the carbonation stinging his throat. He and Minami then say the above lines to further
distract her.
What the protagonist and Minami are specifically referring to is the relatively well-known
historical fact that many of the popular sodas people drink today around the world have their
origins in medicine. Drinking carbonated water was believed to have certain health benefits
in the 1800s, leading to pharmacists developing drinks that supplemented carbonated water with
additional ingredients to enhance its medicinal properties. The most famous example of this being
John Pemberton's Coca-Cola, which while it didn't use carbonated water at first, is of course
the world's most famous soft drink and had its recipe changed to use carbonated water early
into its life, as well as infamously the now illicit drug cocaine.
Of course, as Minami points out, soft drinks having a medicinal purpose was phased out long ago
and nowadays they serve only to be flavorful drinks that are enjoyed for pleasure.
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