Episode 7: The Ryouou High School Outou Festival |
Unlike previous Episodes, this Episode's title isn't a reference to anything, and is simply
the game's subtitle, "Ryouou Gakuen Outousai", which when translated to English is
"The Ryouou High School Outou Festival".
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During the intro scene, where Konata, Kagami, Tsukasa, and Miyuki are discussing their feelings that
they've been preparing for the school festival for a very long time and have memories of many experiences
that they haven't actually gone through in the "current" time, Konata says the above line.
As we've seen many times before, this is another reference to Sleggar Law's saying of
"It sucks, but this is war, after all" from the series "Mobile Suit Gundam".
A clip showing two different instances of Sleggar Law saying the line, each with a different voice actor,
can be seen here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxVw5qKx7T8
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During the intro scene, when a shooting star appears, Konata says the above line as part of a discussion
where Konata, Kagami, Tsukasa, and Miyuki discuss making a wish upon it.
While not a reference in itself, many non-Japanese readers are unlikely to be familiar with this Japanese
proverb Konata is quoting. Essentially, it just means that if you treat it as such and dedicate great devotion
to it, even ordinary things can impart extraordinary influence on you. In the context of this scene, Konata is
essentially getting at the idea that even though a shooting star doesn't actually have the power to grant wishes,
with the right attitude and dedication, the wishes they make upon the shooting star could end up becoming
a self-fulfilling prophecy.
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During the intro scene, when Konata, Kagami, Tsukasa, and Miyuki decide to play rock paper scissors
to decide who has to call the protagonist to see how he's doing, Tsukasa says the above line, where she
makes a wish to the "Gods of Washinomiya Shrine".
Washinomiya Shrine is the real life equivalent to "Takamiya Shrine", the shrine operated by the Hiiragi family.
Normally, in the Lucky Star series, and within this game as well, it's referred to as "Takamiya Shrine" only,
so this reference to its actual name stands out, which is why I'm making note of it here. However, in all likelihood,
this is simply an oversight by the developers.
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During the intro scene, when Konata, Kagami, Tsukasa, and Miyuki decide to play rock paper scissors
to decide who has to call the protagonist to see how he's doing, Konata says the above line, alluding to
removing a restraint on her right hand and using her "evil eye" to help her win.
Both the concept of having an "evil eye" that possesses magical powers, or the idea that you place
restraints on yourself in order to hold back your true power are traits stereotypically associated
with a certain archetype of chuunibyou. A chuunibyou is a phase certain adolescent children
in Japan go through where they undergo some significant personality change in order to stand out socially
or as a coping mechanism for lack of social skills. A common archetype chuunibyou fall into is known as
the "evil eye" type, who pretend to have secret powers or some secret identity. So Konata is essentially
just acting like an "evil eye" chuunibyou here.
Additionally, the "evil eye" trait is believed to have been inspired by Hiei from the series "Yu-Yu-Hakusho"
as he also possesses an "evil eye".
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At the end of the second intro scene, this title card is briefly shown on screen.
It is based on the title cards used in the English version of "Neon Genesis Evangelion".
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On the morning of the first day, during the Unlucky★Sisters segment, Hinata and Hikage say the
above lines in relation to the Unlucky★Sisters show ending, since Hikage was relying on her
income from the show in order to afford meat.
Hinata's statement of "Man shall not live by meat alone" is in fact her referencing the Bible.
In particular, she is quoting a slight alteration of Matthew 4:4, in which Jesus says
"Man shall not live by bread alone" when tempted by the devil during his 40 day fast in the desert.
Additionally, Hikage's response about "becoming poor in spirit, and not in the blessed way"
is also a Bible reference, this time to the first of the eight Beatitudes as written in Matthew 5:3-12.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven".
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On the morning of the first day, during the Unlucky★Sisters segment, Hikage will say this in regards
to what the segment will be about. According to her, the segment will contain a special feature on
Lucky Star Universe's fourth Expansion Disc, titled "Wings of the Godless".
This is in reference to the fourth Expansion Pack released for the MMORPG "Final Fantasy XI",
which is titled "Wings of the Goddess".
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On the morning of the first day, if the protagonist runs into Konata on the way to school, you'll get
a scene very similar to the one from the very beginning of the game, back in the Episode 1 version of
Episode 0. Consequently, a reference seen back then is repeated.
As mentioned in the notes for Episode 1, the event Konata imagines involving her having toast in her mouth
is in reference to Episode 26 of "Neon Genesis Evangelion", where Rei Ayanami runs into Shinji Ikari
in a similar fashion.
The scene in question can be seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vk2g-2tC5qM&t=115s
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On the morning of the first day, if the protagonist runs into Patty on the way to school, you'll get
a scene very similar to the one that can be seen back in the Episode 3 version of Episode 0.
Consequently, a reference seen back then is repeated.
As mentioned in the notes for Episode 3, the line "Don't think, feel!" is taken from the 1973 martial arts
movie "Enter the Dragon", starring Bruce Lee. Notably, the movie was released just days after Bruce Lee
passed away and was his last completed film appearance.
The scene in which the line is said has Bruce Lee's character giving a lesson to a student about how
one needs to fight with "emotional content" and perform actions with feeling but not anger.
When the student then performs a kick to Bruce Lee's satisfaction, he asks how it felt, leading the student
to pause and think, but Bruce Lee scolds him for this, telling him "Don't think, feel!".
The scene in question can be viewed here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2d5o8d1kitM
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On the morning of the first day, if the protagonist runs into Hiyori on the way to school, you'll get
a scene very similar to the one that can be seen back in the Episode 3 version of Episode 0.
Consequently, the reference to the phone number "110" is repeated.
110 is the emergency telephone number in Japan, similar to 911 in the United States or 999 in the United Kingdom.
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Upon arriving at school on the first day, Konata says the above line to Tsukasa.
As has been discussed several times at this point, this is referencing a famous line from
the girl's manga "Glass Mask".
Upon seeing 13 year old protagonist Maya Kitajima act out a three hour long play from memory without making
any mistakes, veteran actress Chigusa Tsukikage shouts this line, shocked by such an incredible display of ability
for someone so young.
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Upon arriving at school on the first day, after it's shown that even Kuroi Sensei remembers
the protagonist, Konata says the above line.
"That's the Nanako quality" is in reference to the tagline "That's the Tokyu quality",
used in commercials for Tokyu Corporation, a Japanese conglomerate mainly known for its
railway business, Tokyu Railways.
A commercial featuring the tagline can be viewed here:
https://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm25741492
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When the protagonist arrives in homeroom class and does his self introduction,
Tsukasa says this line after the protagonist tells her that he had to go to the staff room
first, which is why he showed up late.
Once again and for the last time in these notes, "Dondake!" is Tsukasa's catchphrase and 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 name of this Episode's Unlucky★Sisters segment for when you get the bad ending from reaching the end
of Episode 0 without entering another Episode, "The Symptoms That Leapt Through Time", is a reference to
the 2006 animated film, "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time". The reason why they replaced "girl" with "symptoms"
is because the Japanese word for "symptom", 症状 (shoujou) is pronounced almost the same as the word used for
"girl" in the movie's title, 少女 (shoujo). That is, it was just for the sake of making a pun.
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If you replay Episode 5 while in an Episode 7 state, the scene in which you are able to enter the trading card shop
will be changed, replacing the choices for entering the store or not to "Follow the will of Heaven" and
"But that doesn't matter!" respectively. If you choose "But that doesn't matter!" and don't enter the store,
the protagonist says the very bizarre line "Hai! Opapi!".
This hidden easter egg is a reference to Japanese comedian Yoshio Kojima, who has a famous bit in which he'll
make an intentional mistake in his routine and then follow it up with the catchphrase "でも、そんなの関係ねえ！"
(demo sonna no kankei nee!) which means "But that doesn't matter!". This catchphrase is then accompanied by a
dance in which he does a punching motion at the ground while hunched over. He also has the catchphrase
"はい！おっぱっぴ―！" ("Hai! Opapi!"), which often follows the "But that doesn't matter!" catchphrase.
"Opapi" is an abbreviation of the phrase "Ocean Pacific Peace".
A clip in which Yoshio Kojima performs a routine featuring his iconic bit can be seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDRsFhffHD0
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