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Amanchu! AdvanceEpisodes 7-9, the “Peter arc” in which the main characters are peter-panned into a dream world, got its idea from Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie. |
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Aoi Bungaku SeriesAdaptation of 6 Japanese literature:
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Aria the NaturalEpisode 21, the idea of Akari getting invited to a trip on the galactic railroad is taken from Miyazawa Kenji’s children’s literature “Night on the Galactic Railroad”. |
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Banana FishThe episode titles are all taken from the following books:
I’m not so sure if these have much to do with the show’s story though. |
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Beautiful Bones: Sakurako’s InvestigationThe concept of the story is taken from the opening line of 'Under the Cherry Trees' (written by Motojirou Kajii), which goes like this: 'Dead bodies are buried under the cherry trees!'. |
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BerserkAll of The God Hand antagonists' names, have literary references:
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Black Butler: Book of Murder
The show replicates the gothic setting, but the mood is comedy. |
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Black Lagoon: The Second BarrageIn the final episode, Rock quotes a line by Jean-Paul Sartre. He likens the tragedy of the Washimine heir not to a result of fate or coincidence, but a consequence of limited choice. “People are like dice. We throw ourselves in the direction of our own choosing.” |
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Blast of Tempest
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Bungo and Alchemist: Gears of JudgementLike the Bungou Stray Dogs, the characters are named after historical writers. |
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Bungou Stray DogsThe characters are named after 19th-20th century Japanese authors. Their supernatural powers are based on the works written by these authors:
...among others. |
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Cowboy BebopIn the final episode, Jet retells the story of Ernest Hemingway’s “The Snows of Kilimanjaro”, which ends with the protagonist, before his death, looking at a white snow-capped mountain and thinking about how close he came to dying. |
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Death ParadeReference to Akutagawa Ryunosuke‘s Spider‘s Thread in episode 5. In this story too, the selfish soul could not be saved from hell. |
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Detective ConanThis series has tons: 1. Names of characters are based on mystery writers and the characters that appear in their novels.
2. Names of towns and buildings are based on places that appear in novels written by the mystery writers mentioned above.
3. Canon episodes and movie plots are massively influenced by the plot of the mystery novels mentioned above.
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Eden of the EastThe title 'Higashi no Eden' (Eden of the East) is a reversal of ' East of Eden”, a novel by John Steinbeck. |
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Eden of The East Movie II: Paradise LostThe title “Paradise Lost” is a reference to John Milton’s “Paradise Lost”. |
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ERASEDA direct reference is made to 'The Spider's Thread' (written by Akutagawa Ryunosuke) in explaining the culprit's motivation for killing people. |
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Galaxy Express 999Inspired by Miyazawa Kenji’s children’s literature “Night on the Galactic Railroad”. |
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Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte CristoAn adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ “The Count of Monte Cristo” with a twist in the world setting. |
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Genji Monogatari SennenkiBased on Japanese classical literature “Tale of Genji” written by Murasaki Shikibu. |
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Ghost in the ShellInspired by numerous sci-fi literature:
Quotes from:
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Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045Think Pol is a reference to the Thought Police in George Orwell’s “1984”. |
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GosickEpisode 2 inspired by Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None”. |
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Haibane RenmeiThe setting in this show bears an uncanny resemblence to the town surrounded by walls in Murakami Haruki's novel 'Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World'. The gatekeeper, the forest in the West, the well, and above all, the melancholy atmosphere all shout out Murakami Haruki. |
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KyousougigaThe Mirror City aka “The Looking Glass City” is taken from Alice in Wonderland’s sequel, “Through the Looking Glass”. Certain depictions of the city resemble the world in “Through the looking glass”, such as the chequed chess board design. |
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Les Miserables: Shoujo Cosette#World Masterpiece Theater series - An adaptation of Victor Hugo’s “Les Miserables”. Unlike the book which contains a monstrous amount of description for each character (it’s as thick as the bible), this show focuses specifically on the story of Cosette. |
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Made in AbyssThe Abyss is reminiscent of Dante‘s description of Hell in the “Inferno”. According to Dante, Hell stretches downward towards the center of the earth. The deeper down one goes, the graver the sin and punishment, much like the description of the Abyss. |
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Magi: The Labyrinth of MagicThe character concept is based on the '1001 Nights', which is a collection of Middle Eastern folklore. It’s a fun read btw. |
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Moriarty the PatriotSet in the world of Sherlock Holmes and focusing on the character James Moriarty. |
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Moribito: Guardian of the SpiritThe tale told by the elderly lady in episode 13 is reminiscent of Chinese literature “Jinkoden”, which is about a scholar who transforms into a tiger. |
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Night on the Galactic RailroadAn adaptation of Miyazawa Kenji’s children’s literature “Night on the Galactic Railroad”. |
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NisemonogatariA reference to Japanese literature “No Longer Human” by Dazai Osamu is made in episode 9, where a few frames of Koyomi are changed to a depressed looking Dazai Osamu. |
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Ouran High School Host ClubEpisode 13 is a parody of Lewis Caroll's 'Alice in Wonderland'. |
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Pandora HeartsThe show’s characters and concept are taken from Alice in Wonderland, only that the atmosphere in this show is a lot more dark and twisted. |
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Parasyte -the maxim-The names of the first 21 episodes of the show are references to literary works:
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PenguindrumMiyazawa Kenji's 'Night on the Galactic Railroad' is referred to in the intro of the 1st episode. Shouma and Kamba appear to resemble the anime adaptation of Giovanni and Campanella, the two main characters of the novel. The show's main plot, though, is based more on the 1995 Sarin attack in Japan than the novel. |
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Princess TutuApart from the ballet scores and opera:
Others are based on folktales, compiled into readable format by the Grimm brothers and Hans Christian Andersen:
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Psycho-PassMakishima Shougo makes tons of references to books that deal with science fiction, political theories and other ethical themes. It’s good to know that these books actually have a lot to do with the themes addressed in the show:
My recs are Nineteen Eighty-Four (George Orwell) and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (Philip K. Dick) since I found these two to be pretty accessible. |
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Revolutionary Girl UtenaThe student council’s speech is influenced by Herman Hesse's “Demian”, the original lines being “The bird fights its way out of the egg. The egg is the world. Who would be born first must destroy a world. The bird flies to God. That God's name is Abraxas'. |
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Romeo x JulietAn adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” with a twist in the plot and world setting. Some of the characters’ names are based on the characters that appear in Shakespeare’s other works. |
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Rozen Maiden: TräumendThe character concept of Laplace's Demon, the referee to the Alice Game who is shown having a rabbit's head and assisting the protagonists through riddles, is taken from Alice in Wonderland. Actually, the reference to Alice in Wonderland and its author Caroll is blatantly present in the pedophilic and lolita-loving atmosphere of the show. |
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Sayonara, Zetsubou-SenseiMost of the episode titles are puns of quotes or titles from classical literature.
...among others. |
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School-Live!There is a discussion of Kamo no Choumei’s “Houjouki” in episode 7, written during the Kamakura era. One girl is caught reading Stephen King’s “The Stand”. |
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The Tale of the Princess KaguyaBased on Japanese literature “Taketori Monogatari (The tale of the bamboo cutter)” written during the Heian era. The author is unknown. |
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The Tatami GalaxyIn episode 10, MC wakes up to find himself trapped in a yojouhan labyrinth and relates this experience to the MC’s waking moment in Kafka’s Metamorphosis. |
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Time of EveThe Three Laws of Robotics introduced in the anime is a quote from “Runaround” written by science fiction writer Isaac Asimov. The three laws are as follows:
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Tokyo GhoulFrom what I’ve read, the plot is inspired by Franz Kafka’s “Metamorphosis”. Hermann Hesse’s “Demian” is seen in the character development. |
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Umineko: When They CryThe plot and setting is influenced by Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. |
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Weathering With YouJD Salinger’s “Catcher In The Rye” is observed in the introductory scene. It makes sense because the movie and the book share the same theme of an adolescent’s resistance against the adult world and the coming of age. Not that the movie does a great job in dealing with the theme though. |
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Welcome to the NHK!Miyuki attempts an analysis of the MC’s dream based on Sigmund Freud’s “The Interpretation of Dreams”. |
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List is fantastic!
I would add Woodpecker Detective's Office from the recent anime, as its characters are all based on real life writers and poets, and each episode features actual haiku.
Hi, in Berserk, except for Femto, all of The God Hand antagonists' names, have literary references:
Thanks for adding them, I love this list!
The Japanese title "Higashi no Eden" (Eden of the East) is a reversal of "Eden no Higashi" (East of Eden) a novel by John Steinbeck.
In Parasyte -the maxim- The names of the first 21 episodes of the show are references to literary works:
Source https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3358020/trivia?item=tr3422629