While the Scott Pilgrim universe has primarily a video game influence, the graphic novel tends to reference anime and manga as well.
Scott Pilgrim graphic novels[]
Volume 1[]
- On the side of a bus as early as Volume One, there is an ad for Trapnest's new album, Trigger. This is a direct reference to a famous band within the popular shojo manga, Nana, whose latest album was called Trigger.
- When a character is introduced, a small box appears with their name, age, and other weird information. This happens in some manga.
- The art style is reminiscent of manga style artwork.
- The naming of the characters is very similar to that of the manga and anime series JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, as the character's names are taken from famous, real life people or songs, such as Stephen Stills being named after the real life Stephen Stills, Young Neil being named after Neil Young, and even Scott's own named being taken from the song "Scott Pilgrim by the band Plumtree.
Volume 2[]
- The title references an album from the band Smashing Pumpkings, "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness", replacing it with "Scott Pilgrim & the Infinite Sadness".
- When Todd Ingram uses his vegan powers, his hair flows upward and he glows in a way similar to a Super Saiyan from the Dragon Ball series.
- While the appearance when Todd uses his powers change references Dragon Ball Z, his display of putting holes in the moon is a reference to Akira, along with Ramona describing the aftermath as "thirty pages of explosions and tidal waves". In Akira Tetsuo displays his psychic power in this manner.
- In Dragon Ball Z, most of the names of Saiyans, are related to vegetables, and that has a clear reference in Todd's "vegan powers".
- In Volume Three when Ramona takes out her hammer she yells "Believe it!". This is what replaces Naruto's original catch phrase "dettebayo" in the English dubs when the anime was brought to North America.
- In Chapter 14 (entitled "About to e-x-p-l-o-d-e"), the chapter name references the movie tag of the Japanese animation Akira.
- Envy Adams' hair was inspired by Asuka from the Neon Genesis Evangelion.franchise[1].
- One of the posters in Envy and Julie's dorm room is the popular Studio Ghibli film Porco Rosso. Envy seems to have been a big fan of anime and Japanese culture in general, since she is seen eating the popular Japanese candy Pocky in the same flashback, and later Scott wonders what happened to all of her "toys, anime and stuff".
- During Envy's flashback about her and Todd as kids, a panel reads "They were eleven", which is the title of an anime and manga.
Volume 3[]
|
"Are you kidding? Like two songs are finished."
This page or section is still currently being edited! |
Volume 4[]
- Scott dreams of a version of Ramona who is half-Angel and half-Demon. This could be a reference to the Yu-Gi-Oh! spell card “Change of Heart”.
- Scott describes his The Legend of Zelda-esque dream sequences as "Cool. Like anime."
- The page at the back of volume 4 has a warning telling people that they've started at the wrong end of the book. This is a reference to many Manga books that are published outside of Japan, as literature in Japan is read from right to left (as opposed to left to right), manga books often have warnings at the back of the books (what would normally be the front for western readers) telling them they've started at the wrong end.
- Scott performs a "Diagonal Cut" to defeat Roxie, a move common in anime/manga.
- Roxie, just by being a half-ninja, references many ninja anime/manga.
- When applying for a job at The Happy Avocado, Scott clenches his fist and exclaims "I can do it! I can do ANYTHING! Just give me a chance!" in a manner similar to many shônen manga heroes, such as Naruto from the series of the same name.
- In Scott's dreams, he and Ramona were seen in chibi form which is common in most anime/manga.
Volume 5[]
|
|
"Are you kidding? Like two songs are finished."
This page or section is still currently being edited! |
Volume 6[]
- Upon leveling up, Scott's drawing of the Power of Love and also the Power of Understanding from his chest is similar to how Utena draws her Sword of Dios from Anthy's chest before a duel, as seen in the shojo manga, Revolutionary Girl Utena.
- Despite being compared to Cloud's Buster Sword, Power of Understanding is closer in design to the shikai form of Ichigo's Zanpakutō (soul-cutter sword), Zangetsu, from Bleach, this is also an indirect reference to the Tessaiga from the InuYasha series, as Zanpakutō are based off the Tessaiga.
- Gideon's look is similar to stereotypical anime/manga antagonists where they have glasses, in many ways possible.
- On page 39 there is a picture of the Straw Hat crew's ship, the "Going Merry", from the popular anime/manga One Piece, behind Scott.
- Gideon unleashing The Glow looks somewhat similar to the Kamehameha Wave from the popular shonen anime/manga series Dragon Ball.
- On page 49, the appearance of Gideon the Cat while on top of Scott's dresser is similar to "Kuroneko-sama/Lord Black Cat" from the Trigun anime and manga series.
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World[]
- The inner monologuing Scott does when seeing Knives talking to Ramona is common in anime.
- In the film adaptation, Scott is seen wearing an Astro Boy T-shirt. He also wears the T-shirt in the original Vs. the World comic book when telling the other members of Sex Bob-omb that he has broken up with Knives. Bryan Lee O'Malley is a big fan of the Astro Boy creator, Osamu Tezuka.
- Also in the film adaptation, Envy Adams' look and outfit is reminiscent of Misa Amane from Death Note – a manga which Bryan Lee O'Malley is a fan of. However, he admitted that this was a coincidence and that he strongly dislikes the character Misa Amane.
- The Deveganizing Ray resembles the Spirit Gun from Yu Yu Hakusho, moreso in the movie.
- In the film, Gideon uses kuji-in hand seals like in Naruto to summon his Katana.
- The five way split of everyone gasping over Scott's death is also common in anime.
Gallery[]
Pixel Katana Summon no Jutsu!
The Deveganizing Ray in the movie.
The Power of Understanding