There is nothing better than seeing an anime reference outside of its original series. Some shows or moments are so popular that other series can't help but incorporate some of their elements into their own shows. Main staples of the anime medium, such as Naruto, Dragon Ball Z, Pokémon, and much more can be found not only in anime but also in Western films and TV. It doesn't take much to include an anime cameo in a series.
Sometimes the cameos are so quick that you might need another watch to catch them. Anime cameos don't have to derail a show or dedicate an entire episode as a tribute. A good anime reference instead appears on the screen for just a few framesPerfect for anime fanatics who can pull off a Boy Scout uniform Attack on Titan in the background of your favorite series.
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Dr. Slump's Arale in Dragon Ball Super
Episode 69 – Goku against Arale! Earth ends in a crazy battle?!
Akira Toriyama is one of the best-known names in anime because of Dragon ball franchise, but most fans don't know that Goku and his friends weren't Toriyama's first creation. Akira Toriyama wrote some series outside of Dragon ball universe, including a lesser-known series called Dr. Dr. protagonist, Arale, is similar to Goku in more ways than one. Both characters are almost indestructible, are always willing to laugh at themselves or the situation around them, and are rarely seen without a smile.
When Arale appeared in Dragon Ball Super, she almost broke the series. There weren't many characters stronger than Arale. As a joke character, the Dragon ball the fighters didn't know how to face her. Arale gave Goku a great fight for an episode or two before returning to its respective series, serving as a great call back to Toriyama's other body of work.
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The Simpsons Tribute to Miyazaki
Season 25, Episode 10 – Married to the Blob
Studio Ghibli could very well be the best animation studio in all of Japan for his films. Films like My Neighbor Totoro, Ponyo, Spirited Away, and more from the famous studio are some of the highest-rated and most-loved of all time. The Simpsons is another entertainment titan, having more seasons than dozens of other popular shows combined. In 'Married to the Blob', The Simpsons make lots of easy-to-identify references to Hayao Miyazaki and his work at Studio Ghibli.
References to My Neighbor Totoro are easy to identify with the bus driver, Otto Mann, taking on the role of the cat bus from the incredible film. As Homer runs through town, he can't help but see cameos from Away from spirit and other Miyazaki films. The Simpsons did a great job of paying homage to one of the most popular animation studios of all time in this episode, making cameos in many of their films through their own characters in their own art style and setting.
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Attack on Titan in Osomatsu San (Mr. Osomatsu)
Episode 1 – Osomatsu-kun returns!
Attack on Titan It took the world by storm when it was released more than a decade ago. It tells the story of Eren Yeager and his friends as they try to survive the threat of the Titans and discover more about the world they were trapped in. Attack on Titan overwhelming success, references to the incredible series can be found in all anime, including the popular comedy series Osomatsu San. Osomatsu San wastes no time in referring to the Titanic series, giving Attack on Titan a cameo in its first episode.
The characters take the form of members of the Survey Corps as they try to defend their walls from another character in the series who currently serves as the Colossal Titan. That's it a quick and hilarious cameo which perfectly recreates the size and power of the Colossal Titan as it destroyed Wall Maria in the original series. Osomatsu San is one of the best anime comedies out there, so it's only natural that its references to other anime are hilarious.
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JoJo's bizarre adventure in Food Wars!
Season 2, Episode 2 – Mixing Light and Shadow
Food Wars! and an exaggerated series who couldn't have chosen a better program to make a special appearance too. Food Wars! is known for unnecessarily high stakes, eccentric characters, and jaw-dropping moments. At the beginning of the second season, the series gave a special appearance to the beloved JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series, referring to the Stand Battles that the characters fight in the third season and beyond. Nothing is more spectacular than seeing two Stand-Users face off in battle, striking extravagant poses and fighting with style and elegance.
The characters introduced in the second episode of the second season of Food Wars! reconstitute the characters of JoJo adopting stands on their own, cooking as if they were truly in a life and death battle. It's a funny moment in a series known for its humor, and for choosing to give JoJo's Of all the anime, a cameo was a great choice for Food Wars!
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Yuji Itadori from Jujutsu Kaisen wants to make a Shōnen attack
Episode 6 – After the Rain
Jujutsu Kaisen is one of the best shōnen series of recent years. That's it funny, moving and exciting all at once. Main character Itadori Yuji started the series as a powerless young man before becoming one of the strongest Jujutsu characters in the series. When he is undergoing his first serious training under the tutelage of the strongest Jujutsu sorcerer of the modern era, Satoru Gojo, he becomes excited by the idea of using the moves of previous characters from other popular shōnen series.
When he thinks about the new skills he will acquire, he talks about using the Rasengan Naruto, the Kamehameha of Dragon Ball Z, and much more. It's a quick entry into some well-known shōnen series, and unfortunately for Yuji, he's not able to copy its abilities. While Yuji may be disappointed after coming to this conclusion, it's a funny moment for the vision that humanizes Yuji and makes him even more relatable than he already was.
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Naruto in the assassination classroom
Episode 6 – Test Time
Murder Classroom and a fun series that doesn't take itself too seriously. There are serious themes found throughout the series, but nothing that takes away from the series' roots as a great comedy series. One of the show's funniest moments comes right at the beginning, when Koro-sensei tries to help his students study. Koro-sensei is so fast that he can help each of the students with their studies at the same time, flying between them at Mach speed.
He wears a bandana while helping students, and even spends so much time helping them that he changes the bandana for each student. For a specific student, it changes to the Hidden Leaf Village headband in Naruto. It's a moment that doesn't last more than a few seconds, but it's all the time Koro-sensei needs. have a good laugh and give naruto a special appearance exactly at the same time.
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Neon Genesis in a Robin Williams film
One hour photo
Neon Genesis Evangelion is one of the deepest anime series of all time. It has generated a cult following in the nearly three decades since its release, causing viewers around the world to look at the very fabric of reality differently since seeing the series. It's also one of the most complicated series out there, and most people need to watch it twice to fully understand everything they've seen. Neon Genesis makes an incredibly surprising cameo in Robin Williams' film Photo of an hour, when a child says they want to buy a toy from the series.
Both the child and Robin Williams' character don't seem to know much about Evangelionwhich only makes the reference even funnier. The boy, Jake, refers to the mass-produced Eva action figure as a nice guy, which fans of the series would know to be patently false. It's an interesting cameo This deserves a lot of attention why Neon Genesis It's not the most popular series for those who don't know much about anime. But apparently Robin Williams did.
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Yamcha's Death Stance
In multiple series
Yamcha's death pose in Dragon Ball Z is easily a most popular anime cameos of all time. It is found in many other series, including hits like Bocchi the Rock!, Tower of God, and maybe even Naruto. It's a simple pose that consists of a character usually blown up by something, flying to the ground and leaving a small crater around their limp body. Your body is facing left with your left leg over your right. The left arm is usually curled toward the head, while the right arm projects just below it.
Yamcha's death pose is the Wilhelm Scream of the anime world. It's so fun, iconic and recognizable, which is featured far more often than any other death pose or meme similar to it. Yamcha's image was recently referenced in The new Superman trailer. It's simple, easy to recreate and gets a lot of laughs every time it's done.
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The Akira bike slide
Various films and series
Akira is one of the best and most iconic anime films of all time. The 1988 cyberpunk masterpiece adapted from Katsuhiro Otomo's seminal manga is a true masterpiece strictly in terms of animation. While there are definitely more impressive scenes in the film, the most iconic is undeniably the bike slide that Kaneda does at the beginning of the film. Although anime references have become common even in Western media, no anime scene has been referenced as much as Akira bicycle slip.
Adventure Time, One piece, Pokemon, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and Batman: The Animated Series everyone referenced the iconic scene, and that's just the beginning. While the references may have started in animation when animators wanted to reference such a recognizable scene, the bike slide has grown beyond that with references in big-budget films like No and Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Few images have resonated and stuck with anime fans over the years like Akira epic bike slide.