List of real-world references

Nothing exists in a vacuum, and Bittersweet Candy Bowl is no exception; the comic is influenced by many other forms of media that are often given homages. As the story takes place in the United States during the mid-2000s, real world events and pop culture are prevalent in the story as well. If you've ever wondered how many there are - or what you might have missed - here is a list of various references made in Bittersweet Candy Bowl.

Anime and manga

• In Unfit for Education, the class pet is a hamster named Hamtaro.
• In Field Day, Mike and Lucy take their "Ayu Beem" attack from Di Gi Charat's main character, Dejiko.

Film

• In Off to the Movies, Lucy is vehemently against the idea of taking Yashy to the movies because she quotes said movie incessantly, providing multiple Anchorman references as examples. When Mike is finally convinced to leave Yashy behind, Yashy chimes in, "well, that escalated quickly!"
  • On the same page, Lucy mentions all of Yashy's new toys being called "my precious." Gollum from The Lord of the Rings must have really resonated with Yashy.
• In Show and Tell, when Lucy dons a royal dress, Yashy is reminded of Snow White and asks Lucy for a poison apple.

Literature

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Music

• According to Prom Preparation, the following musicians exist in this universe: Weird Al Yankovic, Justin Timberlake, BoA, and Utada Hikaru.
• In Show and Tell, after Mike reveals he is not a Russian Blue cat, the Three Weird Girls sing Boney M.'s "Rasputin" in the background.
• Knuckles's character song from Sonic Adventure 2, "Unknown from M.E.", is referenced twice in the comic: first by Yashy in Off to the Movies, and second by Jordan in Love Again.
• In Puppy Love, Lucy guffaws "Mike's too sexy for his scarf," a reworked line from the Right Said Fred song "I'm Too Sexy".
• While Lucy is ambushed by an angry mob in Out of the Frame, Yashy remarks "your milkshake brings all the boys to the yard..."
• The Queen song "Bicycle Race" is annoyingly sung by Paulo and David at the beginning of the chapter Arrival.
• Janet sings along to the Gwen Stefani and Akon song, "The Sweet Escape", whilst listening to her car radio in the chapter At Loose Ends.

Products

Note: References to real-world products and advertising are often removed or reworked once a volume goes to print, so many of these examples no longer exist, so to speak.

Examples of products in Bittersweet Candy Bowl:

• In December, Lucy originally offers Mike a Sprite. It was changed to lemonade upon the omnibus release.
• In Escape Route, Lucy chastises Augustus for stealing from a family-run store, rather than a Wal-Mart (now Giganto-Mart post Volume Seven release).

Television

• Despite being named Hamtaro, the class pet in Unfit for Education sings a line from the theme song of Wonder Pets!.
• The imagery of two blue balloons and one yellow balloon on a greeting card on Molly's desk in At Loose Ends are reminiscent of the "cutie mark" of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic character Pinkie Pie.

Video games

• Bittersweet Candy Bowl has made many a reference to Sonic the Hedgehog:
  • In Show and Tell, when Lucy explains she's a Khao Manee, Yashy repeats it as "a chao many?"
  • Knuckles's character song from Sonic Adventure 2, "Unknown from M.E.", is referenced twice in the comic: first by Yashy in Off to the Movies, and second by Jordan in Love Again.
  • In Guest of Honor, a background character asks if Paulo is supposed to be Tails.
• On the other side of the coin, Bittersweet Candy Bowl has also made multiple references to Sonic's rival series, Super Mario:
  • Yashy's name came from a nine-year-old Lucy noticing the resemblance to the Super Mario character Yoshi. Mike makes the connection in Unfit for Education, which irritates Yashy to no end.
  • Frequent connections are made between Daisy and the character Princess Daisy, to Daisy's chagrin:
    • In Merry Snow Day, Lucy smugly says "Hi, I'm Daisy~" in the cadence of Princess Daisy in Mario Kart: Double Dash. Daisy tells her "That quote isn't funny and neither are you!"
    • Without thinking, Daisy introduces herself to Tess with said Mario Kart quote in Enter High School, and scolds her friends for laughing.
    • In Daisy's Birthday, her friends gift her a Princess Daisy dress... and Daisy storms off.
    • The above chapter takes place before Abbey's introduction to the story, so in an Ask BCB response, he is confused when Daisy storms off again after seeing him with "a mustache and a green cap."
  • In Guest of Honor, a cosplayer can be seen wearing Mario's red shirt and overalls.

Western comics

• Via the FAQ: the characters being cats and dogs was a decision influenced by Veronica reading the newspaper comic Garfield as she grew up.
• Guest of Honor features background characters cosplaying various comic book characters, such as:
  • Kim Pine from Scott Pilgrim (panel 3)
  • Claire Augustus from Questionable Content (panel 1)
  • Batman (throughout the page)

World events

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