A Guide to Anime Visual References

A number of years ago when I was regularly a guest and panel lecturer at the Glass City Con and other small anime conventions, I took pride in creating and offering unique, educational anime panels. Moreover, I made a point of never repeating myself. Each presentation was only given once. But as years have passed, I think it’s a bit of a waste not to share some of these presentations with a wider audience.

So with my very rudimentary video creation & editing skills, I turned one of my PowerPoint lectures into a self-contained YouTube video. This presentation highlights the origins of some of the homages and visual references that repeatedly come up in anime. Some of the references are easily recognizable, some not so much. But knowing what the references are, and what they’re references to, will allow viewers to better understand and appreciate the jokes and influences embedded within anime.