General: - The first characters of Hoshino (星野)'s and Tsukimoto (月本)'s names mean star and moon, respectively. This symbolism is seen throughout the series. - Hoshino's nickname "Peco" is from the character Peko-chan – a smiling, pigtailed, eternally-six-year-old girl licking her lips who is the mascot of confectionery company Fujiya Co., Ltd. - Kong Wenge's name is most likely a combination of the names of two famous Chinese table tennis players: Ma Wenge and Kong Linghui. "Wenge" (文革) literally means "Cultural Revolution," the sociopolitical movement and period of history in which China underwent severe setbacks trying (and ultimately failing) to achieve success in an extremely narrow way ("grassroots socialism"), mirroring Kong Wenge's struggle to return to China. Ma Wenge's teammate and fellow competitor, Kong Lingui, was sent to Sweden in his youth to learn the European style of table tennis; within three years after returing to China he became the top-ranked player in the world. Episode 3: - ポンポコピー ponpokopi (translated as "dropout," capturing the connotation of its nonsensical meaning & demeaning usage) is from the Japanese rakugo folktale Jugemu, where it is one of the invented names of a royal family in ancient China. Episode 5: - The poster in Sakuma's dorm room depicts Kōkichi Tsuburaya, a Japanese marathoner who committed suicide four years after being passed in the final stretch of a 1964 Olympic event. Suffering from back problems and unable to live with the shame of losing, he was found dead in a dorm room clutching his bronze medal. Sanada finds this poster disturbing, showing that Sakuma is (metaphorically) willing, or prepared, to die for table tennis. - In traveling to Katase High, Sakuma is drawn as a samurai, with sounds of a kotsuzumi playing in the background, an instrument typically associated with kabuki (a performance type which often depicts samurai). - The Shinsengumi were a special police force organized by Japan's bakufu, or military government, in the Bakumatsu period of the 1860s. They were notable for their ferocity and strictness, and members were ordered to commit seppuku (ritual suicide) for breaking regulations. The names used in dialogue by Sakuma and Coach Koizumi – Kondō Isami, Hijikata Toshizō, and Okita Sōji – were the group's commander, vice commander, and first unit captain, respectively. - Sakuma's first name is Manabu, written in kanji as "学". This is the character for "to study," a theme of Sakuma's character and especially highlighted in this episode. Episode 6: - The "Shingeki no Robo" poster in the train is a reference to Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin). - Peco's use of the nickname "Dotechin" references the protagonist's gorilla companion in the 1960s manga/anime First Human Giatrus. - The insert song used in this episode is "Midnight Flight" by Shogo Hamada. Episode 8: - A small easter egg: one of the players from South High is named Higashi (meaning "east"). Episode 10: - The first name seen on the board listing all the players is a real person: Nobutake Ito (伊東伸高), the character designer for the show who also served as the animation director for various episodes.