Ballmastrz: 9009: All Of The Anime Easter Eggs From The Show’s Second Season

There are plenty of series on Adult Swim’s eclectic programming block that heavily draw inspiration or act as a parody of a specific genre of show. Some of these are more direct than others and while Christy Karacas’ Ballmastrz: 9009 isn’t a direct riff on another series, it operates more as an unabashed love letter to anime as a whole. The series has never hidden its love for anime and even the fact that its an animated series that revolves around a sport is a concept that’s more at home in anime than American animation. Whether it’s through the characters or animation styles, Ballmastrz overflows with references to classic anime, some of which are overt like surface level Sailor Moon allusions, whereas others are gags that only the most devout of anime fans will pick up on.

The second season of Ballmastrz: 9009 seriously ups its game in every category, which includes their capacity for anime references. These may not be every anime Easter egg in the show’s second season, but they’re some of the best and most recognizable.

 

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind

Episode seven of Ballmastrz’s second season doesn’t feature just one of the best references to JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure of all-time, but it really heaps them on in such an anachronistic way that would make Hirohiko Araki proud. Lulu breaks out into the infamous “torture dance” from the most recent season of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Golden Wind. It was one of the most memorable moments from the season of JoJo, so it’s incredible to see it show up here. To make it even better, Lulu changes her hair so it resembles Josuke’s pompadour from Diamond is Unbreakable, and her backup dancers are all modeled after characters from other seasons of JoJo (Abbacchio, Polnareff, Bruno, and Trish). It’s an incredible scene.

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Yu Yu Hakusho

Yu Yu Hakusho gets some loving attention when it comes to Flypp Champion’s sensitivity training. The gang of friends that he hangs around with look just like Yusuke, Kuwabara, and company, from the art style to the clothing and hair. Ballmastrz also fits in some finger gun scenes throughout the season, which are of course a tribute to Yusuke’s signature spirit gun technique.

Additionally, in order to relieve the symptoms of Gaz’s vicious STDs, the Leptons are sent onto a dangerous mission that feels like it’s pulled right out of an episode of Yu Yu Hakusho. Both the mission and the fighters on guard of the sacred root that’s protected at this secretive mountain feel like direct references to Yu Yu Hakusho, both in terms of the nature of the mission and the style and set of powers for the competitors that they’re forced to take on.

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Spirited Away

Part of the conclusion of Ballmastrz’s fourth episode from its second season involves an emotional reconciliation between Ace and Babyball. The height of this features a stunningly animated sequence where Ace and Babyball plummet down to Earth through the sky as they hold each other and reiterate their love for one another. This is yet another pivot back to Studio Ghibli for the show as a reference to one of the more touching scenes from out of Spirited Away where Chihiro and Haku experience an extremely similar bonding experience mid-air. This is a prime example of how Ballmastrz actually uses its visual references and homages for thematic and emotional purposes and not just to pay service to things that are cool. They brilliantly use the baked in significance of the original scene to give these new moments added power.

 

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Vampire Hunter D

The sixth episode of Ballmastrz’s second season is basically one giant Vampire Hunter D parody, which is absolutely beautiful and Ballmastrz leans into the comparisons as obviously as possible (they even explicitly refer to her as “Vampire Hunter Dee Dee”), but it’s one of the most fun references in the series. All of the carnage of demons within the vampiric castle also feels like non-specific references to similar works like Hellsing or even Castlevania with the enemy designs and castle setup.

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Attack on Titan

Attack on Titan is an undeniable success so it’s not surprising that it would end up in Ballmastrz in some capacity. The series has the luxury of featuring a handful of absurd characters with each new team it introduces. Some of them feature weird and original ideas, but others are heavy anime references. There’s straight up a Titan playing on a team. It activates itself in the same way, moves totally the same, and there’s even a sweet POV shot from within the creature’s mouth as he consumes a victim. The team even refers to the character as a Titan, so it’s hard to miss this one.

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Pokemon

Pokemon’s whole “Gotta Catch ‘Em All!” slogan and marketing design is used in the season’s second episode (Babyball even gets to be the stand in for the Pokeball) for the cautionary STD ad that Gaz views at the clinic. The ad takes a clever spin on Pokemon’s motto and instead tells people to “DON’T Catch ‘Em All.” It’s a fun, easy gag, but the references don’t stop there. While it’s not specific to Pokemon, the season’s third episode also riffs on the joke of someone’s tears bringing a fallen companion back to life, as is seen with Ash and Pikachu in Pokemon: The First Movie.

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Neon Genesis Evangelion

Neon Genesis Evangelion is another anime with major cultural significance and although there are many ways to reference the series. The finale of Ballmastrz’s second season drastically changes up the show’s premise and features an invasion of aliens. These aliens differ in appearance, but they all have a mechanical slant to them. However, one in particular looks almost exactly like Shinji’s Evangelion unit from the series except the characters arms have been replaced with glowing Lance of Longinuses. It’s a great visual. Another simple reference that Ballmastrz goes for is with a nod to Gendo Ikari in the form of an ominous NERV-like scientist in glasses who folds his hands in exactly the same contemplative manner.

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Dragon Ball Z

While it’s most certainly more of a reference to The Terminator, one could argue that the season’s premiere features some sly allusions to the Android saga from out of Dragon Ball Z with the POV shots from Ace’s new mechanical parents. Ace gets some android guardians who naturally run amok, but the shots from their perspective that demonstrate the clinical way that they view the world is very reminiscent of how the Androids see things, or even how Scouters operate.

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Akira

The fifth episode of Ballmastrz’s second season features a subtle, but wonderful nod to Akira. The Leptons are visited by a dire case from a Make-A-Wish foundation-like organization. The ill and dying boy, Rudy, bears a shocking resemblance to the children who are experimented on in Akira, with him looking in particular like Takashi.

Additionally, Ballmastrz continues to deliciously mix its anime universes together since the evil Totoro team that the Leptons face are riding motorcycles in their attack. These bikes are basically replicas of Tetsuo’s bike in the series and the fight choreography that’s utilized as they’re taking out people while they drive also pays reference to Akira. It’s a clever way to pay to respect to the series that’s different from the typical transformative body horror stuff (although Ballmastrz has dipped into that aspect of the anime, too).

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Mazinger Z and Mobile Suit Gundam

Episode nine of Ballmastrz’s second season has a quick, but touching, reference to Mazinger Z with how Ace and Babyball’s Ballmastr transformation manifests. It fires its fists off like rockets in succession, which is one of the signature attacks by the Mazinger’s mecha. This very same Ballmastr transformation also has a nice complimentary reference to the MS-06 Zaku II from Mobile Suit Gundam, who also brandishes a similar energy axe. Then again, the Zaku II is far from the only mecha in an anime to wield an axe. It’s just something that’s downright cool, so it’s easy to see so many sources turn to it, whether this is a direct reference to Gundam, another anime, or nothing at all. It’s brief, but it’s so satisfying to see the series take a bunch of similar mech series and connect them together by Ballmastr’s arsenal.

 

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Devilman

The competing team that the Leptons face in episode nine also pay a number of homages to other series. Bad Omen’s team’s leader, Vorelord, is an amalgam of Go Nagai references. There’s the more obvious shout out to Devilman, but Vorelord also has a face in his stomach, which has kind of become a trademark of Go Nagai in general.

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My Neighbor Totoro

The fourth episode from Ballmastrz’s second season sets the Lepton against a team that is basically a flurry of evil, green Totoros. It’s a rather aggressive visual, but it’s a very entertaining idea to take something as beloved as Totoro and turn it into a vicious monster.

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Bleach

The fifth episode of Ballmastrz’s second season contains an extremely obscure reference to a single episode of Bleach, but it’s pure gold. The visual references when Shinji Hirako prepares for his fight against the Visitor Gang, but the same exact framing and presentation is utilized. It’s these extremely specific anime references in Ballmastrz that resonate the most and really show how big of nerds these guys are.

 

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Gurren Lagann and Voltron

The third episode of Ballmastrz: 9009’s second season is pretty heavy on the Gurren Lagann references, both in the stance of the robot nuns that are faced and some of the character designs. This joke spirals out of control though when the robot nuns all combine together to form a giant robot that’s also a clear homage to Voltron,

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Kill la Kill

The Voltron-like nun that the Leptons must face is already a mix of anime references, but the mecha’s victory pose upon completing its transformation is a clear shout-out to Kill la Kill’s titles and visual style. It goes even further with the similarities with how it makes use of strands that seem suspiciously like Kill la Kill’s “life fibers.”

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Robotech

Robotech’s infamous Flower of Life gets intelligently parodied by the flower that impairs the orphan, Rudy, and puts him in a critical limb-less condition. This specimen looks just like the life-giving root in Robotech, but here it enters Rudy’s brain and destroys him from the inside out. It takes something familiar and goes in a very unexpected direction with it.

 

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Fist of the North Star

One of the simulations that Flypp is sent to during his sensitivity training takes the form of a post-apocalyptic wasteland. This simulation bears several resemblances to the action anime, Fist of the North Star, but this is most clear with the get ups for the tyrannical guards. It’s a small reference, but a fun one all the same.

 

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Lupin the Third

Ballmastrz’s eighth episode from season two deals with Ace’s manipulation by a sleazy manager who begins to form a rift between him and his teammates. There’s a sly Lupin the Third reference here with the basic character design of Ace’s new morally bankrupt manager, Milky van Montebag. Other than a similar look, the comparisons really end there though. This one may be more of a stretch, even if it still seems likely.

 

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Food Wars

The season’s sixth episode throws Leto Otel from the Leptons onto a cooking game show called Gourmet Gamers and there are some definite allusions to Food Wars, both with how the meals are presented and the level of appreciation that people experience when eating them. This is more just a cursory reference since the episode broaches similar territory, but it doesn’t go too far with the comparison.

 

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Caramella Girls

While not strictly an anime, the Caramella Girls definitely come from that same universe and there’s clear crossover in the audiences. Ace’s embarrassing dance moves when his ego gets the better of him are pretty much just a riff on the dance seen in the meme-able “Caramelldansen” song. It looks like as far as dance moves are considered in the series, there’s plenty of anime to draw inspiration from.

 

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Space Battleship Yamato

The biggest reference in the season finale of Ballamstrz: 9009 is how the end of the episode implies that the show is basically turning into Space Battleship Yamato. The Leptons are drafted onto the crew of a spaceship that looks very similar to Yamato, not to mention that their uniforms are the same, too (with some Mobile Suit Gundam attire sprinkled in for good measure, too). This is a particularly major reference since it will likely really be embracing Space Battleship Yamato and other space-based anime if it sticks with this angle next season.

Both seasons of ‘Ballmastrz: 9009’ are now available to watch on Adult Swim.com