This is a list of allusions to pop culture found throughout Assassination Classroom.
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- The surnames of the students of class 3-E are derived from the surnames of most of the ronin in the story of the Forty-seven Ronin. Gakuhō Asano's surname is derived from Asano Naganori, the daimyo whom the forty-seven ronin avenged.
- Korosensei tells the class not to hate assassinations even if they hate him. The quote bears a resemblance to Haruka Shimazaki of Japanese pop group AKB48 telling people not to hate her even if they hate AKB48.
- American Commodore Matthew Perry is visualized in a seduced appearance as Irina explains to class 3-E the importance of learning how to seduce foreigners.
- Nakamura and Okajima are also seen dreaming of Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean and Lara Croft from Tomb Raider.
- Korosensei wears a headband with the symbol of Konohagakure to indicate to Terasaka that he is "weak in multiple subjects", similar to Naruto.
- Two of Korosensei's duplicates present themselves to Kimura dressed up as Mickey Mouse and Doraemon.
- Kanzaki visualizes Ryūki with a ruined face of Jesus identical to that of the fresco painting Ecce Homo, restored in 2012 by amateur Spanish artist Cecilia Giménez.
- Kanzaki is seen playing Dance Dance Revolution in the past.
- Red Eye imagines numerous red objects inside his sniper's scope, including Elmo, Mario's hat, and a Japan Post mailbox.
- The sweets shop navigation system installed by Korosensei into Ritsu has donuts pointing to Australia and Canada, possibly implying locations for Donut King and Tim Hortons.
- Korosensei explains his expenses on re-programming Ritsu similar to the form of a MasterCard "Priceless" commercial.
- Medama-oyaji from GeGeGe no Kitarō can be seen on the blackboard as Korosensei gives a lesson on eye structure.
- Irina shows a clip to class 3-E of Samantha and Carrie talking from Sex and the City.
- The silhouette of the unkillable monster Lovro envisions has a pose resembling that of Mewtwo from Pokemon, but with extra claws and horns added.
- When it is revealed Korosensei and Itona are "brothers", they're subsequently visualized in a series of panels as part of other famous brother duos in their respective roles. The second panel consists of Sazae Fuguta and (sister of) Katsuo Isono from Sazae-san. The third panel consists of Takehiro Donoue (number 63) and Naomichi Donoue (number 1) from the Chunichi Dragons, a Japanese professional baseball team. The last panel consists of Raditz and Goku from Dragon Ball Z.
- Shiro can be seen reading volume 3 of The Disaster of Kusuo Saiki.
- Korosensei is seen resting with a Cala drink with the logo's font similar to that of Coca-Cola.
- Korosensei is making a Kracie Nerune meal while in baseball form.
- Sugaya recalls making a drawing of Dutch painter Rembrandt on the back of an assignment.
- Korosensei tries to feed Irina a stick of Pooky, or Pocky in real life.
Chapter 58
- Korosensei is dressed up like Jiro Horikoshi.
- When Fuwa declares Smog to be the culprit who spread the virus, she does so in a manner inspired by Yako Katsuragi from Majin Tantei Nōgami Neuro, Yūsei Matsui's own previous serial. She then explains to Nagisa and Kayano how reading shonen manga makes her adapt to unusual situations, recalling a moment in class when she was daydreaming of meeting Ryuk from Death Note. She then expresses her love of mystery manga, especially from Weekly Shōnen Jump competitors Weekly Shōnen Magazine and Weekly Shōnen Sunday. When Nagisa questions her about Jump, she mentions she might want to buy the new paperback edition, again referring to Majin Tantei Nōgami Neuro and its newly released paperbacks, to which Nagisa and Kayano become shocked over this tongue-in-cheek promotion.