Cultural References

A number of cultural references appear throughout Dengeki Daisy.

Daisy
In Dengeki Daisy, a number of references are made to "daisies".

DAISY
One of the most importance references to 'daisy' refers to the alias, DAISY, utilized by Tasuku Kurosaki when he was a hacker. He uses the name as a reminder of his past and to anonymously communicate with Teru Kurebayashi.



Blue Daisies
Stated to be Soichiro Kurebayashi and his sister's favourite flower, the blue daisy is a recurring motif in the series. Blue daisies first appear in Chapter One of the series, growing in the school's garden.

The flower is native to South Africa. It is known by the scientific name Felicia amelloides and is also called the blue marguerite. In the Language of Flowers, daisies symbolize innocence, purity, cheer, loyal love and faith. In the Japanese language of flowers, Hanakotoba, daisies represent faith. According to the author, blue daisies mean happiness in the language of flowers.

Daisy Cutter
A | daisy cutter is a type of fuse designed to detonate an aerial bomb at or above ground level. The fuse itself is a long probe affixed to the weapon's nose, which detonates the bomb if it touches the ground or any solid object. Because of how it is designed, its purpose is to maximize blast damage on the surface of the target.

Supposedly, Kurosaki chose the alias "DAISY" because he wanted to be able to cause as much destruction as possible in reference to the power of a daisy cutter fuse.

Daisy Necklace
As a gift to Teru, Kurosaki gives her a daisy necklace. The necklace is notable because comes from | Tiffany & Co., a famous jewellery store. Riko also has necklace from Tiffany that she lends to Teru for a goukon date.

Daisy Bell
Daisy Bell is a popular song with a well-known chorus "Daisy, Daisy/Give me your answer do/I'm half crazy/all for the love of you" as well as the line "...a bicycle built for two."

The song is sung by Kurosaki during his separation from Teru, and he originally learned it from his father, who mentions that Kurosaki's mother used to sing it often and that it came from a movie. The movie in question is 2001: A Space Odyssey, during which the evil supercomputer HAL 9000 sings the song as it deactivates. Notably, HAL 9000's performance is a reference to Daisy Bell is the song sung by the first computer programmed to sing.

Music
In the manga, several musical groups from the 1980s are mentioned. While listening to CDs in Kurosaki's car, Kurosaki mentions that Teru has been listening to the | Red Hot Chili Peppers.

When she selects another song, she chooses Time After Time from the album "Cyndi Lauper's Twelve Deadly Cyns" by Cyndi Lauper. Notably, Teru selects a music box that plays the tune for Time After Time as a present for DAISY, whose identity is later given away when Teru discovers ths music box in Kurosaki's room.

Literature
When Egawa, the English teacher at Teru's school, accidentally gets his computer infected with a virus, the password to unlock the computer is a reference to one of Shakespeare's plays.

The password,

"All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages." comes from the play As You Like It and is recited by the melancholy Jaques. The All the world's a stage monologue is one of most frequently quoted passages from Shakespeare and compares the world to a stage and life to a play, while cataloging the seven stages of a man's life.

In Chapter 57, Akira recites the following phrase as a hint for the password for the lock on a cruise ship's door, "It is better to drink of deep griefs than to taste shallow pleasures." The quotation originates from Characteristics: In the Manner of Rochefoucault's Maxims, a book that explicitly models a collection of aphorisms of the Duc de La Rochefoucault. It was published anonymously by William Hazlitt, a nineteenth century English writer and philosopher.''

Folklore
Kurosaki's virus code, "Jack Frost", is named after the mythological figure with roots in Viking lore. The character is usually depicted as a sprite-like personification of winter who is usually friendly but is brutally vicious when provoked, as he will kill his victims by covering them with snow.

Film and Television
Early in the series, Teru and Kurosaki watch a movie called "Wataridori" directed by Jacques Perrin; the film was originally released in French as Le Peuple Migrateur ("Winged Migration" in English). The film showcases the immense journeys routinely made by birds during their migrations and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2002.

When Kurosaki falls asleep from exhaustion, he makes remarks about a "black obi" and a "beam sabre. " According to the author, both are references to Star Wars, though she also notes she made discrepencies because the term "beam sabre" actually came from the Gundam series and she had not been aware of the distinction between "beam sabre" and "lightsaber", the weapon used in Star Wars.

The series later references the movie Titanic when Teru and her friends enact a plan to save Rena Ichinose and stop her abductor from using Rena's father's connections to spread a revived Jack Frost virus. When Rena's location turns out to be at an engagement party on a cruise ship, Teru and Kurosaki derisively remark that the ship reminds them of the Titanic and attempt to imitate the pose of Jack holding Rose at the bow of the ship. In response, Riko angrily tells them that reproduced the scene incorrectly and expresses her belief that Titanic was a masterpiece.

Miscellaneous
Teru calls Riko "Onizuka-sensei" at school when Riko arrives to confront some students who have been harrassing Teru. Though as a teacher, Riko is likely to be referred to as "Onizuka-sensei" by students, the name alludes to Great Teacher Onizuka, a manga series featuring an ex-gang member who initially becomes a teacher for unscrupulous reasons but comes to enjoy helping students using his unusual personal philosophy towards life. The series was also adapted into an anime and live-action series.