Highschool of the Dead/Shout-Out

The series pays homage to several zombie media, among other pop culture references.

• In the third chapter Shaun appears in a convenience store looking as oblivious as ever.
• Kouta Hirano is modeled after the creator of Hellsing. Especially blatant when you consider they have the same name.
• A really hilarious one of Babiru Nisei, with the characters playing Babiru's cohorts. One with a sock puppet.
• There's another zombie-based franchise abbreviated H.O.T.D. out there.
• The music that can be heard near the ending of the first anime episode sounds very similar to the theme music of the zombie-esque flick 28DaysLater. In the fourth episode, there's a sequence with two of the characters riding alone on a motorcycle through the empty, quiet streets, with signs of disarray and violence everywhere, as a song very much like the sad, haunting "Abide By Me" from 28 Days Later, which did something similar.
• In the anime adaptation, episode 5 opens with a homage to the |"celebrity heads" game.
• At the end of Chapter 17, there's a picture of a man playing with a remote-controlled KITT. Intentional or not, the girl next to him looks a lot like Hatsune Miku.
• Shizuka and Saya imagine Saeko in The Bride's outfit from Kill Bill in chapter 22.5.
• Shizuka's "There are only two things that live in Tokonosu!" in chapter 26.
• In the anime, the way the group was separated with the crashing bus brings back memories to those who have played Resident Evil 2.
• The title of episode 11 of the Anime is "DEAD storm rising". It ends with a U.S. submarine kicking off world war III with nuclear strikes against North Korea and China. Sound familiar?
• Kohta screams "Double tap!" in the teaser for episode five.
• In the manga: when Saya explains what the side effect of nuclear explosions is, electronic appliances no longer working, there are pictures of said appliances. Among them there is a robot that looks similar to Astro Boy.
• Zeke, after the end credits of the "Drifters Of The Dead" OVA, giggles like Mumbly.
• The propane bomb was a blatant homage to Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead.