UPDATE 4/11/2020
Pardon my dust! As you probably know this should’ve been done ages ago. But Crunchyroll stopped releasing the rest of Princess Jellyfish, and I didn’t want to buy the individual chapters. So I essentially went years not knowing how this ended (or the references for the last couple chapters) until this past week. Now I’m done with Princess Jellyfish, and conversely, with this list!
In addition to adding the last three chapters, since it’s called episodes in the book, I’ve changed chapters to episodes. That’s about the only new thing that’s been updated. And the image! Otherwise, feel free to use this as reference for whatever you need, or at least in the comments debate if some of this is correct or not.
Otherwise, please refer to the notes section below for my rationale throughout this process.
Princess Jellyfish has been released in print by the crazy people at Kodansha USA. Why call them crazy? Well, “Josei manga just doesn’t sell.” has been the general consensus for a while. At NYCC however, Ben Applegate, who oversees the USA department, said it’s selling well. Amazon noted it as one of its top graphic novels of 2016. That’s great news.
Did you happen to know how heavily the series references pop culture? That’s where the idea for this post came about, and the chapters are a spin on some famous (and not so famous) works. I think we’ve figured them out.
A few things to note:
- Princess Jellyfish began serialization November 10, 2008 in Kiss (monthly magazine).
- I’ve basically used the internet, official (and unofficial) translation notes, my gut feelings, and in a few cases, the chapter’s splash page to figure out what the reference is.
- I’ve bolded titles that I’m 100% sure the work it’s referencing. Feel free to let me know if it’s not though.
- I have also underlined titles that have a work series attached to it but need verification if it’s right.
- Keep in mind some of the titles are riffs of a TV/film.
Please comment below and help us out! Or also just comment on everything referenced (like did you watch it, read it, etc).
Episode 1: Sex and The Amars (Sex and The City)
Episode 2: Pretty Woman (Pretty Women)
Episode 3: Sukiyaki Western Django (Sukiyaki Western Django)
Episode 4: Enchanted (Enchanted)
Episode 5: Sister of Chinese Vampire (Hello Dracula, chapter title is based off a TV series called RaiRai! Jiangshis, a spinoff of this movie)
Episode 6: Take Me Out to The Aquarium (Take Me Out to The Snowland)
Episode 7: Clear and Present Danger (Clear and Present Danger)
Episode 8: I Want to Be A Jellyfish (Japanese title: Watashi wa Kurage ni Naritai)
Episode 9: Seven Sisters (Seven Samurai)
Episode 10: Fatal Attraction (Fatal Attraction)
Episode 11: Driving Mr. Hanamori (Driving Miss Daisy)
Episode 12: In The Closet (In The Closet, by Michael Jackson)
Episode 13: Spellbound and Stone Broke (Kin’yu Fushoku Retto, or Spellbound)
Episode 14: Clara’s Holiday (Roman Holiday)
Episode 15: Million Dollar Baby (Million Dollar Baby)
Episode 16: Romeo & Juliet? (Shakespeare of course)
Episode 17: A Moment to Remember (A Moment to Remember/Nae Meorisokui Jiwoogae)
Episode 18: Deep Blue Sea (Deep Blue Sea)
Episode 19: Le Bel Homme (Utsukushii Hito)
Episode 20: The Affair of The Necklace (The Affair of The Necklace)
Episode 21: ER (ER)
Episode 22: Some Like it Hot? (Some Like it Hot)
Episode 23: The Rose of Versailles? (The Rose of Versailles)
Episode 24: Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Close Encounters of The Third Kind)
Episode 25: Deep Impact (Deep Impact)
Episode 26: Rock Me Hamlet! (Hamlet 2)
Episode 27: The Big Blue (The Big Blue)
Episode 28: Jellydog Millionaire (Slumdog Millionaire)
Episode 29: White Sandcastle (White Palace)
Episode 30: Deception (called Kare ga Nido Aishita S in Japanese)
Episode 31: Dolly Girls (A reference to the fashion line by Anna Sui)
Episode 32: Sisterhood: Countdown to Destruction (Alpha Dog)
Episode 33: 007: From Amamizu-Kan With Love (From Russia With Love)
Episode 34: Party Monster (Party Monster)
Episode 35: Showgirls (Showgirls)
Episode 36: A Clockwork Sisterhood (A Clockwork Orange)
Episode 37: Gossip Girl (Gossip Girl)
Episode 38: The Orphanage (The Orphanage)
Episode 39: The Secret in Their Eyes (The Secret in Their Eyes)
Episode 40: The Dancing Maharaja (Muthu)
Episode 41: The Spy Who Loved Me (The Spy Who Loved Me)
Episode 42: Confessions of a Shopaholic (Confessions of a Shopaholic)
Episode 43: And Then There Were None (Ten Little Indians)
Episode 44: Furimukeba Ai? (Take Me Away)
Episode 45: Taga Tame (Portrait of The Wind)
Episode 46: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (1: Could mean this movie “Toxic Affair” 2: Could mean Kawaii dake ja dame Kashira, which was based off a one-volume manga called Ikeike! Baka Onna by Yumiko Suzuki 3: or it could be a play on the song)
Episode 47: Monsieur Hire (Monsieur Hire)
Episode 48: My Date With Shu-Shu (My Date with Drew)
Episode 49: About a Pureboy (About a Boy)
Episode 50: The Dining Belle and the Jellyfish (Blade Runner; Frank (in the comments below) suggests the title could be a reference to The Diving Bell and the Butterfly)
Episode 51: The Sorcerer’s Younger Brother (The Sorcerer’s Apprentice)
Episode 52: Casual Line? (Hard to say for sure, but it seems it’s either, based on the chapter image, a reference to Bewitched, or Himitsu no Akko-chan)
Episode 53: Children of Men (Children of Men)
Episode 54: Shu, Tsukimi, The Sisterhood (Josee, the Tiger, and the Fish)
Episode 55: The Exhibition Game (The Dinner Game, or Le Diner de Cons)
Episode 56: The Toxic Princess (The Toxic Avenger)
Episode 57: Tsukimi in Black (As explained in the translation notes, the title was called something different, and was referencing a film by Seijun Suzuki (Kaikyou, Chi ni Somete), but was changed, so it became Tsukimi in Black, which is an obvious reference to Men in Black)
Episode 58: Fashion Wars: The Don of Asia (Yakuza Senso: Nihon no Don)
Episode 59: Fish Loves You (Yeah, Yeah, Yeah) (A Hard Day’s Night, a film about The Beatles)
Episode 60: Singapore Thrilling (Singapore Sling)
Episode 61: The Little Match Girl (The Little Match Girl)
Episode 62: Call Me Anytime (American Gigolo)
Episode 63: Midnight Flight (Midnight Flight)
Episode 64: Far Away, So Close (Far Away, So Close!)
Episode 65: The Lord of The Rings (The Lord of The Rings)
Episode 66: It’s My Party (It’s My Party)
Episode 67: Catch Her if You Can (Catch Me If You Can)
Episode 68: Cinderella: Untwistable Time (It’s possibly any of the Cinderella movies, but here’s one: Cinderella 3: A Twist in Time)
Episode 69: Club, White Shirts, and Me (Based off a song called Home, Dress Shirts, and Me)
Episode 70: The Devil Wears a White Shirt (The Devil Wears Prada)
Episode 71: Good Jelly Hunting (Good Will Hunting)
Episode 72: In the Pool (In the Pool short story collection)
Episode 73: Earth (Earth)
Episode 74: The Wolf of Singapore Street (The Wolf of Wall Street)
Episode 75: The Jellyfish Princess in the Tower (Tangled)
Episode 76: The Monster of Singapore (The Host)
Episode 77: Casino Royale (Casino Royale)
Episode 78: Singapore@DEEP (Akihabara@DEEP)
Episode 79: The Sisterhood’s Feast (Babette’s Feast)
Episode 80: Shall We Marry? (Shall We Dance?)
Episode 81: The Dangerous Lives of Koibuchi Boys (The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys)
Episode 82: Dresses (27 Dresses)
Episode 83: The New Jelly Fish (Shin: Godzilla)
Final Episode: Princess Jellyfish (Higashimura explains in the bonus manga section of volume 1 that she titled the name of the manga due to her love for jellyfish; one reason I also underlined it was because she also explains being influenced by Belgian surrealist painter René Magritte during the time she used to (obsessively) draw jellyfish in her youth. The cover splash page to me at least makes me think she alludes to this with how it’s drawn.
All of that said, it simply could just be titled that because the manga is called Princess Jellyfish. But since just about every chapter is referencing something…