Tsukimiya Ayu Facts!

Ayu Tsukimiya is a fictional character and the main heroine in Key's adult visual novel Kanon,

Ayu has appeared in many works outside of Kanon, has been stated as the one dating sim character with the most appearances outside her own game, and has come to represent Kanon itself. Below are some examples of parody, homage and inspiration drawn from Ayu.

* Ayu has appeared in countless dōjin games such as Glove on Fight and Eternal Fighter Zero.
* Megatokyo, a webcomic that takes much of its inspiration from Kanon, references Ayu. First, in strip #67 "Saving Points", Ayu is shown eating taiyaki. This is, in fact, a reference to a Kanon dōjinshi called Quarter Iceshop, as stated by Megatokyo's artist, Fred Gallagher. This was stated in his commentary during the publication of volume one of his webcomic, as well as the "rants" accompanying the strip itself. However, the lack of information presented by the book (while the rant links to the comic and mentions Kanon, the book does no such thing) has led many to believe that Quarter Iceshop has nothing to do with Kanon and, in turn, that the girl is an original character and not Ayu at all. Also, in strip #224 "packing away", Gallagher draws himself wearing Ayu's backpack and mentioning her catchphrase "Ugū!", as well as stating that the backpack was the "official winged backpack from Kanon".
* Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi has one episode that parodies Kanon and other eroge. In it, Yui Horie, Ayu's voice actor, plays a girl that is a clear take-off on Ayu.
* In the anime adaptation of Air, another of Key's video games, inserts Ayu into the story. Here, along with Nayuki Minase and Makoto Sawatari, Ayu is a regular girl and Kano Kirishima's friend from school.
* In the anime Lucky Star, Konata gave a tardy excuse to her teacher Nanako, stating that she was late because there was a girl running away from a taiyaki seller, after listening to the excuse, Nanako utters Uguu out of frustration. Another parody is that when Kagami scolds Konata when she complains about her winter break being occupied by homework, Ayu's backpack appears behind Konata, and she utters Uguu.