Yu-Gi-Oh!

[marioguy]

In the anime, there's a virtual reality world arc. The villain is boy who lives in the VR world named Noah Kaiba in the dub. Could this perhaps be a shout out to The Phantom of Baker Street?

[kkslider5552000]

In Conan, there's a case about a fictional character (Night Baron). Spongebob is a fictional character. Coincidence or...  :o

[Akonyl]

as kk's pointing out, I really doubt that's a reference. There's plenty of AIs/programs that terrorize virtual realities in stories. Just look at the Master Computer from Tron, or Professor Moriarty from the Star Trek holodeck.

[cashman_11]

No, that's not a likely reference. However, in GX 39, there's a reference to DC, a detective's name is Megure, and also, in the jpn version, the teacher has the same voice as Shinichi... which is more coincidence.