The girls' pet zipper-dog, Chuck, bears a striking resemblance to GIR from Invader ZIM (2001). Invader ZIM Creator Jhonen Vasquez stated later he found it amusing seeing the character in the series.
Creator Hiromi Wakabayashi, a fan of Western animation, cites Drawn Together (2004) as a main inspiration for the series: "A few years ago I, along with other Gainax staffers at an American convention, were watching the show, and we couldn't believe they were showing such explicit things on TV... I thought, why don't we do that?"
Although a flop in its native Japan, it developed a huge cult following overseas.
The series came about when the animators of Gurren Lagann (2007) were relaxing after having completed work on that show. They were sitting around having an informal chat and discussing new concepts, and the series germinated from some of their ideas.
Briefs was named in keeping with the lingerie-styled names in the show, but his name is also a homage to the Briefs family in Dragon Ball Z (1989) ("Dragon Ball Z").