Foreshadowing/Anime and Manga

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Examples of Foreshadowing in Anime and Manga include:

• Inuyasha: Naraku gives Sango a choice: steal Inuyasha's Infinity+1 Sword for him or he'll kill her brother. He then tries to kill her with it, something he shouldn't be able do since it's protected by an anti-Youkai barrier. Later, we find out that Naraku isn't a Youkai. He's a hanyou, just like Inuyasha: hanyou aren't repelled by the barrier which is why Inuyasha can use it.
  • As a result of the same scene, Sango warns Inuyasha's group that if Naraku ever gives her the same choice again, she'll make the same decision again (betray friends to try and save the life of a loved one). In the Final Battle Naraku gives her the same choice (kill Rin to save Miroku's life) and, true to her earlier warning, she does indeed make the same choice again (fortunately, Kagome saves Rin's life just in time).
• The opening narration to Suzumiya Haruhi foreshadows a lot of the upcoming plot, and one fact that is so spoilery that it can't even be mentioned on this page.
  • Additionally, both Yuki and Mikuru give Kyon cryptic warnings that, after the fact, seem incredibly obvious.
  • Another thing for something that has happened in the anime as of the second season episode one: Haruhi asking Kyon "Have I met you before?"—She has. Two words about that meeting: Loli Haruhi. Loli Haruhi! (she's kinda cute)
  • Yuki is reading Hyperion when Kyon first walks in. A major plot point of the first two books in that series is a computer intelligence that has started creating Artificial Humans one of which is murderously violent and another that is very helpful and honest and in the second half of the Hyperion Cantos God (okay, Jesus) turns out to be a Genki Girl that drags a helpless boy along on her adventures that potentially threaten the entire world.
• In the fourth episode of Neon Genesis Evangelion, Shinji watches a B-Movie about some sort of Freak Lab Accident, with the characters lamenting how bad science has gone. And, well...
  • He's actually watching a fictionalization of the Second Impact, and the characters are lamenting science's inability to detect the deadly meteor before it struck. The irony being that there was no meteor to detect, Second Impact was a man-made event.
  • Let's not forget Ritsuko's lamenting on the Hedgehogs Dilemna. Some fans connect this with Shinji's choice regarding Instrumentality.
  • In the opening sequence, we see many images of characters and plot important words. After showing a picture of Kaworu and Rei, the word 'Angels' appears.
    • Not to mention a shot of Yui Ikari in profile, followed immediately by a shot of a helmetless EVA-01 in profile. The credits, like the rest of the show, like to mess with your head.
  • A bit of musical foreshadowing occurs during fight scenes. Note one of the Angel themes is titled "The Beast"; compare with whenever EVA-01 goes berserk, the theme is titled "The Beast II", referencing how Evangelions are living beings.
    • Although only noticeable in the english translation the Mechas are all called EVA which can be read as Eve who is infamous among the Abrahamic Religions. This hints to the fact that they're all actually the Pilot's Mother in Giant Robot Form.
• Happening very early in the anime adaptation of Seirei no Moribito, some kids are singing "The Nahji Song/Song of the Nahji", which represents events that happened in the past, and those to come.
• Misuzu's fate in AIR gets foreshadowed a lot by Yukito's remarks. The viewer then gets fed false hope when things seem to be alright after the "last dream", but it all ends pretty much as predicted.
• Madame Christmas of Fullmetal Alchemist seems like a strange name when you remember that Christmas or Christianity are not in the manga version of FMA. Of course it makes perfect sense when it's just a nickname based off her real name of Chris Mustang, who is Roy's foster mother. That explains how he became such an amazing flirt.
  • Fullmetal Alchemist does this quite often, usually with things said in passing by the homonculi. "Human Sacrifices" indeed...
  • In episode 11 of Brotherhood, a wanted poster with Greed on it appears near the end. Guess who appears two episodes later.
  • There's a particularly chilling example in the most recent arc. In Chapter 94, Hawkeye gets a minor scratch on her neck during a fight with Envy. Then in Chapter 100 she is mortally injured in the same place.
  • Remember Lust's curse to Mustang as he killed her? I long for the day your eyes are twisted in agony. Well... Mustang ends up blinded.
  • In his fight with Lan Fan, Ed uses a decoy (in the form of his detached right arm) to defeat her and references getting the idea from animals who are trapped sacrificing a limb. Later on, Lan Fan is hunted by Wrath and forced to chop off her arm.
  • Ling and Greed are the only two characters to go around without shirts. Minor foreshadowing? Maybe.
    • A better example of foreshadowing for Ling's fate occurs soon after his introduction: Ling is seeking immortality and is interested in Al's soul being attached to armor. Guess who else shared these same traits and was killed off in the chapter right before.
    • There's also the part where both of them hate people fucking with their henchmen. Really, they were tailor made for one another.
  • When Ling sees Ed perform alchemy without a circle, it looks to him as though Ed is praying to God. Later, we find out that Amestrian alchemy is powered by a Satan-like Homunculus who actually absorbs God, only to eventually lose control at the apex of his power and receives a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown sans alchemy courtesy of, um…
  • Some people, really, such audacious thoughts... Guess what Father is planning to do.
  • The first anime had major foreshadowing for the manga. . Example 1: Mustang's defeat of Pride in the final episode has a lot in common with his defeat of Lust in the manga (both homunculi impale him with their respective weapons during the battle, and both are ultimately killed by Mustang burning them with his bare hands until their regenerative abilities are exhausted. Example 2: At the end of the anime, Mustang loses an eye. Guess what? In the manga he goes completely BLIND. Example 3: Riza Hawkeye emotionally shoots Archer to death after thinking Roy is dead. She does the same in the manga to Lust but it doesn't work in the latter case. Heck, even tiny things as Ed's Conqueror of Shamballa hairstyle looking eerily similar to his hairstyle in the manga's final arc and the stealth crowd appearance by Ling foreshadow the manga's events in various ways.
  • Go watch any ,or all, of the openings to FMA Brotherhood. One would notice that they all have a close up of either Roy's face and eyes. In some he looks directly at us. That coudn't mean anything right?
• Princess Mononoke: After San is temporarily incapacitated during a fight, Lady Eboshi warns her men that she's still dangerous with the words, "If you cut off a wolf's head, it can still bite." Now try to guess what rips Eboshi's arm clean off late in the movie.
  • Also, while fighting Ashitaka, Eboshi declares, "Why don't I just cut the damn thing off?" in regards to his cursed arm.
• In episode eight of Digimon Adventure, the group stays at an abandoned mansion. While there, TK notices a picture of an angel, and explains to Patamon that it's a benevolent guardian, comparing it to the digimon themselves. At the end of that story arc, Patamon digivolves into Angemon and gives his life to protect TK.
• You'd surely never see it coming: at the beginning of Read or Die the OAV, Yomiko wakes up and hums Beethoven's "Ode to Joy"; later on, it's revealed that the true threat is Clone Beethoven and his Suicide Symphony.
  • Also, when Joker first fills Yomiko in on the robbery of the DNA of famous people, a list of the individuals whose DNA was stolen is shown behind him. The name on the bottom of the list? Mata Hari.
• One Piece is the king of this trope. Author Oda often drops thing that foreshadow events years and/or hundreds of chapters in advance.
  • Luffy stating that even though it is shortening his lifespan, he wants to use 2nd Gear to protect 'what is in front of him now'. It's a noble sentiment, but it wound up foreshadowing the Wham! Episode when he uses it, but still fails to protect his True Companions from getting poofed by Kuma.
  • Usopp's lies often turn out to be foreshadowing as well.
  • During the Alabasta arc, Sanji makes frequent references to and jokes about 'okama' (Japanese equivalent of 'drag queen'). Later, he ends up on an island of gay men. Who all really, really like him.
  • The Amazon Lily arc seems to be a payoff to earlier foreshadowing. Between them, Boa Sandersonia and Boa Marigold use via Ambition (or Haki, if you prefer) abilities remarkably similar to Skypeia's Mantra, CP9's Life Return, Garp's ability to physically harm Luffy despite his rubber body, suggesting all of these are forms of Ambition which the previously seen users may or may not have known about.
  • In the Jaya arc, Buggy the Clown's crew contemplate taking an ideal chance to kill Portgas D. Ace when he falls asleep on their ship. Buggy warns them against it because the one thing Ace's captain Whitebeard will not tolerate is the death of his crew. The Impel Down and Marineford arcs center on the Marines preparing to publicly execute Ace, even though it will certainly mean war with Whitebeard.
  • In 2006, there was an anime special, where the Straw Hats were mythical animals. Luffy was a dragon. Guess who turned out to be his father? The revolutionary Dragon, the world's most wanted man.
  • Related to that revelation, way, way back in Chapter 5, Zoro asks Luffy if he's the offspring of the devil. Four hundred and twenty-seven(!) chapters later, we find out that Luffy is the son of Dragon, who the World Government considers to be the "The Worst Criminal in the World."
  • When Nami first joined the crew in the Buggy Arc, she said that she'd only join for the time being, and that she would eventually leave the crew. I doubt anyone remembered this when she actually did leave the crew at the end of the Baratie Arc.
  • That pirate in Shank's and Buggy's flashback in the first few chapters from when they were cabin boys? It turns out that he's Silvers Rayleigh, the former first mate of Gold Roger.
    • Oda reportedly insisted that he not be named captain when the flashback was animated, only revealing the reason why almost a decade after the fact.
  • In the Impel Down Arc, Blackbeard alludes that he's soon going to "make a show that will shake the world to it's core", he means this both literally and figuratively as he somehow steals (something that is noted to be usually impossible) the Gura Gura no Mi at Marineford.
  • That ocean was "Paradise"...
  • Back in Loguetown when Luffy was about to be executed by Buggy, a lightning bolt strikes the platform, frying Buggy and leaving Luffy miraculously unscathed. In the Skypiea arc, we find out that Luffy, as a rubber man, has immunity towards lightning and specifically towards Enel's powers.
  • At the end of the Enies Lobby arc, Kokoro mentions to get to Fishman Island the Straw Hats will have to pass through a sketch of sea that is haunted where there were reports of haunted ships. Luffy immediately asks if they will get to see skeletons that move. Which does come true when the crew meets future crewmate Brook, a living skeleton.
    • Even before then, Luffy has been adamant for getting a musician as a crewmate and repeats this desire several times. It comes true when Brook joins.
  • Earlier on, Nami is shown to have an exceptional weather sense and when comes her Alabasta fight, the weapon that she asked Usopp to make for her has to do with weather control.
  • Before arriving to Water 7, Luffy draws what he wants his future shipwright to look like. It happens to resemble Franky, from the blue hair to his big arms to his rather tall height.
  • In the first chapter of One Piece, Shanks scares away a sea monster with just a glare and later on, he knocked out several crew members of Whitebeard's crew. In Skypiea, Satori and Aisa were also shown to have an ability to sense other people's presence and even predict their moves. When fighting Duval, Luffy manages to stop Duval's bull, much to his and everyone else's confusion. This ability would be revealed to Haki, which wasn't expanded upon until Luffy arrived on Amazon Lily and later trained with Silvers Rayleigh.
  • When Luffy's reunion with his brother Ace finally ends in Alabasta, and he leaves, he says he'll meet Luffy again "at the summit" (meaning when he's a top-level pirate, he'll see him again). When Luffy next sees Ace, it takes place at the "Paramount War" in Marineford with the Whitebeard Pirates and their allies fighting the Marines and the Seven Warlords of the Sea to save Ace's life.
  • Shanks meets up with Whitebeard to warn him of the potential threat of "Blackbeard" Marshall D. Teach and asks him to call Portgas D. Ace back, saying he isn't ready to face him. Whitebeard's refusal not only leads into the greatest war the world had experienced in recent history but led to his and Ace's deaths, and Teach even taking over his old territories and Four Emperor status.
• Gundam Seed does this with incredible subtlety. It's pretty much seen in the first ending sequence, which is essentially a wide shot of all the important characters, namely the crew of the Archangel, the 4 ZAFT pilots, and Lacus Clyne. However, there is ONE important character missing. Mwu La Flaga. Lt. Raimus happens to be staring at a soldier's helmet and a dog tag on a cross. The kicker? The ruins of the Strike Gundam in the background. And that's THE FIRST ENDING! This was planned quite well.
  • Rau Le Creuset is missing too.
• In the manga Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Battlefield of Pacifists, Heero teased that Duo came along with him on a mission, because he got into a fight with Hilde. Fastfoward to the Frozen Teardrop novel, Duo and Hilde are divorced.
• 5 Centimeters Per Second : You know the tune of the background music in the scene where Takaki and Akari part ways when they're 13 after meeting for the first time in years? Sure is pretty, ain't it? It's actually taken from a pop song, which supposedly pretty much everyone in Japan has heard about. It's about a man who persistently longs for his doomed love. If you know what the song is about beforehand, then you probably had a pretty good idea of where the plot of the movie was going.
• There's quite a few moments of foreshadowing in the original Chrono Crusade manga that made it into the anime, only to never have the payoff work out thanks to the Gecko Ending. This includes Chrono's Unstoppable Rage tendencies becoming a major plot point, to Rosette's watch causing her to appear as a ghost to people in the Order later being a key to raising her from the dead.
• Princess Tutu has foreshadowing all over the series, to the point where it'd be pointless to list them all here. They include background characters becoming important later, several details about the fictional fairytale The Prince and the Raven and Fakir's fear of crows/death.
• Dragonball Z pretty much foreshadows Goku's first transformation to Super Saiyan all throughout Namek.
  • There are many, many examples in Dragon Ball. Including:
    • From Goku's first transformation into an Oozaru and him turning to normal after his tail is removed, Oolong asks if "he's some kind of space alien". Turns out he's a member of the Saiyan race.
    • In the beginning of Z, Raditz when he arrives on Earth makes reference to the Galactic Market which he's a mercenary for. The good guys then have to face off against the head of the organization, Freeza.
    • Piccolo becoming less evil, and allowing them to pass on. While it shows he is changing into a Noble Demon, it also ominously notes that his life may end soon.
    • King Kai noting that if Vegeta was at Krillin's mercy and was killed, it wouldn't "[destroy] the roots [of evil]". He was likely referring to Freeza.
    • Nail noting Piccolo as a one of two beings (Kami), and remarked if they united again, he'd be more powerful than Freeza. He did this later and was strong enough to go toe-to-toe with Imperfect Cell.
    • Ignoring Future Trunks' message, looking back on it, it can even be implied that Bulma and Vegeta may get together, when she offered him a place to stay alongside the Nameks in her home, although at first sight it would be simply her being a decent person as an Earthling would be. She even described a dream she to her then-boyfriend Yamcha about Vegeta being a decent guy to her. Of course this is just a few episodes just before Trunks appears.
      • Except the dream was dub-only so it doesn't really count.
    • Kami being reluctant to fuse with Piccolo to observe if the Artificial Humans are really as evil as Trunks claimed they were, and observing a new evil developing (Cell). Turns out with the former he was correct.
    • Goku noting that Majin Buu is more of a naughty Adult Child than an evil monster, after their fight. He is redeemed after the Enemy Without was destroyed by Goku, and decides to spare his life.
    • Also with regards to Buu there is a possibility in one of Fat Buu's comments to Babidi. While dancing around in mockery of Babidi's injuries, he chants "Never normal, never normal, can't go back, can't go back!" In later episodes, Buu goes back to "normal".
• RahXephon owing to it's Jigsaw Puzzle Plot has tons of moments like this, Megumi casually mentioning Haruka's old boyfriend is one.
• In the Sailor Moon manga, Chibi-Usa creates a clay replica of the Holy Grail two chapters before the real thing is introduced. The clay Grail subplot also exists in the anime, but the search for the Holy Grail is made the entire focal plot point of that arc in the anime, so it loses some of its foreshadowing properties. Ironically, Chibi-Usa's decision to give her clay Grail to Hotaru in the manga foreshadows Sailor Moon's decision to give the real grail to Hotaru in the anime.
• Say, remember how in the early chapters of Mahou Sensei Negima, there was that Negi is a prince rumour that spread in Negi's class? Guess what's been revealed more than two hundred chapters later?
  • Not to mention this statue, which also appears in that chapter, is quite closely related to Negi's royal lineage. The mage just so happens to be Negi's direct ancestor, and the first Queen of Ostia.
  • There's more. When Asakura first witnesses Negi's magic, she briefly wonders if he might be on a (genderflipped) version of a Magical Girl Queenliness Test, or that he may be a hero of justice or an alien. Negi was actually sent to Mahora as some sort of test, and as the above spoiler shows, he's technically a royalty, so the Magical Girl Queenliness Test thing was partially correct. And then there's Negi's quest to become a hero like his father, fitting the hero of justice one. Lastly, his mother was born on Mars, so he's also technically an alien.
  • Even earlier, there was this, which is the first time Negi's father is shown. The foreshadowing part is what appears to be the shadow on the right side of his face, which shows up again here, and eventually revealed to be blood (spoilers). It's subtle, but that hint of blood is the earliest hint of the Genre Shift that the series would eventually undergo.
    • The same page shows Nekane on the ground behind Negi, which becomes more significant in Volume 8 when we find out that she was petrified and her legs were shattered in Wilhelm's attack.
  • Chapter 74, when Mana and Setsuna are tasked to capture a ghost(Note: Sayo), Mana exclaims that "she cannot escape her demon eye!". Guess what is revealed 225 chapters later?.
  • When Yue and Nodoka ask Negi if they could become mages, there's an imagine spot showing what they think it will look like. Some 140 chapters later, it turns out that their imaginations were spot on.
    • And that image spot continues to foreshadow "more than two hundred chapters later" (seems to be a theme for Negima) as it may look a bit different, but we finally get to see Nodoka confident and wielding a magical staff.
  • Back in the "School Festival" Arc, Negi questions Chao about why she has an insane technique that drains the body and soul for unbelievable power. Cue the next major story arc where he learns an insane technique that drains body and soul for unbelievable power.
  • From the cover of Volume 3, look at the logo on Negi's shirt. It's the Ala Alba symbol.
  • Chapters 164 and 165 seem like just a humorous interlude, and perhaps the silliest moment is when Makie goes into the confessional only to complain that she can't think of any worries to get off her chest. 133 chapters later, Makie is one of the only ones unaffected by a Lotus Eater Machine, because she's so satisfied with her current life that the real world is her ideal world. Unexpectedly, Chisame is also unaffected, and suffers a Heroic BSOD at the thought of being just like Makie in that aspect.
  • Ku Fei makes a joke about the number of Fate existed back in the day and shudders to think that there may be more. In Chapter 311, guess how many showed up.
  • At one point, Negi, Nodoka and Yue head into Library Island looking for Nagi. They are stopped in their search by a dragon, who ends up drooling on Nodoka and Yue, prompting Yue to state will will one day get her revenge on the dragon. Different dragon, but many chapters later, Yue proves her worth during her Laser-Guided Amnesia by her role in taking down a dragon.
• In Martian Successor Nadesico, half of the major plot points for the show are foreshadowed by the Show Within a Show Gekiganger 3, such as Gai Daigoji's death and even predicting the end episode being pretty lackluster.
• Kannazuki no Miko has lots of foreshadowing, such as quick, very short flash-backs of the priestess ritual seen a few times. The whole first part of Episode 8 heavily hints that Chikane's up to something, and watching the show several times will induce cringing during some seemingly perfectly innocent moments, such as Chikane commenting that she likes the color of Himeko's robes better than her own or even just Nekoko saying she doesn't like to get injections... There's also the fact that on the painting-thing of the Orochi, seen in the very first episode, the eighth head is quite obviously separated from the others and won't be seen at first glance.
• At one point in the Spiral manga, Hiyono starts spouting out Kanone's "data" ; he stops her when she's about to say his father's name. Said name is revealed about three books later, said father is central to the plot. ... And the reason Hiyono knows that name is more than the fact she's got insane info-collecting skills. As all Hiyono manages to say is "Ya" before Kanone angrily interrupts her, though, it seems like some random pained cry the first time you read it. (And that's how it got "translated" in the English publication.)
• Oburi is hit by a basketball thrown by a little girl near the beginning of Kite, in the process splashing water on the back of his coat. At the end of the series, he walks past the same little girl as she innocently bounces a basketball off of the wall... right before she nonchalantly pulls out a gun and shoots him in almost exactly the same spot.
• A minor one in Naruto. In chapter 91, Gaara casually mentions Shukaku is more blood thirsty during the full moon. Over 350 chapters later, it is revealed the body of the creature the Shukaku was born from is sealed in the moon.
  • On the title page of chapter 24, Sasuke is standing in a badass pose with snakes surrounding him. Guess who he ends up working for later on?
  • I Take Your Snakes And Raise You A Bird.
  • A really realllyyy long-in-the-coming, when Itachi confronts Sasuke after the Uchiha Massacare he tells him to read the tablet below the naka shrine in the Uchiha household. Sasuke does as told, but his eyes are always blackened out when he does so. Some 300 chapters later we find out that the tablet was created by the Sage of The Six Paths himself and can only be read (partially) by the Sharingan and more fully by the Mangekyou Sharingan and Rinnegan. The foreshadowing? Sasuke actually unlocked his Sharingan for the first time during the aftermentioend confrontation with Itachi, but he also saw Itachi cry shortly after that and could not cope or understand that, and so he repressed the memory along with his knowledge of activating the Sharingan.
  • During Kakashi's bell test early in the series, Kakashi places a kunai on Sasuke's neck and tells Sakura, "Kill Naruto or else Sasuke is going to die". Hundreds of chapters later the same scenario is played out again in the back story of a major villian (except that this time it was for real).
  • Itachi's parting words to Sasuke: "When you have the same eyes as I, come to me." Originally he was talking about Sasuke acquiring the Mangekyou Sharingan, but now Sasuke has literally Itachi's eyes and he runs into him.
• There's about a million examples in Revolutionary Girl Utena, but one in particular happens during the Freaky Friday Flip episode. Utena makes an off-hand remark about how she feels like she's gotten caught up in a bizarre ritual, and that she hopes she can get out before someone is sacrificed. Since it's on this page, it turns out that's exactly what Akio has been using Anthy for, and he's trying to build Utena up to replace her.
• When Haruko first hits Naota with her guitar in FLCL, she yells "lunch time!" and in the final episode what does she do to Naota? She yells lunch time and feeds him to the terminal core. Doubles as a Call Back.
• Yu-Gi-Oh! GX: Daitoukuji makes mention of Juudai's true power sleeping in season one. Then, Kagemaru insists that he must duel Juudai to gain his power over Duel Spirits and attain eternal youth. It's not just Juudai's power to communicate with them (Manjoume is there as well, after all) but as we find out later, Juudai is the incarnate force that created the universe itself!
• Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann has a bit pretty early, and about halfway through: The first major time is when Kamina says "Simon, without you, I'll die." Guess what happens in episode 7 and 8 where they have separate objectives (Kamina and the rest of the Gurren-dan were to distract the enemy, so Simon could use Lagann to take over the Dai-Gunzan). The second time is in episode 15, when Simon has just killed the Spiral King, Lordgenome. Lordgenome then warns Simon about what will happen when the population reaches a million. Guess what happens in episode 17 (albeit 7 years had passed between episode 15 and 17, so people had forgotten the warning).
• Death Note takes this to the next level. In the first episode, Ryuk tells Light "When you die, I'll be the one writing your name in a Death Note". In the last episode, Light survives several gunshots, only to be killed by Ryuk writing his name in the Death Note.
• In the Shaman King anime, in the first episodes Manta tells Yoh he's seen a boy like him, meaning he saw someone who's a Shaman like him. Yoh then says that he doesn't have a twin, joking. Turns out he does have a twin brother, as we find out several episodes later. Not sure if this is foreshadowing though, since his words were more like an accidental guess.
• Absolutely everywhere in Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Why are characters (especially Kyouko) often depicted eating something? What does cooking eggs have to do with the worth of a woman? When you rewatch the episodes after you watch episode 10, you're going to cringe at the Foreshadowing.
  • I'll take this apple... AND EAT IT!
  • During the girls' first (shown) conversation at Mami's apartment there's an interesting shot where the reflection of Mami's head on the glass table is shown superimposed over her legs, as if it were lying in her lap. Come episode 3.... Later in that same conversation there's another shot where Mami's entire torso is bisected by the glass, letting us know *exactly* how Charlotte eats her meals...
• Bleach has Shinji's introduction to Ichigo's classroom where he writes his name backwards and admits he's good at it. His first appearance is walking upside down in the sky drinking water as if he was right side up. More than 200 chapters later, we learn his zanpakuto's ability allows him to flip the perception of its targetsso all directions are reversed.
  • It's not Bleach's ONLY Foreshadowing. Tite Kubo is good at this. Remember, back at the end of the Soul Society Arc, Jushiro Ukitake quietly gave Ichigo a badge meant to represent Substitute Soul Reapers? Remember how The Mook guarding Kurakara Town never recognised it? This is because, in a Chekhov's Gun lasting FOUR YEARS (just for english readers, going by the official translation - In Japan the gun lasted longer) it is revealed why: Ichigo is the only one to receive one besides the new arc's Big Bad, Ginjo Kugo, the only other Substitute Soul Reaper in the history of the 13 Guard Companies.
• In Tiger and Bunny, there's a curious tendency throughout the series for Barnaby's Troubled Backstory Flashbacks to be a bit inconsistent with each other—such as the same event taking place in different settings, or a person's clothing/appearance changing ever-so-slightly from one flashback to the next. This is one of the first hints that someone's been messing around with his memory.
• In The World Only God Knows, Tsukiyo's doll narrates an omake. Hilarity Ensues until you realize that the doll was controlled by Vulcan all along.
  • On a playing card for Tsukiyo, Luna the doll is already standing and holding onto the sofa without any assistance. And on this page, the telescope smacks Keima's head but Tsukiyo and Keima's hands aren't anywhere near it.
• Two from Digimon Savers. When Touma is formally introduced to Masaru's mother and little sister, he's briefly saddened, but develops a sort of crush on them almost at first sight, and approaches spending a day out with them the way some men might plan a marriage proposal. While the episode includes a brief flashback to his own mother, confirming he has issues with her, it's a good twenty episodes before we find out that he also has an Ill Girl little sister that he dotes on. A subtler one is from episode 8: When he reveals that he planted a listening device on Yoshino, assuming that she'd ignore orders to back down from a target she was too close to, Touma adds that "To deceive your enemies, you first have to deceive your friends." Halfway through the series, Touma pretends to betray the group in order to get close to and betray Kurata, who's holding his sister hostage.
• In The Grand Punk Railroad, Isaac and Miria have a conversation about the name of Frankenstein's monster, with Isaac insisting that the monster's name was actually Mary Wolstonecraft Godwin Shelly. When Miria points out that Mary is a girl's name and that the monster was male, Isaac counters that men sometimes have feminine names and there's no telling what sort of name a monster would have. As it turns out, the entire conversation is a nod to the true identity of the Rail Tracer (a monster slowly offing people inside the train), who is revealed to be a male assassin named Claire.
• In Eyeshield 21, Sena's test number for the Deimon test entrance exam was 21.
  • Way back in the earlier chapters, Agon predicts that Ojou would make it to the top 4 at best. Ojou got 3rd in the Kanto tournament, and 4th overall.
  • A random member of the Dinosaurs suggested "they should just aim for 3rd", which is what Hakushuu ended up getting.
  • During the game against Shinryuuji, Monta catches a ball thrown by a fan without even turning around, foreshadowing his later move "the Devilbat Backfire" which wouldn't officially appear until the game against Ojou.
• In Barefoot Gen, one of the Hiroshima locals comment on the weather, saying that it's going to be a hot day.

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