Anime has long been celebrated for its visual splendor, boundless imagination, and emotional power capable of elevating and destroying the collective mood of the fandom. The medium loves delivering iconic scenes, ranging from stunning transformations to climactic showdowns. At the same time, the anime features many moments so small and fleeting that they almost seem meaningless – in many cases, fans treat them as forgettable bits of background. However, many of them carry enormous narrative weight and have the potential to reshape history itself.
These understated, easy-to-miss details are found across the spectrum of anime genres, revealing just how impactful they are in a broader context. Whether they take the form of foreshadowing, vague exchanges, or visual cues, these minor moments can turn into a conversation between creator and viewers. Sometimes they are even left open to interpretation, greatly increasing their impact on their respective series. Overall, the anime draws as much power from the simplest scenes as it does from world-changing events.
10
My Hero Academia Introduces Remnants of One For All Sooner Than Fans Think
Born without a Quirk, Izuku Midoriya impressed the famous hero All Might at the beginning of the story. All Might soon offered to transfer his own Quirk to the boy, allowing him to realize his dream of becoming the heroic Deku. However, fans were curious when All Might claimed that One For All was a Quirk capable of multiple legacies. During this explanation, One For All was depicted on screen as an interconnected constellation of blinding spheres of light.
THE My Hero Academia The fandom had many theories about the nature of One For All, but most of them didn’t realize the significance of its first performance. The eight stars represented the eight previous wielders, with All Might being the eighth and Deku fulfilling his role as the ninth successor. This became a bit clearer during the Sports Festival – as Deku attempted to fight Shinso’s Brainwash Quirk, he could vaguely perceive the outlines of previous One For All wielders.
9
FMA: Brotherhood fans missed all the death flags for Maes Hughes
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood left vague hints of Maes Hughes’ impending death long before it happened. Hughes’ character archetype was based on the trope of the cheerful mentor, exhausting and frequently irritating his friends and subordinates with his overly personal behavior. Given his overall sense of camaraderie, viewers weren’t suspicious of him expressing reverential adoration for his wife Gracia and daughter Elicia.
Maes constantly praised her family to everyone who would listen, even going so far as to encourage Ed and Mustang to get married and experience the same domestic bliss. And to be honest, Maes Hughes had what can only be described as the perfect anime home. Unfortunately, Maes’ dedication would soon be used against him. Fans should have known that Maes was going to be killed off, as the destruction of a loving family was the first of many dark omens of things to come.
8
Neon Genesis Evangelion fans should have known that it was never just a mecha anime
Neon Genesis Evangelion resists academic dissection with such force that the story gives rise to innumerable interpretations. One thing that remains consistent, however, is the relationship between the Eva units and their pilots. It was already surprising that NERV would use young, inexperienced children to fight the dangerous angels. However, the revelation that each unit contained the souls of the pilots’ respective mothers came quite late in the anime.
That said, Neon Genesis Evangelion proved that Eva Unit 01 was not a robot in episode 2. Shinji was shocked to see a green, living eye meet his gaze, implying that there was something biological about these mechas. At the time it just seemed like these units were somehow biological but still essentially weapons. Seeing this scene again, with Yui Hikari’s eyes observing her son positioned inside Eva 01’s body, shows a different and very difficult truth.
7
Attack on Titan revealed the ending at the beginning
In chapter 1 of Attack on TitanMikasa is introduced in Eren’s dream. She bids him farewell with a smile, only for the real Mikasa to wake him from his nap. A groggy Eren immediately asks if Mikasa’s hair suddenly became longer and states that he had a very long dream. Eren begins to cry inexplicably moments later, prompting Mikasa to show concern, only for him to respond with a confused reaction.
This scene did not appear in the first episode as it should have, but was placed right before Eren’s death in the Attack on Titan final episode. It made less sense and felt like a forced flashback to a moment that everyone knew was going to happen. On the other hand, the fact that the last dream Eren shared with Mikasa was the same dream he woke up from in Attack on Titan Chapter 1 is not a coincidence, but one of the best examples of subtle foreshadowing in fiction.
6
L and Kira’s tennis match foreshadowed their results in Death Note
Light Yagami almost immediately loses himself in the titular Death Note, making him the ideal crystallization of the proverb “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” However, once he becomes known as Kira, the authorities task L with finding the culprit behind the mysterious murders. In episode 10, L has already started to suspect Kira and is now trying to find out more about him. As they have both been tennis champions in the past, L and Kira have a tennis match against each other.
During the game, L considers all the possibilities that point to Light Yagami being Kira, while the latter decides on a course of action to deflect suspicion. It was perhaps L’s greater volume of distraction that caused him to lose the match, as Kira won 6 sets to 4. As chess matches are most often used as metaphors to emphasize two opposing fictional characters with similar levels of intelligence, viewers did not treat Light’s tennis victory as a reflection of the future where he beats L.
5
Bleach has been quietly hinting at Ichigo’s Quincy origins all along
BleachIchigo Kurosaki has the rare honor of being one of the most unique shonen protagonists in terms of legacy. He first becomes a Shinigami, completely unaware of the Hollow spiritual energy residing within his body. Ichigo apparently learns to control his Hollow powers, although they also tend to explode uncontrollably during moments of tremendous stress. Around the middle of the story, Ichigo learns that his father was a Shinigami himself.
It is only when Bloody Thousand Year Warhowever, that Ichigo discovers his mother’s Quincy heritage. Bleach has scattered many clues pointing towards this, from Ichigo’s cross-patterned sheet to Old Man Zangetsu’s admittedly questionable behavior. In fact, Old Man Zangetsu’s manga introduction has huge censorship bars covering his name. Additionally, Ichigo’s Inner Hollow repeatedly refers to himself as Zangetsu, which honestly should have been the biggest clue.
4
Yusuke’s aura hints at his true nature in Yu Yu Hakusho’s Dark Tournament
Yusuke Urameshi is pardoned by Koenma and the Spirit World on one condition: to care for a beast egg until it is ready to hatch. Despite the possibility of being devoured by an evil beast feeding on his negative energy, Yusuke protects the egg until it hatches into the adorable Puu during the Dark Tournament Saga. As he considers himself a model of masculinity, Yusuke is initially displeased with the beast’s kindness and harmless behavior.
Puu only takes his final form – a huge blue phoenix-like bird – towards the end of Yu Yu Hakusho‘s Chapter Black Saga, and only after Yusuke himself awakens the dormant demon genes within him. However, fans were treated to an extremely brief scene that implied Puu’s true nature when Yusuke was fighting Younger Toguro. Before engaging with the villain at full strength, Yusuke releases his spirit cuffs, consequently resulting in an eruption of spirit energy in the form of a huge bird.
3
The world beyond the walls always existed in Attack on Titan
For a very long time, fans of Attack on Titan sincerely believed that the whole world was limited to Paradise. It was unclear what lay beyond the walls, as even the scout regiment could only travel so far before becoming too dangerous. The conclusion of Season 3 takes Team Yeager to the shores of Heaven, revealing the terrible truth: that there was a world and it didn’t care about the Eldians at all.
Fans might have been able to pick up on a few clues about the world beyond, maybe not all of them. Grisha Yeager’s ability to cure a plague in a medieval world was a prominent sign of his alien origins, and he even described “the outside” as a terrifying nightmare. The Beast Titan makes baseball references, Ymir calls him “a monkey”, a creature that doesn’t exist in Paradis, and there are coffee grinders in Shiganshina.
2
Shanks Scares the Coast Lord With a Glare in One Piece
One piece relied on the creativity of Devil Fruits for hundreds of episodes. The abilities were so unique and innovative that fans didn’t even want anything else to mess with the anime’s power system. As such, Haki was properly explained and introduced when the Straw Hats reached the Sabaody Archipelago, with Luffy experimenting with Haki on Amazon Lily. Haki has since become an important feature of One pieceKaidou even claiming his superiority over the best Devil Fruits.
That said, Shanks had already demonstrated Haki in One piece Episode 4. When Luffy is threatened by the Lord of the Coast, a monstrous Sea King, Shanks chases him away with a single glance. What previously seemed like an intimidation tactic was later reframed as Conqueror’s Haki. Meanwhile, fans saw the power of Observation Haki during the Skypiea arc, which was later described as Enel’s mantra.
1
Yuno’s necklace alludes to her princely origins in Black Clover
Asta and Yuno were adopted by the church after being found as babies. They spent their childhood growing up with other orphans while developing a special bond with each other. Asta received a major advantage with the five-leaf clover-shaped grimoire, which was later associated with his mother. As the protagonist of black cloverAsta had to have a complex history in conjunction with his extremely unique powers.
Unlike Asta, whose mother Licita had dealings with demons, Yuno’s origins come from the Spade Kingdom. Fans reportedly saw the blue jewel that came with him as a baby, a pendant he still wears after Asta helped him get it back from a thief. This otherwise indescribable jewel symbolized Yuno’s princely heritage, which was only revealed towards the end of black clover Season 4.