Brick Joke/Anime and Manga

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  • Baccano!! has one of these that explains quite literally What Happened to the Mouse? -- Barnes's immortal lab rat from the third episode finally turns up alive and well in the final OVA, doing whatever it is that most immortal, unkillable rats do.
    • Good Lord, imagine if that thing got into your pantry.
  • Bleach has the title page for chapter 1. Among the characters shown, we see main characters Rukia, Orihime, Chad, but also Shinji Hirako, who doesn't show up until over 200 chapters later. This is most likely due to the inclusion of Soul Society Saga, that wasn't in the original draft, or at the very least, was meant to be much shorter. Several minor villains appear in the early chapters who wait a few hundred chapters before their next appearance.
    • Shinji's shikai would count. WAY back when he faked being a high school student, he had wrote his name backwards, and told the teacher he was good at doing things in reverse. His shikai creates what can be best described as a reversed universe.
    • The anime had Isane's weird dream about fishcake, mentioned in an Omake. Guess what the 10'th anniversary special was.
  • A fairly plot-irrelevant example in Code Geass: remember when Tamaki was harassing Zero about giving him an official position in the Black Knights during R2? Well, it takes a few episodes of waiting and a sharp eye during the UNF ratification ceremony, but we finally find out what position he got: Internal Cleaning Supporter. Yup, he's a glorified janitor.
    • In episode 5 of season one Jeremiah is informed by a Gulliford that because he Let Zero escape he has two options: be demoted three ranks and work his way back up to knight, or cultivate an orange farm. In the final episode of season 2, It is revealed that after the Zero Requiem, he's working on an orange farm.
  • A fairly subtle one happens in the Death Note manga. As Light begins the speech for his University's entrance ceremony, he's accompanied by L, who is going under the pseudonym of Hideki Ryuga, a famous Japanese film star. When L's pseudonym is announced, one of the girls in the crowd says that L looks nothing like Hideki Ryuga. A few pages later, a picture of Ryuga is shown, and he has almost the exact same hairstyle as L.
    • A more obvious example would be Kiyomi Takada, who's introduced early on in the series seemingly as a throwaway character whom Light dates in college to draw attention away from Misa, then unexpectedly brought back near the end of the series as a pro-Kira news anchor for whom Light takes advantage of their former relationship to manipulate her into becoming Kira's spokesperson (and performing various other helpful tasks). Apparently not even the series creator had initially planned on bringing her back. Also, in the manga, Ryuk's mention of the fact that humans who use the Death Note can go to neither Heaven nor Hell, which is brought up in the first chapter and not referenced again until the second-to-last one.
    • Also subverted in the case of Naomi Misora, who has critical information on the Kira case but disappears without a trace shortly after being introduced. This, combined with the fact that her body is never found, may lead readers/viewers to expect a dramatic reappearance at some point down the road. It doesn't happen. The Death Note always works.
    • That might count then as a What Happened to the Mouse?.
  • The original Digimon Adventure has one between Joe and Gomamon. It starts in episode 7 with Gomamon offering to lend a hand when things get too hard, to which Joe replies he kind of...doesn't. Cut to the season finale, where Joe offers to shake Gomamon's hand, and jokes when he actually pulls it off.
    • A bit of Lull Destruction actually put this one in Digimon Adventure 02. Early in the episode of "His master's voice", the principal says, "Would the person who put the jelly donuts in the swimming pool please report to the office?" Later in the episode, someone runs by Kari and says "...And then I put the Jelly Donuts in the swimming pool."
  • In Dragon Ball there is a point where people are yelling inside a house (causing it to bounce) and an owl with a funny hat outside is scared. In the Buu saga that same owl appears when Chi-Chi yells at Gohan about wanting to enter the tournament.
    • Actually, the owl is a recurring background character, usually living near Goku's house. Heck, he appears on the very first page of the manga.
  • In the sixth episode of Durarara!!, during the search for Kaztano a dog is brought into sniff his shoe and wanders off. Much later in the same episode it wanders onto the scene, sniffs a pipe he'd touched, and barks.
  • Episode 6 of Durarara!! has Togusa try to track Kazatano with a sock for his scent. It seemed like the dog just ran off... but it turns out he did track them down at the end of the episode, just a bit too late.
  • The manga of Elfen Lied had a point where Nozomi was introduced by a random wind blowing up her skirt revealing a diaper to Kouta. She's embarrassed, but she ends up forgiving him later on, and says that she has had wetting problems, forcing her to wear those diapers. Well near the ending of the manga, when the research facility is torn to shreds literally, Professor Arakawa is able to board a Diclonius-powered ship filled with military crewsmen. The leader of the ship ends up noticing Arakawa's diaper, due to her being almost completely naked. Arakawa wears diapers due to her own wetting problems, but this was due to Kakuzawa raping her, something that happened many chapters before this. This is actually two brick jokes in one.
  • Eyeshield 21 is masterful at this. For instance: A comedic trivia game between Hiruma and Mamori in the second volume is put on hold ("Ok, lets go work out guys!) and supposedly forgotten about until the 30th volume, wherein it turns into an extremely emotional moment between the two.
  • Fullmetal Alchemist loves to use this. Seemingly pointless characters are thrown away left and right after they've served their purpose, only to return countless episodes later as major elements in the plot. Let's just say, this happens. A lot.
    • Jean Havoc, after being paralyzed in episode 19 during his fight with Lust resurfaces almost 30 episodes after his last appearance to supply Mustang with an arsenol of weaponry during the seige on Central. Keep in mind, the dude's still handicapped.
    • Rose Thomas, after getting her first and presumably last appearance during the one-episode Leore arc (episode 3), comes back nearly 40 episodes later to help an exhausted Hohenheim.
    • Maria Ross, after being "killed" by Roy Mustang in episode 17, and secretly shipped off to Xing in episode 18, returns to the show along with Havoc to give a hand in the siege on Central. Again, close to 30 episodes out of a total 64.
    • Better shown with the manga, but do you remember that one-shot character Yoki from Yueswell? The greedy proprieter who got his ass handed to him by Edward, to never be seen again? Well not quite, since by just his luck he ends up with Scar, Marcoh, and Mei, thrown right into the center of the main cast at points. He even rams Pride with his car, effectively saving Heinkel and Marcoh's lives. Yes, he rammed mother-f*cking Pride. Pride the very first homunculus. Pride the 400+ year old, sadistic, and strongest of the homunculi, got rammed by Yoki's car.
    • (Unfortunately cut out of the anime) the manga features just a few panels in volume 15 of Mustang speaking with three or four subordinates at the close of the Ishvalan war. They praise Mustang as a hero for protecting them and he storms off afterward, disgusted with himself. Purpose served, right? Well turns out every last one of them returns for the final arc of the series to aid Mustang in his coup of Central Command having apprently never forgotten their loyalty to him. They even save Mustang's ass after he kidnapped King Bradley's wife.
      • In the anime these men are never fully explained, merely mentioned as old war buddies.
  • Gintama seems to have these in almost every episode, or several episode spanning story arcs. Such as a teacher commenting if a student actually wrote a report, or an incident which required a very special screwdriver.
  • Episode 13 of Inazuma Eleven introduced a hissatsu technique called "Koutei Pengin Ni-gou" ("Emperor Penguin No. 2"), used by three Teikoku players in unison, with no explanation as to why they called it "No. 2" nor whether there was a No. 1. The explanation comes in episode 38, when Sakuma uses Emperor Penguin No. 1. Turns out it was an extremely powerful hissatsu technique to be used by a single player, but it strained the user's body so much that using it three times in a single match would be enough to send the user to the hospital. They developed No. 2 as a toned-down version that also distributed the stress across three players to make it safe to use, and declared No. 1 a Dangerous Forbidden Technique never to be used again.
  • Kage Kara Mamoru! It is mentioned several times that Yuna's favorite fruit is banana. So much so that she has banana print sheets, slippers, a pillow shaped like one and often sings a song she made up about how much she likes bananas. In the final minutes of the last episode she slips on a banana peel causing her to forget her vow to become a more level headed person, that Mamoru is a ninja that has been protecting her their entire lives and that she confessed her love to him.
  • In a chapter of Katteni Kaizo, Yoko Tanaka hid behind a brick wall, unnoticed. The series was then cancelled due to a lack of readership. In a completely unrelated chapter of Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei seven years later, she finally smashes through the wall and yells her name. Turns out that they share a common fanbase.
  • In the dub of Keroro Gunsou, the Lemony Narrator complains about doing two Evil Twin episodes in a row in episode 16, and threatens to quit if they do any more plots with multiple versions of the characters. He makes good on his threat in episode 23 after Keroro accidentally clones himself, and a stuffy-sounding British woman temporarily takes over narration duties.
  • One happens in Kodomo no Jikan, about Aoki's porn and the school bulletin board.
  • One chapter of Mahou Sensei Negima had a panicked Negi summoning Setsuna and asking her if she knows how to fight a western dragon that had suddenly appeared. A now also panicking Setsuna says that she doesn't know, but she'll need the proper weapons and a few days to prepare, whereupon the group runs away until they manage to escape and the rest of the plot goes on with the dragon forgotten. Nine chapters and a few days later, Negi's group is visiting his father's friend who turned out to be the dragon's master, and what else did Setsuna bring with her for the visit but the dragon-slaying weapons she mentioned before.
    • This is brought back as a Continuity Nod when they go to the magical world. What do Setsuna and Asuna do to make a living? Mercenary work. What does their current job entail? Dragon hunting.
    • During Rakan's introduction, he's shown trying to come up with a good Finishing Move for Negi. Then during his tournament fight with Negi later on, guess what move he uses.
    • During the Mahorafest arc, Chisame is forced to make a kiss-induced magical contract with Negi to gain a much-needed magical artifact. She ends up kissing him while he's asleep because she thinks it will be easier. About a dozen volumes later, Yuuna is in the same position, but rejects the notion of kissing Negi while he's asleep as "boring and cowardly". Naturally, Chisame is standing behind her and reacts indignantly.
    • In chapter 183, there's a joke about how Ayaka's private jet has a portrait of Negi on the side of it. Over a hundred chapters later, it shows up again. And it's the first thing that appears after a cut from a dramatic moment.
  • In the second episode of Maison Ikkoku, Godai buys a brooch to give to Kyoko for Christmas, but can't find the courage to give it to her. Next Christmas, he buys her a pair of earrings, but another contender for his love assumes they are for her. Godai despairs until he remembers -- well, you can see where this is going.
  • At the very beginning of Mirai Nikki, Minene's heart bomb is first brought up to give a convincing reason for why the police doesn't just shoot her. As the series draws to a close, though, Minene commits suicide to detonate her heart bomb in an attempt to blow up the vault that the 11th was hiding in. Worst of all, it doesn't even work.
  • Naruto has an image of Sasuke with a Snake, Naruto with a Toad, and Sakura with a Slug.
    • To clarify, this image appears in Volume 1. Kishi had been planning future plot twists for years.
      • Sasuke can be seen with a hawk on the splash page of ch. 1 which does not reappear in the story until 10 years later in ch. 477.
      • Also, you can see Sasuke say, in an early chapter (paraphrased) "that night... crying..." Guess who was crying the day of the Uchiha Massacre.
  • In Nyan Koi, when Ichinose Nagi first challenges Kousaka Junpei to a duel, she temporarily ducks and cowers when lightning, representing her passion, flashes in her own Imagine Spot. This seems to be completely played for laughs until, later in the same episode, a plot point reveals - in the same overblown humor - that Nagi has a crippling fear of lightning.
  • One Piece regularly uses brick jokes and missing rodents as plot elements. If you think a character has been used and will never appear again, guess again. Just about all are likely to reappear. Even incredibly minor details like Arlong and Hatchan's tattoos are relevant later on.
    • The anime played a rather decent Brick Joke with the marines Boa Hancock petrified. When she de-petrifies them, they all finish what they were saying when first turned to stone.
    • There's another one used in the fifth movie. After the Straw Hat Pirates manages to evade some Marines by launching their ship into the air, they happen to bounce off the back of a hippo-rhino, who is instantly smitten with the ship. It's never shown again until the end of the movie, where it tries to woo the Going Merry.
    • Probably the longest-running Brick Joke over the course of the series is Luffy's repeated insistence early on that their next crewmate should be a musician, only to get shot down by the others in favor of more practical crew members. A few hundred chapters/episodes later, and guess what the 9th crew member Brooke the skeleton does?
    • One Tear Jerker Brick Joke? The crossed-off S tattoo on Ace's arm. A deliberate misspelling? Think again, that S stands for Sabo, a 'brother' to both Ace and Luffy who like them, at the time of his death, was a pirate in waiting. With Sabo's Jolly Rodger a crossed-off S, Ace was keeping his dream alive on his very skin.
  • Pokémon example: In the episode "Mean With Envy!" May meets a Clingy Jealous Girl who fantasizes about winning a contest together with her boyfriend and splitting the ribbon between them. May's response? "Yeah, like that is ever gonna happen...". 76 episodes later, May and Ash do exactly that.
    • From "The Water Flowers of Cerulean City" - when Ash and Brock arrive in Cerulean City they find out a giant hose and a vacuum cleaner were robbed from a shop but that is forgotten about with the bombshell that Misty is the Cerulean City Gym Leader. Then during the battle Team Rocket break into the gym with the hose and vacuum cleaner.
    • Pikachu's love for ketchup in a first season episode; you really think the writers forgot about it?[1]
    • In the beginning of the Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire arc of Pokémon Special, Ruby makes an offhand remark how Mudkip is better than Treecko (appearance-wise, anyways). In the middle of the Emerald arc, which is two arcs later (which in-story is about a year), Ruby discovers that Emerald's Sceptile is in fact the same Treecko, which had since gone missing. He cheerfully asks the Sceptile if it remembers him, and sure enough, it turns out that it had been carrying a grudge for that remark. Ruby promptly gets punched in the face.
    • The FireRed and LeafGreen saga has Old Master Kimberly looking for the Old Sea Map, the item needed to find Faraway Island which is home to the "ancestor" of all Pokémon, Mew; she passes this information on to Captain Briney, only for her to learn that he's already found the island, making all her efforts moot. Seems like a one-note joke, but... Later in the Emerald saga, soil from Faraway Island, being connected to Mew's DNA, was what helped calm down all the berserk Pokémon in the Battle Frontier.
  • In the first episode of Revolutionary Girl Utena, Utena asks Saionji why there's a floating castle in the forest. He says, "It's a kind of mirage. Think of it as a trick of the light." Thirty-seven episodes later, Akio turns off the planetarium projector.
  • In the very first episode of the very first season of Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei, Kafuka (an overly optimistic girl) refuses to believe that Kiri Komori is a Hikikomori. Instead, she claims, the fact that Kiri never leaves the school must mean she’s a zashiki-warashi – a yokai that protects a household and will cause great misfortune if it leaves. Much later, in an episode during the third season, Kiri leaves the school and it promptly crumbles to dust, just like Kafuka said it would.
  • In Sonic the Hedgehog The Movie, near the beginning of Sonic's final battle with Metal Sonic, Robotnik fires a pair of missiles, one shaped like a hare that goes really fast, and another shaped like a turtle that goes really slow. It seems like just a cheap sight gag until after the battle, when the turtle-missle interrupts Robotnik boasting about how he's still got the back-up data for Metal Sonic on a disc by gragging the disc and detonating.
  • Happens in the Touhou manga Inaba of the Moon and Inaba of the Earth. Kaguya needs to lose weight, so Tewi fixes her a Banana Yogurt Natto Drink. She doesn't drink it. Ten strips later, after she's tried several other means of losing weight, she comes back from a run with Mokou, thirsty, and Tewi hands her a drink...
  • In The World God Only Knows, Haqua jokingly introduces herself as the illegitimate daughter of Keima's father to Keima's mother. She instantly storms out and is forgotten about. At the end of the chapter it cuts back to her yelling at her husband over the phone that if it happens a third time (Elsie already did this but absolutely seriously) she's going to get a divorce. Poor guy. Later, Elsie tries putting a curse on Tsukiyo to turn her into a frog to prove she can and obviously nothing happens to Tsukiyo. When the spirit is finally expelled some chapters later, the runaway spirit is the frog.
  • Early on in Yu Yu Hakusho, Yusuke is goaded into meeting a world-famous martial arts master with the promise of a ticket to a Tokyo Dome match. The ticket is soon forgotten when Yusuke has to fight in a lethal tournament and, finally, nearly killed by a demon. Five episodes later, he finally wins and is granted the honor of becoming the master's apprentice. He turns down the offer in favor of the ticket.
    • He tries to turn down the offer, but the master forces him to take the apprenticeship.
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