Chekhov's Gun/Anime and Manga: Difference between revisions

Line 6:

* The First's Necklace that Tsunade gives [[Naruto]] becomes very important after the timeskip...

** During the Chunin exams the hole in the arena Naruto had to create to beat Neji turns out to be very important for the [[Batman Gambit|success]] of Shikamaru in ''his'' match.

*** Shortly before the first round of the Chunnin exams, Rock Lee challenges Sasuke to a one on one fight. That later becomes important for Sasuke during the preliminary third round.

** When Sasuke's Team Taka is fighting Killer Bee, there's a rather conspicuous focus on {{spoiler|a tentacle of the 8-Tails that Sasuke cut off}}. A couple chapters later and {{spoiler|it turns out when Killer Bee was underwater he removed an additional tentacle, then hid inside one of them while making one of them look like his unconscious body, and came back out once Team Taka had left}}.

** The new book Kakashi had becomes very important in the Pain arc.

Line 29:

** Spoileriffic example: Note Ku Fei's comment [http://www.mangafox.com/manga/mahou_sensei_negima/v25/c229/12.html in panel five], then read chapter 311.

** Way back in chapter 162, Chao brought her secret item, "Chao's family tree" that would indicate who will Negi marry in the future. It pops up again in chapter 349 (a copy of it at least) and this time, Negi's descendants are now a blank slate which means ''everyone'' gets a chance at being Negi's partner.

* ''[[One Piece]]'' is fond of this, though how critical the Chekhov's gun is varies per use. Among examples are a rather odd pinwheel worn in the hat of Genzo, the sheriff of Nami's home village. This pinwheel has three Chekhovs to its name. First, it inspires the attack Luffy uses to remove the villain-of-the-arc's giant sea cow from the fight. But the true Chekhov comes at the end, when a flashback reveals that Genzo put the pinwheel in his hat to make the then-baby Nami laugh. To everyone's surprise, it worked, and so Genzo continued to wear it as a way of supporting Nami as she struggled, removing it only when Nami left with the Straw Hats. Third, along with Bellemere's tangerines, it forms the basis for Nami's new tattoo.

** The concept of Haki is a good example of this. In the very first chapter, Shanks is seen scaring a Sea King away simply by gazing at it. More than four hundred chapters later, the power is named but is not elaborated upon. Luffy is later seen unknowingly using a similar gaze on Duval's Bull, and it isn't until five hundred chapters in that the concept of Haki is fully explored.

** In the Davy Back Fight [[Story Arc|arc]], Luffy is outfitted with an afro, thinking that it will make him stronger in his upcoming fight. Then, at the end of the fight, a shard of mirror caught in the afro proves crucial to his victory.

Line 38:

** Captain John's treasure was predicted right after the chapter he picks it up at was released, so it wasn't a huge shock. Still the Captain John plotline is relatively low-key, but is probably another set up. When it was first shown it was just thought to be a random thing to let us check in on Buggy, and the real important event was Ace showing up on his ship. No doubt Oda is the king of this trope. Laboon and Crocus in particular have a lot of events connected to them. It seems everything after they arrive in the Grand Line has had some kind of purpose later on. The sheer impressiveness comes when you realize that some of these set-ups took more than a decade to complete.

** Early on, we can see that some of the Arlong Pirates seem to have a second, sun tattoo in addition to the one that identifies them as part of the crew. Hundreds of chapters/episodes later one, it's revealed that this links to another, legendary pirate crew, the Sunny Pirates formed by Fisher Tiger from freed Fishman slaves with the aforementioned sun tattoo (actually a brand) being their symbol as well as a way to cover up the brand they received as slaves. The whole slavery angle ties in to the whole Fishman/Human racism dynamic that underpins the Fishman Island arc.

* In the first part of the [[Ecchi]] OVA ''[[Labyrinth Of Flames]]'', we briefly catch a glimpse of a Soviet T-34 tank during maintenance. Its reappearance towards the end of the second episode ([[Theme Music Power-Up|powered up]] by ''[[Russian Relaxing|Kalinka]]'', no less) doubles as the resident [[Lovable Sex Maniac]]'s [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]].

* In ''[[Shin Angyo Onshi|Blade of the Phantom Master]]'', the main character attacks a gun dealer about half-way through the movie after he is shown a little gun designed for hiding in a sleeve, which he keeps after he tosses the gun dealer into the sea. Guess what the penultimate blow to the bad guy uses.

* ''[[Pokémon Special]]'' gets away with this more often than is healthy for the reader's mind. Lt. Surge's gloves, the feathers on Yellow's hat, a shard of the Grand Meteor (multiple times), and the list goes on. Almost every object explicitly discussed in dialogue returns later in the saga -- or even in a completely separate saga -- to turn the plot around.

Line 52:

** There's also a subversion, during the MOLE arc. Early on, Macus is playing with a yo-yo and musing on how, in Zero-G, the yo-yo goes all the way to the end of its string regardless of what direction it's thrown. Bolt promptly eats it. {{spoiler|Later, Macus has his legs cut off by lasers and is set adrift. Bolt whips out the yo-yo and sends it in his direction... But the string isn't long enough to reach him}}.

* ''[[Clannad]]'': Remember those orbs of light Miyazawa and the Girl in the Illusionary World were talking about? Those'll really come in handy [[Gainax Ending|much]] [[Grand Finale|later]].

* A few times in ''[[Ranma ½~~|Ranma 1/2~~]]'': the horned mongoose whistle [[Easy Amnesia|Shinnosuke]] gave Akane ten years ago turns out to be the key to pacifying and sealing the [[Orochi]] of [[Misplaced Wildlife|Ryugenzawa]]. The photo of Akane that Nabiki snapped (and tried to sell to Ranma, but was bought by Ryouga) gave him the impetus to save himself from a rockslide, and was later used by the bad guys to kidnap her.

* A few times in ''[[Ranma ½]]'': the horned mongoose whistle [[Easy Amnesia|Shinnosuke]] gave Akane ten years ago turns out to be the key to pacifying and sealing the [[Orochi]] of [[Misplaced Wildlife|Ryugenzawa]]. The photo of Akane that Nabiki snapped (and tried to sell to Ranma, but was bought by Ryouga) gave him the impetus to save himself from a rockslide, and was later used by the bad guys to kidnap her.

* In ''[[Macross Frontier]]'', [[Idol Singer|Sheryl]] loses one of her earrings ([[Call Back|inherited from her mother]]) when Alto crashes into her in mid-performance. She goes nuts looking for it, but later tells him to keep it as a good luck charm during combat (at which point it's lost forever.) It is later revealed that the earrings are made of {{spoiler|[[Applied Phlebotinum|Fold Quartz]], a material that can transmit thoughts and emotions across the galaxy, and she (and Alto) use the remaining one during the [[Grand Finale]] to communicate with the [[Big Creepy-Crawlies|Vajra]]}}. It became so important, the Blu-Ray release of ''[[Macross Zero]]'' went back and [[Revision|added the earrings]] [[Call Forward|in a scene with Sheryl's ancestors]].

** ''[[Macross Frontier]]'' gets points for sneaking [[Chekhov's Gun]] into what looks to be a throw-away [[Accidental Pervert]] gag. {{spoiler|The fact that the Vajra start retreating from Island 1 just after Ranka's scream in that scene is no coincidence.}}

Line 74:

** In the first movie, ''Secret of Mamo''. {{spoiler|Goemon's sword is shattered in a duel and Lupin takes one of the shards. In the end of the movie Lupin uses the shard to save himself by reflecting Mamo's lasers back at him.}}

* Griffith's Crimson Behelit in the ''[[Berserk]]'' anime. We first see it after the naked water fight that he and Guts have in an early episode, and apart from a different colored Behelit taken off a demon Guts kills in the very first episode, it doesn't have a lot of significance, save for Zodd's prophetic warning about how when Griffith's dream crumbles, Guts will face his death. The Crimson Behelit turns out to be {{spoiler|the key to become the very next member of the Godhand, the [[Big Bad|Big Bads]] of the series, during the Eclipse, and when it activates, it's the point when [[It Got Worse|everything goes straight to Hell]] for Guts and the Hawks that [[Moral Event Horizon|Griffith led]].}}

* ''[[Transformers Robots in Disguise]]'' had a particularly impressive example. When the Decepticons were introduced, Scourge's protoform scanned a truck that Kelly was trying to escape in, and which Optimus Prime was holding up, meaning he simultaneously scanned Prime. Initially, the only outcome of this seemed to be a Decepticon who was ironically similar in appearance to the Autobot leader. ''Much'' later, it turned out that this event had given Scourge a hybrid Predacon/Autobot/human spark based on that of Optimus Prime, which in turn allowed him to control Fortress Maximus.

* ''[[Transformers: Robots in Disguise]]'' had a particularly impressive example. When the Decepticons were introduced, Scourge's protoform scanned a truck that Kelly was trying to escape in, and which Optimus Prime was holding up, meaning he simultaneously scanned Prime. Initially, the only outcome of this seemed to be a Decepticon who was ironically similar in appearance to the Autobot leader. ''Much'' later, it turned out that this event had given Scourge a hybrid Predacon/Autobot/human spark based on that of Optimus Prime, which in turn allowed him to control Fortress Maximus.

* In ''[[Wind A Breath Of Heart]]'', everybody has a special power. Except the protagonist. This point is made whenever the subject of the powers comes up, suggesting that the protagonist will eventually awaken to a kickass power. Oddly enough, the episode in which he uses his power was taken out of the TV broadcast.

* In ''[[Mazinkaiser]]'' episode six, Boss gives Kouji a bar to protect him while trying to get to Mazinkaiser. Kouji accepts it, but points out he has protection in the form of his Photon Gun. In the next (and final episode), Mazinkaiser's steering wheel is destroyed in battle with Hell King Gorgon. As the machine tumbles back, the bar tumbles out and Kouji remembers Boss giving it to him, causing him to shove it in the shaft and finish the fight.