History TheArtifact / AnimeAndManga

* One of ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'''s most famous running jokes is the otherwise overconfident Lina Inverse's [[ACupAngst sensitivity about her endowment]]. While it's reasonable in the novels and comic, it seemed a case of HollywoodHomely in animated form only rationalized by her bawdy and [[GagBoobs ridiculously curvy]] cohort Naga. As the show usually compensated by enlarging everyone ''else'', one suspects it was ExecutiveMeddling in order to make a heroine a bit more cute to the television audience.

* The character of Index can't really be dropped from the series ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'', but her character and abilities after the initial arc don't really add anything. However, she's fairly popular and, again, her name is in the title. So as the story introduces two more protagonists and something of a rival main heroine, poor Index is largely confined to either comedy scenes or used as a macguffin. Some of the less kind fans have taken to calling her a [[VideoGame/HalfLife headcrab]] in response to her perceived uselessness and most common running gag.

* In ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' Ishvalans all have dark skin, red eyes, and white hair as a racial characteristic. In [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist the 2003 anime]] this is [[AdaptationDyeJob changed]] so that most are brunettes. Scar is the only Ishvalan who doesn't have age-related white hair. He was born with brown hair but was LockedIntoStrangeness.

* ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'' seemed to struggle with handling certain characters as the series drifted away from its episodic school-slice-of-life origin, generally having them serve as {{Combat Commentator}}s at best. Asuka's main hook (finding the fate of her brother) got resolved about two-thirds of the way into the first season, and consequently left her with very little to do in the rest of the series aside from chasing off suitors, and getting brainwashed into a cult. Kenzan no longer had much purpose once the Society of Light arc ended, as his deal of being ImmuneToMindControl came up only once afterward. Misawa was meant as a rival but quickly got displaced by better ones, and his later character arc was basically one long LampshadeHanging on how he had no real purpose anymore and had fallen OutOfFocus, before he was written out completely.

** Speaking of Super Saiyan, the increasingly bulked-up variants that Trunks and Vegeta assume in the Cell arc are usually referred to as "Super Saiyan Grade 2" and "Super Saiyan Grade 3." This is because a guidebook referred to ''all'' variants of Super Saiyan as some form of "Grade", with the "resting" Super Saiyan that Goku and Gohan use being Grade 4, and the at-the-time unnamed state that Gohan assumes against Cell being named Grade 5. When the manga declared that "Grade 5" was actually Super Saiyan 2, and a subsequent guidebook labeled "Grade 4" as "Super Saiyan Full-Power", Grade 2 and 3 became essentially the only remnants of this old naming system. Nonetheless, it's worked better than some other cases, as Grade 2 and 3 are far more similar to each other than to any other form of Super Saiyan.

** Yajirobe in particular became redundant immediately upon the end of his introductory arc. He was originally created so that Krillin's voice actress in the anime would have someone to voice while Krillin was dead, and consequently wound up with a [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute pretty similar personality and relationship to Goku]]: [[CowardlyLion a cynical and cowardly but goodhearted warrior]] to contrast Goku's innocent idealism. Naturally, once Krillin was BackFromTheDead, Yajirobe had basically no purpose anymore, and barring a single big moment in the Saiyan Saga where he cuts off Vegeta's tail, he only existed as background detail in the manga and BigEater jokes in anime filler.

** Repeating history, it was blatantly evident that past the Baby arc of ''Anime/DragonBallGT'', the writers had no idea what to do with Pan. Pan's explicit function, according to the writers, was to be TheMillstone and provide an objective for Goku to rescue. Annoying, sure, but not too out of place when Goku was fighting wimps like the Para Para Brothers, and it made sense as a reference to Bulma's role in the original series (which much of early ''GT'' was meant to invoke). She also managed to at least contribute in the battle against Baby, most crucially helping Goku control his transformation. After that point, though, there was essentially no meaningful reason for her to stick around or be Goku's companion: pretty much anyone could have done her job, and she actively hindered Goku multiple times, which was far more egregious against villains that were supposed to be actual threats. It didn't help that the writers seemed to have an allergy to making Pan actually useful (which is bizarre given that she's a Saiyan and thus could feasibly compete in most fights), and she was left sitting on the sidelines during the show's final battle while Vegeta and the four-star dragon do the actual legwork at Goku's side. Trunks suffered as well to a lesser degree, but he at least stopped appearing once it was obvious he had no purpose anymore.

* ''Anime/YuGiOhArcV'''s Performapal Hip Hippo featured very prominently in early advertising and the opening theme, and when it showed up in the first episode and was used quite a bit, it seemed like a long career would await the distinctive little cutie. One problem: Hippo's effect is one that makes Tribute Summons easier. Main character Yuya, by the third episode, specializes in a mechanic that renders Tribute Summoning completely unnecessary. Consequently, Hippo ends up showing up far less in Duels than outside of them.
** This is also the case with the Action Duel, what was supposed to be the series' gimmick duel that defined it ala ''5Ds'' Riding Duels. In the initial episodes it is given heavy prominence, showing off varied locales and Action Card effects, even showing Action Traps which punished Yuya for going for Action Cards a bit too heavily. However as time went on the Action Card effects got less diverse (Action Traps disappeared completely) to the point where the only ones ever used involved just avoiding monster destruction. By the time the interdimensional plot kicks in, the idea of special Action Fields vanishes, meaning that the only real relevance Action Duels end up having is being able to use those aforementioned destruction-blocking cards.

* The font of the main titles of each new installment in the ''[[Franchise/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica Madoka]]'' franchise. Originally, that was to pass the original anime and manga off as yet another cutesy MagicalGirl show, before it would show its true colors. The manga's volume numbers also retained this even after they had served their purpose, but afterwards, only the main titles for subsequent installments do so, while subtitles and volume numbers are displayed in a more serious font.

* The nickname of "JoJo" shared by all the protagonists in ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' has arguably become this. Jonathan and Joseph were referred to by the nickname almost constantly, and Jotaro for a good part of Part 3 as well. Starting from Part 4 however, the nickname is much less commonly used. Josuke gets it used once at the beginning of the series by bullies lampshading how the spelling of his name in Japanese can also be read as "Jojo", Giorno doesn't have it (or the equivalent of GioGio) used at ''all'', and both Jolyne and Johnny actively dislike and avoid the nickname for different reasons, while the way it applies to the Josuke of Part 8 (whose name has a different spelling from Part 4's Josuke) is...complicated to say the least. Even [[spoiler:Part 8's Joseph]] didn't use the nickname, instead opting for "[[spoiler:Fumi]]".

** This is also the case with the Action Duel, what was supposed to be the series' gimmick duel that defined it ala ''5Ds'' Riding Duels. In the initial episodes it is given heavy prominence, showing off varied locales and Action Card effects, even showing Action Traps which punished Yuya for going for Action Cards a bit too heavily. However as time went on the Action Card effects got less diverse (Action Traps disappeared completely) to the point where the only ones ever used involved just avoiding monster destruction. By the time the interdimensional plot kicks in they all but disappear completely compared to Riding Duels in ''5Ds''. Ironically enough Riding Duels themselves would end up becoming somewhat of a SpotlightStealingSquad during the time in the Synchro Dimension, though those faded as well (since they left said dimension and Yugo is the only one with access to a D-Wheel that crosses over).

* The ''Manga/OnePiece'' anime adaptation is a remnant of a past era where other long-runners kept a weekly release schedule, but also had to stall the plot with {{Padding}} and {{Filler}} arcs, so that they wouldn't [[OvertookTheManga overtake the manga]]. With more recent anime switching to 12 or 24 episode seasons, the {{Padding}} techniques that were once industry standard have now become extremely apparent with fans believing that the ''One Piece'' anime would be better off if it adapted to being a seasonal series as well.

* The ''Manga/OnePiece'' anime adaptation is a remnant of a past era where other long-runners, such as ''Franchise/{{Naruto}}'' and ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'', all kept trucking along at a weekly release schedule, but also had to stall at times by implementing {{Padding}}, such as {{Filler}} arcs, whenever they could so that they wouldn't fall victim to OvertookTheManga. With the ''Naruto'' and ''Bleach'' adaptations over, and current day animes switching to a seasonal 1-cour or 2-cour format where adaptations are better adapted and paced within 12 or 24 episode seasons, this leaves ''One Piece'' as the odd one out as the prime current day long-runner still holding on to the old way of doing things. The {{Padding}} techniques that were once glossed over as the standard of the industry have now become extremely apparent with fans believing that the ''One Piece'' anime would be better off if it adapted to being a seasonal series as well.

*** Beerus served to introduce the concepts of Gods and the multiverse, as well as providing an AlwaysSomeoneBetter role for Goku. By the midpoint of the series, though, it was kind of evident that he didn't have much purpose anymore, which was especially pronounced because, unlike most Artifact characters in the franchise, Beerus is extremely strong to StoryBreakerPower levels, and should be able to crush just about any threat to the protagonists with ease. It was especially pronounced because, unlike most rivals in the franchise, his whole narrative function is that Goku can never really surpass him, so having the cast and their threats catch up to him couldn't be done. At the same time, he couldn't be written out of the series, because he was a package deal with his attendant Whis, who slotted into the role of being Goku and Vegeta's mentor and MrExposition. Consequently, in the majority of story arcs, Beerus [[AllPowerfulBystander does nothing of importance]], and when he does try to do something, [[YouCantThwartStageOne it usually fails]]--probably best punctuated by his appearance in ''Anime/DragonBallSuperBroly'', where his only appearance is a minor subplot about him taking care of baby Bulla.

* ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'' somehow had this happen to its entire ''premise''. The original concept of the series, as seen in the title, was that there were five individuals known as the Signers who used their mystic dragon powers to battle ancient threats. However, the main mystical threat of the series, the Earthbound Gods, was defeated less than halfway through the series. From then on out, the main characters almost never used their Signer abilities (Aki, the most powerful one, was even depowered without explanation for most of the show's last third), and most of their opponents had absolutely nothing to do with the Signers or mysticism in general. The show also largely jettisoned the concept of the Signers working as a team, with nearly everything from then on out being accomplished by Yusei, Jack, and Crow (the latter of whom wasn't even a Signer until it had stopped being relevant). Despite the clumsy ReTool, the series seemingly continued to advertise itself as being about the Signers. By the end of the series, [[ArtifactTitle there weren't even five Signers - there were six.]]

** Speaking of Super Saiyan, the increasingly bulked-up variants that Trunks and Vegeta assume in the Cell arc are usually referred to as "Super Saiyan Grade 2" and "Super Saiyan Grade 3." This is because a guidebook referred to ''all'' variants of Super Saiyan as some form of "Grade", with the "resting" Super Saiyan that Goku and Gohan use being Grade 4, and the at-the-time unnamed state that Gohan assumes against Cell being named Grade 5. When the manga declared that "Grade 5" was actually Super Saiyan 2, and a subsequent guidebook labeled "Grade 4" as "Super Saiyan Full-Power", Grade 2 and 3 became essentially the only remnants of this old naming system.

*** Vegito's design is meant to be a [[FusionDance fusion]] of Vegeta and Goku's. However, when he reappeared in the Goku Black arc, his design there was the same as his design in the Buu Saga, which includes the singlet Vegeta was wearing then, despite Vegeta wearing grey spandex armor in ''Super''. This was due to the fact that redesigning him to include Vegeta's actual ''Super'' outfit would make his design less recognizable (and, it's often theorized, would mean [[MerchandiseDriven already-existing Vegito toys]] [[PaletteSwap couldn't be recolored]]).

* ''Anime/YuGiOh'' had Hiroto Honda/Tristan Taylor. In the early [[Manga/YuGiOh manga]], he was a mainstay of the cast, helping out a lot in Death-T and Monster World and often acting as TheBigGuy. By the time of ''Duelist'' and the second series anime, the series became more cardgame-focused, and Honda spends most of his time just kinda standing on the sidelines cheering on his friends because he isn’t much of a duelist. The anime ended up doing its best to add stuff for him to do, but [[TrappedByMountainLions very little of it was consequential.]]

** The name of Raising Heart also qualifies, since [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Nanoha.jpg its original design]]
was a fairly normal-looking MagicWand with a HeartSymbol on it.

* ''Anime/SailorMoon'':
** For the first three seasons, the Monsters-of-the-Day actually did something relevant to the {{plot}}, but in the fourth and fifth seasons, their only purpose was to give the girls something to fight before the end of the episode. It became especially bad in the last season; the targets were supposed to be potential Sailor Senshi (hence why they're attacked very early in the original manga) but no attempt is ever made to target those that ''show up to every single fight, in uniform''.
** In the anime, Mamoru Chiba was a SatelliteLoveInterest, unlike the manga where he had more characterisation. This meant that after he and Usagi hooked up at the end of ''R'', the writers really had nothing to do with him, and Usagi had plenty of other characters to emote at. Obviously, being Sailor Moon's destined love, he couldn't be written out completely, but he was pretty much "just there" in the third and fourth seasons, and he was PutOnABus in the fifth season to allow for Seiya to start a LoveTriangle.
** Funnily enough, one of Sailor Moon's most recognisable symbols, the red and white 'buttons' on Usagi's hairbuns, are technically an Artifact that didn't last beyond the first episode: after Usagi transforms for the first time, she hears Naru screaming through her hair buns, and this is what alerts her to the monster of that episode. The mechanic was never seen again, as often the tracking down of the monster was a plotline, and at other times the show was more than happy with letting the girls and monsters meet up though sheer coincidence. However, as there would be no way for Usagi to know where the monster was in this first episode otherwise, both the 90s anime and the Crystal reboot kept the strange function only to drop it just as quickly as the manga did.
*** This artifact was created by removing another artifact the manga used. In early chapters ''Sailor Moon'' wore a white mask similar to Sailor V's. In the first chapter it showed her a vision of Naru being attacked. She quickly ditched them and for a number of chapters was shown throwing it to the side after transforming. The mask shows up once more during the Black Moon arc (long after it stopped appearing when she transformed) to identify people who were replaced with droids.
** A few character design elements have become this in newer versions:
*** Makoto's long skirt. When the series first came up, an excessively long skirt on the uniform was a distinctive sign of a ''[[JapaneseDelinquents sukeban]]'' (and she had the fame of one), but by the time newer versions of the series came up it had been replaced by an excessively ''short'' skirt and other distinctive signs. On the other hand, Makoto ''needs'' a visual sign to justify her fame as a delinquent, so ''Anime/SailorMoonCrystal'' still gave her it ([[Series/PrettyGuardianSailorMoon the live action]] instead opted for a normal skirt and having her sometimes dye her hair, [[AnimeHair something an anime would be unable to do]]);
*** Minako and Naru wearing ribbons in their hair. When the manga was first published it was fashionable for a schoolgirl to wear a ribbon in the hair (and in fact the manga has Minako started to wear one in an effort to conquer a boy. She continued because it looked good), but nowadays it's not it anymore. Still, it's such a part of their characters' images they still wear it in ''Crystal'', and Minako does it as Sailor V and Sailor Venus in the live action (the live action was able to drop it with Minako's civilian identity and Naru because, for a real-life girl, it would have just been weird). Recently, however, this trend seems to be picking back up as girls would wear ribbons to tie their hair into ponytails or incorporate it into other hairstyles.
*** Minako and Makoto's looks in general in the new anime. ''Crystal'' being [[SettingUpdate set during its real-world release]], the logic progression would have been updating them into [[GyaruGirl some sub-variant of gals]] or make Makoto a [[BadassBiker bosozoku]] ([[WhatCouldHaveBeen something she was originally supposed to be]]) to convey the former being a [[TomboyPrincess tomboy who looks extremely feminine]] and justify the latter's fame as a delinquent, but instead they wore normal clothes in their civilian identities.
*** [[TransformationTrinket The Transformation Pens]] were originally chosen because they were fashionable accessories, but the fashion has since passed. Yet, ''Crystal'' still keeps them (the live action instead replaced them with charms that were fashionable back when the series was aired).
*** ''Crystal'' also retains both sets of the communicator watches, which in the era of cellphones would require some justification (never given outright by the series itself); their live-action counterparts ''were'' fancy magical cellphones which combined the functions of the communicators and the disguise pen.
* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'': [[TerribleTrio Team Rocket]] have been this since the organization they belong to have ceased to be the villains of the main games the anime is promoting after [[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver Generation II]]. The ''Best Wishes''/''Black and White'' series attempted to rectify this by [[ReimaginingTheArtifact giving them actual purpose in the plot]] and then [[PutOnABus attempting to write them out]], but it didn't stick and they returned to TheArtifact status in the ''Pokemon XY'' series. Their high popularity in Japan contributes to why they're series mainstays. That said, there has been in an increase in episodes where Team Rocket only make brief appearances or don't appear at all, so they aren't quite as bad a case of this as they used to be.

* One of ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'''s most famous running jokes is the otherwise overconfident Lina Inverse's [[ACupAngst sensitivity about her endowment]]. While it's reasonable in the novels and comic, it seemed a case of HollywoodHomely in animated form only rationalized by her bawdy and [[GagBoobs ridiculously curvy]] cohort Naga. As the show usually compensated by enlarging everyone ''else'', one suspects it was ExecutiveMeddling in order to make a heroine a bit more cute to the television audience.
** ''Slayers Revolution-R'' dealt with this a little better than the 90s series (where she was easily a B-Cup going towards C), as her character design in the 2000s series is noticeably pretty flat - not a complete UsefulNotes/{{Pettanko}}, but definitely an A-Cup.

* Main character Ginko from ''Manga/{{Mushishi}}'' wears recognizably modern clothes despite the story's setting suggesting a Pre Meiji Japanese location. The author eventually admitted that Ginko was made during the early design period where the story was supposed to take place in modern times, with him simply being left unchanged.

** The name of Raising Heart also qualifies, since [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Nanoha.jpg its original design]] was a fairly normal-looking MagicWand with a HeartSymbol on it.

* An in-universe example is brought up in the final episode of ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'' where a few of the protagonists meet in a library. One points out the uselessness of printed media to which another points out that it is just a habit of mankind.
* The character of Index can't really be dropped from the series ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'', but her character and abilities after the initial arc don't really add anything. However, she's fairly popular and, again, her name is in the title. So as the story introduces two more protagonists and something of a rival main heroine, poor Index is largely confined to either comedy scenes or used as a macguffin. Some of the less kind fans have taken to calling her a [[VideoGame/HalfLife headcrab]] in response to her perceived uselessness and most common running gag.

* In ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' Ishvalans all have dark skin, red eyes, and white hair as a racial characteristic. In [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist the 2003 anime]] this is [[AdaptationDyeJob changed]] so that most are brunettes. Scar is the only Ishvalan who doesn't have age-related white hair. He was born with brown hair but was LockedIntoStrangeness.
* In the CastOfPersonifications of human cells series ''Manga/CellsAtWork'', originally there's only one personification for all different types of white blood cells. That arrangement only [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness lasted for at most one chapter]] as the cast diversified, and this pan-white-blood-cell personification only represents the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutrophil neutrophil]]. Still, he is still referred by other cells as White Blood Cell, and he's the only character with a white ColorMotif, having paper-white skin and uniform.
* The ''Manga/OnePiece'' anime adaptation is a remnant of a past era where other long-runners, such as ''Franchise/{{Naruto}}'' and ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'', all kept trucking along at a weekly release schedule, but also had to stall at times by implementing {{Padding}}, such as {{Filler}} arcs, whenever they could so that they wouldn't fall victim to OvertookTheManga. With the ''Naruto'' and ''Bleach'' adaptations over, and current day animes switching to a seasonal 1-cour or 2-cour format where adaptations are better adapted and paced within 12 or 24 episode seasons, this leaves ''One Piece'' as the odd one out as the prime current day long-runner still holding on to the old way of doing things. The {{Padding}} techniques that were once glossed over as the standard of the industry have now become extremely apparent with fans believing that the ''One Piece'' anime would be better off if it adapted to being a seasonal series as well.
* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' has Puck, Guts's original companion. Very early on, his purpose was to [[MoralityPet act as Guts's conscience]], heal him between battles, and [[PluckyComicRelief liven up the incredibly miserable atmosphere]], and he managed to play a major part in the Lost Children arc. However, as Guts's [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits cast of hanger-ons]] grew, Puck's role mostly started to slip into irrelevance. A particularly big case is CuteWitch Schierke, who does essentially everything Puck did and does it better, down to being able to act as Guts's conscience by [[JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind literally going inside his head]]. It's often remarked by fans that Puck's SuperDeformed state used to be brought out only in particularly wacky moments, but now essentially makes up ''all'' his appearances because [[{{Flanderization}} those wacky moments are really the only thing he provides anymore]]--and it's not like he's the only character in the series capable of providing comic relief or lightening the tone.

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'': [[TerribleTrio Team Rocket]] have been this since the organization they belong to have ceased to be the villains of the main games the anime is promoting after [[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver Generation II]]. The ''Best Wishes''/''Black and White'' series attempted to rectify this by [[ReimaginingTheArtifact giving them actual purpose in the plot]] and then [[PutOnABus attempting to write them out]], but it didn't stick and they returned to TheArtifact status in the ''Pokemon XY'' series. Their high popularity in Japan contributes to why they're series mainstays. That said, there has been in an increase in episodes where Team Rocket only make brief appearances or don't appear at all, so they aren't quite as bad a case of this as they used to be.

** ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' features many characters from the earlier ''Manga/DragonBall'' series (such as {{Talking Animal}}s Puar the cat and Oolong the pig, and the horned "Ox King") that do not mesh well with the less cartoony and more science-fiction style of characters in ''DBZ''. Particularly notable with Oolong and Yamcha, who were originally clear [[{{Expy}} Expies]] of Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing from ''Literature/JourneyToTheWest''; neither of them were particularly relevant after the series moved away from its roots as a retelling of ''Journey to the West'', but they stuck around nonetheless.[[note]] Notably averted with Bulma, who was originally loosely analogous to Tang Sanzang; the writers kept her relevant by [[BetaCouple marrying her to Vegeta]], giving her a new role as the TeamMom.[[/note]]
** Repeating history, it was blatantly evident that past the Baby arc of ''Anime/DragonBallGT'', the creators had no idea what to do with Pan. Pan's explicit function, according to the writers, was to be TheMillstone and provide an objective for Goku to rescue. Annoying, sure, but not too out of place when Goku was fighting wimps like the Para Para Brothers, and it made sense as a reference to Bulma's role in the original series (which much of early ''GT'' was meant to invoke). She also managed to at least contribute in the battle against Baby, most crucially helping Goku control his transformation. After that point, though, there was essentially no meaningful reason for her to stick around or be Goku's companion: pretty much anyone could have done her job, and she actively hindered Goku multiple times, which was far more egregious against villains that were supposed to be actual threats. It didn't help that the writers seemed to have an allergy to making Pan actually useful, which left her sitting on the sidelines during the show's final battle sequence while Vegeta and the four-star dragon do the actual legwork at Goku's side. Trunks suffered as well, to a lesser degree, but he at least stopped appearing once it was obvious he had no purpose anymore.

** The Kintoun/Flying Nimbus was rendered completely irrelevant by the start of ''Z'', since pretty much every character of importance could fly under their own power. Despite this, it has a habit of being used in later parts of the franchise more or less just to remind the audience that it exists. (''Super'' actually did [[ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman manage to make it useful once]], by having a scene where Goku couldn't use his own energy to fly without alerting his enemies.)
** The Super Saiyan 2 transformation has fallen into this in most modern versions of the franchise, especially by the time of ''Super''. Aside from the SoLastSeason problems that afflict a lot of older transformations, it provides no utility over standard Super Saiyan aside from an ambiguously high increase in power (which is far outclassed by the various higher Super Saiyan forms), meaning characters with the form active don't fight any differently, and even ''looks'' almost identical on most characters (particularly Goku and Vegeta), turning it into little more than a placeholder to fill out the RuleOfThree. There's really only one fight in ''Super'' where it actually has a significant effect on the fight's outcome--that being, Caulifla's fight with Goku. Tellingly, Toriyama claimed in an interview that he ''forgot the form existed'' until he was reminded during his work on ''Battle of Gods.'' But the mere fact that Gohan's initial transformation and subsequent battle remain an iconic moment in the series has guaranteed that the form will continue to crop up.

** In the anime, Mamoru Chiba was a SatelliteLoveInterest, unlike the manga where he had more characterisation. This meant that after he and Usagi hit the RelationshipCeiling at the end of ''R'', the writers really had nothing to do with him, and Usagi had plenty of other characters to emote at. Obviously, being Sailor Moon's destined love, he couldn't be written out completely, but he was pretty much "just there" in the third and fourth seasons, and he was PutOnABus in the fifth season to allow for Seiya to start a LoveTriangle.