History TheBusCameBack / AnimeAndManga

** The Pokémon are more prone to show up again. Since Ash drops off most of his roster at Professor Oak's lab these days, he has access to them at any time. In theory anyway - [[LongBusTrip in practice they are mostly just seen when Ash returns home]]. Squirtle and Charizard also come back from time to time, there was an episode in Johto where Ash met up with Lapras again, and Ash's Gliscor came back just in time for Ash's Sinnoh League battle against Paul. Charizard returned to Ash's regular team during ''Episode N'' but was dropped off at Oak's at the end of the Decolore Islands arc. The same thing happened to Goodra during the Kalos League, only instead of being left at Oak's it was left with Keanan. Finally, Poipole returned near the end of the Alola League arc, having evolved into Nagnandel offscreen, and helped Ash during the final battle with Kukui. The most shocking example of this, though, would be [[spoiler:Ash's Butterfree appearing at the tail end of JN136, exactly 1,200 episodes since it was released.]]

** The Pokémon are more prone to show up again. Since Ash drops off most of his roster at Professor Oak's lab these days, he has access to them at any time. In theory anyway - [[LongBusTrip in practice they are mostly just seen when Ash returns home]]. Squirtle and Charizard also come back from time to time, there was an episode in Johto where Ash met up with Lapras again, and Ash's Gliscor came back just in time for Ash's Sinnoh League battle against Paul. Charizard returned to Ash's regular team during ''Episode N'' but was dropped off at Oak's at the end of the Decolore Islands arc. The same thing happened to Goodra during the Kalos League, only instead of being left at Oak's it was left with Keanan. Finally, Poipole returned near the end of the Alola League arc, having evolved into Nagnandel offscreen, and helped Ash during the final battle with Kukui.

** While most of the ''Manga/DiamondIsUnbreakable'' cast would continue to make appearances throughout the series spin-off manga, ''Manga/ThusSpokeRohanKishibe'', Yukako Yamagishi would remain absent from the story. That was, until "Episode 9: D.N.A.", where she plays a central role.

** The Pokemon are more prone to show up again. Since Ash drops off most of his roster at Professor Oak's lab these days, he has access to them at any time. In theory anyway - [[LongBusTrip in practice they are mostly just seen when Ash returns home]]. Squirtle and Charizard also come back from time to time, there was an episode in Johto where Ash met up with Lapras again, and Ash's Gliscor came back just in time for Ash's Sinnoh League battle against Paul. Charizard returned to Ash's regular team during ''Episode N'' but was dropped off at Oak's at the end of the Decolore Islands arc. The same thing happened to Goodra during the Kalos League, only instead of being left at Oak's it was left with Keanan. Finally, Poipole returned near the end of the Alola League arc, having evolved into Nagnandel offscreen, and helped Ash during the final battle with Kukui.

** The Pokemon are more prone to show up again. Since Ash drops off most of his roster at Professor Oak's lab these days, he has access to them at any time. In theory anyway - [[LongBusTrip in practice they are mostly just seen when Ash returns home]]. Squirtle and Charizard also come back from time to time, there was an episode in Johto where Ash met up with Lapras again, and Ash's Gliscor came back just in time for Ash's Sinnoh League battle against Paul. Charizard returned to Ash's regular team during ''Episode N'' but was dropped off at Oak's at the end of Decolora. The same thing happened to Goodra during the Kalos league, only instead of being left at Oak's it was left with Keanan. Finally, Poipole returned near the end of the Alola League arc, having evolved into Nagnandel offscreen, and helped Ash during the final battle with Kukui.

** Even one-shot characters can randomly show up for another episode. Or mini-series in the case of Ritchie in the Whirl Islands. [[spoiler:A surprising example in Decolora was Clair, Blackthorn City's Gym Leader.]]

* In ''Manga/{{Touch}}'': Several chapters after being sent to South America, Takeshi Yoshida's back, he's ace pitcher for a different school, and loses embarrassingly against Meisei. After that, we never see him again.

** ''Anime/PokemonJourneysTheSeries'' had several characters returning from previous series for at least a one-shot appearance, due to the series not being centered in one region as in previous series. There's previous gym leaders like Chuck from the Johto League, Volkner from the Sinnoh League, and Korrina from the Kalos League. Then there's major characters like Gary, Iris, and Dawn. Even Butch and Cassidy are returning!

* ''Manga/ShonanJunaiGumi'':
** After breaking up with Ryuji and leaving town, Ayumi returns 6 months and over a hundred chapters later, where they reunite as friends.
** In Chapter 187, [[PutOnAPrisonBus Fumiya]] gets out of juvie and meets up with the Oni-Baku again. He mentions helping Akutsu break out, and Akutsu is seen in Chapter 193. Fumiya and Akutsu also reappear in the sequel ''GTO: Paradise Lost''.
** Jun Kamata, who left for the USA after the Yokohama Cavalry arc and [[spoiler:Natsu's death]], returns to Japan in the spinoff ''Manga/InoHeadGargoyle'' and becomes Saejima's cop partner.

** ''Anime/PokemonJourneysTheSeries'' had several characters returning from previous series for at least a one-shot appearance, due to the series not being centered in one region as in previous series. There's previous gym leaders like Chuck from the Johto League, Volkner from the Sinnoh League, and Korrina from the Kalos League. Then there's major characters like Gary, Iris, and Dawn.

** ''Anime/PokemonJourneysTheSeries'' had several characters returning from previous series for at least a one-shot appearance. There's previous gym leaders like Chuck from the Johto League and Korrina from the Kalos League. Then there's major characters like Gary, Iris, and Dawn.

** There was a period where Wobbuffet was left at Team Rocket's main headquarters for the ''Black and White'' series, only for it to come back by ''X and Y''. This was mainly done to make the Team Rocket trio [[ShooOutTheClowns more threatening]].

* ''Anime/{{Shirobako}}'': In the middle of the run Erika, the BigSisterMentor of [=MusAni=]'s Production, takes a leave of absence to take care of her ailing father. She only come back at around episode 18.

** Emperor Pilaf and his gang, after being absent for the entirety of Dragon Ball Z, finally re-appear in the first episode of ''Anime/DragonBallGT''. Then they disappear again for the rest of the series except for one very minor cameo in the Baby Saga.

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'', being a LongRunner with only five characters being permanent fixtures (Ash, Pikachu, Jessie, James, and Meowth), has this several times:

* ''Anime/MazingerZ'': Kouji Kabuto, Sayaka Yumi and nearly all ''Anime/MazingerZ'' characters were PutOnABus at the end of the series. Several of them returned at the end of ''Anime/GreatMazinger'', though: Kouji, Sayaka and Prof. Yumi. When ''Anime/UFORoboGrendizer'' started, though, Kouji was the only character of both series was not PutOnABus. The Bus Came Back for Boss for two episodes, and it was supposed to come back for Sayaka as well, but ExecutiveMeddling prevented it.
* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'', being a LongRunner with only five characters being permanent fixtures (Ash, Pikachu, Jessie, James, and Meowth), has this several times:
** For the humans: Misty showed up in [[Anime/PokemonTheSeriesRubyAndSapphire Hoenn]] for a two-parter[[note]]which served as a FullyAbsorbedFinale for her Character Arc[[/note]] and then later met up with Ash in Pallet Town and spent an episode revisiting Mt. Moon. May showed up in the middle of [[Anime/PokemonTheSeriesDiamondAndPearl Sinnoh]] for a TournamentArc, while Dawn participated in a TournamentArc in [[Anime/PokemonTheSeriesBlackAndWhite Unova]]. Brock has left Ash's group ''five times'' so far: The first was during the Orange Islands where he sat out that entire FillerArc. The next three were after Johto, Hoenn, and the Battle Frontier, each of these lasting only a few days at the most. The fifth time was when he left to become a Pokémon doctor at the end of Sinnoh. This one stuck [[spoiler:with a side story showing that he's been making progress on this goal.]]
** Brock and Misty return once more [[MilestoneCelebration (probably to celebrate the anime's 20th anniversary)]] for a two-parter in the ''[[Anime/PokemonTheSeriesSunAndMoon Sun and Moon series]]''. They have gotten access to [[SuperMode Mega Evolution]] and battle Ash for old times' sake.
** ''Anime/PokemonJourneysTheSeries'' had several characters returning from previous series for at least a one-shot appearance. There's previous gym leaders like Chuck from the Johto League and Korrina from the Kalos League. Then there's major characters like Gary, Iris, and Dawn.
** Staring from mid-Kanto, a wild Jigglypuff with a penchant of FaceDoodling anyone who fell asleep from her singing was a recurring character, only to vanish after one early Hoenn episode. She has then made a return during the ''Sun and Moon'' series some 12 years after her last appearance, first reappearing during the Misty and Brock reunion, and then has shown up in Alola.
** The Pokemon are more prone to show up again. Since Ash drops off most of his roster at Professor Oak's lab these days, he has access to them at any time. In theory anyway - [[LongBusTrip in practice they are mostly just seen when Ash returns home]]. Squirtle and Charizard also come back from time to time, there was an episode in Johto where Ash met up with Lapras again, and Ash's Gliscor came back just in time for Ash's Sinnoh League battle against Paul. Charizard returned to Ash's regular team during ''Episode N'' but was dropped off at Oak's at the end of Decolora. The same thing happened to Goodra during the Kalos league, only instead of being left at Oak's it was left with Keanan. Finally, Poipole returned near the end of the Alola League arc, having evolved into Nagnandel offscreen, and helped Ash during the final battle with Kukui.
** There was a period where Wobbuffet was left at Team Rocket's main headquarters for the ''Black and White'' series, only for it to come back by ''X and Y''. This was mainly done to make the Team Rocket trio [[ShooOutTheClowns more threatening]].
** Even one-shot characters can randomly show up for another episode. Or mini-series in the case of Ritchie in the Whirl Islands. [[spoiler:A surprising example in Decolora was Clair, Blackthorn City's Gym Leader.]]

* Practically any character in ''Manga/OnePiece'' can show up again, as long as they haven't died:
** Shanks comes in some of the first episodes, saves Luffy's life, leaves, leaving a ChekhovsGun in the process. 400 odd chapters later, [[spoiler: he ends the Whitebeard War, before leaving again.]]
** "From the Decks of the World" shows what every character who has been major at some point in the series has been up to since Monkey D. Luffy and his crew encountered them. If a major character ''doesn't'' appear in this sub-series and is not a villain, then odds are either they have already returned, or they're on a higher-class bus and will return to the main story later.
** Even most of the villains came together for the [[spoiler:Impel Down]] story arc. Luffy is certainly surprised to see them all again.
** One character in particular seemed to have [[spoiler:a SoundOnlyDeath]] when he was last seen or at the very least, he was likely to never show up in the series again [[spoiler:even if he did survive]]. Exactly ''401'' chapters later in the manga, [[spoiler:Bellamy the Hyena returns in Chapter 704.]]
** The Reverie Arc is shaping up to be like this, with royal characters and their bodyguards from all over the world gathering at Mary Geoise for the quadrennial World Council. Vivi and the Alabastians, Wapol from his Black Drum Kingdom, Dalton and Kureha from the Sakura Kingdom, King Riku and his family from Dressrosa, the Tontatta dwarves, and less savory characters like Stelly (Sabo's adoptive replacement son) and Saint Charloss show up in this arc. Even more surprising characters appear, such as [[spoiler: Saint Mjosgard, the World Noble who was saved by Otohime, Bartholomew Kuma, and Jewelry Bonney]].
* After the horrifying school shooting in which [[spoiler: her best friend was almost killed, many students died or were hurt, and she was almost raped by the younger Kuroda (with his ''gun'')]], [[spoiler: Noriko Kimura]] from ''Manga/WolfGuyWolfenCrest'' pretty much disappears from the story. However, we later learn that [[spoiler: her family moved to Nara specifically for her sake. So when Inugami goes there to hide from Haguro, he ends up meeting with her again.]]
* In ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura'', [[spoiler: Meiling]] comes back for an episode in the Sakura Card arc, having been PutOnABus in episode 43.
* In ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'', upon the revolt in Central, the bus not only comes back, but it's loaded to the brim with weaponry and ammo for the [[spoiler:Mustang faction]] (supplied by [[spoiler:Jean Havoc]]), with none other than [[spoiler:second lieutenant Maria Ross]] at the wheel. Talk about a Badass Bus, eh?
* Quite common in ''Manga/FairyTail''. The first major example would be Lyon, Gray's old rival who completely vanishes at the end of their arc. He and Sherry come back for the Nirvana arc about 100 chapters later, and every other character introduced in that arc takes a page out of his book and pulls another 100 chapter vanishing act. There's also one of Erza's old friends ([[spoiler:Milliana]]) who shows up again in the tournament arc.

* The concept of Steel Saints returned in season 2 of ''Anime/SaintSeiyaOmega'', several years after its first three representatives [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome vanished without a trace]].

* ''Anime/DragonBallZResurrectionF'' sees the return of defeated villain Frieza, [[CameBackStrong now more powerful than ever]] and hell-bent on {{Revenge}}.

* In ''Anime/{{Beyblade}}'', the teams from season 1 never appeared in season 2, but they came back in season 3. However, some of the bladers from season 1 never appeared in season 3, Team WHO (the Dark Bladers) never came back, and the Majestics were kicked out by the Barthez Battailions before the beginning of the World Championship. It also didn't help that most members of all returned teams are DemotedToExtra anyway. While the teams from season 1 are back, the teams from season 2 disappeared.
* ''Manga/TheRoseOfVersailles'': Fersen just keeps coming back.
* ''Anime/{{Shirobako}}'': In the middle of the run Erika, the BigSisterMentor of [=MusAni=]'s Production, takes a leave of absence to take care of her ailing father. She only come back at around episode 18.
* In ''Manga/{{Moyashimon}}'', Sawaki's childhood friend Kei suddenly drops out of college and disappears for several chapters. He reappears eventually... [[OldFriendNewGender living as a girl]] and dressing in an ElegantGothicLolita fashion.
* [[spoiler:Aoi Asahina]] finally makes an appearance in ''Anime/Danganronpa3TheEndOfHopesPeakHighSchool'' for the first time since ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'', unlike other survivors, all of whom have been featured in ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'' and ''VideoGame/DanganronpaAnotherEpisodeUltraDespairGirls''.
* The ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaReflection'' manga had a rather extreme example when it had a cameo of Misato Mikami, who hadn't been seen since the ''VisualNovel/TriangleHeart3SweetSongsForever'' [=OVAs=], a whopping 15 years earlier (making the bus trip in question longer than the ''Lyrical Nanoha'' franchise as a whole).
* In ''Manga/{{Touch}}'': Several chapters after being sent to South America, Takeshi Yoshida's back, he's ace pitcher for a different school, and loses embarrassingly against Meisei. After that, we never see him again.
* The ''Anime/{{Tamagotchi}}'' character Himespetchi had to return to her home planet in episode 35 of ''Yume Kira Dream''. She remains absent from the show until the first episode of ''GO-GO Tamagotchi!'', where she returns to Tamagotchi Planet.

* ''Manga/DoctorSlump'':
** In the original manga, Senbei and Arale encounter Chivil (who appeared much earlier to try to collect souls, with no success, and ends up being another one of Arale and Gachan's playmates instead) on the way to Hell[[note]]because Arale accidentally strikes Senbei dead with a coconut shell, and she and Senbei encounter King Enma, who sentences them to Hell after Arale gives him poop.[[/note]] Chivil then secretly creates a small portal that allows Arale and Senbei to return to life.
** [[TalkingAnimal Turd]] leaves Penguin Village after two chapters.[[note]]The first chapter involves Arale finding and adopting him. The second chapter sees his parents coming to Penguin Village to take him back.[[/note]] He comes back in a much later chapter of a three-part story arc (in the original manga, anyway) to give a brief summary of TheStorySoFar while [[TalkingWithSigns holding a sign that reads "I have nothing to do with the story."]]
* The 89th episode of ''Anime/KamisamaMinaraiHimitsuNoCocotama'' has Nozomi and her Cocotama Vivit return to Kokoro's neighborhood after Nozomi's family moved to America in the 76th episode.

** For the humans: Misty showed up in [[AnimePokemonTheSeriesRubyAndSapphire Hoenn]] for a two-parter[[note]]which served as a FullyAbsorbedFinale for her Character Arc[[/note]] and then later met up with Ash in Pallet Town and spent an episode revisiting Mt. Moon. May showed up in the middle of [[Anime/PokemonTheSeriesDiamondAndPearl Sinnoh]] for a TournamentArc, while Dawn participated in a TournamentArc in [[Anime/PokemonTheSeriesBlackAndWhite Unova]]. Brock has left Ash's group ''five times'' so far: The first was during the Orange Islands where he sat out that entire FillerArc. The next three were after Johto, Hoenn, and the Battle Frontier, each of these lasting only a few days at the most. The fifth time was when he left to become a Pokémon doctor at the end of Sinnoh. This one stuck [[spoiler:with a side story showing that he's been making progress on this goal.]]

** For the humans: Misty showed up in Hoenn for a two-parter[[note]]which served as a FullyAbsorbedFinale for her Character Arc[[/note]] and then later met up with Ash in Pallet Town and spent an episode revisiting Mt. Moon. May showed up in the middle of Sinnoh for a TournamentArc, while Dawn participated in a TournamentArc in Unova. Brock has left Ash's group ''five times'' so far: The first was during the Orange Islands where he sat out that entire FillerArc. The next three were after Johto, Hoenn, and the Battle Frontier, each of these lasting only a few days at the most. The fifth time was when he left to become a Pokémon doctor at the end of Sinnoh. This one stuck [[spoiler:with a side story showing that he's been making progress on this goal.]]
** Brock and Misty return once more [[MilestoneCelebration (probably to celebrate the anime's 20th anniversary)]] for a two-parter in the ''Sun and Moon series''. They have gotten access to [[SuperMode Mega Evolution]] and battle Ash for old times' sake.

* The 89th episode of ''Anime/KamisamaMinaraiHimitsuNoCocotama'' has Nozomi and her Cocotama Vivit return to Kokor's neighborhood after Nozomi's family moved to America in the 76th episode.

** [[TalkingAnimal Turd]] leaves Penguin Village after two chapters.[[note]]The first chapter involves Arale finding and adopting him. The second chapter sees his parents coming to Penguin Village to take him back.[[/note]] He comes back in a much later chapter of a three-part story arc (in the original manga, anyway) to give a brief summary of TheStorySoFar while [[TalkingWithSigns holding a sign that reads "I have nothing to do with the story."]]

** The Pokemon are more prone to show up again. Since Ash drops off most of his roster at Professor Oak's lab these days, he has access to them at any time. In theory anyway - [[LongBusTrip in practice they are mostly just seen when Ash returns home]]. Squirtle and Charizard also come back from time to time, there was an episode in Johto where Ash met up with Lapras again, and Ash's Gliscor came back just in time for Ash's Sinnoh League battle against Paul. Charizard returned to Ash's regular team during ''Episode N'' but was dropped off at Oak's at the end of Decolora. The same thing happened to Goodra during the Kalos league, only instead of being left at Oak's it was left with Keanan.

** ''Manga/{{Jojolion}}'' has Ojiro Sasame, a StarterVillain who attacked Josuke after mistaking him for Kira, got soundly beaten, and vanished for around 70 chapters before turning up again, having [[TookALevelInBadass taken a level in badass]] in the meantime. [[spoiler: Sadly, it's not enough, and he's BackForTheDead, although he does provide a SpannerInTheWorks.]]

* ''Manga/RoseOfVersailles'''s Fersen just keeps coming back.

* In ''Manga/{{GUNNM}}'', [[spoiler:Figure Four]] gets put on a bus when the original manga, ''Hyper Future Vision'', started to gear towards the finale, and [[OutOfFocus was nowhere to be seen]] for the most of the sequel run as well. However in the recent chapters of the ''Last Order'' he seems to return with the vengeance, and even takes the role of a protagonist (at least so far), instead of being TheLancer that he was earlier.

* [[spoiler:Aoi Asahina]] finally makes an appearance in ''Anime/Danganronpa3TheEndOfHopesPeakHighSchool'' for the first time since ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'', unlike other survivors, all of whom have been featured in ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'' and ''DanganronpaAnotherEpisodeUltraDespairGirls''.