Early Bird Cameo / Anime & Manga

• The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You:
  • Nano and Shizuka make brief cameos in the first chapter before officially becoming Rentarou's girlfriends.
  • Two maids working at the Hanazono mansion appear in several chapters before officially joining the harem. In both cases, it’s because it took a while for them to make eye contact with Rentarou; the first because she couldn’t get her eyes to open for a while, and the second because she refused to look at Rentarou until she was forced by circumstances to do so.
• Many of the angels that Misaki faces later in Angelic Layer appear on a videotape that Icchan is watching early in the anime.
• In the Asteroid in Love manga, Yuu and Chikage only appears in flesh during the thirty-second chapter.
• Attack on Titan:
  • The girl in Trost who thanked Mikasa for killing a titan. Her name is Louise and she joined the Survey Corps because Mikasa inspired her.
  • The girl Sasha rescued in her village. She's Kaya, who now lives at an orphanage run by Sasha's parents. Kaya gets bonus points in that she encounters Gabi and Falco, who are connected to Eren.
  • Even the main character, Eren, gets this after the Time Skip: He first appeared on a single panel with his back turned to the readers, and later as a faceless soldier Falco stops to help, his true identity not revealed until a few chapters later.
• During episode 23 of the Beastars Anime, both Melon and Sebun appear on the train with Legoshi.
• Bleach:
  • Uryuu can be seen in the background of panels from Chapter 28, but is introduced in chapter 34. The anime introduce him in the background of the classroom, sewing, a couple of episodes before he's due to appear.
  • Chapter 7 has a throw-away about Isshin having a personal connection to the Hospital Director. It takes around 200 chapters for Ryuuken to appear in the storyline and several more to confirm he's the character from Chapter 7.
  • When the Grand Fisher loses to Ichigo, he has his mask ripped off by two other Hollows. Those two Hollows are Asslinger and Di Roy, who don't appear again for around 200 chapters when Grimmjow invades Karakura Town.
• The Cardfight!! Vanguard anime follows the real life card releases most of the time: when a new booster set is out in real life, is out in the anime too, just in time to make as clear as possible to the audience that new cards are available. But sometimes some cards appear earlier than their actual release date:
  • The second booster set was released around episode 14-15's airing, but at the time at least 5 cards from that expansion (Silent Tom, Lady Bomb, Phantom Black, Master Fraud and Winged Dragon, Skyptero) were already shown in the anime.
  • Promo cards aren't usually covered in the show, with a few exceptions: Sphere Magus is played in episodes 23 and 40, Turboraizer in episode 29, Circle Magus in episode 37 and No Life King, Death Anchor in episode 98.
  • The Dimension Police clan was introduced briefly in the third booster set, with the fourth one featuring the proper debut. Because of this, the anime shows less footage as possible of duels featuring Team Caesar (who all use Dimension Police decks) before episode 53, and what is shown usually features mostly the four units from the third booster set (Workerpod, Saturday; Karenroid, Daisy; Masked Police, Grander and Super Dimensional Robo, Daiyusha), in order to not spoil the cards from the not yet released new set... except that in episodes 34-35 not only two cards from the fourth booster set (Army Penguin and Cobalt Justice) are clearly shown, but keen-eyed viewers can see some more cards (such as Enigman Flow, Diamond Ace, Twin Order and Glory Maker).
  • A similar thing is done with the Shadow Paladin clan, but better: before episode 43, the only card we see from that clan is Blaster Dark.
  • Episode 43 is also supposedly the first aired after the release of the fourth booster set, but, along with the aforementioned Dimension Police sneak peeks, episodes 36 and 38 basically shown all the new cards the Kagero clan gets.
  • Episode 51 features the debut of the Neo Nectar and Bermuda Triangle clans: the first was released in the fifth booster set, which was released only two weeks after the episode's first airing, while the second was subject of the second Extra Booster set, which was released only three months later.
  • Episodes 74-76 mark the debut of the Great Nature clan: most of its cards come from the seventh booster set, which came out a month after episode 74 first aired in Japan, but three of the Great Nature cards shown in these episodes (Armored Instructor, Bison, Compass Lion and Coiling Duckbill) were released only in the eighth booster set, released three months after the episodes aired.
  • Episode 93 haves Rekka using Angel Feather cards from the ninth booster set, which came out only after two months. The subsequent episodes all have Aichi, Kamui, Misaki and Yuri play cards from that set before it actually came out.
• Early on the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba manga, the Twelve Kizuki system is explained by vague nondescript silhouettes of demons belonging to that group. The anime teases defined silhouettes of what the Twelve Kizuki actually look like as early as the first opening theme and by expanding Kyogai’s flashback of him being expelled from the Lower Ranks.
• The first or second English Dragon Ball Z opening had adult/future Trunks in the title slide at the very end, despite him not being introduced until several arcs, and a Big Bad or two, later. Showing up at other points in the intro are Super Saiyan Vegeta and Mecha Frieza (who is getting sliced apart by Super Saiyan adult/future Trunks.) long before their English debuts.
• In the first episode of Eyeshield 21, as Sena wonders what club to join, you can see Monta in the background, presumably stumping for the baseball team. Another early episode features Suzuna Taki, who's trying to track down her brother Natsuhiko; she shows up again during the Death March arc, which is where she first appeared in the manga.
• The Fairy Tail anime has Wendy show up several times in passing before she's actually introduced.
• In the fourth chapter of Food Wars! the view pans over the new students and we can see several characters who appear to be later recurring characters such as Yuuki or Ryou. However, these appear to be more prototypes or early draft versions of the characters: "Yuuki" has different hair while "Ryou's" face is drawn differently, including a bandage covering the bridge of his nose. Several of the characters shown were also recycled into other characters instead, notably Elite Ten members Momo and Nene. The anime version of this scene corrects this by showing only first year students who will have a later presence, even those without a real role in the first season.
• Frieren: Beyond Journey's End: The first OP features a cameo from Serie slouching on her throne near the end. She does not receive her first mention and appearance until the Mage Examination Arc, which by the time the anime gets to it, it has already switched over to the second OP.
• Fullmetal Alchemist:
  • In Brotherhood, Izumi and her husband make a brief background appearance behind a scene where Winry is at a train station. Even earlier, when Ed is giving a shortened version of their adventures in a flashback, she appears in silhouette when he talks about them getting a teacher. The same scene contains Mei Chang.
  • Also in Brotherhood, this is inverted with Yoki. His first appearance is reduced to a brief mention, and it gets properly told (uh... somewhat) in episode 39. The first anime had covered Yoki's story well, so it only receives a brief nod in the second to make sure that the climax gets its full time to shine. Yoki's story isn't the only arc covered in the first anime to receive this treatment.
  • Kimblee also appears in the first episode of Brotherhood; Isaac MacDougal offers to break him out of prison, but he refuses. He doesn't become important until much later.
  • Also in Brotherhood: Maria Ross can be seen briefly in episode 5 before making a proper appearance. Then, in episode 6, while Edward explains that alchemists usually encrypt their research notes, Berthold Hawkeye is shown.
  • Yet another character receives a blink-and-you'll miss it cameo in the first episode of Brotherhood long before he makes a major appearance: Father.
• Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters: Small glimpses of Mechagodzilla are seen. It is featured more extensively in City on the Edge of Battle.
• Many of the characters given A Day in the Limelight in Gohan no Otomo are often introduced as a background character in an earlier chapter.
  • Mai, the main character of Chapter 2, is seen in the first one as the girl Tabuchi bumps into in the convenience store.
  • Nametake, featured in Chapter 3, is shown in a single panel in chapter 2 as a regular customer at the store where she works part-time.
  • Mai's university professor, seemingly an inconsequential character at first (as the story doesn't really deal with her school life), is properly re-introduced in Chapter 7 as Kuma's wife.
• Both Shiina and Yuki have appeared and given Boss Subtitles in the first episode of Gourmet Girl Graffiti. They were properly introduced in episodes two and ten.
• Granny Girl Hinata-chan: Sakuya appears in the foreground of chapter one, during a conversation where Moka suggests, correctly, that Hinata is the reincarnation of a grandmother. She's formally introduced in chapter four, where she reveals she, like Hinata, has also reincarnated.
• The end of the first volume of Hellsing Ultimate has a brief appearance by the Major, as well as a brief flash of him while Luke and Jan Valentine are discussing their role in the coming events. The actual manga has him make brief appearances just after the attack on Hellsing headquarters and during the meeting between Integra and Enrico Maxwell, before he is properly introduced to the story (both of these appearances are also in the OVA).
• Hanyuu and Shion from Higurashi: When They Cry appear early in the manga. Hanyuu makes a few appearances in omakes arcs before her first appearance. Shion makes an appearance in an omake from the first arc, when she makes her first appearance in the next arc. Likewise for the anime. Hanyuu is The Voice throughout the events of Yakusamashi-hen, and she actually appears as a silhouette behind Rena and Keiichi in the third episode of ''Kai''◊.
  • In the first live-action movie, Hanyuu appears behind Keiichi as a silhouette just before he tears his throat out.
• In Hunter x Hunter (1999), where the main characters are introduced by Debut Queue, Kurapika is introduced in the third episode, but makes a cameo in the second episode forking a spider while eating lunch and appearing in a shot behind Leorio.
• I've Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level: While people are gathered around Eno and Azusa is exposing her as the fake Witch of the Highlands in the manga adaptation, someone in the crowd keeps saying if Eno could be an undead to the irritation of the others and even gets Azusa's attention for a second. After Eno's story ends in the next chapter, we see a Cat Girl in her room being upset that Eno wasn't an undead and that she is still alone. Her cat ears were also visible on one of the silhouettes of the crowd.
• The anime version of Jo Jos Bizarre Adventure Diamond Is Unbreakable loves doing this. The Big Bad, Yoshikage Kira, can be seen from the back for about half a second during the fight against Chili Pepper, which is five episodes before his first full appearance. The anime also adds a brief scene where Yukako Yamagishi can be seen staring out a window at Koichi one episode before her proper first appearance. After the heroes lose Kira in a crowd of people, the subsequent crowd shot shows several characters yet to be introduced- Mikitaka Hazekura (on the left, with long, straight blonde hair), Yuya Fugami (under the lamppost, facing away from the camera), Terunosuke Miyamoto (under the 'Sports Shop' sign, wearing a long white coat), and Kira with Kosaku Kawajiji's appearance (facing away from the camera, has short black hair and is wearing a white coat and purple pants).
• Kaguya-sama: Love Is War:
  • Ishigami is first seen on the cover of chapter 11, a good 13 chapters before he's properly introduced.
  • Iino and Osaragi can both be briefly seen during the credits sequence of the season 1 finale. Neither of them are properly introduced in the anime until part way though season 2.
  • The previous Student Council President, Onodera, Tsubame, Kazeno, and several minor characters from the Culture Festival arc can all be seen during a Crowded-Cast Shot in episode 17, long before any of them would be properly introduced.
• Every major character appears in the first episode of the 2006 version of Kanon, save for Amano Mishio. Yes, Makoto is there. For those who kept trying to spot the Makoto Sawatari we know, it's not her that we see in the pilot episode, but rather, her fox form, as the fox that Nayuki approaches on the hill.
• In the Lime-iro Senkitan OVA, characters from the series' direct sequel, Lime-iro Ryukitan X, appear. Major Gamou, lead heroine Tsumugi Shima (and her Raimu), as well as one of the villainesses, Linen (though she's unvoiced), all appear for the first time, not only before their anime series, but before their game was released as well.
• In the Lupin III movie The Castle of Cagliostro, sharp-eyed viewers can spot the top of Goemon's head and sword in the back of Lupin's car among the piles of money at the very beginning of the film, and well before he makes his entrance about halfway through the movie.
• From Maho Girls Pretty Cure! until Healin' Good♡Pretty Cure, the series has a canonical crossover appearance of the next lead Cure on the final episode of the season.
  • Ichika Usami/Cure Whip of KiraKira★Pretty Cure à la Mode makes her first appearance the week before her series started...
  • ...while the last episode of that series contained a cameo by Hana/Cure Yell of HuGtto! Pretty Cure...
  • ...and the last episode of THAT series contained a cameo by Hikaru/Cure Star of Star★Twinkle Pretty Cure.
  • Then on the last episode of Star Twinkle, Nodoka/Cure Grace of Healin' Good♡Pretty Cure makes her appearance.
  • And on the last episode of THAT series, Manatsu/Cure Summer of Tropical-Rouge! Pretty Cure makes her debut. While Tropical-Rouge! itself didn't end with a canonical appearance of Yui/Cure Precious of Delicious Party♡Pretty Cure, she does make her debut in the baton pass (in Japan; her North American debut was in her own series).
• In the anime Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch, Caren appears several episodes before she becomes significant to a plot, winning a beauty contest that the main characters and villains entered.
  • Caren notably made a cameo during the beauty contest story in the manga as well, though she did not take part in it like in the anime.
• The final battle of Mobile Fighter G Gundam includes cameos of Gundams from other series (as well as Daitarn 3 and Zambot 3)...including Wing Gundam and Talgeese whose show had yet to air!
• Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation: During the execution of Eris's grandfather Sauros in Season 1, keen-eyed viewers might spot a certain peculiar individual with white hair and shades in the balcony above observing the execution being carried out. The end of the season reveals this individual to be none other than Sylphiette, who had become all but unrecognizable thanks to her becoming Prematurely Grey-Haired in the wake of the mass teleportation (which itself does not get revealed until Episode 0 of Season 2).
• In My Hero Academia, several of Izuku's future classmates can be seen during the entrance exam. Of particular note is Kirishima, whom Word of God said "kind of" appeared in Chapter 3 despite fans having a hard time finding him. (The secret: he's missing his trademark red Shonen Hair, with it explained later that he dyed it just before starting high school.)
• At the end of the final episode of My-HiME, Arika, the lead of My-Otome, runs across the screen in the background.
  • Also in the second episode, you can see a girl who looks almost exactly like Nina sitting in the seat next to Mai and in front of Yuuichi. (She also is in the lineup of girls in the opening credits)
  • Arika is shown in slightly more detail in the last chapter of the Mai-Hime manga, apparently meeting with some school officials to discuss enrolling.
• My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!: Alan briefly shows up during Catarina and Geordo's walk in the garden (just before the former's Past-Life Memories reawaken).
• Naruto:
  • Sasuke, before he was introduced in chapter 3, appeared with his arms folded sitting behind Naruto during the graduation exam on page 13 of the very first chapter. Kishimoto wasn't even going to include him as a proper character at all until his editor made him introduce a significant rival for Naruto.
  • Obito and Rin both appear in a photo behind Kakashi's bed on the cover of chapter 16. They wouldn't make an actual appearance until a flashback after the end of Part I, 223 chapters later.
  • Madara Uchiha first appeared as the second statue in the Valley of the End where Naruto and Sasuke fought at the end of Naruto Part I, he would be referred by name and his importance would be referenced over a hundred chapters later.
  • Urashiki Otsutsuki was introduced in Boruto, but he first made an appearance in Naruto Shippudden (Episode 462), as a shadow figure alongside Momoshiki and Kinshiki during the flashback of Kaguya's past.
• One Piece:
  • Akainu appeared in the background of a group shot long before his character arc.
  • Jimbei was shown among the Warlords quite a ways before his proper, physical introduction.
  • Shiryu's shadow showed up in Impel Down long before his existence was even hinted at.
  • Nami appeared in the first few episodes working independently before her proper introduction during the Buggy arc.
  • The One Piece: 3D2Y special spoiled Sabo's survival.
  • In the manga, the short-term serial cover stories will often introduce characters years before they become relevant. A notable example is Vice-Admiral Garp in the "Coby-meppo" story, or Hina in Jango's story, or Camie and Pappug in Hatchan's story
• King appears in the background in a crowd in the One-Punch Man manga before he is officially introduced.
• Ōoku: The Inner Chambers: Shogun Ienobu is actually the first of the female shoguns to be introduced, but it's only for a brief moment to introduce the concept of the Ooku before the main plot starts at the end of her daughter's reign, and Ienobu doesn't properly enter the story until Volume 6 during the middle of the How We Got Here arcs.
• It's common for the Pokémon series to debut a new Pokémon species or form in the animé or a movie before it's available in the games:
  • In the very first episode, Ash catches a glimpse of a large golden bird flying through a rainbow. That bird was only revealed with the arrival of Pokémon Gold and Silver as Ho-Oh, a legendary bird Pokémon; its colors changed a lot since then since it was based on the 1997 spaceworld demo version of it at the time before it was changed in the final version of the game.
  • Togepi, Marill (and its pre-evolution Azurill), Wailmer, Snubbull, Kecleon, Lucario, Bonsly, and Munchlax are only a few examples of non-legendary Pokémon making first appearances in movies and/or episodes.
  • For non-character examples: the first movie's Big Bad, Mewtwo, uses Shadow Ball, a generation before it's introduced in the games. Blastoisetwo also uses Rapid Spin before it was introduced in the games. Likewise, Green from Pokémon Adventures also had Pokémon who know second generation moves and used them in the RGB saga, again before the second generation introduced them.
  • Also from the first movie — Ash fights the then-not introduced Donphan during the opening credits and it uses another move from the next generation, Rollout. Neither Donphan nor Rollout were even named in the movie.
  • Elekid, Ledyba, Hoothoot, Bellossom, Lugia, and Slowking appeared in the second movie (set during the Orange Island saga and before Gold & Silver and the Johto saga came out). In Lugia's case however, this originally wasn't the case since it was designed by the anime's original director and was planned to just be in the movie but not the games before they later changed their minds.
  • Zorua and its evolution, Zoroark, appeared in the thirteenth movie before the Gen V games were released.
  • Latios and Latias appeared in Pokémon Heroes before the release of Ruby and Sapphire, and Wynaut, Duskull, and Volbeat were all in the short film that was shown before the movie.
  • Chatot, Manaphy, Mantyke, and Buizel all made their anime debut in the ninth movie, just months before they first appeared in the games. Another Chatot appeared in a regular episode before Diamond and Pearl came out.
  • The last few episodes of the original series primarily featured Blaziken, the final evolved form of the Generation III Fire-type starter, Torchic, owned by a Trainer who hails from the Hoenn region.
  • Pokémon: Giratina and the Sky Warrior debuted the alternate forms for Giratina and Shaymin before the release of Platinum
  • When Ash and co visited Virbank City, he checked out Pokéstar Studios and fought Gym Leader Roxie for his eighth badge afterwards. This was all done before Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 came out, which was when Virbank City and everything in it was introduced, at least when it was first broadcast in Japan.
  • Mega Mewtwo Y and Sylveon, one of the new Fairy-Type Pokémon, were featured in Genesect and the Legend Awakened and its accompanying short ahead of Pokémon X and Y (though Mega Mewtwo Y wasn't named in the film itself, and promotional materials called it its "Awakened Forme").
  • The Best Wishes series featured Pokémon from X and Y. Helioptile, Gogoat, and Noivern debuted shortly after the sixteenth movie in Japan. Also coming along with them was X/Y character Alexa, who happens to be sister of the first Gym Leader in Kalos, and is there to introduce the Kalos region to Ash. Not so much outside Japan, where the first episode with them debuted on X/Y's launch.
  • The Pokémon Origins special was the official debut for Mega Charizard X, before any press material was released for the new Mega Evolution.
  • Some of the new Mega Evolutions introduced in Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire also debuted before the game's release. Mega Diancie was featured in the 17th movie, while Mega Rayquaza and Mega Metagross were featured in another XY special two weeks before the remakes were released.
  • The animé featured an entire saga focused on Zygarde and its various new formes. Notably, they didn't debut in an updated version of XY as the cover legendary, but in the 7th generation games Sun and Moon.
  • Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel showcases Magearna ahead of its debut in Pokémon Sun and Moon.
  • A third forme for Lycanroc, Lycanroc Dusk Forme, debuted in the 37th episode of the Sun and Moon saga of the anime on August 10, three months before its official playable debut in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.
  • A brand new unnamed Pokémon was seen in Liko's pendent in the Pokémon Horizons: The Series anime. Following its reveal, there was a press release that confirmed that it would appear in "The Treasure of Area Zero" Expansion Pack DLC of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet later in the year. A later announcement would confirm it to be the Normal Form of Terapagos.
• The Pretty Cure All Stars movies have done this a few times: Itsuki and Yuri shows up briefly in DX 2, the Belliter weapons show up in DX 3, and Cure Honey drops in to help twice in New Stage 3.
• Princess Connect! Re:Dive: The redheaded vendor who sells Yuuki and Kokkoro crepes early in the anime is actually Labyrista, leader of the Labyrinth Guild, Omnidisciplinary Scientist, Yuuki's self-appointed Cool Big Sis (not that he remembers it), former member of the Seven Crowns and a whole bunch of other very important things in the storyline, who chose a crepe stall as her career when not working to save Landosol because making crepes was the first thing she'd ever had to actually work to get good at.
• In Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Kyoko appears in the intro theme, and starts appearing in the ending theme from episode 3 on, before being revealed some episodes later.
• Many of Shaman King's colored pages from the early volumes were chock-full of these. In literally chapter one we get, alongside Yoh, Manta and Amidamaru (all introduced in the same chapter), characters such as Anna, Jun Tao and Pyron (introduced in the following volume), Tamao alongside Ponchi and Conchi (introduced in the sixth volume), Mikihisa Asakura (who starts making recurring appearances around the tenth volume) and finally Kanna, Matti and Mari alongside their guardian ghosts (who, apart from brief cameos as background characters, get their first major speaking role in volume 17). Also, when the Shaman Fight starts, tons of important characters later down the line such as the Golem kids, Team Niles and many of Hao's minions show up regularly as background characters.
• Shiawase Tori-mingu: The fifth member of the birdwatching group, an aloof photographer named Misaki, works as a waitress at a local cafe the other girls frequent and has been cameoing as early as chapter 1, page 2 — long before she becomes relevant to the story.
• Sword Art Online: In the massive crowd scene in the first episode, quite a few important characters can be spotted when Kayaba gives his announcement. Silica is the one who drops the mirror, and Lizbeth is easy to miss because she still has a normal hair color.
• Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun: In the anime, Tsukasa appears briefly at the end of episode 5, before the 4 PM Bookstacks arc even.
• In Tokyo Ghoul, several characters introduced in :Re turn out to have had unnamed cameos in the original.
  • When Touka makes a visit to Kamii University, she accidentally greets a young man because she was reminded of Kaneki. In the sequel, we meet him again as Ghoul Investigator Nimura Furuta. He turns out to be Souta, the Clown responsible for Kaneki's accident......and the current Big Bad of the series.
  • During the finale of the series, several hooded figures appear as members of Arima's personal squad. In the sequel, we learn that one of these figures is Hairu Ihei.....and she was 16 at the time.
• Urusei Yatsura
  • An episode of featured a story in Feudal Japan with the cast playing different characters. Before the story itself begins, the cast breaks the fourth wall to explain what is happening... when all of a sudden Mendou shows up for the first time. When the others ask who he is, he calmly replies "My name is Shutaro Mendou and I will soon become a regular character on this show". He of course, joins the rest of the cast in the story. Sure enough, Mendou's "actual" introduction occurs a few episodes later without any mention of this. If you're going to do a Genji story, someone has to be To No Chujo (Genji's friend/rival), that's Mendo to a "T", continuity be damned.
  • The 2022 reboot does this with several iconic characters from the original. The Stinger of episode 2 has Mendo parachuting down from his family's airship, while episode 3's stinger shows Kurama sleeping in her coffin.
• Rex Raptor/Dinosaur Ryuzaki appears in Toei's Yu-Gi-Oh movie briefly as someone who is defeated by Seto Kaiba. He had pink hair and never appeared in Toei's anime otherwise. Lampshaded in the Other Abridged Movie based on this one:
  Rex: This sucks! I'm gonna go dye my hair.
  • Bakura briefly cameos in one episode of the Toei series that centers on the classmates holding a popularity contest and also makes several brief appearances in the Death-T arc watching and rooting for Yugi and his friends to defeat Kaiba, long before the Monster World story arc that introduced him is adapted.
  • The novelization of the originally English Pyramid of Light gives the titular pyramid an origin: Akhenaden believed that a knockoff of the Millennium Pendant, combined with the real Millennium Rod, would give Priest Set an edge over the Pharaoh. This was released a couple of years before the dub got to season 5, and so viewers would have never seen Akhenaden before.
• Deuteragonist Astral from the Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL series seems to have been inspired by an unremarkable card introduced waaay back as early in GX.
• Zone of the Enders: IDOLO was created as a prequel OVA to the PlayStation 2 game Zone of the Enders. In it, scientist Rachel Links looks at a Fatal Family Photo of her estranged husband and children, reflecting that she wished she could seem them again. It is a small scene in the OVA, but the full-length series that came after centered on her husband James trying to reconcile with their children and seek her out.

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