Heartwarming.Welcome To Demon School Iruma Kun: Episode 7Clara traps Iruma using her "Toy Box" ability, turning him into the form of a child so he can enjoy the games and activities in there to the fullest. This is clearly a tactic to keep him distracted during the Harvest Festival. But it's Heartwarming in Hindsight when you remember that Iruma never had the normal experiences of playtime, safety, and fun that most children would usually have. Not only does Clara (unintentionally) give him a safe space to just play and have fun, but also time for the two of them to just have fun since they didn't get to see each other much during training for the Harvest Festival.
YMMV.South Park S 5 E 2 Cripple Fight: Jimmy is totally oblivious of how much Timmy hates him and calls him his "best friend". In later seasons they do become best friends for real.
Heartwarming.Urinating Tree: "Congrats, Dodgers!" is mostly unbridled vitriol directed at the title organisation after a seventh consecutive NL West title once again failed to translate into postseason glory despite the vast amounts of talent and money at their disposal, but Tree is far kinder to their conquerors in the 2019 NLDS, a team that inspired his then-longest "Legacy of Failure" video: UT: And you wanna know something? I'm happy for the Nationals. I was tired of that Groundhog Day meme. They've earned the right to move on to the NLCS.note For only the second time in franchise history and the first not to happen in a strike-interrupted season. The Nationals would go on to sweep the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLCS, and beat the Houston Astros in the World Series, thus defeating the two teams with the best records in the 2019 season.
Heartwarming.Jon Moxley: After Cody's infamous chair shot via Shawn Spears at Fight for the Fallen 2019, Jon Moxley with Tony Khan ripped Spears to shreds backstage over his perceived carelessness towards Cody and publicly called him out over possibly injuring Rhodes. Shows how much he cares about Cody especially since he's known as kind of a quiet guy. Think about it, Jon Moxley, one of the kings of the deathmatch, the guy who nearly killed Kenny Omega in a freaking unsanctioned match, is concerned for Cody over a careless chair shot. This can be a Heartwarming in Hindsight as it seems that despite his death matches, he does them carefully with concern for his opponent's health and not just like a mindless psychopath. Cody: I hadn't seen that side of Moxley, somedays he says one half word to you and other days he's talking your ear off. He's such a unique personality. It was cool to see that because he cared about my health.
YMMV.Star Wars: Luke and C-3PO's bond throughout the Original Trilogy becomes more heartwarming when we see in The Phantom Menace that Threepio was originally built by Anakin, making Luke and Threepio some kind of brothers. If you start all six films from the prequel and original trilogies at once and let them play all the way through, the final scene ends up being Anakin and Padmé's wedding, giving the sense that the ultimate message is 'love prevails in the end'. The two most famous people to have their ashes blasted off into space were Gene Roddenberry and James Doohan of the Star Trek franchise. Then, after her death in 2016, Star Wars actress Carrie Fisher received the same honor.
YMMV.Nights Into Dreams: The kids version of "Dreams Dreams" in the first game can become this when you consider the female singer, Jasmine Allen, was brought back to sing the "Sweet Snow" version in Journey of Dreams over ten years later.
YMMV.Forrest Gump: In the film, Forrest is awarded the Medal of Honor, America's highest military decoration. 22 years later, Tom Hanks was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.
YMMV.Toy Story 2: A couple of moments after the events of Toy Story 4.When he decides to stay with Jessie, Bullseye and Pete rather than leave them for good, Woody muses to them "Who am I to break up the Round-Up Gang?" In 4, Jessie and Bullseye support his decision to go off on his own and start a new life. One of the film's best jokes is Bo Peep giving Buzz a good luck kiss and tell him "This is for Woody when you find him," which Buzz replies it "won't be the same coming from [him]." In 4, Buzz and Woody exchange a platonic but completely sincere embrace before Woody leave him to be with Bo.
Heartwarming.Ashs Just Reward: The Cooldown Hug when Ash needed it the most, (Thanks to Misty, Anabel, Lana, Sophocles and Paul) really makes you like the way that his friends are with him all the way. Even when a War's 'bout to happen between Gods and Ultra Beasts. Bonus points for being Heartwarming in Hindsight.
YMMV.The Saga Of Darren Shan: Gavner telling Darren that Mr. Crepsley is a good person and he can trust him. The Saga of Larten Crepsley reveals Mr. Crepsley was a surrogate father to Gavner. In Cirque du Freak, Darren mentions about how he never talks about personal problems with Steve because that's not a boys' thing to do. At the end of the manga, doing exactly that is what saves their friendship in the alternate timeline.
YMMV.The MLP Loops: In chapter 8, Twilight Sparkle expresses the opinion that Diamond Tiara will only ever be a bad example. Many Loops later, Diamond starts Looping, proving Twilight wrong in all the best ways.
YMMV.The Epic Of Gilgamesh: As the world's oldest-surviving story, the Epic of Gilgamesh essentially allows Gilgamesh to survive in some form even all these millennia later through public awareness of the story. Meaning in fact, Gilgamesh technically achieved the immortality he sought for so long.
Characters.Emerald City: Foreshadowing: When she's first introduced, she makes a beeline for Lucas and clings to him. That's because he protected her and her witch sisters from the Wizard's Guard while traveling to Glinda. Also overlaps with Heartwarming in Hindsight.
YMMV.Kick Ass: After the Motherfucker's defeat in Volume 2, he promises to never bother Dave again if he lets him live. Volume 3 shows that he very well kept his promise.
YMMV.Stranger Things: For Barb fans who felt that her death wasn't given the attention it deserved, the film Knives And Skin can feel like a Spiritual Successor.
YMMV.The Mysterious Mr Enter: In his review to "Fresh Heir", after Chris asked Peter if a father can actually marry his own son (it's a long story), Peter quips about gay people marrying, with Mr. Enter's response being: "And these stupid jokes might be why it's taking so long to legalize gay marriage". Several months later, same-sex marriage was deemed legal in the entire United States. While his "Ink Lemonade" review was made very shortly (as in one day) before Stephen Hillenburg's death, he did praise Hillenburg's efforts by reminding the viewers that Season 10 to 11 are an improvement over previous seasons and almost on the same level as the original 3. It's almost like he is giving a proper sendoff to Hillenburg.
YMMV.Tales Of Graces: One of Pascal's win quotes is "That one was for the lady next door!", which seems like another one of her meaningless Non Sequiturs at first. Then you visit her home and find out the lady who lives next door to her is her sister.
YMMV.Kingdom Hearts 358 Days Over 2: Reading the Secret Reports will make it clear that some Organization members do have feelings and emotions, be it positive or negative. Dream Drop Distance outright confirms that Nobodies are indeed capable of growing a new heart. Axel's Secret Report (Day 299): "There's no guilt, no feeling at all. So why does it still sting, just a little, when I lie to him? All my dealings with Roxas give me this bizarre illusion of humanity." One of Roxas's (and by extension, Xion's) first Keyblades is the Missing Ache. Kingdom Hearts Union χ reveals that this used to be Ven's Keyblade, so in hindsight, the Missing Ache returned to its original owner, in a way. When Roxas leaves the Organization, he states that the person who knows where he came from would be the one that he trusts. Anyone who played Kingdom Hearts II would know that person is Naminé, who served as an Implied Love Interest to Roxas in that game.
YMMV.The Lord Of The Rings: Ian Holm's Frodo muses about Bilbo's saying that "it's a dangerous business, going out your door..." Two decades later, in the Jackson trilogy Ian Holm's voice is saying these lines again, but as Bilbo while Elijah Wood's Frodo muses about them.
YMMV.The Patty Duke Show: A Nick at Nite marathon introduced each episode by interviewing a woman claiming to be Patty Duke's body double (who, it turned out, faced away from the camera in all of her TV appearances). One of the segments shared a fake clip of her winning an Emmy award. Decades later, the Emmy judges would begin awarding body doubles by creating the Outstanding Stunt Performance category.
Heartwarming.Toy Story 2: When Stinky Pete mockingly tells Woody that "Buzz Lightweight" isn't going to save him now, Woody's response as he tugs on the vent? "His name is Buzz Lightyear!"Likewise, when Stinky Pete punches Buzz off of the conveyor belt after he opens Al's case, Woody goes ballistic: Woody: HEY! (grabs Stinky Pete by the lapels) NO ONE DOES THAT TO MY FRIEND! (tackles Stinky Pete out of the case)
YMMV.Movie Rehab: In his Supergirl (1984) review back in 2015 SaG expressed hope that superheroines will have more success in near future. Since then most female superheroes had been successful in media with Wonder Woman (2017) sealing the deal. His "Jack Skyblue Reviews: The Irate Gamer's 10th Anniversary!" tribute video becomes a lot more heartwarming after about a year later Chris Bores announced that The Irate Gamer will make a comeback after retiring the show back in 2016. The review of Snow White & the Huntsman has SaG comparing the Troll visuals to the original Steppenwolf design from the DC Extended Universe and how it's the closest people get to OG Steppenwolf from Justice League (2017). Three years later Zack Snyder's Justice League officially saw the light of day and the movie also featured the original design of Steppenwolf.
YMMV.Fanboy And Chum Chum: Fergie's guest appearance in "Super Chums" become this once you realize she and Josh Duhamel got married the same year this show premiered (2009).
YMMV.Monte Fjanton: In the review for the Sune theater play Sunes Jul, Felix goes over the trailer for the then upcoming movie Sune vs. Sune, and while he did not like it that much, he still hoped that he would be wrong and that the movie would be good before convincing himself that it wouldn't happen. When the movie came out, he didn't review it until april 2021, where he stated the reason why: it actually was a decent movie, so his hope three years before turned out to be valid.
YMMV.Amazing Phil: Back in 2009, Phil made a video where he read his fortune via Tarot cards, and the future prediction was that he would meet "some guy that's gonna have a big impact, an energetic warrior. He has a hasty personality, and he's very quick to love or hate." Not long after, he met and became best friends with Dan.
YMMV.Kamen Rider Build: Ryuga complains about the Cross-Z suit lacking a flight ability (for comparison, Build can fly as RocketPanda and HawkGatling), even though the Transformation Sequence shows a pair of wings wrapping around him for protection instead. Then you realise that the Dragon Fullbottle used to be his girlfriend, and it makes perfect sense.
YMMV.Behind The Music: During "Weird Al" Yankovic's 1999 episode there was a moment where he jokes about his loneliness and that some relatives of his are questioning why he was still single at his age (he turned 40 that year) and due to him being in the music business, that he had to be gay. Less than two years after the episode aired, Al married his wife (and remains so to this day) and became a father.
Heartwarming.Team Fortress 2: This also makes Heavy's protectiveness of Medic ("GET BEHIND ME, DOCTOR!") even more Heartwarming in Hindsight when you realize that he's extending to Medic the very same Big Brother Instinct that he shows to his family.
YMMV.Majisuka Gakuen: Center's actress, Matsui Jurina, has been the center (lead singer) in many AKB and SKE songs, but she had also been obsessed with taking first place (i.e. becoming the center) in the Senbatsu Elections for years, to the point of being seen as overly ambitious by some fans. She finally did that in 2018 when she became the World Senbatsu Center.
Fridge.Family Guy: In the episode "The Big Bang Theory", Stewie goes back in time to the episode "The Courtship of Stewie's Father" and steals Brian's banana suit and does Peanut Butter Jelly Time. This cheers Peter up despite the fact it didn't work in the original. Why? It's not because Stewie could do it better, but because Peter was upset that Stewie was angry with him. With Stewie doing it, Peter no longer has anything to be upset about.Also counts as Heartwarming in Hindsight. It was implied to work with Brian, just "not doing it today", further implying it was specifically Stewie's upset mood that brought him down, and actually more exceptionally than other times Brian had to cheer him up.
YMMV.Moana: Auli'i Cravalho coming out as bisexual a few years after this movie's release, but still managing to land gigs at and outside of Disney afterwards, adds some poignancy to Moana daring to defy the norm, but earning the respect of her family and community afterwards.
YMMV.The Flash: Similarly, the Darker and Edgier backstory given to Barry (which is controversial among fans), as Wally had a similar retcon introduced with Abusive Parents. However, the Wests weren't intended to be abusive (while Rudy's treatment of Wally has long since fallen into Values Dissonance, at the time he was just seen as a crappy father, and this was before such backstories were particularly common for superheroes anyway), and despite the grimness, it was actually used to make Wally's previous stories as Kid Flash more Heartwarming in Hindsight as it added a stronger bond between Wally, Iris, and Barry (and despite this, the abusive parents backstory was rarely brought up after Waid took over). By contrast, Barry's dead mom backstory lacks any retroactive heartwarming traits, and has slowly dominated his character to the point that now even his costume ring is explained as being directly linked to Nora Allen's death.
YMMV.Berserk: Earlier in the Golden Age Arc, Casca is seen wrapping her shirt sleeve around a wound on Guts' arm. Though this was done purely out of first aid, this can actually be interpreted as a medieval gesture of Courtly Love, when a woman would give a piece of cloth that belonged to her, often a scarf, to a knight of her choosing; she would then bestow a favor upon it that the knight would keep in order to return it to her. While the trope was played straight between Griffith and Princess Charlotte, the audience can take this as Heartwarming in Hindsight between Guts and Casca as it foreshadows their Relationship Upgrade. However, this gesture is particularly painful to glance at after you watch the Eclipse. Why? Because the the arm that Casca wraps is Guts' left arm, the arm that Guts would eventually hack off in his last attempt to save Casca from being raped by Femto, which ultimately failed, meaning that Guts had failed his lady's favor.
YMMV.Sailor Moon: In the Princess Dia episode, said princess faints when Luna talks to her. Luna says lightheartedly that Dia isn't the Moon Princess because the latter would know Luna from their past lives. We find out that Sailor Moon is the real Moon Princess, and she spent most of season one bonding with Luna. Luna was right that the Moon Princess would know her, in more ways than one.
YMMV.Skylanders Academy: In a year with not one or two, but three video game movies which were either flops or So OK, It's Average, the fact that the show is fast-becoming beloved is this. See Win Back the Crowd below. In the episode "Sky Hard", Gary Skylandersson is nominated for "Hero of the Year" at the Skylands Awards because he stayed at home when he had a cold. It is mostly played up as a joke, but one and a half years later, it became clear to the world how important it is to avoid others when you are sick and how much good that can do.
YMMV.Owl City: The lyric "What's up with this Prince song inside my head" from "Good Time" got laughed at by listeners who thought it was a lame attempt at sounding cool. As it turns out, Adam Young had always felt a kinship with the fellow Minnesotan and had an opinion piece published by CNN shortly after the Purple One died detailing how much respect he had always had for him.
YMMV.Robin 1993: The Ho Yay subtext between Tim and Conner becomes this in 2021 when the character is revealed to be bisexual in the sixth issue of Batman: Urban Legends.
YMMV.Deep Purple: Don Airey was approached by Ian Gillan during the 2001 tour he took with the band filling in for Jon Lord and thought he was going to be dropped from the tour for playing his solos too long. All Ian wanted to do was ask him to solo longer; not only did he end up completing the tour, he was made a permanent member in 2002 and has been with the band since.
YMMV.CS Lewis: Lewis' autobiography Surprised by Joy was edited by his friend, the American poet Joy Davidman, and published in 1955. A year later, when Joy was at risk of having to return to the United States, they had a civil marriage so she could stay in England. What started out as a Citizenship Marriage evolved into one of the most profound love affairs of the 20th century after she was diagnosed with cancer; they were later married in the Church and when she died in 1960, Lewis was heartbroken. His friends would remark in his later life that he really had been "surprised by Joy".
YMMV.Scooby Doo Abracadabra Doo: Velma gets mad at Shaggy for referring to Madelyn by her Embarrassing Nickname, because one, that's her sister, and two, her sister has a crush on him and would feel crushed if he mocked her too. In Mystery Incorporated, Velma was hurt when Shaggy dumped her but eventually got over it, and she eventually learned better than to refer to her new friend, Marcie, by her Embarrassing Nickname.
YMMV.Meta Runner: Hilarious in Hindsight: Luke Lerwichagul frequently putting Egoraptor's voice clips in his Mario machinimas certainly comes to this when said YouTuber actually collabs with him in "Fast Food Fight". A Nosy Neighbor character turns out to be a villain that’s been manipulating things from behind the scenes. The trailers for Season 2 implied that there would be a fight scene in Pocket Gakusei, which merely turned out to be a Bait-and-Switch. In the series finale, Tari and Satsuki-chan team up to beat a brainwashed Lucinia in a legitimate fight scene. Or Heartwarming in Hindsight or even Harsher in Hindsight, depending on how you look at it. Belle calling Tari endearing names like "babe" and "chick" becomes awfully prophetic once it's revealed that Tari is made from pieces of her girlfriend's consciousness.
YMMV.Final Night: Hal visiting Oliver's grave can be seen as this, after the events of Kevin Smith's story arc Quiver in the Green Arrow title, in which Hal's mourning led him to resurrect Oliver (initially as a Soulless Shell, but at the end of Quiver, Ollie's soul got back to his body).
Heartwarming.Kamen Rider Drive: After Special Unit is suspended by the higher-ups and letting the president of Font-R go scot free despite all the evidence pointing to him producing explosives, Shinnosuke is moping on the roof, having lost all faith in humanity. Then the chief hands him the phone number to the person that saved him after he washed ashore. As it turns out, it was the driver of the food truck that he previously saved as Drive. The encounter inspired him to also help people, as a way of thanks to the Rider, not knowing that he saved the Kamen Rider that saved him. This message alone ignites Shinnosuke's spirits when he needed it the most.Much later in episode 25, this becomes even more Heartwarming in Hindsight with the reveal that Honganji knew all along that Shinnosuke was Drive, and gave him exactly the confidence boost he needed during his crisis of faith.
YMMV.Steven Universe Future: Hilarious in Hindsight: This fancomic essentially predicted how Aquamarine and Eyeball would fuse in the episode "Bluebird". For years, it was not uncommon to depict both Lapis and and other Lapis Lazulis with pyrite-freckles. Now Nice Lapis confirmed it is possible. Before Steven Universe Future premiered, MKatwood released a parody video of the intro called Steven Universe Fear, that ended up being pretty accurate about the general mood and recurring themes of the series. The entire "Steven needs therapy" meme is this mixed with Heartwarming in Hindsight, since in "The Future", Steven mentions actually contacting a therapist and talking to them online.
YMMV.The Champions 2018: In the first season, Gerard Piqué notices that Messi has been feeling down since losing the 2018 World Cup, and acknowledges that Messi might be realizing he will never win a World Cup for Argentina. Four years later, Argentina finally won the World Cup with Messi scoring two goals and a penalty to win Man of the Match, capping an already outstanding international career with football's biggest honor.
Heartwarming.Fairy Tail: The entirety of Chapter 127, but especially the interaction between Natsu and Laxus, and Makarov's talk with Laxus, ending with Laxus's excommunication from Fairy Tail to be both this and a Tear Jerker. Especially the last two pages.Laxus invokes Fairy Law on Magnolia, but no one dies because regardless of all his tough talk, inside his heart he doesn't consider anyone of Fairy Tail or Magnolia as his enemy. All of Fairy Tail's members doing Laxus's sign at the same time upon his departure during the Fantasia Parade is also smile-worthy. And the fact that that hand-signal had such a humble origin makes its usage in the second episode Heartwarming in Hindsight. Makarov: I may not be able to see you. There may be hundreds of miles between us, but I'll always be looking your way. I'll be watching over you forever. I promise. Made even more powerful by what it means; Laxus: It's a message. It means, "Even if I can't see you, I'm always looking your way."
YMMV.Star Trek II The Wrath Of Khan: Kirk dealing with his age is a theme explored in the movie. In the end he decides to not let it get to him and keep going as long as he can. William Shatner would eventually go on to be oldest person to go to space.
Heartwarming.Slow Damage: As he waits for his trial, Taku brings Towa to his apartment and shows a picture of the latter when he was still a child. It's especially more Heartwarming in Hindsight; since while Taku is determined to keep the darker details of Towa's past a secret, he still wants to show Towa a part of his childhood that he can remember fondly.
YMMV.The Miz: Him hosting the 2006 edition of the WWE Diva Search. The one where his future wife, Maryse, was introduced to the WWE universe. Little did they know back then that they would end up together...
YMMV.Earth Bound Beginnings: Shigesato Itoi was known to smoke a lot. The Crow smoked in the original release, but after the unreleased English version Bowdlerized that, the change was also in MOTHER 1+2. Near the time MOTHER 1+2 was released, Itoi quit smoking.
YMMV.Ladies Book Club: Harsher in Hindsight: Feel Better Soon being set in Porfopolis becomes this after said city is frozen by an ice dragon prior to Season Three of Drawga, with disasterous effets on Somewherica's overall economy. It's not even confirmed that it was Harmless Freezing, either. The constant threat of the Ladies Book Club ending due to circumstances out of its members' control can be this after the last episodes of Season Three of Drawga were shelved after the CollegeHumor firing. Heartwarming in Hindsight: Though just like in the comic, this turned out to not be the end, as the release of the entire Season Three was announced in December 2020, after almost a year spent on The Shelf of Movie Languishment.<
YMMV.Gossip Girl 2007: Eric and Jonathan’s breakup during the season felt tragic. However… Gossip Girl (2021) revealed that they are happily married.
YMMV.Aliens: James Cameron's original script would have had Ripley's daughter upset at her for seemingly abandoning her instead of already being dead by then. It's now strongly hinted that she passed away having a good idea about what her mother might have been through.
YMMV.Super Smash Bros Ultimate: Harsher in Hindsight: During Sakurai's signing off in the August 8th, 2018 Smash Direct, there were large vibrations which caused the camera to shake as a tease for K. Rool's reveal trailer, the start of which contained stronger vibrations that caused the Kongs' treehouse to bounce. Less than a month later, a deadly earthquake rocked Hokkaido, which, among other, significantly more serious things, caused the next Nintendo Direct to be delayed. Ultimate was jokingly referred to besting Avengers: Infinity War as the biggest crossover of 2018. The November 1, 2018 Direct bested it, but not in a fun way. Infinity War's Downer Ending with half of the iconic characters disintegrated? Ultimate opens with everyone except for Kirby being disintegrated. This may possibly go back to Hilarious in Hindsight or Heartwarming in Hindsight when the first trailer to Avengers: Endgame was released the same day as Ultimate itself.
YMMV.My Little Pony Equestria Girls Forgotten Friendship: Harsher in Hindsight: It's harsh to take Wallflower's motive into consideration when you realize that, outside of Crystal Prep's students, none of the extra characters introduced like the Dazzlings, Gloriosa or Juniper ever make an additional appearance after their first (or if they do, it'd be a brief, speechless cameo or One-Scene Wonder and that's it) which means that Wallflower's plight and desire to be remembered and noticed will inevitably be for naught. That said, it doubles as Heartwarming in Hindsight as, now that she has brought herself in the forefront, she can now be used as reference for fan artists and fanfic writers, ensuring that she will be noticed and remembered.
Heartwarming.World War II: You hear a lot about the conflict between Muslims and Jews, but Khaled Abdul-Wahab's story is even more Heartwarming in Hindsight. He lived in Tunisia, and when he heard the Nazis were going to attack a Jewish woman, he hid her and her family and several other families on his farm. Unfortunately, Yad Vashem in Israel rejected him as a "Righteous Among the Nations", because the penalty for helping Jews in Tunisia was not death. Even though the only country where that was the case was Poland.
YMMV.Middle Earth Shadow Of Mordor: Tolkien had never been satisfied with his orcs being Always Chaotic Evil. He had intended to rectify this, but died before he could make any major changes. Then Shadow of Mordor came along and revealed that, while orcs were certainly evil, their society was incredibly complex and nuanced. Knowing Ratbag survives his date with the Tower's hammer makes his dispatching a lot more palatable.
YMMV.Pokemon The Series XY: In the first episode of the series, Ash sees Clemont and Bonnie's bond and says he doesn't have any brothers or sisters. In a future episode, Ash is considered by Professor Kukui and Professor Burnett to be the big brother of their child, Lei.
YMMV.Pokemon Sword And Shield: If the Tsareena that's with Milo is the same Pokémon throughout, then Milo has taken it under his wing following the main post-game, brought it with him for sight-seeing in Isle of Armor occasionally and used it in his team following the Galarian Star Tournament.
YMMV.Naomi 2022: Ray Porter and Ava DuVernay had a very cordial Twitter exchange in early 2021 concerning Darkseid, who appeared in Zack Snyder's Justice League and was voiced by Porter. Porter expressed support to the (since cancelled) New Gods film project of DuVernay and assured her he would be fine if she chose someone else to play the Dark Lord of Apokolips, and she thanked him. Comes Naomi, which was created by DuVernay, and Porter has a sizeable role as Brutus in the final episode.
YMMV.The Runaway Guys: Jon revealed during the 10th Anniversary stream that he and Lucah were in fact dating during the Little Big Planet 2 LP, they just hadn't told the others yet. Now go back and watch their interactions knowing this.
YMMV.Danisnotonfire: In his "Internet Support Group" videos, a fan wrote in about her questions involving her sexuality. Daniel replied by saying she shouldn't rush to identify herself and how she'll know when she's ready.
YMMV.The Hobbit The Battle Of The Five Armies: Christopher Lee has often been best known for being Typecast as the big villain (like Dracula or Count Dooku) who gets killed off sooner or later, to the point he greatly regrets not taking up more heroic roles such as Dr. Loomis. It is fitting that the last film featuring him to be released when he was still alive had Saruman the White (a villain in The Lord of the Rings) be a heroic character fighting alongside Elrond and Galadriel against the Ringwraiths and Sauron.
YMMV.Luca: Massimo's Affectionate Nickname for Giulia is "Giulietta". The director of the movie, Enrico Casarosa, has a daughter named Fio, whose middle name is Giulietta.
YMMV.Rocket Power: Lars's voice actor would later play the role of a mariachi in Coco who is actually nice to Miguel and offers up his guitar to play. You might not get it the first time through, but he is even using the same voice as he used for Lars. A few episodes deal with how the perception of skateboarding was changing in the Turn of the Millennium and late nineties. The 2020 Olympics introduced both Street and Park skateboarding as events, along with surfing - which no doubt made many people from this era and before happier.
YMMV.Turtles Forever: Raph and Leo's brief conversation with the Splinter from the 80's cartoon has a whole new meaning when you remember that the Splinter of that universe is Hamato Yoshi. While 1987 Leo had to be recast because of union issues for the film, his regular voice actor would get to properly interact with 2003 Leo's voice actor in a few video games down the line. And coincidentally, in both games their respective characters are brothers putting 2003 Leonardo's "We're brothers" line in a new light.
Heartwarming.Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha: Episode 13, Chrono promising Nanoha that he'll do his best to see that Fate isn't punished for what Precia forced her to do. Becomes even more Heartwarming in Hindsight since Fate becomes his little sister at the end of A's.Fate and Nanoha's conversation at the end of the first season of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, and in the end credits where they're wearing each others' hair ribbons. Fate's confrontation with Precia in the previous episode falls somewhere between this and a Moment of Awesome, at least on Fate's end.
Heartwarming.Ice Age Dawn Of The Dinosaurs: When Manny and Ellie's daughter Peaches, is born. This even brings Diego to tears.This is especially Heartwarming in Hindsight when you remember what happened to Manny in the past, losing his first mate and their child. Now he has a new mate and child and gets to be a loving husband and father once again, and this time, things will be different for Manny's new family this time around.
YMMV.Final Fantasy VII Machinabridged: Barret's reaction to Red XIII being a "talking dog" in Episode 9 becomes this when it is revealed in the next episode that Barret always wanted a talking dog as a best friend ever since he was little.
YMMV.Pretty Cure All Stars: New Stage 3 depicts Nozomi as an adult and a teacher in the Lotus-Eater Machine. 9 years later, we get to see her along with the rest of the Yes 5 cast as actual adults in Power of Hope ~Adult Pretty Cure 23~, and she is a phenomenal teacher. Italy is one of the few countries which has a fan following for Pretty Cure outside South-East Asia and Japan. In 2023, Pretty Cure All Stars F had a limited release in Italy, making it the first and currently only case of an official, Toei-supported, release of Pretty Cure, unaltered, in the West.note Glitter Force was heavily edited and grudgingly released at all. All Stars F was only edited to give it Italian subtitles. Cure Supreme and Cure Puca, when they finally become a Pretty Cure team of their own, are a human and their pet/mascot becoming Cures together. Just like all the Cures in Wonderful Pretty Cure!...
YMMV.My Little Pony G 3: Those that like this generation can probably identify with the message of Come Back, Lily Lightly: Firefly: I think it's great that you're different. That makes you special. Skywishes is an earth pony who needs a cloud of butterflies to play with her pegasi friends. In G4, she's a pegasus with wings of her own.
YMMV.BETADCIU: It took five months, but the Character Development between Pico & Botan really does prove "Love Conquers All" is more than just a silly April Fools' Day gag to some. With HoloFunk proper revealing that Botan used to be Pico's babysitter and teacher (albeit only for shits and giggles in the case of the latter), their interactions in BETADCIU are easily reframed in retrospect as a sudden reunion and finding that old habits die hard.
YMMV.Futurama S 6 E 9 A Clockwork Origin: This episode reveals Farnsworth made Zoidberg Cubert's godfather, which might seem like a strange choice until seeing "The Tip of the Zoidberg".
YMMV.Franny K Stein: The chapter in the second book Attack of the 50-Ft. Cupid where Franny and Igor work together to repair the damages caused by the 50-Ft. Cupid, restore Franny to normal size and finish the Valentines for Franny's class describes Franny and Igor as working together as if they had known each other for years. The description becomes even more endearing when the later book The Fran With Four Brains goes into detail on how strong the bond between Franny and Igor has grown, especially the illustrations of Franny reading to Igor and Igor tucking Franny into bed while kissing her goodnight.
YMMV.The Rise Of Skywalker: The Digital Head Swap of Carrie Fisher's face in the flashback of Luke training Leia is less visibly jarring than the same treatment in Rogue One. After the film premiered, audiences learned that Leia's body double was Fisher's daughter, Billie Lourd.
YMMV.Yashahime Princess Half Demon: If you consider Inuyasha the Movie: Swords of an Honorable Ruler canon, then Inu no Taisho's question to Sesshomaru before he leaves becomes this. After 200 years, Sesshomaru does have someone to protect, and he's trying to save Rin yet again.
Heartwarming.Xenosaga: Kind of more of a Heartwarming in Hindsight but in another game, Project × Zone, KOS-MOS (as Mary Magdalene with the blue eyes) tells the party who lives on Earth, "Farewell, dwellers of Lost Jerusalem." She finally found the place.Another form of Heartwarming in Hindsight, but also in another game: KOS-MOS made it home.
YMMV.Fallout New Vegas: In the Independent ending, if one saved the town of Goodsprings, it is mentioned that the city grew economically with the arrival of travelers and merchants passing through. Doubles as Karmic Jackpot, since they saved the Courier that made it possible. In real life, the game's prominent featuring of Goodsprings actually helped the city become a busier tourist center, complete with the real-life Prospector (really the Pioneer) Saloon redecorating with Fallout memorabilia.
YMMV.Stand By Me: While Gordie never got his cherished Yankees cap back, years later filmmaker Hayden Schayde (a fan who has traveled around the world visiting various filming locations) met Wil Wheaton at Comic.com and gave him a replacement.
HarsherInHindsight.Fan Works: White Sheep: Overlapping with Heartwarming in Hindsight, this fic depicted Salem trying at being a housewife and a loving mother two years before the show revealed that was part of her backstory. Suffice to say, it works out a lot better for Salem in this fic than it did in her Origins Episode. Qrow being derided In-Universe as a perv after he gropes the human-Grimm hybrid Sapphire in a fight — not aware until after the act that the humanoid Grimm in question was half-human, completely sentient, and does not appreciate the action — becomes a lot harsher after Qrow's original voice actor on the show, Vic Mignogna, was fired because of a string of sexual harssment allegations.
YMMV.Spider Man PS 4: During the second act, MJ expresses frustration at not being allowed to save Peter for once. While cute, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 gives us a Black-Suited Peter bitterly saying "I'm the hero. I don't get saved." Fortunately, this does double as Heartwarming in Hindsight, as that game is more or less a nonstop succession of Harry, MJ, and Miles saving Peter over and over again, complete with Peter getting free of the symbiote and accepting help from them.
YMMV.X Chronicles: Zero's Act of True Love, giving up his Power core to save Iris, is this, since it's not the first time a Ridiculously Human Robot who is a reknowned hero gave up at least a part of his heart to save his Love Interest, who is also a Ridiculously Human Robot. Zane and Pixal, anyone?
Heartwarming.The Graham Norton Show: In a promotional for Man of Steel, the main cast (Henry Cavill, Amy Adams and Russell Crowe) appeared together, and the conversation veered towards the unlikely story of Russell filming in a school Henry was playing rugby for—and how Russell practically inspired Henry to take up acting—not knowing that they would later play in a film together as father and son. The story is worth seeing in its entirety.
YMMV.Thomas And The Magic Railroad: The original version had Lily narrating the story 20 years later. 20 years after the film was released, most, but not all, of the deleted scenes were released on the Shout Factory DVD.
StarWarsTheOldRepublic.Tropes A To G: If you're a fan of the Dark Forces Saga, the Jedi Consular being named the Third Barsen'thor might seem familiar. That's because the tomb of the Third Barsen'thor was the Chandrila mission in Jedi Academy when the Disciples of Ragnos attempted to steal the force power in the tomb and was eventually sealed away by Jaden Korr at the end of the mission. As doubles as HeartwarmingInHindsight as the Jedi Consular will be laid to rest in one of, if not the, most elaborate Jedi tombs in the franchise that would make a Sith bristle with jealousy.
YMMV.Buddenbrooks: Thomas Mann modeled the Buddenbrooks family after his own. But while the characters from the novel end up completely stripped from all her wealth, Mann's family wasn't quite as bad off - and once he had released the novel at the age of 25, he was earning enough money with it to live the rest of his life without financial sorrows.
YMMV.HAT Films: From Hat Chat #32, entitled Gecko Sporgy, the trio do a long segment about a Russian satellite filled with geckos having sex. This is quite sweet now that Smith owns three geckos and seems to love them quite dearly.
YMMV.Panyo Panyo Di Gi Charat: However, Winter Garden shows that Dejiko will eventually grow out of her selfishness and become a kind woman.
YMMV.Crash Twinsanity: Hilarious in Hindsight: Doubles as Heartwarming in Hindsight. When Cortex is trying to convince Crash to ream up with him against the Evil Twins, he claims that he had been like a father figure to Crash. Come Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time, the Flashback Tapes reveal that Cortex did have fatherly affection towards Crash when training him to be his general.
YMMV.The Mandalorian S 2 E 8 Chapter 16 The Rescue: Din's promise to see Grogu again someday feels less bittersweet after The Book of Boba Fett has Grogu receive Luke's permission to return to Din, removing any uncertainty over whether or not Din could keep that promise in future Mandalorian seasons.
YMMV.Doctor Who S 36 E 12 The Doctor Falls: The return of the First Doctor, who is played by David Bradley. Bradley played William Hartnell, the actor who originally portrayed the First Doctor, in the 50th Anniversary Docudrama An Adventure in Space and Time, which chronicled the creation and very first years of the show back in The '60s.
YMMV.Siskel And Ebert: Mixed with Heartwarming in Hindsight, while reviewing A Christmas Story they're both very worried that such a fantastic movie might be completely ignored at the box office and forgotten (it wasn't, but it wasn't a big success either). It would go on to become the classic beloved Christmas staple complete with 24 hour marathons in December.
Heartwarming.Arrow: In-Universe Heartwarming in Hindsight as while it took them entering their adulthoods, Oliver and Felicity’s hope that William and Mia will be able to rely on each other does come true.
YMMV.X Men Film Series: Seeing Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen as old friends, even if they have long since become enemies, counts as this since they became best friends after working on these films together.
TearJerker.Bo Jack Horseman: More Less - More - AccidentalAeso… AlternativeCha… Anvilicious ContinuityNod CrossesTheLine… DeconstructedC… DeconstructedT… Foil GeniusBonus Haiku HardTruthAesop HarsherInHinds… HeartwarmingIn… HilariousInHin… MemeticMutatio… Moe ReferencedBy Timeline WhamEpisode WhatAnIdiot Woobie
YMMV.Star Crossed Crusaders: Regarding the climax of the original version, with how the ending of Stone Ocean was a lot more ambiguous in the manga, there were different types of theories of what it could have meant, one of which theorizing that the events of Parts 1 to 5 still happened, which this story applies. As it turns out, this correctly predicts the implications of the final ED of the Stone Ocean anime, as just like in this fanfic, the timeline is the same up until where Stone Ocean would have taken place.
