The Bus Came Back / Anime & Manga

• In the Ah! My Goddess manga, a lot of characters from Nekomi Tech, such as Megumi, Sora, Tamiya, Otaki, and Aoshima, were Put on a Bus, and have so far appeared only once since Volume 20, which is around the time Keiichi and Belldandy graduated. It may have been unintentional, due to the fact that the series itself slowed down considerably after Volume 16 or so. Also, Sayoko, the series' first Harmless Villain (there are two others, who appeared in subsequent chapters) has not reappeared since Volume 15.
• In Battle Angel Alita, Figure Four gets put on a bus when the original manga, Hyper Future Vision, started to gear towards the finale, and 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 The Lancer that he was earlier.
• In 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 Demoted to Extra anyway. While the teams from season 1 are back, the teams from season 2 disappeared.
• A return few were expecting: Grell Sutcliffe from Black Butler was hauled away at the end of the Jack the Ripper arc. There's mention of a shinigami's suspension being lifted during the Noah's Ark Circus arc, but it isn't until the Campaniana arc that we get confirmation it's her.
• Black Clover:
  • After Fuegoleon is kidnapped by the Eye of the Midnight Sun and ambushed by Licht, he spends the rest of the series in a coma until the reincarnated elves attack the Royal Capital, upon which the fire spirit Salamander chooses him to wield its power: he promptly gets out of bed and joins the fray to save his squad.
  • Patry, Rhya, Fana and Vetto depart the Clover Kingdom after the truth of their reincarnation is revealed, hoping to find redemption elsewhere. Six months later, after Vanica leads an attack on the Heart Kingdom, Noelle and her allies are rescued by Patry and his friends, who bring them to the hidden village of Elysia, populated by the half-elf descendants of Licht and Tetia. Patry then joins the Clover Kingdom when they mount an attack on the Spade Kingdom.
• Bleach:
  • After Ichigo is betrayed by Ginjo and has his Fullbring stolen, he's brought to the brink of despair, made all the worse when Isshin and Urahara seemingly stab him in the back. Then it turns out the one who stabbed Ichigo was Rukia, who in a Call-Back to the time when they first met in Chapter 1 uses the sword she stabbed him with to restore his Shinigami powers. And then they are joined shortly after by Renji, Byakuya, Kenpachi, Toshiro and Ikkaku, who reveal that practically every seated officer in the Gotei 13 (yes, even Yamamoto) infused their Reiatsu into the sword in order to make damn sure Ichigo's power would be restored.
  • The Thousand Year Blood War arc has several, but the one that takes the cake has to be Grimmjow, who joins forces with Soul Society just so he can have a rematch with Ichigo. Oh, and Urahara managed to restore Nel's adult form, too.
  • Aizen is temporarily dragged out of prison so that he can help the Shinigami as well, which is described by Kyoraku as a necessary evil. Yes, the situation is that bad.
• In Cardcaptor Sakura, Meiling comes back for an episode in the Sakura Card arc, having been Put on a Bus in episode 43.
• Aoi Asahina finally makes an appearance in Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School for the first time since Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, unlike other survivors, all of whom have been featured in Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair and Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls.
• Doraemon: Nobita's New Dinosaur, a Stealth Sequel to the first Doraemon movie Doraemon: Nobita's Dinosaur brings back Piisuke, Nobita's previous pet dino, for the first time in 14 years in a Big Damn Heroes moment when Piisuke saves his former master from drowning in the Cretaceous Sea. The bus trip is rather short though, Piisuke simply leaves after the rescue, with Nobita oblivious on how he reached dry land after passing out and never meeting Piisuke.
• Dragon Ball:
  • Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F' sees the return of defeated villain Frieza, now more powerful than ever and hell-bent on Revenge.
  • Dragon Ball Super's version of the movie one-ups the movie by also bringing back Captain Ginyu, who got trapped as a frog in the middle of that arc, when he manages to bodyjack Tagoma and rejoin his master. Of course, he's inevitably killed by Vegeta (finally completing the set) a few episodes later, but he does manage to prove quite the threat to the other Z-Fighters.
  • The Future Trunks arc brings back the entire Bad Future timeline, now experiencing yet another apocalypse courtesy of an evil version of Goku. Along with Future Trunks (who joins the main cast for the arc), we get Future Bulma (unfortunately Back for the Dead), and Future Yajirobe (who was presumed dead, but survived).
  • The Universe Survival arc brings back Android 17 as one of the fighters, whose only appearance since the end of the Cell Saga was a brief cameo when Goku was gathering energy for his spirit bomb against Kid Buu. And he performs quite well, too. In fact, he's the winner of the tournament, after Goku and Frieza sacrifice themselves to take out Jiren.
  • Emperor Pilaf and his gang, after being absent for the entirety of Dragon Ball Z, finally re-appear in the first episode of Dragon Ball GT. Then they disappear again for the rest of the series except for one very minor cameo in the Baby Saga. Dragon Ball Super brings them back and gives them a slightly more prominent role.
  • Broly and his father Paragus take the non-canon bus into canon land in Dragon Ball Super: Broly after taking a several decades long absence from the main Dragon Ball media. Shorter for Broly more than Paragus of course, due the former's sequel movie and video game appearances. Gogeta also makes his return in the film after being last seen in Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn in 1995 and in Dragon Ball GT as a One-Scene Wonder, although in canon it's technically his first appearance.
• Doctor Slump:
  • 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. Chivil then secretly creates a small portal that allows Arale and Senbei to return to life.
  • 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. 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 The Story So Far while holding a sign that reads "I have nothing to do with the story."
• Quite common in Fairy Tail. 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 (Milliana) who shows up again in the tournament arc.
• In Fullmetal Alchemist, upon the revolt in Central, the bus not only comes back, but it's loaded to the brim with weaponry and ammo for the Mustang faction (supplied by Jean Havoc), with none other than second lieutenant Maria Ross at the wheel. Talk about a Badass Bus, eh?
• GTO: The Early Years:
  • 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, 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 Natsu's death, returns to Japan in the spinoff Ino-Head Gargoyle and becomes Saejima's cop partner.
• In Hayate the Combat Butler, remember those horrible parents of Hayate's that were rarely seen again besides as a plot device? Well, they're back in Chapter 561, and they target their own son.
• JoJo's Bizarre Adventure:
  • Noriaki Kakyoin from Stardust Crusaders ends up in the hospital for most of the Part's second half, but returns just in time for the Part's climax.
  • While most of the Diamond is Unbreakable cast would continue to make appearances throughout the series spin-off manga, Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan, Yukako Yamagishi would remain absent from the story. That was, until "Episode 9: D.N.A.", where she plays a central role.
  • Romeo Jisso, Jolyne's boyfriend from the beginning of Stone Ocean, shows up for the first few chapters of the Part before leaving the story, eventually making a brief return during the Part's second half.
  • JoJolion has Ojiro Sasame, a Starter Villain who attacked Josuke after mistaking him for Kira, got soundly beaten, and vanished for around 70 chapters before turning up again, having taken a level in badass in the meantime. Sadly, it's not enough, and he's Back for the Dead, although he does provide a Spanner in the Works.
• Justified in Kaguya-sama: Love Is War. Betsy's first appearance was part of an annual event where Shuchi'in Academy hosts a party for its sister school in Paris. Seeing as she inadvertently upset Kaguya during the first visit (whose family has a... less than savory reputation), she had a very good reason to avoid going back to Japan at all costs for the next 219 chapters until a full year has passed and the next party takes place.
• The 89th episode of Kamisama Minarai: Himitsu no Cocotama has Nozomi and her Cocotama Vivit return to Kokoro's neighborhood after Nozomi's family moved to America in the 76th episode.
• The Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Reflection manga had a rather extreme example when it had a cameo of Misato Mikami, who hadn't been seen since the Triangle Heart 3: Sweet Songs Forever OVAs, a whopping 15 years earlier (making the bus trip in question longer than the Lyrical Nanoha franchise as a whole).
• Mazinger Z: Kouji Kabuto, Sayaka Yumi and nearly all Mazinger Z characters were Put on a Bus at the end of the series. Several of them returned at the end of Great Mazinger, though: Kouji, Sayaka and Prof. Yumi. When UFO Robo Grendizer started, though, Kouji was the only character of both series was not Put on a Bus. The Bus Came Back for Boss for two episodes, and it was supposed to come back for Sayaka as well, but Executive Meddling prevented it.
• In Moyashimon, Sawaki's childhood friend Kei suddenly drops out of college and disappears for several chapters. He reappears eventually... living as a girl and dressing in an Elegant Gothic Lolita fashion.
• The story of One Piece follows the Straw Hat Pirates as they sail the Grand Line in search of the legendary One Piece. However, the Straw Hats are not the only ones going on adventures, and as such they run into a lot of recurring faces.
  • Given that a serialized manga only has so many pages per chapter, it often uses its chapter covers to elaborate on what various characters end up doing even after they've played their roles in the main story. In many cases, the characters in question later rejoin the main story, with the cover arcs serving to fill readers in on what they've been up to in the meantime. Furthermore, many cover stories serve to as an initial introduction to new characters, plotlines, or even lore which can come up again later down the road.
    • There have been cover stories focusing on, to date, Buggy the Clown (Featuring his crew, Gaimon, and Alvida), Koby and Helmeppo (Featuring Morgan and future major character Garp), Jango (Featuring Fullbody and Hina), Hachi (Featuring Camie and Pappagu), Wapol, Ace, Gedatsu (Featuring pretty much every character from the Alabasta arc), Miss Goldenweek (Featuring the entirety of Baroque works, Hina, Jango, and Fullbody), Enel, CP9, the Straw Hat Pirates themselves, Caribou (Featuring X Drake), Jimbei (Featuring Wadatsumi), the Grand Fleet, Bege (Featuring his crew, his immediate family, his extended family, and SWORD), and Germa 66 (Featuring way too many characters to list).
    • In particular, Where Are They Now? and From the Decks of the World show what every single character who played a prominent role in any arc 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.
  • Crocodile, the main antagonist of the Alabasta arc, and Bon Clay, Daz Bones, and Galdino (Three of Crocodile's former subordinates) as well as Buggy the Clown return to the story during the Impel Down arc, where they accompany Luffy as they try to break out of prison. Crocodile and Buggy both become active pirates again, with Daz Bones and Galdino joining each pirate's crew respectively. Bon Clay sadly sacrifices himself so that everyone else can escape.
    • After the timeskip, Crocodile and Buggy occassionally pop up here and there, but make a proper return to the storyline after the Wano arc, where Crocodile teams up with Dracule Mihawk to form the Cross Guild, at which point they grab Buggy as their subordinate. Though by a twist of luck, Buggy is mistaken as the boss of the Cross Guild and is declared the newest Emperor of the Sea. Later Buggy uses his newfound influence to rejoin the race for One Piece, much to Crocodile's and Mihawk's anger.
  • One character in particular seemed to have a Sound-Only Death when he was last seen or at the very least, he was likely to never show up in the series again even if he did survive. Exactly 401 chapters later in the manga, Bellamy the Hyena returns in Chapter 704.
  • The Reverie, which in-universe has royalty and their bodyguards from all over the world gather at Mary Geoise for the quadrennial World Council, features a lot of returning faces. Vivi and the Alabastians, Wapol from his Black Drum Kingdom, Dalton and Kureha from the Sakura Kingdom, Rob Lucci and his teammate Kaku, 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 Saint Mjosgard, the World Noble who was saved by Otohime, Bartholomew Kuma, and Jewelry Bonney. Also making quick re-appearances are Marines such as Koby, Helmeppo, and Garp who show up to make sure everything goes smoothly.
    • Of the characters that returned for the Reverie, many of them subsequently take on a proper role in the plot again during the Egghead arc. Koby is kidnapped by Blackbeard, prompting Garp and SWORD (Which includes the aforementioned Helmeppo) as well as recurring Marine Tashigi to set off for Fullalead to save him. Jewelry Bonney becomes an ally of the Straw Hats after encountering them, and her relationship to her father Bartholomew Kuma is elaborated on. Rob Lucci and Kaku come into conflict with the Straw Hats as major antagonists and later reluctant allies. Vivi goes missing after the assassination of her father, King Nefeltari Cobra, and then reappears alongside Wapol on Morgans' news blimp while hiding from the World Government (Although the events that lead up to this are later shown via flashback). Also returning is Kuzan, formerly Admiral Kuzan, as a recent addition to Blackbeard's crew.
  • Dorry and Brogy return in all their glory for the Egghead arc. Oimo and Kashii also return, having reunited with their beloved captains.
  • As a general rule of thumb, almost every major character comes back in at least some capacity, whether that be as a cameo on the side or by playing a role in the story proper.
• Pokémon: The Series, being a Long Runner with only five characters being permanent fixtures (Ash, Pikachu, Jessie, James, and Meowth), has this several times:
  • For the humans: Misty showed up in Hoenn for a two-parter^note which served as a Fully Absorbed Finale for her Character Arc 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 Tournament Arc, while Dawn participated in a Tournament Arc 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 Filler Arc. 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 with a side story showing that he's been making progress on this goal.
  • Brock and Misty return once more (probably to celebrate the anime's 20th anniversary) for a two-parter in the Sun and Moon series. They have gotten access to Mega Evolution and battle Ash for old times' sake.
  • Pokémon Journeys: The Series 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 Erika from the Kanto League, 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 have returned! We even have a previous evil team return as Team Galactic appears in a special four episode arc.
  • Staring from mid-Kanto, a wild Jigglypuff with a penchant of Face Doodling 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 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 - 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 Ash's Butterfree appearing at the tail end of JN136, exactly 1,200 episodes since it was released. And in the Grand Finale he's reunited with Pidgeot.
  • 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 XY. This was mainly done to make the Team Rocket trio 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. A surprising example in the Decolore Islands was Clair, Blackthorn City's Gym Leader.
• The Rose of Versailles: Fersen just keeps coming back.
• The concept of Steel Saints returned in season 2 of Saint Seiya Omega, several years after its first three representatives vanished without a trace.
• Shirobako: In the middle of the run Erika, the Big Sister Mentor of MusAni's Production, takes a leave of absence to take care of her ailing father. She only comes back at around episode 18.
• The 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.
• In Touch (1981): 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.
• Wesley from Weak Hero first shows up as a minor character that prompts the flashback to Gray's middle school days with Stephen. Despite going to the same cram school as Gray, he disappears for a good hundred episodes until he finally returns seeking revenge against Gray for humiliating him.
• After the horrifying school shooting in which her best friend was almost killed, many students died or were hurt, and she was almost raped by the younger Kuroda (with his gun), Noriko Kimura from Wolf Guy - Wolfen Crest pretty much disappears from the story. However, we later learn that 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.

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