History AbortedArc / AnimeAndManga

* ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'' had the infamous "[[BizarroEpisode His Master's Voice]]" (aka "Call of Dagomon") episode. A tribute to the works of Creator/HPLovecraft, the episode ended with Dagomon (a horrifying Franchise/{{Cthulhu|Mythos}} [[CaptainErsatz clone]]) rising up from the sea in [[SinisterSilhouettes silhouette]], with the FindOutNextTime narration promising a future appearance from the beast. Dagomon never appeared again. His role was originally going to be expanded, but [[ExecutiveMeddling meddling from Bandai]] and [[CreativeDifferences disputes amongst the show's staff]] led to the arc being aborted, creating headaches for Digimon fans for years to come. Not even his actual appearance in Xros Wars' [[Anime/DigimonXrosWarsTheYoungHuntersLeapingThroughTime final arc]] has cured it (though that was likely because it was a different individual of the same species in an alternate universe).

* The first series of ''Anime/Superbook'' ends with Chris' mother announcing she's having a baby. When the second series begins, no baby has been born, and the pregnancy is never brought up.

* The animated adaptation of ''LightNovel/MahouSensou''. Plot twists will be suddenly thrown at the viewer as though setting up an impending story arc, only to be forgotten about as quickly as they'd appeared. One of the most blatant examples is when [[spoiler:Ida's sister]] is supposedly kidnapped by the magical equivalent of the FBI: it seems as though the heroes are going to pull off a daring rescue, but instead the kidnapping is never brought up again and the series ends with the viewer clueless as to what ultimately happened to her.

** When the series ended, it left enough plot lines aborted to fill a cemetery, including those introduced a mere '''twenty chapters''' before the ending. The biggest is everything learned about the Soul King after [[spoiler:his death,]], and his relation to the Quincy and Yhwach, [[spoiler:his son]].

* Happened a few times in the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' anime:

** In the ''Best Wishes'' saga, we have a case of an aborted ''conclusion'' to a near-finished arc. The subplot with Team Rocket and the "Meteonite", a space rock with special destructive powers, is built up for several episodes and ''just'' as the epic two-part conclusion to this subplot is about to air, [[TooSoon an earthquake devastates Japan and the episodes are pulled from rotation and never referenced again]]. [[spoiler: Various trailers and a synopsis based on leaked information show that it went pretty much how one would expect it to go - with Team Plasma stealing the Meteonite from Team Rocket, the two teams fighting over it, and Ash intervening and having Pikachu destroy it to end the conflict.]] Though even if they ''did'' air, the announcement of [[Videogame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2 sequel games]] as opposed to the usual UpdatedRerelease third version caused such a shakeup that the rest of the Plasma plotline was excised from the main story, completely separating it from the whole Badge quest and TournamentArc.

* ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'' had the infamous "[[BizarroEpisode His Master's Voice]]" (aka "Call of Dagomon") episode. A tribute to the works of Creator/HPLovecraft, the episode ended with Dagomon (a horrifying Franchise/{{Cthulhu|Mythos}} [[CaptainErsatz clone]]) rising up from the sea in [[SinisterSilhouettes silhouette]], with the FindOutNextTime narration promising a future appearance from the beast. Dagomon never appeared again. His role was originally going to be expanded, but [[ExecutiveMeddling meddling from Bandai]] and [[CreativeDifferences disputes amongst the show's staff]] led to the arc being aborted, creating headaches for Digimon fans for years to come. Not even his actual appearance in Xros Wars' [[Anime/DigimonXrosWarsTheYoungHuntersLeapingThroughTime final arc]] has cured it (though that was likely because it was a different individual of the same species in an alternate universe). Time will only tell if the new SequelSeries will get this squid-shaped monkey off everyone's backs...which it didn't!

* ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable'' tells us that when Josuke was a kid he got very sick (due to [[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders the return of Dio]]). His mom tried to take him to the hospital, but the car broke down in a storm; a mysterious man in a pompadour then showed up to help them. Though only seen in silhouette, this man looks so much like the modern, teenage Josuke that it seems to be setting up some kind of StableTimeLoop plot. Nothing ever comes of this, however, and the man's identity, as Josuke or someone else, is never revealed.

* ''Anime/DragonBallZ'':

** Early on in the Orange Islands saga, Misty's Togepi had begun surreptitiously using Metronome to help out Ash and the others with them being none the wiser about Togepi having learned an attack. By the time Misty had given away Togepi -- now a Togetic -- to help protect the Mirage Kingdom at the end of her return episodes in Hoenn, they ''still'' hadn't figured out what Togepi had been doing.

* ''Manga/DragonBall'':
** Androids 19 and 20 are introduced as the perpetrators of a BadFuture, with Trunks specifically referring to those two numbers[[labelnote:*]]In the anime, he never says 19 and 20 specifically[[/labelnote]], their entrance setting them up as dangerous threats, and their creator [[MadScientist Doctor Gero]] being Android 20 himself. Then when Toriyama's former editor expressed dissatisfaction with the pair, they were swiftly destroyed to make way for Androids 17 and 18 (now retconned to be the ''real'' villains).

** Though Androids 17 and 18 hunt down Goku to kill him simply because they have nothing better to do, as soon as Cell (via more former-editorial influence) enters the picture and [[MakeWayForTheNewVillains overshadows their menace]], they simply drop their desire to kill for little apparant reason.

** Early on in the Orange Islands saga, Misty's Togepi had begun surreptitiously using Metronome to help out Ash and the others with them being none the wiser about Togepi having learned an attack. By the time Misty had given away Togepi- now a Togetic- to help protect the Mirage Kingdom at the end of her return episodes in Hoenn, they ''still'' hadn't figured out what Togepi had been doing.

** The original series conclusion to the anime was meant to be a climactic final battle between Ash and Gary... except by the time the conclusion was approaching, ExecutiveMeddling forced this all-important finale to the side and launched Ash on a perpetual journey and the show into being a long-runner with no real conclusion in sight. Similarly, the Mewtwo movie's original trailer showed brief [[MissingTrailerScene scenes]] of a DistantFinale apparently involving an adult Misty and a suspiciously familiar-looking child, which needless to say never made it to any print version of ''Mewtwo Strikes Back''.

** Half of ''[[Radio/PokemonTheBirthOfMewtwo The Birth Of Mewtwo]]'' radio drama, meant to go with ''Anime/PokemonTheFirstMovie'' and later animated (though [[AdaptedOut excluding the first portion]]), revolves around Jessie's MissingMom Miyamoto and how she's been searching for Mew for twenty years. Outside of the drama nothing has referenced Miyamoto. She has yet to be reunited with Jessie.

* ''Anime/{{Shinzo}}'': The first season sets up an arc where the heroes have to confront the so-called Seven Enterran Generals who started the war and ending with their leader, [[SortingAlgorithmOfEvil who is of course the most powerful one]]. This quest is cut short when the third General on the list reveals that she had already killed the remaining ones to absorb their power, then herself is killed by a time-displaced version of the BigBad. Killing ''him'' then causes a TemporalParadox that changes the entire history of the show.

* ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'' had the infamous "[[BizarroEpisode His Master's Voice]]" (aka "Call of Dagomon") episode. A tribute to the works of Creator/HPLovecraft, the episode ended with Dagomon (a horrifying Franchise/{{Cthulhu|Mythos}} [[CaptainErsatz clone]]) rising up from the sea in [[SinisterSilhouettes silhouette]], with the FindOutNextTime narration promising a future appearance from the beast. Dagomon never appeared again. His role was originally going to be expanded, but [[ExecutiveMeddling meddling from Bandai]] and [[CreativeDifferences disputes amongst the show's staff]] led to the arc being aborted, creating headaches for Digimon fans for years to come. Not even his actual appearance in Xros Wars' [[Anime/DigimonXrosWarsTheYoungHuntersLeapingThroughTime final arc]] has cured it (though that was likely because it was a different individual of the same species in an alternate universe). Time will only tell if the new SequelSeries will get this squid-shaped monkey off everyone's backs...which it DIDN'T!

* ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'' had the infamous "[[BizarroEpisode His Master's Voice]]" (aka "Call of Dagomon") episode. A tribute to the works of Creator/HPLovecraft, the episode ended with Dagomon (a horrifying Franchise/{{Cthulhu|Mythos}} [[CaptainErsatz clone]]) rising up from the sea in [[SinisterSilhouettes silhouette]], with the FindOutNextTime narration promising a future appearance from the beast. Dagomon never appeared again. His role was originally going to be expanded, but [[ExecutiveMeddling meddling from Bandai]] and [[CreativeDifferences disputes amongst the show's staff]] led to the arc being aborted, creating headaches for Digimon fans for years to come. Not even his actual appearance in Xros Wars' [[Anime/DigimonXrosWarsTheYoungHuntersLeapingThroughTime final arc]] has cured it (though that was likely because it was a different individual of the same species in an alternate universe). Time will only tell if the new SequelSeries will get this squid-shaped monkey off everyone's backs.

* ''Manga/BokuraNoHentai'' hinted that Akane is either [[AmbiguousGenderIdentity gender dysphoric]] or she has [[GrowingUpSucks complex issues with hitting puberty and growing up]]. There's no resolution to this. Akane was DemotedToExtra in the latter part of the manga and all of her issues disappear after she [[spoiler:gains her first crush on Tamura]].

** Half of ''[[Radio/PokemonTheBirthOfMewtwo The Birth Of Mewtwo]]'' radio drama, meant to go with ''Anime/PokemonTheFirstMovie'' and later animated (though [[AdaptedOut excluding a large portion]]), revolves around Jessie's MissingMom Miyamoto and how she's been searching for Mew for twenty years. Outside of the drama nothing has referenced Miyamoto. She has yet to be reunited with Jessie.