Times where explaining something leads to a horrible realization in Anime and Manga series.
- In Attack on Titan, Falco does this in an internal monologue. After introducing Reiner to Eren Yeager, who'd claimed to be Reiner's old friend, Falco realizes that if Reiner had met his "friend" more than four years ago, it was probably while he was infiltrating the island of Paradis, meaning that the person in question is actually an enemy.
- Bleach: As Ichigo and Aizen face off in their final battle, Aizen is initially under the assumption that Ichigo has discarded his Reiatsu in exchange for raw physical strength, since Aizen has evolved to a level of power that transcends Shinigami and Hollows and even he couldn't detect any Reiatsu from Ichigo. Ichigo repeatedly shrugging off his attacks before visually oozing with power eventually tips Aizen off to the truth as he mentally comes up with an alternative explanation: just as lesser beings could not perceive Aizen unless he deliberately lowered his presence to a level they could comprehend, he is also unable to perceive Ichigo's Reiatsu because he has reached a level of power that transcends Aizen's own. He immediately refuses to accept that such a thing could be possible, right before Ichigo gives him an object lesson on the meaning of the word "possible".
- In chapter 17 of Boarding School Juliet, Romeo realizes too late that his cool plan to invade the Cat Dorm was also, objectively, kind of stupid:Juliet: You came all this way...just for thatnote ?
Romeo:...Yep.
Juliet: You got everyone involved...and got yourself hurt again for that...?
Romeo: Err... - In Bokurano, after winning his battle and dying, Kanji wonders which of the three remaining pilots will be next. He rules out Kana (since Ushiro had forbidden her from playing the game), but then rules out Ushiro (who'd recently admitted that he wasn't in the contract), as well as Machi (knowing that she's Koyemshi's accomplice). Kanji then wonders who it could be, and is horrified when he realizes that it's actually Kana, who'd signed up after Kokopelli's battle.
- In City Hunter, after Ryo's aerophobia is discovered, Kaori wonders aloud how Ryo could have been aerophobic and is about to rebuff Ryo's claim that he never got on a plane in his life by reminding him of an airplane flight he took when he was young, only to stop herself short upon remembering that said flight ended in a plane crash.
- Digimon Tamers has Cheerful Child Suzie Wong trying to make friends with a rather looming Rabbit digimon. Looking over at her, Henry and Takato wonder if they should be worried. Takato digresses into talking about the Devas they have left to fight, one of which is the Rabbit Deva. Cue reaction.
- Dragon Ball Z: Cooler's Revenge:
- Near the end of the film, when Cooler has been shot into space by Goku, he notices the sun and contemplates blowing it up and letting the Earth freeze to death... before he realizes that Goku's shooting him into the sun:Cooler: It's the star from this planet's solar system. Maybe I'll blow that up instead and let them all freeze to death in darkness. Wait a minute... I'm heading right for it!!
- As he's frying in the sun, he's ranting at Goku and wondering why he wasn't destroyed with the rest of the Saiyans when Frieza destroyed Planet Vegeta, and then flashes back to the day Frieza did so; during that time, Cooler saw Goku's space pod escaping the explosion, but refused to intervene, partially because he had his own schedule and refused to fall behind to cover Frieza's own mistake, and partially because Goku was just a baby at the time, so he dismissed him as any immediate threat. With that, Cooler realizes that Goku was the very Saiyan he let escape, and suffers a Villainous Breakdown:Cooler: I don't believe it! I could have killed him! I let him go! I let him go!
- Near the end of the film, when Cooler has been shot into space by Goku, he notices the sun and contemplates blowing it up and letting the Earth freeze to death... before he realizes that Goku's shooting him into the sun:
- In the ending of Fate/Zero, the Grail dives into Kiritsugu's mind to determine what kind of person he is, and extrapolates his greatest wish from this. During this moment of introspection and self-analysis, it starts to dawn on Kiritsugu that his thinking was flawed all along and that following his ideal to its ultimate end is going to result in the extinction of humanity.
- Food Wars!: During an internship period, Souma and Hisako get assigned to a restaurant that's been struggling with an influx of customers from a new station that opened nearby. Together, the two of them get the crowd under control, but Souma voices worries if what they've accomplished qualifies as having fulfilled their requirement of having "left significant results". Hisako mulls over his words, but attempts to deny them, citing that ever since they've arrived the restaurant has been doing well, but then realizes that the operative phrase is "ever since they've got there." The only reason that the restaurant has been doing well was because of Souma and Hisako's help, and most likely, once their internship ends and they leave, things will more or less go right back to dire straits, and they can't really say that they've left "significant results" if the situation after they leave is the same as before.
- In the Japanese versionnote of Fullmetal Alchemist (2003), the Big Bad has a spectacular example when she realizes she was Hoist by Her Own Petard because she transmuted away her minion Gluttony's mind.Dante: Just calm down, we'll get you something to eat soon. Wait...you can still understand me, right!?
- The manga and Brotherhood anime has another example when Edward figures out if you draw the giant tunnel Sloth is digging arround Amnestris and locations where alot of bloodshed occured on a map of the country, then it forms a Philosopher's Stone transmutation circle that encompasses the entire country. Moreover, all the locations on the map involve instances where Central intervened and ended up escalating the situation, with the oldest incident dating back to the nation's founding, meaning the entire country was created for the purpose of making this circle. And to top it all off, the last location that needs to have bloodshed is right at the fort the Elric brothers are staying at.
- Related to the above, the gold-toothed doctor asks Ed how many laboratories there are in Central. Ed says four, but remembers there are actually five- the fifth being the abandoned Lab 5, which was destroyed early on. He then realizes the truth- there's a transmutation circle under Central City, one that the doctor activated.
- Jojos Bizarre Adventure:
- Stardust Crusaders has Enya attempt to murder the Joestar group in a hotel in a foggy town. Her first mistake was accidentally calling Jotaro by his name. Jotaro claims not he or anyone else told Enya his name, which blows her cover as an enemy Stand user. Enya tries to explain that she learned his name from the hotel guest book, only to see that instead of "Jotaro", he wrote his name as "Qtaro" on purpose.
- While running away from DIO, Joseph is able to figure out his Stand's ability using the hint Kakyoin left behind.Joseph: He used Emerald Splash to destroy the clock. He destroyed the clock's hands...he stopped the clock? Impossible! Could it really be...the true power of DIO's The World..is the power to stop time!
- While running away from DIO, Joseph is able to figure out his Stand's ability using the hint Kakyoin left behind.
- In one arc of Golden Wind, Bucciarati jumps out of a speeding train with his enemy Prosciutto, in order to save his team and Trish, the girl they're protecting, from Prosciuto's Rapid Aging Stand. Prosciutto's partner Pesci catches Prosciutto's right hand with his fishing rod Stand, only for Bucciarati to grab hold of Prosciutto and swap places with him, causing Prosciutto to fall and be fatally injured. Pesci, who is only aware that there is now one person rather than two on the line, is confident that Bucciarati is dead, but then notices that he's holding someone's left hand, and that the passengers are starting to recover from their aging.Pesci: This can't be real. If all these people are starting to get better, then the body that dropped from my line must've been... OH GOD, NO! There's no way it was him! No, Big Bro, please, no!
- Later, Bucciarati is completing the final steps to deliver Trish to her father, the secretive and paranoid Boss of Passione. However, Trish suddenly vanishes, leaving the severed hand that she was holding onto Bucciarati for comfort. He tries to find out who could have taken her since the only ones who know where they were are Bucciarati's teammates... and the Boss who gave them the instructions. This leads him to realize that the Boss had ordered the heroes to bring Trish to him so he can finish her off himself.
- Stardust Crusaders has Enya attempt to murder the Joestar group in a hotel in a foggy town. Her first mistake was accidentally calling Jotaro by his name. Jotaro claims not he or anyone else told Enya his name, which blows her cover as an enemy Stand user. Enya tries to explain that she learned his name from the hotel guest book, only to see that instead of "Jotaro", he wrote his name as "Qtaro" on purpose.
- Jujutsu Kaisen: When Yuji and Mahito first meet and the latter attacks Yuji, Junpei tries to defuse the situation as Yuji tells him to run. Junpei tries to reassure him that Mahito isn't really a bad person, but cuts himself off as he remembers all the times he saw Mahito transfigure humans and realizes that, yes, Mahito is a bad person.
- Kaguya-sama: Love Is War:
- Kaguya develops a "ritual" of touching her left cheek with her right hand to calm herself, then meets up with Shirogane, who asks her why she's been avoiding him. But then he grabs her by the wrist to prevent her from running away, distressing her.Kaguya: Once I activate my ritual, I'll be unstoppable! Just gotta touch my left cheek with my right hand. The same hand... he's holding.
- When Shirogane, suffering from low self-esteem, asks Fujiwara what kind of man is her type, she starts listing qualities like a guy who, when faced with an obstacle, overcomes said obstacle through sheer hard work and determination... and slowly trails off as she realizes she's basically describing Shirogane.Fujiwara: I'm attracted to people who share your qualities but not to you... what a terrible thing to realize...
- Kaguya develops a "ritual" of touching her left cheek with her right hand to calm herself, then meets up with Shirogane, who asks her why she's been avoiding him. But then he grabs her by the wrist to prevent her from running away, distressing her.
- In Negima! Magister Negi Magi, as the students of Mahora set up to deal with Chao's impending invasion in an hour, Setsuna starts thinking out loud:Setsuna: So, Chamo, what if Chao sees what we're up to out here and abandons her plans?
Chamo: Then we celebrate. The festival event will be a major bust, though...
Setsuna: Supposing she delayed her plans?
Chamo: No way. It takes time to set up a spell like that, and the magical energy needs to be used at its exact peak. She could delay an hour, tops.
Setsuna: Then what about moving up her plans to trip us up?
Chamo: Erk. [long pause] That's a possibility...
[the invasion force starts appearing, over an hour early] - Red River (1995) had a subplot of a woman claiming to be Ishtar in a remote town, and Yuri worried that this fake Ishtar's attitude and actions would harm Kail's reputation. Yuri gets imprisoned when she confronts her and claimed to be the real Ishtar, but was freed by the civilians working in the quarry because they had come to adore her. When Kail arrives at the quarry to pick up his Ishtar, everyone is confused why he's there. Kail asks them if they actually know what Ishtar looks like, and they begin to cite the rumors: A woman with hair of jet, and loved by everyone that meets her because... and they become quiet, realizing they are describing Yuri.
- In Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie, there's a scene where Knuckles and Tails find out that Metal Sonic showed up at Sonic's home and trashed the place. Once they get the news, they're at first relieved that nobody was home at the time, but:Tails: THE OLD MAN WAS THERE; HE'S WATCHING THE HOUSE!!!
- Sword Art Online:
- Kirito and Sinon are deliberating how Death Gun can kill a player's real-world body, when Kirito stumbles upon a theory. Death Gun isn't a single person, but rather it's a collaboration between at least 2 people: one person who control's Death Gun's avatar in Gun Gale Online, and another person who breaks into the homes of people who Death Gun wants to kill and then syncronizes their actions with the livestream of the game so that they die of a lethal injection when Death Gun shoots them. To Sinon's horror, this means that since Death Gun tried to kill her earlier, someone has broken into her house and is ready to kill her at any time.
- Sinon and Gabriel duel each other toward the end of the Alicization arc, using their guns from Gun Gale Online. Sinon counts the bullets they've fired, and after running out of bullets realizes, to her horror, that Gabriel has two shots left.
- In the second volume of the light novel for SAO: Progressive, Kirito, in a duel with Morte (someone who's trying to get him to abandon his current quest for unknown reasons, and so challenges him to a duel), gets hit with an attack that leaves him just over half health, and wonders why Morte didn't take off the small amount left and win. At that point, it dawns on him that if he takes a strong enough attack, he won't just lose the duel, but also die (both in the game AND real life).Kirito: [narrating] If Morte had left me with just a bit of health on purpose...He was not hoping to win this duel and force me to leave my quest for another day. He was planning, here and now...to kill me.
- In Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki, Kagato seems to be on the cusp of victory when he launches a blast at Tenchi. To his confusion, Tenchi’s standing there with three Light Hawk Wings in front of him. Kagato doesn’t understand how as he’s captured ship Tsunami and the goddess is unable to send power to him until it dawns on him: that’s Tenchi with that power.
- When Toriko throws a massive beast at the glass dome covering the IGO's Biotope 1 battle arena, Mansam assures Komatsu that the dome is so tough that it could block a missile attack. He then remembers that the dome was already damaged when Toriko broke into the arena...and that the beast is flying right at it.Mansam: The shield's made of reinforced acrylic plating 2.5 meters thick! It'd deflect a rocket! (Worried) ...Wait. (Looks at the hole Toriko made earlier) Uh-oh.
- In Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s, following Jack's interrupted duel with Yusei, while reviewing the footage of Yusei's last move before the Crimson Dragon blacked out New Domino, Yeager points out that if that hadn't happened, Yusei's move would've defeated him. Jack denies this until:
