Times where somebody is Right for the Wrong Reasons in Anime and Manga.
- In Black Clover, Yuno invokes this when Revchi mocks Asta's dream of becoming the Wizard King since he's "a loser born without magic". Yuno agrees that Asta won't become Wizard King, but not because he's a loser: it's because the one who will become Wizard King is Yuno himself. Yuno's words motivate Asta to get back on his feet to kick Revchi's ass, with or without magic. The five-leaf grimoire choosing Asta to wield its power in that exact moment grants him a third option: kick Revchi's ass with Anti-Magic.
- In A Certain Magical Index, the villain Terra of the Left notices that Touma is not using his Imagine Breaker's full potential, and concludes that Touma has amnesia. He mocks him, saying that if Touma didn't lose his memories, he would have been much more powerful. While Terra was correct that Touma had amnesia, Touma did not know Imagine Breaker's full potential before he lost his memories either.
- This happens a few times in Death Note, mostly in the manga version:
- Aizawa once mentions that deaths having occurred at Kira's hand while Light was under surveillance doesn't necessarily prove Light's innocence, saying that Light could have killed when he was in a situation where he wasn't being watched by the cameras; while Aizawa is right here in that this incident indeed does not prove Light's innocence (as he had an alibi where he was able to find a way to access criminals' names and faces while being under surveillance), Aizawa misses the point here. The issue is not that criminals died while Light's activities were being closely monitored, but rather that criminals died while Light had no way of gaining information about them.
- When Mello is attacked by the Task Force and Soichiro reveals he knows Mello's true name, Mello concludes that this is because Kira controlled one of Mello's subordinates into revealing his name, meaning that the Task Force has teamed up with Kira. However, while Mello is right about the Task Force having teamed up with Kira, the only reason they know Mello's real name is because of the fact that Soichiro took the Shinigami Eye deal.
- After Mello reveals to Near that one of the rules in the Death Note is fake, Near narrows down the fake rule to the 13-day-rule. Near is right in assuming this, but his thought process for eliminating another fake rule (that the whoever touched the notebook will die if it is destroyed) was that Mello could not have learned about that rule being fake because Mello could not have tested that rule. However, the reason Mello learned of the fake rule was not because of his testing, but rather because a Shinigami told him.
- When Light has Kiyomi Takada say things that are uncharacteristic of her to say as a newscaster (her sharing her personal opinions about Kira), Mikami finds something off, and concludes that someone must have made her act this way, and comes to the conclusion that she is having meetings with Kira. While it is true she was having meetings with Light, Takada herself didn't even know that Light was Kira, meaning Kira could very well have not been the only person to have her say such things.
- Light eventually concludes that Near has figured out that the second L, Kira, is Light Yagami. However, Light thinks Near deduces this because of Light's connection to Misa Amane, the alleged former Second Kira, and the election of Kiyomi Takada, someone who was once close to him. While Near most certainly did figure out Light is the second L and Kira, it was not for these reasons. To add an extra layer to that, had Near concluded that Light is the second L from Takada's election, that would have also been an instance of Right For The Wrong Reasons, because Takada's election had nothing to do with Light and her connection to Light was nothing but a coincidence.
- Delicious in Dungeon:
- In an early chapter, Marcille and Senshi have a disagreement about the best way to harvest mandrakes, a magically powerful plant that lets out a death-causing scream when pulled from the ground. Marcille argues for the method she was taught, where the mandrake is pulled from the ground by an animal, which is killed by the scream while the harvester hides out of range. Senshi argues for his self-taught method, where he quickly cuts the head off the mandrake before it can scream while pulling it. Marcille argues that her method is traditional and therefore better, but the others agree with Senshi that his own method is safer and more efficient (and doesn't kill some poor dog), leading Marcille to try to use it herself (in the process nearly getting herself killed). However, when Senshi looks over the mandrake harvested by Marcille's methods, he realizes that her mandrake is better than his; since it gets off a scream, this gets rid of a lot of toxins and produces a tastier and more nutritious mandrake. He concedes to Marcille that sometimes a more efficient method doesn't always get you the best results.
- Kabra is able to correctly deduce that Laios and the Touden group are trying to take down the Mad Mage. While Kabra believes they are doing so to become the new rulers of the dungeon, the reality is that the Touden group are intending to confront the Mad Mage but to save Falin. Laios has no interest in actually becoming the dungeon ruler.
- In The Disastrous Life of Saiki K., Shun Kaidou thinks Saiki is his superpowered sidekick as the Jet-Black Wing. In fact, he is not the Jet-Black Wing, the Jet-Black Wing is a figment of his imagination. He's right about Saiki having superpowers, though, but he doesn't seem to be aware of that.
- Dragon Ball:
- Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F': When Sorbet first wishes for Frieza's revival, Shenron says that it's pointless to bring him back since he would return in pieces. After talking with Tagoma, Sorbet demands that his wish be granted. Shenron calls it a foolish wish, but grants it anyway. As it turns out, the wish was foolish, albeit not for the reason Shenron originally stated. Instead of returning to his empire, Frieza launches a full-scale invasion of Earth for the sake of getting revenge on Goku; that decision led to his entire army and what was left of his empire being wiped out, the very thing Sorbet originally brought Frieza back to prevent.
- Dragon Ball Super: During the Future Trunks Saga, after Beerus kills Zamasu, he believes that this means Goku Black will be Ret-Gone and Future Trunks' timeline is safe. However, Trunks, recalling that the deaths of the mainstream timeline versions of the Androids and Cell had no effect on their counterparts in his timeline, is not so sure and takes Goku and Vegeta back with him to the future just to be certain, and indeed, nothing has changed. Black still exists and is still wreaking havoc. However, while Trunks was correct to assume that his timeline was still in danger, it wasn't for the reason he thought. Beerus got it wrong because he and the others thought Future Zamasu was Present Zamasu and that Goku Black was merely a creation of the Super Dragon Balls, when in truth, Goku Black is Present Zamasu, who became so obsessed with Goku that he used the Super Dragon Balls to swap bodies with him and then teamed up with his counterpart from Trunks' time. As Black explains, his his physical presence in the future timeline protects him from any changes in time, meaning that Beerus killing his past self wouldn't affect him even if it erased the timeline he originally came from.
- Dr. STONE: After Chrome is taken prisoner by Tsukasa's army, he remembers how Senku had previously used electricity to break down salt water into sodium hydroxide and, reasoning that he could use that to melt the ropes holding his cell's bars together, breaks apart his own collected sweat with a battery in an effort to make sodium hydroxide. The narrator notes that since Chrome forgot to make a partition in the water, he accidentally ended up making sodium hydrochlorite, or bleach, instead. Despite this, Chrome is able to use the bleach to break the ropes down into cellulose, allowing him to escape.
- Durarara!!: Shizuo Hewajima maintains that anything weird happening in Ikebukuro is Izaya's fault. He's usually correct (Izaya pretty much always at least has a hand in whatever's happening), but only by coincidence. He doesn't base his suspicions on fact or past evidence... he just really hates Izaya and blames everything on him. Izaya even lampshades this by pointing out that logic and reasoning doesn't work on Shizuo, which is what makes him so dangerous.
- In Great Teacher Onizuka, Creepy Gym Coach Fukuroda is accidentally framed for being a Panty Thief instead of Onizuka, but it's hard to say he didn't deserve it given his behavior towards female students.
- Hunter × Hunter: In the Yorkshin arc, when part of the Phantom Troupe trying to steal the items that are meant for the underground auction realize that the people holding the auction were prepared for an attack and have the items already safely put away, Uvogin tells Chrollo that he thinks that the Troupe has a "Judas" among them. Chrollo gives him an explanation that his assumption is wrong, and Uvogin later learns of his own that the Nostrade Family's daughter has a fortune-telling ability and therefore he quickly figures out that Chrollo was right about a "Judas" spilling the beans to the mafia. However, unbeknownst to the Phantom Troupe, they do have a traitor among them: Hisoka. He sold information of some of the Troupe's abilities to Kurapika, which results in Uvogin's death.
- Imaizumin-chi wa Douyara Gal no Tamariba ni Natteru Rashii: ~DEEP~: Keichiro deduces Keita has turned his apartment to a hangout place because he can't say no to girls, and they may be taking advantage of him. The only thing he got wrong is that by current time they've started to respect Keita and he does allow them to stay.
- In Isekai de Kojiin wo Hiraita kedo, Naze ka Darehitori Sudatou to Shinai Ken, the king who summons an entire class to a new world to fight the demon king, sends the protagonist, Shinji Naomi off to run an orphanage, seeing him as a worthless incompetent, because while the rest of his class all get nifty Awesome, but Impractical skills useful only in warfare, Shinji gets the Boring, but Practical "protect" and "analyze" skills. What the king fails to realize, is that Shinji is the perfect choice to run an orphanage because he's honest, forthright, trustworthy, and is a Friend to All Children. Not to mention that his "protect" skill works best when he wants to protect something, and there's no way Shinji would want to protect the class that constantly mocks and derides him, back on Earth or in this new world.
- In Isekai Izakaya Japanese Food From Another World, Baron Brantano demanded that Nobu make schnitzel for him, except that neither Nobu or Shinobu know what it is or how it's prepared, other than there is pork involved. While Nobu leaves to find out, Brantano tells Shinobu to prepare something for him in the meanwhile. She decides to make hirekatsu (pork cutlet sandwiches) to appease him since he seems to like pork. Brantano is delighted and leaves the restaurant satisfied, to Shinobu's confusion. She did not realize that schnitzel and katsu are essentially the same thing.
- In JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 3, Kakyoin argues that there is no such thing as a 'mirror world', as mirrors are just reflections of light and the idea of there actually being another world inside of them is just a fantasy, so J. Geil's Stand can't possibly work that way. He turns out to be right - the Stand works by traveling between reflective surfaces and never entering another 'world'. However, in Part 5, there is another Stand that actually does travel to a 'mirror world', proving Kakyoin's reasoning wrong. He was just lucky that the particular Stand he was facing didn't work like that.
- Kaguya-sama: Love Is War:
- Karen is a rabid Kaguya/Shirogane shipper, and is wholly convinced that the two are hopelessly in love with each other (something that her best friend Erika dismisses as fangirlish delusions). She is right about the two being in love, though it's based completely on her having a pair of shipping goggles glued to her face rather than having any basis in fact.
- Iino has a tendency to interpret things in a sexual way, the most glaring example being when Tsubame invites Ishigami to her home on Christmas Eve, which she interprets as a sex invitation, when Tsubame actually intends to invite everyone from the Culture Festival Committee to her Christmas party (which Iino interprets to be an orgy). However, Iino is completely right that Tsubame intended to have sex with Ishigami on that night. She just meant to do it when the party was over and everyone left.
- Oko's claims that marriage is a woman's greatest happiness and that Kaguya wouldn't be able to get married if she was better educated than her potential husband are meant to establish him as a Straw Misogynist, but he is technically correct as far as Kaguya and Shirogane are concerned. Kaguya's ultimate goal is to marry Shirogane and be a part of his family due to the Shinomiyas having basically starved her of affection her entire life, and part of the reason why Shirogane pushes himself to the point of exhaustion in studying is because he wants to prove that he can stand as Kaguya's equal.
- At the start of the story, Kaguya constantly assumed that Fujiwara would become a threat to her relationship with Shirogane in the future, fearing that the guy she liked would fall in love with her best friend. Come Chapter 223, Fujiwara indeed started to become a threat to Shirogane and Kaguya's relationship, because she felt that Kaguya is hers alone and rejected the notion that her best friend is dating someone else.
- Shirogane is generally nice, but he hates Mikado, his rival in national exams. Actually Mikado respects Shirogane for this and has no intention of beating him in this competition. However, Mikado is planning to get together with Shirogane's girlfriend via Arranged Marriage (although this is merely a backup plan in the event that Shirogane is unable to save her).
- In Kimagure Orange Road, Sayuri is the only one, beside Kyosuke and Madoka herself, who knows they like each other. She came to this conclusion because as she was stalking Madoka, she saw her and Kyosuke enter the ABCB and heard the noise of lovemaking soon after, not imagining it was actually a porn movie put on by Hikari, Madoka's best friend and Kyosuke's girlfriend, without knowing what it actually was.
- After Phos returns from the Moon in Land of the Lustrous, Euclase notices that they are behaving strangely and suspects that they're planning something. While Euclase is correct in that Phos is trying to convince others to travel to the Moon, they surmise that the suspicious behavior is because Phos is an impostor. In reality, Phos had undergone a Face–Heel Turn upon learning the truth about the Lunarians' goals and Adamant Sensei.
- About halfway through Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's it's revealed that the Wolkenritter are actually semi-autonomous programs. Fate (who was in the middle of her "am I even human?" phase) compares them to herself, which Chrono and Lindy are very quick to deny. As we find out later on in the episode, that is probably the most accurate comparison that could possibly be made since they're almost identical to her back in the first season (completely human despite their artificial nature, driven to help a dying mother figure, and suffering to the point that you just want to give them a hug).
- My Hero Academia:
- During the entrance test, Iida realizes that there might've been a Hidden Purpose Test after he sees Midoriya destroy the zero-point robot. When they meet again upon the start of the school year, Iida assumes that Midoriya passed because he figured out the hidden test, and defers to him as his better for it. In truth, Midoriya had no clue that there even was a hidden test: he simply tried to save Uraraka from being crushed by the zero-point robot because he was naturally driven to do so. Which is exactly what the hidden test was about.
- During a Tournament Arc, main characters Uraraka and Bakugo are paired together in a match, Bakugo keeps a heavy hit in reserve just in case Uraraka, who he knows is friends with the crafty Midoriya, came in with a strategy she could use to win. While he's right about the fact that Uraraka had a plan, she actually declined Midoriya's help, wanting to win or lose on her own merit. Midoriya sets the record straight after the match when Bakugo demands to know if that plan was indeed his.
- Todoroki is almost immediately able to pinpoint that Midoriya has some form of relationship with All Might and is All Might's protege due to sharing the same quirk. However, he mistakenly believes that Midoriya is All Might's illegitimate son.
- Near the beginning of Nanbaka, Gokuu interviews the Cell 13 prisoners to find out why they got in jail. He makes up tragic backstories for them and guesses that Nico got in for drug peddling, Rock broke out to see a friend, and Jyugo being involved in all of it. He was right about them having tragic backstories, but Rock made a friend when he escaped since Jyugo took him to a restaurant so he could eat good food away from wardens who looked down on him, Nico's unwitting involvement in drug peddling landed him in a jail that used him as a human guinea pig, and Jyugo really did connect the group, but it's through him helping them with their problems rather than them helping him.
- A meta example in Naruto. The masked ninja Tobi spends the majority of his appearances claiming to be Madara Uchiha, somehow living beyond his natural years to cause all the problems preceding the story. He states a lot of facts that support this, until it's revealed that the real Madara was dead and Tobi is actually Obito Uchiha. While it seems like Tobi may have been lying this whole time, when you see his backstory you realise he was technically telling the truth about some of it. Obito really did have his life artificially extended and went on to manipulate events, thanks to the real Madara.
- In One-Punch Man, Fubuki has power equivalent to a high A-Rank, but doesn't believe she could be at the top. Her sister Tatsumaki surmises she has the potential to be S-Rank alongside her but believes there's something mentally holding back her potential, which is true. Tatsumaki incorrectly surmises it's her friends and associates. It's actually fear and an inferiority complex toward her older sister.
- Pokémon: The Series:
- In "The Mystery of the Missing Cubchoo!", Cilan was right that a boys Cubchoo ran away from home for a reason but had the wrong conclusion.
- In "Performing with Fiery Charm!", Upon seeing Serena's new look, Miette had the right conclusion that she did it for a reason but had the facts wrong as she thought she changed her appearances for Ash, although it was also a little teasing.
- Puella Magi Madoka Magica:
- When Madoka says that she dreamt about Homura before actually meeting her, Sayaka remarks that perhaps the two met in a past life. Assuming a given value of 'past life' (one that involves time travel), she is correct.
- In Puella Magi Madoka Magica The Movie: Rebellion, when Homura confronts Bebe, she believes that the latter knows what's going on because she thinks that Bebe is the witch that created the fake Mitakihara. In fact, Bebe does know what is going on but was not the one to create the barrier.
- The Quintessential Quintuplets: During the climax of the Sisters' War arc, Fuutarou confronts Ichika on the fact that she lied and tried to disguise as Miku to sabotage the latter's confession. Ichika attempts to save face by saying that she is the girl he met six years ago, but he calls her bluff by mentioning the good luck charm that "Rena" bought at the time. She makes the mistake of saying that she still has it, and he knows it's a lie because the "Rena" he met recently gave him her charm, and then he lost it when he fell into the water during Christmas a few months back. While Ichika isn't lying about having met him before, he's correct in assuming that she wasn't the Rena who gave him the charm, since at this point he's still unaware that they're different quintuplets.
- In Ranking of Kings, both the castle guards at the Kingdom of Bosse and King Desha, ruler of Underworld, share the view that Bojji's Fragile Speedster fighting style isn't something he should do. However, whereas the formers' reasons are that it is a contrast to the way Bosse fought makes them view it as not very kingly and even cowardly, Desha's criticisms are largely built on reason; while he doesn't encourage Bojji to emulate Bosse, realizing that he's likely incapable of such a thing, he points that while his style can help him survive, it's ineffective in that his strength wouldn't allow him to bypass an opponent's armour and gives him very few avenues to win fights, merely prolong them.
- In School Rumble, when Yakumo is helping Harima with his manga, she realizes that the main characters (who are love interests) are based off Harima and her own sister. When she brings this up, Harima, horrified, concludes that she has the power to read minds. She can read minds, but she's never been good at reading Harima's. She figured it out simply because it's really obvious.
- In Slow Start, after Hana finally comes clean to her friends about being a Rōnin and having missed what would have been her first year of high school, it turns out that both Eiko and Kamuri had figured out a while ago that Hana wasn't actually the age that she was presenting herself as, though their assumptions in regards to the actual reason for it were a bit off the mark. The former had correctly guessed that she was a year older than everyone, but assumed it was because she failed last semester and was repeating, rather than illness forcing her to take a gap year after middle school. The latter was a lot more off base, having assumed that Hana was younger than the rest of them due to how childish she looks, and thus had skipped a grade. Both of them chose not to say anything, while the last member of their friend group didn't see anything amiss at all.
- Usotsuki Satsuki wa Shi ga Mieru has Satsuki's father in regards to why she didn't do anything to try saving her mother's life. He's 100% correct that Satsuki did see her mother bleeding out on the ground and completely ignored it to play video games instead, but believes she did so because she was completely apathetic to seeing a loved one dying, resulting in him becoming incredibly cold towards her in the present day. In actuality, Satsuki had just recently awakened her abilities to see the corpses of people about to die, and had been seeing her mother's corpse in the hallway for days. Not understanding her ability, she thought it was just some odd hallucination, and just started avoiding getting anywhere near it. Satsuki is horrified when she realizes what has happened far too late. Akira argues that this isn't fair in the slightest, and while Satsuki agrees, she notes that all she can hope for is to one day find a way prove the truth to him.
- Watamote has Tomoko assuming that Nemo has to be bi or a lesbian. Why? Because she has an unusual dyed hairstyle, and therefore she looks like an anime character, and anime girls are always a little bit gay or bi. Also, she lent Tomoko her chapstick, which is obviously an Indirect Kiss (it wasn't; she does it to one of her other friends in the same chapter, which Tomoko interprets as "two-timing"). Later on, Nemo starts showing signs that she is indeed gay or bi, but Tomoko's guess was just pure luck. Ironically, later on, Ucchi does something similar when she assumes that Tomoko is also attracted to girls, which seems to be more or less true—but she assumes this because she thinks Tomoko is attracted to her (she isn't).
