Stealth Hi Bye / Anime & Manga

The art of arriving and departing unseen in anime and manga.

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• Played frequently by Gaku of Absolute Boyfriend, who has the habit of popping up at the main character's school, workplace, and even in her home.
• Belldandy pulls this on Peorth in Ah! My Goddess when she's trying to ditch the sisters to get alone with Keiichi on a date. Not only does Belldandy show up whenever Peorth turns around, she also just happens to have scored tickets to the next fun activity for them to do.
• The vanishing of characters in Angel Beats! occurs this way. Often just a brief cut to a character staying behind and when we cut back the person is gone.
• Parodied in Angelic Layer, where Icchan always makes over-the-top, utterly ridiculous entrances out of nowhere and his disappearances are, half the time, caused by either his co-workers calling him to ask where on earth he is or bystanders reporting him as a creepy-looking Mad Scientist hanging around a little girl.
• The Colossal Titan from Attack on Titan quite literally appears out of nowhere and vanishes just as quickly, even though it's a 60m tall monster that appears with nowhere to hide. Justified, with the revelation that he's a human with the ability to create his massive Titan form out of thin air. With his steam powers creating a Smoke Out and the massive destruction left in his wake, no one notices him sneaking away from the scene by swinging on a set of Omnidirectional Maneuver Gear.
• Azumanga Daioh: Mr. Kimura does this occasionally, notably in the 2nd Year Sports Fest episode. Nobody, not even the audience, sees him come in, but all of a sudden, there he is in the middle of everybody. Almost everyone is pretty startled by his unexpected proximity.
• Alandeilon from Beelzebub does this often, though by far the most disturbing is him appearing from underneath Furuichi's bed!
• Bleach:
  • Captains like doing this. Lampshaded in Chapter 99 (Episode 34) by Hinamori. She doesn't realise Byakuya is behind her until he speaks, almost scaring her out of her wits. When he's gone, she doesn't realise Gin is leaning against a wall until he speaks, again almost scaring her out of her wits. When Gin is gone, she doesn't realise Hitsugaya is standing right by her side until he speaks, at which point she explodes.
  Hinamori: "That's enough! How come all the captains don't make any sound when they walk?!"
  • And in a much later chapter, Ichigo shows that he got used to it: after having a stranger suddenly appear in his bedroom where he is having a small party with friends, Ichigo's first reaction is "I don't know who you are, but get off my bed." instead of usual surprise.
  • Guenael Lee is capable of forcibly invoking this by both making himself invisible and making people forget he ever existed. He introduces himself by glomping Isane and disappearing just as quickly. Yachiru proves somewhat immune to this, much to Guenael's chagrin.
• Momose from Bloody Cross can do this using her shadow manipulating powers to hide in someone's shadow and sneak up behind them. She usually uses it to stab her opponents In the Back.
• Blue Exorcist:
  • In the manga, this happens in Chapter 22. Performed by Rin of all people! Justified by the fact he's a) the Son of Satan and thus has a lot of natural potential, and b) Bon just hit a Berserk Button of his that made him recall his foster father's Heroic Sacrifice resulting in a meltdown.
  • However, he also does it before then: the first time is during Kuro's first appearance when he suddenly shows up behind Yukio and bluffs his way into joining him on his mission. The second time is when Todo first appears, suddenly appearing with the rest of the team and freaking out everyone. Most likely genetic, akin to the Real Life thing with cats. Considering he has shown to have essentially springs (or perhaps rockets) for legs with how far he can jump, he most certainly is as fast as he is strong. The real shocker comes from the fact Rin is able to do every single one of these in complete silence.
• In Call of the Night, Nazuna is inordinately fond of appearing next to Yamori in the blink of an eye while he's focused on something else. In fact, she first met him by pulling off this trope while he was buying beer from a vending machine. Yamori ends up getting so used to it that it no longer surprises him, and in fact is able to pull the same trick on Nazuna a few times.
• Ellis pulls this off in El Cazador de la Bruja, instantly teleporting to the bottom of a well to accompany Nadie when she isn't looking. Nadie shouts at this, but quickly goes back to investigating the mysterious whatever, as Ellis has shown other powers prior to this.
• Sayoko does this to Milly in the Cupid's day episode of Code Geass.
• Hei from Darker than Black is a grandmaster of this trope, capable of even vanishing in a fully lit corridor from someone he was walking alongside no more than two feet away.
• Lavi pulled this in D.Gray-Man, appearing from in between Komui's paperwork and scaring both him and Allen.
• Renamon of Digimon Tamers has some ninja-esque ability to appear and disappear out of thin air, and talk with her partner at length in the middle of crowded intersections. Takato asks "Where do you come from all the time? Do you just wait around to scare us?"
• Hakim from Emma: A Victorian Romance is fond of suddenly appearing in his friend William's house, right behind him, without warning.
• Saki Hanajima of Fruits Basket does this twice, once to Shigure, Kyo and Yuki, and once to Yuki himself, appearing beside him and saying, "I didn't mean to scare you", causing him to jump out of his seat in terror.
• Ling Yao is known to do this on occasion in Fullmetal Alchemist.
• GaoGaiGar: Volfogg is fond of these. The fact he's a robot Ninja and is able to pull them off is a testament of how skilled he is.
• The original Club President of the Genshiken has a habit of doing this.
• Girls Bravo: Fukuyama does the "hi" part a few times... particularly on the ladies. One instance had him suddenly appear lying on the floor below a skirt-clad Kirie, complimenting her choice in undergarments.
• Go! Princess Pretty Cure's housekeeper Shirogane-san does this at least once every few episodes to the point where the students think she's a ninja.
• Shiina does this to Ryou in the supermarket in episode 9 of Gourmet Girl Graffiti.
• Great Teacher Onizuka: Tomoko's sleazy manager Munakata often does this to her assistant manager Okinoshima, leading to several Right Behind Me moments.
• Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Being specifically designed for stealth, Duo's Deathscythe can sneak past most conventional sensors (such as radar, thermal and visual scans); combined with its speed, which is the highest among the five Gundams, Deathscythe can fly up to its target and cut them down before they can detect its presence. Deathscythe Hell, being capable of spaceflight and keeping its black color scheme, blends in extremely well with the emptiness of space, becoming practically invisible. Duo's favorite tactic is to sneak up on his enemies and let them scream in terror as the God of Death takes them down.
• In Mobile Suit Gundam 00, Setsuna F. Seiei sneaks into Marina Ismail's bedroom late at night. He quietly leaves her near the end of her speech while she was looking down.
• In the Harukanaru Toki no Naka de Harukanaru OAV episode "Omoi no Arika" there's a running gag consisting of Yasuaki suddenly appearing just in the wrong place and time; the Stealth Hi/Bye ability gets lampshaded by Tenma at on point. On one occasion, Yasuaki scares Shimon by popping up from nearby bushes; another scene has him emerging from behind Tenma, prompting the latter to unleash The Scream. Worth noting that the characters are trying to hide something from him, so, of course, most of the time he appears when they're talking about it.
• If Sakuya in Hayate the Combat Butler is going to appear in a scene, chances are she's going to do it like this.
• Schrödinger of Hellsing is introduced this way, teleporting straight into a top-secret meeting. His consciousness-defined existence lets him do that, making him immortal. Alucard does this too, walking through walls behind people.
• Higurashi: When They Cry:
  • Used in the fourth episode of the anime; Rena is walking down the road a few dozen feet away, Keiichi looks away for a second, and then Rena is suddenly standing right behind him... With a cleaver in her hand...
    Rena: Found you~, Keiichi...
  • However, this might be a subversion, as it's later revealed that Keiichi was suffering from the (extreme) paranoia-inducing disease that drives the plot. It's unlikely that the cleaver was really a cleaver, though some fans theorize she did carry one in another screen (for non-malicious reasons).
  • Rika and Hanyuu also disappear when Maebara turns his back in Matsuribayashi-hen. In the middle of a wide open field, after dispensing some prophecies.
• A Running Gag in Inazuma Eleven involves Kageno sneaking behind people's back, which unintentionally scares them, which is not helped by the fact that he's so quiet most of the time and only gets noticed when he speaks.
  • Hilarity Ensues at the beginning of season 2, when the Football Frontier trophy suddenly disappears while the boys were admiring it, only to reveal that Kageno has stolen it. The others become angry and the moment they start to fight over the trophy, he's gone.
  • Hiroto also does this in the episode where he first meets Endou. After he takes his eyes away from him for a moment, the next moment Hiroto is gone and Endou gets scared that he saw a ghost.
• Inuyasha: Usually one for the big, flashy entrances that make sure he's the center of attention, Sesshoumaru is very capable of this when he feels like it. At one point, Byakuya is secretly messing with Inuyasha's group from a hiding place and they don't even know he's in the area. He turns to leave, only to find Sesshoumaru standing right behind him.
• JoJo's Bizarre Adventure:
  • Golden Wind: Risotto's Stand can allow him to blend in with the surroundings, using Metallica to deflect light from his body making him invisible. Doppio didn't notice until Risotto appeared before him, and suddenly is confused when Risotto immediately vanishes.
  • Steel Ball Run: Jesus never appears before anyone in the story, always behind them. Johnny and Blackmore both understand that they saw him in their peripheral vision, but aren't able to confirm it.
• Kaitou Saint Tail, as a phantom thief, has mastered the entrance bit — but always disappears in a flash with streamers, confetti, doves and a bunch of multicoloured balloons.
• Karin's little sister Anju does this a lot.
• Shigure from Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple usually does this.
• In Kill la Kill, Mako does this at times, even appearing right next to Gamagoori while he is making a speech from a high podium, startling the hell out of him.
• Teacher Sawako of K-On! makes a habit of showing up unexpectedly in the main cast's club room in the middle of a conversation. She even mysteriously appears during parties at Yui's house.
• The main character of Kuroko's Basketball has next to no presence, so whenever he talks to someone else, they have no idea where he came from or how long he's been there.
• Kyo Toba, a minor character from Lagoon Engine, does this all the time. In an interesting variation, it's not that he enters or leaves the room, but that he has such a weak presence that people forget he's there almost as soon as they look away. He's also The Faceless for the same reason; even his own immediate family can't remember what his face looks like.
• In the anime adaptation of Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions!, Dekomori comes out of nowhere to slide tackle Shinka while the latter is sitting in art class, then runs back out the door. They aren't even in the same grade (Shinka is in high school while Dekomori is still in middle school).
• All of the characters in the Lupin III stories get into the Stealth Hi part. Lupin is the most frequent user of the Stealth Bye part, unfortunately for Inspector Zenigata.
• Maria no Danzai:
  • Maria enters Kowase's house, sedates and kidnaps him before he can understand what's going on, then leaves before Yashima even notices Kowase is not trying to drown her anymore.
  • Shikimi doesn't even notice Maria has broken into her house until it's too late, with the latter creeping up behind her as Shikimi tries to check the noise she heard. Smash Cut to Shikimi gagged and bound in the basement under Maria's cabin.
• Later chapters of Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun show her developing a habit of striking conversations by suddenly popping up behind a character, to their surprise. This is likely due to her stalker tendencies.
• In Musou Kakyou: A Summer Day's Dream, Aya pulls this on Remilia. The latter's look of sheer surprise at Aya coming out of nowhere is priceless.
• Mysterious Joker. Dark Eye pulls this in his debut episode.
• Misato pulls one on Asuka in Episode 9 with the aid of a sliding door in Neon Genesis Evangelion.
  • Recreated beautifully with Shinji in tow in Rebuild of Evangelion 2.0.
• Shizune tries to do one in Night Raid 1931, but when the lights come back on, everyone else in the room finds her struggling to undo the door lock.
• One Piece: Lafitte surprises everyone in the big Marine meeting in their very headquarters when he suddenly appears in the room. While wearing tapping shoes.
• One-Punch Man: During the Boros attack, it’s revealed that the building is made of the strongest stuff there is. The next time Genos turns to Saitama, Saitama has already left the building by jumping through the ceiling to go fight the aliens. The anime adaptation shows that this made no detectable sound.
• Xerxes Break from PandoraHearts. It seems that every time the he comes into the screen, unless he's already there and sitting down, he appears from the most random places for the explicit purpose of freaking everyone out. These include an endtable, under a bed, and under a couch.
• Nobody ever sees Himari's penguin hat appear on her head in Penguindrum; often it remains unnoticed until "SURVIVAL STRATEGY!!" At least once, it isn't seen until it makes a comment as though it was part of the conversation the whole time — cue gawking and, moments later, the aforementioned announcement.
• In The Pet Girl of Sakurasou, Mashiro does this to Sorata in episode 2 when he comments on a beautiful painting he saw in a book. Which turns out to be Mashiro's.
• Pokémon: The Series:
  • Conway from the anime is particularly fond of combining this trope with Scary Shiny Glasses whenever he pops up. He almost always appears behind Dawn, and she's always startled when it happens.
  • The eleventh episode of Best Wishes shows that Team Rocket is able to do this as well.
• Homura Akemi of Puella Magi Madoka Magica is very good at this, and quite possibly the best example. It's practically her primary mode of transportation, and she has the habit of doing this multiple times per conversation, solely for the sake of showing the other girls just how sorely outclassed they are. At first she seems to be accomplishing this by Flash Step, and then by straight-up teleportation; ultimately, however, it turns out to be a creative application of the power to stop time.
  • In Puella Magi Madoka Magica The Movie: Rebellion, Sayaka turns the tables and pulls it on Homura of all people. Sayaka covers herself with her cape just as Homura freezes time. She walks up and pulls the cape away, only to find Sayaka is gone. She presumably teleported away or used incredible speed.
• Ranma ½:
  • Ranma Saotome does this often in the manga (not the anime).
  • This is also Hikaru Gosunkugi's main shtick; he's supposedly so banal and socially invisible that other characters (even martial artists) fail to notice him until he makes his presence known. It's exaggerated in the anime, where it looks like he's materializing out of the shadows to startle people.
• Rebuild World:
  • The Artificial Intelligence Olivia uses advanced technology for this as The Remnant of Old World Precursors. She mixes Hologram and Chameleon Camouflage to pop in and out of scenes without anyone besides Alpha realizing, either sneaking inside of a hologram she had set up, or sneaking out of the hologram a while before it ends.
  • After Akira gets a set of Powered Armor with high quality Invisibility Cloak, he starts doing this. Going to one negotiation, he seemingly sends Carol ahead to be his representative and then pops into sight behind her surprising everyone. In another case, Elena and Sara think they hit a bump while driving shortly before Akira appears in the back seat.
• Kujaku does this all the time in RG Veda.
• Rosario + Vampire:
  • Mizore pulls a Stealth Hi with Tsukune on more than one occasion. She appears inside cupboards, in his closet, and standing outside an upstairs window, among others.
  • The Bus Driver often does this, freaking out everybody, even the people with Super-Senses.
• Sailor Moon:
  • Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune are fond of suddenly standing or sitting behind the barely five-foot-tall Sailor Moon wherever she goes, and making comments, as if they had been there the whole time.
  • Usagi herself does this once: Mamoru's just standing on a street corner. A passing truck blocks our view and after it passes... there's Usagi right next to him. Mamoru doesn't notice her until she greets him, startling the hell out of him.
  • Mamoru often gets in on this too as Tuxedo Mask, combined with *Twang* Hello. No wonder the fans make him out to be the Japanese equivalent of Batman.
  • It's also quite common, at least in Fanon, for Sailor Pluto to do this to Usagi as well. There's one particular episode of Stars where she scares the living daylights out of the girls on about three occasions by popping up out of the blue. This episode is famous in fandom. The girls are eating icecream when she appears. Pluto pops up holding a popsicle. She actually pulled that trick twice, the second time was without the popsicle. And it really doesn't help that the episode is the first time Pluto appears after the Nehelenia mini-arc.
• Regularly in Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei, Nozomu's devoted Stalker with a Crush, Matoi, will suddenly appear behind him, even if she wasn't anywhere to be seen in the previous frame. The two always have this exchange where Nozomu asks "Were you there the whole time?" and Matoi replies "Yes, always."
• Nadeshiko pulls a lot of this in Shugo Chara!. Oddly, she/he generally doesn't do so while openly showing her/his real gender. Within fact, the only time she/he gets close to doing so would be the subversion of her/him tying her/his hair up like Nadeshiko as a surprise answer towards Amu's longing for Nadeshiko to come back. Tsukasa also tends to do this, no matter how far the Guardians may be from him, to the point where it's surprising that the fandom hasn't pedo-ified him yet.
• Xellos, from Slayers, frequently uses this... and when he doesn't, it's because he's using Offscreen Teleportation or onscreen teleportation instead. Seriously, he never makes entrances or exits normally. He kind of subverts it in that he doesn't need you to look away: he'll teleport anyways.
• So I'm a Spider, So What?: Shiraori has a habit of doing this with Transfer, sometimes appearing just long enough to leave a poorly-phrased message before leaving.
• Reina from Sound! Euphonium is prone to doing this to Kumiko.
• Sword Art Online: Death Gun pulls a Stealth Hi on Kirito in Gun Gale Online. By virtue of having an Invisibility Cloak, he can quickly appear and disappear at will.
• Tenchi Universe. Sasami manages to pull this off against Tenchi in her first appearance.
• Tiger & Bunny's Origami Cyclone takes this to a new level: he manages to photobomb pictures in the very millisecond they're being taken. It has not yet been established whether this is a manifestation of his superpowers or just Rule of Funny.
• In Tokyo Mew Mew, Kish regularly appears behind Ichigo to hug or try to kiss her.
• Legato Bluesummers from Trigun loves doing this to Vash, in order to torment him. This usually happens right before/during/or after something horrific happens, which just cements Legato as horror incarnate.
• Umineko: When They Cry. Kanon tends to do this with his sister Shannon. Later this is completely justified with the reveal that Kanon and Shannon are the same person and so his appearance and disappearance is only in her head.
• In The World Ends with You, Kitaniji sometimes exits his conversations with Konishi in the Dead God's Pad this way, leaving his glass behind.

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