Tempting Fate / Anime & Manga

You think a mangaka's won inside a manga? Guess again.

Examples of Tempting Fate in anime and manga.

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• In Area 88, the character Boris (known by others as "The Angel of Death") has a reputation of always returning to base alone after a mission, no matter how many pilots go up with him. In the anime, one guy in a flight of four (plus Boris) gets cocky: "We flew with Boris 'The Angel of Death' and survived!" SAMs kill his sorry ass and two other guys 7 seconds later, leaving only Boris to head back to base.
• In Chapter 131 of Assassination Classroom, recently-revealed mole Akari gloats at length, in front of dozens of trained assassins, about how she was just pretending to be their friend...all of two chapters before she realizes that isn't quite true. She also boasts that they are unimportant "background characters" who can do nothing to stop her. This is also not true.
• Attack on Titan: After graduating, Eren says something along the lines of "Now we'll be ready if the Titans attack today!" No, you won't, Eren. No you won't. Also done in the first episode in a similar way, although it's less Tempting Fate than it is a sort of weird prediction. With the first example, given what we now know, choosing that particular moment may have been intentional on Bertolt's part, although it's unlikely that he would have heard Eren from wherever he was before he transformed.
  • In the very first chapter, the main trio are discussing the fact that Titans haven't breached the walls in over a hundred years and that humanity has become too complacent. One of Armin's lines is "there's nothing to say that it won't happen today". Guess what happens that day?
  • After the Time Skip, the Beast Titan Zeke Yeager comments on the prowess of the Ackerman family to his colleagues, and adds that he never wishes to see them again. He not only ends up facing Levi hours later, but also is personally curb-stomped by him twice, with Zeke enacting a Taking You with Me on Levi to break even.
• Discussed and subverted in Azumanga Daioh, when Osaka predicts that their school trip to Okinawa will be "tons of fun" and Chiyo agrees, which it does turn out to be, on the whole. However, right after she says it, the image freezes and the background fades to black:
  Tomo: At that time, they never would have dreamed... it would turn out to be such a miserable trip. Or something.
  Yomi: Enough with the narration!
• In Baccano!! 2002 — Bullet Garden, an assassin by the name of Angelo does everything he can to guarantee his death in the subsequent events by bringing out the Fatal Family Photo, considering retirement after this one job, and assessing that the chances of dying to be a Million To One — all with copious amounts of lampshading by the narration. Against all odds, he lives.
• In Bakuman。, Moritaka Mashiro's mother, unwilling for him to pursue a career as a mangaka, is confident that his father will also oppose it (Moritaka's uncle Nobuhiro, who worked himself to death trying to re-establish himself as a mangaka, was Moritaka's father's brother), but finds out that this is not the case. She then suggests going to her father-in-law, "who lost his son to manga," for the key to Nobuhiro's office, might feel the same way he does, but is shocked when he gives Moritaka the keys.
• Every Apostle in Berserk pulls this one. "No mere human could compete with an Apostle!" Then Guts horribly kills them.
  • A rather memorable example comes from an unlucky group of soldiers. The commander of said soldiers insists that Guts' reputation as the "Hundred Man Slayer" couldn't possibly be true, or is at the very least an exaggeration. It's not. May we also point out that during this discussion, Guts is beyond a state of Unstoppable Rage after finding poor Griffith in his tortured state? They didn't stand a chance.
  • Even protagonist Guts pulls one of these, possibly the biggest and worst one in the series. After defeating Griffith in a duel, winning his freedom from the Hawks Guts says in his mind that he wasn't a big player in the Hawk's success and that Griffith would eventually get over it and the Hawks would press on. No, Guts. Griffith did NOT get over it. And then the Hawks got into deeper, and DEEPER shit.
  • This trope is a necessary plot schematic, since a major theme is causality so it's pretty dependent on the main characters making lousy choices that impact their lives.
• Abe Takaya in Big Windup! is pretty smart when it comes to baseball. But his genre-blindness becomes legendary when he assures Mihashi that he won't get sick or injured all throughout high school, so that they will always be a battery. It's not hard to guess how that turned out◊.
• In Bizenghast, the characters are exploring what looks like a labyrinth. Edaniel and Edrear remind Dinah and Vincent to stay together and that they don't want to lose anyone down there. When they lose Dinah, Vincent goes to look for her, even using the exact phrase "I'll be right back!" Subverted since while everyone except Edaniel falls victim to whatever is in there, they all survive.
• In the fourth episode of Black Butler Ciel Phantomhive had to disguise himself as a girl to get to a serial killer at a fancy party. He says, "Good thing Elizabeth isn't here. I'd hate to have her see me like this." Guess who actually was there?
• In Black Lagoon, Revy laughs and laughs when Garcia Lovelace tells her that his housemaid could whip her ass but good. Guess who is in the bar right at that moment, and about to break out the dakka for a Roaring Rampage of Revenge?
• In Bleach, Ichigo and his friends get separated upon their infiltration to the Seireitei, and on the second day of their infiltration, Ganju asks Ichigo how the others are doing. Ichigo notes that Orihime and Uryu are smarter than him and won't pick fights with opponents they can't defeat, and he can't imagine Chad losing. Almost immediately thereafter Chad encounters Kyoraku, one of the strongest captains, who proceeds to curb stomp Chad.
• In Blue Exorcist Episode 10, this happens.
  Guard: "It's not like it's unchained and will return to its original demon form, right?"
  [Cue the cat turning back into its original demon form off-screen]
• In Boarding School Juliet, Romeo insists to Char that his friend Hasuki will sympathize if he reveals to her that he is in a Secret Relationship with Juliet. The next time Juliet sees him, he is being chased down by a sword-waving Hasuki.
• A staple in Cardfight!! Vanguard is that a fighter — hero or villain, doesn't matter — thinks that "there's no way X manages to draw a trigger and break my shield and/or deal that much damage in one turn" (triggers are essentially a Luck-Based Mission). A notable aversion of this is in Cardfight!! Vanguard G, when Shion actually asks his opponent to see all the cards he's allowed to see (everything but the deck itself and the hand) and actually calculates the possibility of him drawing a trigger. In this case, his gamble that the opponent won't draw a trigger does pay off.
• City Hunter:
  • Whenever Ryo imagines the female client he's hired to bodyguard as a burly, homely woman due to not having managed to know what the client looks like in advance, he ends up with a pleasant surprise upon seeing that the client in question is actually a beautiful young lady.
  • After Ryo manages to whisk an Idol Singer he's hired to bodyguard, Tarzan-style, away from the audience storming the stage while she's performing in a concert, said Idol Singer gives him a kiss on the cheek as a show of gratitude. Given her well-known status, the image of the kiss spreads through media outlets like wildfire the next day. Ryo goes to the singer's agency office expecting to be fired for the scandal... only to be greeted with jubilant elation, due to the new relevation that the Loony Fan, whom Ryo was hired to bodyguard the Idol Singer from from the beginning, has just switched his target from the singer he was planning to harm initially to Ryo following the release of the kiss.
    Singer's Agent: In the show business world nowadays, a scandal is also considered as publicity. From now on, go out together and catch the criminal's attention!
    Ryo: (thinking privately) I wonder if it's possible that they hired me for that purpose in the first place...
  • Kaori expresses anxious excitement at the thought of being chosen to act in a movie production and is excited when a studio manager asks her to be the main star of a movie. She has second thoughts once said studio manager tells her that the plot of the movie is about a woman pro-wrestler who's also a transvestite.^note  This doubles as Brick Joke, as, during Kaori's audition, some mistake her for a transvestite, causing her to furiously state that she's a woman through and through, and, when the culprits who try to sabotage the movie production, including the audition, are exposed, she pins down one of them with a wrestling move.
    Studio Manager: Please, this concerns the company's future! I beg you!
    Ryo: Kaori, I'll be your manager.
    Kaori: Stop joking around, Ryo! Don't just laugh there, help me out here!
  • Once Kaori expressed the wish to see, just for once, the message board of Shinjuku station filled with XYZ requests. When she looked at the board she saw a single XYZ filling the whole board. The new client was the gigantic Umibozu, who had left a request of the right size.
  • On the opening day of Cat's Eye Cafe, Ryo laughs at Umibozu at the sight of him in a barista uniform, prompting an annoyed Umibozu to claim: "Only today!" I will never do this again!" Umibozu would stay employed this way for the rest of the series's run^note , though at least Ryo never laughs at him in a barista uniform again, having grown accustomed to it soon after the opening day.
  • When Kaori has trouble finding gigs (again) and accosts Ryo for caring more about hooking up with beautiful girls than seeking new jobs, Ryo says "when the time comes, work will come to me", and Kaori, out of sheer boredom, claims that she wishes that "something would finally happen". Cue an airplane coming towards their apartment and crashing into it.^note That being said, it doesn't become a real job for Ryo and Kaori right away, at least until the police report reveals that the airplane was sabotaged on purpose and the pilot requests Ryo's protection for real.
    Ryo: Next time, be a bit more careful with what you wish.
    Kaori: Hey, don't blame this on me! Didn't you say, when the time comes, work will come to you?
  • Late in an arc in which Ryo is hired to bodyguard an animal rights activist by said activist's father, whose relationship with his daughter is strained, Ryo "invites" himself to a ride on the backseat of the motorcycle as she starts riding with the intention of getting her to talk to her father. The activist tells Ryo to get off, but Ryo defies her and claims she'll never throw him off no matter how fast she rides her motorcycle... only to fall off her motorcycle after he gets caught on a tree branch by the neck.
  • The arc that features Michihiko and Haruka Jinguchi starts with Haruka getting lost by herself in a busy street block, worrying aloud that she might get hit on by strangers, and wondering what to do next. Cue Ryo, after being rejected by a woman he hits on (yet again), hitting on her the moment he sees her.
  • During Ryo's showdown against a hypnotist, who managed to implant a hypnotic suggestion into Ryo's client in that particular arc (a stunt actress) with the intent of getting her killed in her upcoming stunt performance to Make It Look Like an Accident, the hypnotist imposes a hallucinogenic illusion into Ryo while Ryo looks at him to prevent Ryo from knowing the real deal from the mirages. Just as the hypnotist is about to throw a knife at Ryo to kill him, Ryo warns him that he'll be able to locate the knife the moment it's thrown and then fight back right away. The hypnotist, believing Ryo is merely bluffing, throws his knife anyway... and finds out to his cost that Ryo's words were no mere bluff, as Ryo, upon hearing the sound of the knife approaching him, locates the knife and the hypnotist at once before firing a shot, which not only destroys the knife in its track but injures the hypnotist enough to break his hypnotic hallucination as well, allowing Ryo to have him tied up while Ryo himself goes to save his hypnotized client.
  • At one point during Miyuki and Kaori's attempt to escape from Miyuki's pursuers, Kaori tells Miyuki that she's in charge after Kaori expends the bullets in her gun fighting off the first pursuers, with Miyuki responding with "I can dodge the incoming bullets with ease!" in turn. Barely seconds afterwards, their next pursuers fire shots at them, shattering a side-view mirror and deflating a tire in their wake.
    Kaori: And you tell me you can dodge bullets with ease?!
  • After agreeing to be the bodyguard of Misako Kusaka, an ER surgeon who is a friend of Reika's, Ryo manages to evade Kaori's surveillance and goes to Misako's house to insure that they'll have no interference as he seduces her. They go in... And Ryo is promptly jumped and cockblocked by the MANY dogs, cats, and a few bunnies she took from the street. When Kaori enters Misako's residence and sees Ryo too preoccupied with caring for Misako's pets to seduce her, Kaori finds the way Ryo's plan backfired Actually Pretty Funny and bursts into hearty laughter, much to Ryo's annoyance.
  • The chronologically final example of this trope occurs when Kreutz, who has Kaori abducted by his own troops in order to draw Ryo out for direct confrontation, asks one of his personal soldiers at one point for status update regarding Ryo's battle against his own private army. He expects Ryo to have died by this point, but his soldier responds that, not only is Ryo still alive, but three-fourths of his own private soldiers are wiped out as well.
• Code Geass R2 has the rather fantastic example of "Don't worry...It will be impossible for Zero to destroy this place (Tokyo) like last time!" Which is technically true...
  • The dub makes it clear that they're specifically referring to Zero causing the settlement to collapse in order to weaken the forces defending it, but even before the FLEIJA blast, a Gefion Disturber goes off and disables all the older Knightmare Frames.
    • There was also when Milly assured Nina there won't be any Elevens at the hotel where they will be staying. They get taken hostage by the JLF.
  • The most infamous example of this would have to be Episode 22 of the first season: "If I were to say 'Kill all of the Japanese' you would be forced to obey..." Too bad Lelouch didn't realize that his Geass had turned permanently "on" when he mentioned this to Euphemia. Cue one of the most tragic and influential events in the whole series.
• In the Cowboy Bebop episode "Toys in the Attic", when Spike is about to open one of his old disabled refrigerators and reveal the... THING that has been growing inside it, he delivers this classic line:
  Spike: I'd forgotten about it [my seafood leftovers] and left it there for a whole year... I wonder what it looks like in there now...
• Fellow robot Mechazawa introduces his little brother Mechazawa Beta in Cromartie High School. "I tell ya, this kid is tough! I guess that kinda stuff runs in the family. Any of you wanna try goin' one-on-one with him? Ha ha! As if!" Crunch. Gorilla crushes the poor tyke underfoot.
• Death Note: Light should've just kept his mouth shut...
  Light: The way things are progressing, I can't afford to be seen with Misa.
• In Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, late in the fight with Upper Rank 6 Daki, Daki boasts to Zenitsu that she knows how fast he is and can see through his technique. Cue Zenitsu unleashing an even faster technique, which allows him and Inosuke to decapitate Daki.
• In Devil & Devil, two schoolgirls go to their highschool's preparation room during lunchtime to get some tools for their next class' experiment. One of the girls is scared because there were rumors of a monster going around, and her friend playfully teases her about it, saying "there's no such thing as monsters". Next thing you know, a monster shows up, grabs the first girl by the leg, and promptly transforms her into a baby, before turning to the other girl and doing the same thing to her off-panel.
• In Digimon Data Squad Episode 10, Masaru comes under the influence of a curse that Chika put on him (though it turns out to be a digimon that just so happened to have heard her when she was wishing all these bad things on her brother). The following exchange occurs:
  Touma: From the looks of that signpost, it seems as though Chika-chan has used some sort of magic to put a curse on you.
  Masaru: A curse?
  Touma: It's exactly as Chika had said. Slipping, falling down, getting hit... and now, running into a signpost.
  Gaomon: And the next one was falling from a bridge, right Master?
  Masaru: That'll never happen! I mean, there aren't even any bridges near here!
  (Chopsticks^note which sounds very similar to "bridge" in Japanese roll onto Masaru's path; he slips and falls)
  Touma: o.0' He fell... from chopsticks...
• Doctor Slump:
  • The "Who's the Strongest in the World?" tournament has some examples of this.
    • Played for Drama when Arale joins it, with everyone around her believing that she's a shoo-in for winning the tournament. Imagine their surprise when Dr. Mashirito, who also joins the tournament, harms and seemingly defeats her in their respective final match. That said, Obotchaman, despite his self-reasurring words that Arale would win the tournament, eventually goes to watch the tournament at the last minute without anyone noticing, and sees abovementioned scene between Arale and Dr. Mashirito. He then heals Arale and, now geniunely enraged, fills in by disguiseing himself as Arale before he proceeds to fire his N'cha cannon that blasts Dr. Mashirito into smithereens, followed by him running away to not blow his cover, shortly before the recovered Arale walks back to the tournament and receives the championship rewards with herself not knowing how she won.
    • When learning that Arale has joined the "Who's the Strongest in the World?" tournament, Senbei and Tsukutsun, both of whom having signed up for it as well, determined that being second place wouldn't be too bad, since they're aware that they're no match for Arale and the participant getting to second place would be rewarded with $1,000. Unfortunately for them, they're both defeated before getting to be second place^note (and not by Arale, either — each of them suffers defeat from some other participant they face).
    • Seibei gets one more dose of this trope when his opponent turns out to be a young, beautiful female wrestler. As soon as the match starts, he runs to the wrestler expecting some physical contacts that he can enjoy under the premise of a match... only for the wrestler to knock him out with one karate chop to the forehead before his hands even manage to touch her.
    • A boxer who participates in the tournament expresses confidence that he can win, even when it turns out that his opponent is a Notzilla. He's quickly proven wrong in a rather literal Curb-Stomp Battle, as in one foot stomp from said Notzilla has him Squashed Flat and out of commission at once.
  • As the Story Arc involving the princess, who's an Identical Stranger to Akane, is near the end, Tsururin remarks that Akane must be enjoying herself upon realizing Akane had arranged to swap with the princess temporarily to get a taste of living as royalty. The story ends with a Gilligan Cut, revealing a panel showing Akane struggling to adapt to living in the princess's homeland due to being unable to stomach the food being served there.^note  Steamed lizard, anyone?
  • During the bike trophy Grand Prix:
    • At the qualifying round of the biker trophy grand prix where each contestant must run the course alone, Kibault, upon seeing Biker Boy's race-car-driving wife cheering for Biker Boy after having finished his round, asks her what she sees in him. When she responds with "speed", Kibault reacts dismissively, beliving that Biker Boy is no match for him at speed racing. Cue Biker Boy finishing his own round with a record showing that he does it with slightly less time than Kibault, much to Kibault's surprise.
      Biker Boy's wife: You were saying?
    • Near the end of the bike trophy Grand Prix, Biker Boy claims "This match is mine!" upon feeling confident at the favorable circumstance of the race — only for his motorcycle to run out of fuel mere seconds afterwards, forcing him to rush to the nearest gas station to fill up.
• In the first episode of New Dominion Tank Police, the bad guy, an ex-cop, is ascending an elevator shaft in a mobile weapon when Leona and Bonaparte appear in the bottom of the shaft. Said bad guy goes, "They wouldn't dare shoot straight up," figuring that standard tank shells wouldn't reach him, but not only does she shoot straight up (Oh, Crap!) but she hits him…because she was using a high-velocity armor-piercing shell!
• In the original Dragon Ball, Bulma, Yamcha, Oolong, and Puar had relocated the Kame House to avoid being found by King Piccolo and his minions, and Oolong and Bulma quipped that now Piccolo couldn't find them anymore. Cue Tambourine, Piccolo's minion assigned to murder the martial artists, coming down from the sky to ask for directions for the Kame House's original location.
  • In Dragon Ball Z, Videl complains her father Mr. Satan forbade her from dating any boy too weak to beat him and thus cannot have a love life. She's saying this to Gohan, the boy she'll soon fall in love with and happens to be the one guy her age in the entire planet who can beat Mr. Satan.
• Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai:
  • When Dai fights one of Hadlar's scouts at the start of the main story, Dai's last attack is a vertical sword slash. Since the sword doesn't physically connect, said scout remarks with "nothing happened", only to turn around at the sound of waves behind him and notice divergent waves rising from a Razor Wind generated from Dai's sword slash, right before the scout's own body starts splitting in two.
  • Upon discovering that an underground warehouse with gunpowder within it is heavily buried under rubble, Dai excitedly volunteers to clear it away and Popp decides to let him do it. Unfortunately, Dai's move of choice is to cast a fire spell on his sword and launch a sword strike technique subsequently, a decision that ends with Dai clearing out the rubble AND igniting all the gunpowder withal.
  • When Leona and Dai set out to reach the kingdom of Bengarna via the hot-air balloon for the purpose of securing new equipment for Dai, with Leona telling the sages and Baduck that she'll return soon, Apollo tries to reassure Baduck and the other sages with these words: "Dai is with her... she should be fine if it's just for a few days." What none of them, Apollo included, could have known at the time, however, is that the next branch of the Demon Army is going after Dai personally, and Leona would get entangled in the battle because she's with him.
  • When Crocodine joins Akim, the tank squadron captain of Bengarna, against an army of Animated Armor, Akim, who's feeling overwhelmed by the sheer number of the intruding enemies, asks Crocodine how he could possibly defend himself against such a large number of enemies. Cue Crocodine decimating several of the Animated Armor that try to attack them in one fell swoop with his axe.
    Crocodine: Did you say something?
    Akim: Are you immortal?
  • Right at the same moment Crocodine joins Akim against the army of Animated Armor, Popp goes after the Giant Demon Castle with the claim "I'll blow your head off!", fires a spell of explosion at its head, and says with confidence "That ought to open up a nice hole!" afterwards... only to reveal that his spell barely blows a tiny chunk off its face.
    Popp: Well... there is a hole... but it's not quite...
  • While Leona goes into the Anti-Evil Cave to acquire the anti-evil spell that the heroes need for access into Vearn Palace, with Flora, Merle, and Maam in tow, Nova asks Dai if he's not worried about the ladies. Dai answers by expressing confidence that Leona can handle it. Cut to Leona screaming in terror at the sight of a Chest Monster before Maam takes it out.
    Maam: Come on, Leona! Stop opening every chest you see! How many times do I have to tell you?
• A notorious example of the "You Just Had to Say It" variety occurs in Elfen Lied, where Bando, after being dismembered by Lucy (who has psychic powers that manifest as hands that can cut/grab/rip apart anything within a 2-meter radius) says that he'd kill her the next time he saw her. She made sure he wouldn't ''see'' her.. He recovers by becoming half-robot.
• In Eureka Seven, members of the military tend to say things like "This place is so heavily fortified, nobody would ever try to invade!" just before the Gekko shows up.
• Fairy Tail:
  • Non-lethal version: there is an amusement park inside the king of Edolas' freaking huge castle, to the shock of Lucy, Natsu, and Gray. Natsu was pleased.
  • Lucy also does it earlier in the same arc, complaining of boredom and wanting something exciting to happen. And then all of Magnolia Town gets sucked up by Anima...
  • "You'd be a really scary enemy, Juvia!" Time for Rock of Succubus. Lucy, you've really got to stop doing this.
  • And again. Dammit, Lucy!!
    • It turns out they were lucky that time after all, considering no one else would've gone easy on them like that.
• The Fate/stay night Visual Novel does this: in the Unlimited Blade Works route, Shirou explicitly states that he cannot die from projecting swords, as it is the one thing he can do (he even considers himself a circuit made solely for that purpose). Three guesses on what happens in the Heaven's Feel route.
• Food Wars!:
  • During the opening ceremony, while someone who passed the high school transfer test is making their introduction, Erina Nakiri is reminded of Soma and reassures herself that she has already seen the last of him, only to find that the person was passed was him.
  • Poor Megumi Tadokoro gets this rather often in the first few chapters. In a row: first she decides to be invisible to survive the school, she gets paired with the most hated guy at school. Then, after thinking that being partners with Soma was the best thing, she gets fed with his failed experiments. And then, when she's happy to not have to see him outside of classes, she finds him waiting in the bathroom when she's about to enter, as he moved to the same dorm as her.
  • Nene Kinokuni has a strange case of this where it works on her favor. When she's about do face against Soma in the Regiment de Cuisine, it's revealed that she specializes in soba dishes, but is certain to be able to beat him regardless of whatever theme he draws from the lot. Soma ends up drawing soba, much to everyone's shock. Then works against her as Soma uses the soba dish to beat her anyway.
  • In the BLUE arc, Noir chef Don Calma sends his goons to kidnap Takumi's brother Isami so he cannot come to his aid during their match. He mockingly suggests that Takumi might be able to find himself a different assistant who can stand up to him and his team, only to find that Soma is readily available to do so.
• Fullmetal Alchemist:
  • When Ed fights Kimblee and his men, Kimblee sets off an explosion that produces a blinding cloud of snow. Ed remarks that he can't see his enemies, but they can't see him, either... before he gets cut off when Heinkel, a human-lion chimera, attacks Ed, having used his sense of smell to track Ed down.
  • One of the members of the top brass, while it is trying to handle Roy's coup d'état, is getting worried about their opposition's effectiveness. Another member says that it's not like they have any tanks with them. Guess what shows up a few seconds later?
  • Maes Hughes mentions to Envy that he has a wife and kid waiting at home. Cue the Fatal Family Photo.
  • Barry the Chopper tries to stalk Riza. When his stalking gets the attention of her dog Black Hayate, Barry decides it's a great idea to say this:
    Barry the Chopper: It's dangerous to be out walking the streets alone at this hour. You never know when you might meet... A TERRIBLE SERIAL KILLER FEARED BY ALL -- BARRY THE CHOPPER!
    • Cue Riza pulling out a revolver and curb-stomping Barry's hollow armor body, resulting in him falling in love with her.
  • "Oh hey! We managed to take back Central! Let's celebrate!" Cue King Bradley coming to do damage.
• Gals! has Ran and Tatsuki (and 10 plus other guys) try to find a missing monkey, which is wearing Tatsuki's scarf, that has just been said to collect a 50,000 yen reward. You see them chasing it and are then shown Ran's older brother:
  Yamoto: What a peaceful Christmas Eve. Looks like I'll get to go on a date with Miyu today without any mishaps.
  • Alas, what he had in mind was not what happened.
• Ghost in the Shell rarely follows the tropes that anyone would see from miles away. However, an early episode of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex mentions that the prime minister was put in her position because she lacked the ambition to interfere with the directions of the people in charge.
• A group of assassins taunts their victims "What difference can changing your glasses make? Even without glasses, you can see your imminent death." Being Gintama, it turns out that the glasses shoot eye beams, make combat tentacles, predict enemy moves, and transform their user into a magical girl.
  • On another instance, Gintoki expresses his utter hatred for New Year's cards, and claims he's going personally execute everyone who sends him one. Naturally, he ends up getting hundreds of them in the mail. In an attempt at being smart in the same episode, he expresses false hatred for Valetine's Day chocolates, and doesn't get any, much to his irritation.
• At the start of the battle in Girls und Panzer der Film, Katyusha names the hill that the combined high school force is moving to take Hill 203. The girls of Hippo Team, being massive history buffs, wonder if she intends to lose^note This is because Hill 203 was a fixture in the Siege of Port Arthur during the Russo-Japanese War. Specifically, the Russians lost both the hill and the battle.. Sure enough, the University Team forces them off the high ground^note Using artillery, like in the historical siege. and all the Pravda tanks save one are taken out in the retreat.
• Gourmet Girl Graffiti:
  • In Episode 4, Shiina is decked out in quite a bit of rain gear in addition to having an umbrella. She says getting even a little bit of water on her will make her very sick, hence why she's taking extreme precautions. She mentions she should be okay with all of this stuff on, only to then get splashed on by a car as it drives by.
  • Kirin mentions she already has a reserve ticket for the train in Episode 9. Later on the way to the station she mentions she actually didn't get one yet, but figures they live in an isolated town, so there should be plenty of space on the train. Then as they get there, it's completely full, and she has to wait for the next train.
• In the manga Gun Blaze West, villain "Target" Kevin has a prominent tattoo of a target right over his heart and never wears a shirt so he can show it off. This is later revealed to be the object of a game; He and an opponent shoot at targets on each other's bodies. The fact that he shows his tattoo so proudly illustrates that he never loses.
• Hanaukyō Maid Team La Verité Episode 7. Ryuuka is standing in an underground tunnel which has shown itself to be trapped. She says "I'm not like Taro. There's no way I'm going to do anything dumb." Immediately thereafter she accidentally pushes a brick into the wall with her elbow, causing a metal pan to drop from the ceiling onto Taro's head. Lampshaded by Ryuuka herself immediately afterward: "Boy, I sure set myself up."
• In Hayate the Combat Butler, Sakuya builds a ship that is an exact replication of the Titanic. It doesn't fare well. Sakuya also mentioned "unless terrorists hijack"... Guess what happens?
• In the Hetalia: Axis Powers movie, Russia, China, and America are undercover in an UFO trying to find a way to defeat the Pict aliens when they come across a room full of complicated controls. Russia decides to pull a suspicious red lever against the warnings of China, and says:
  Nothing bad can possibly happen, so...
  • He ends up activating an alarm that alerts all the aliens in the UFO and results in the three nations being chased around by aliens.
• Hidamari Sketch. "Today I will not forget to buy new batteries for my clock." Yuno's resolve is helped by the fact that the clock she's borrowing uses as its alarm the sound of a woman screaming as she's being (or about to be) murdered. Even the male gazer extraordinaire would likely find that more than counters the fact that one of the pictures on it is a close-up of boobs. (Barbie Doll Anatomy) But between the lottery tickets, the visit from a former student of Yoshinoya's, and the discovery of abandoned art, she completely forgot until they went to bed that night...
• In Holyland, some Sawako gangsters are saying that after beating up Shinichi they would go after Shougo or Yuu. Cue the former punching one of their own into the room they're in.
• In the Hyperdimension Neptunia anime, Noire notes that her flawless security system being hacked is about as likely as being struck by someone falling from the sky. Over the course of the episode, she is hit by two such airborne projectiles. No points for guessing how well her security fares.
• I've Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level: Happens regularly. Most of the main characters are introduced with this.
  • With Laika's suggestion, Azusa creates a magic barrier to protect the village. But they can't actually verify it's working until someone with ill intent comes. Azusa is optimistic that nothing will happen. They capture a minor criminal that night.
  • Azusa is teaching Laika that slimes are a good source of steady experience and income. Especially since they could never take revenge. Cue the introduction of Shalsha the slime spirit coming to kill her.
  • Azusa says it's great to have a dragon as a disciple as it discourages adventurers visiting her for a challenge. While mid-sentence of hoping the peace continues, there's a knock on the door: Falfa arriving to warn her about her sister Shalsha.
  • After the slime sisters became a part of the family too, Laika wonders who could join them next: An elf? A demon? The next visitor is Halkara being chased by Beelzebub.
  • During the party before Laika's sister's wedding, her father is optimistic that the blue dragons won't disturb them like they always do. They, including Flatorte, of course arrive very soon.
  • Halkara found a place to build a new workshop bigger than ever. Meanwhile people living at that area think it also won't be lasting long. Later Azusa warns her about overworking and she agrees that it'd be bad to become a ghost while working. Next panel, she's terrified about the encounter she had with the ghost Rosalie.
• Toward the end of various battles, characters in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure tend to declare victory before they've actually won. The villains do this a lot, but the heroes will sometimes do it, too. You can't really blame them, because the battles were going in their favor and under normal circumstances, there's no way the opposition would win. Then suddenly, said opposition developed a clever strategy that gives them the victory. It's like a cue telling the viewers that the fights are ending and the apparent "winner" will actually lose.
• While there are numerous examples of this trope being littered across individual case arcs in The Kindaichi Case Files, here are some general premises:
  • In many a murder case arc, the culprit(s) assure themselves that the crime(s) they carry out would be the perfect crime, only to be proven otherwise when Kindaichi comes along to make correct deductions after Spotting the Thread before exposing the culprits in question at the Summation Gathering session.
  • After the 20-year Time Skip, Kindaichi would prefer living a boring, mundane life as a Salaryman, only to find himself thrust into crime-solving again reluctantly, even when he wishes with all his might NOT to solve crimes any longer.
    Kindaichi: [thinking privately] I don't want to solve cases anymore!
• In Knight Hunters, when a devastated Ouka tells Omi that they're half-siblings, wrecking their romantic prospects, he immediately tries to comfort her by telling her how happy he is to have found a family after being alone for so long, hugging her and ending on "We'll be together forever..." No. No, you won't.
• Defied by Konosuba's Crimson Demons, whose schooling includes a set of phrases to not say specifically to avoid tempting fate. So when in her spin-off Megumin starts repeatedly saying that monsters would never attack a caravan as big as theirs and anyway she could easily take out any attackers Yunyun first chides her and then flat-out asks her if she's doing it on purpose just so she'll have something to explode. The caravan is of course attacked by monsters that are too close for Megumin's Explosion, and Yunyun, whose spells are less devastating, has to pick up the slack. And then Arnes, the (actual) demon that set up the attacks in the first place to exhaust Yunyun, shows up and says that there's no way she can lose now, as the one who could use magic was down. Megumin immediately points out she triggered an immediate destruction flag and, after a few shenaningans, uses Explosion on her.
• In The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (2016), Link wishes that his happy life in Ordon Village will last forever. King Bulbin and the forces of Twilight appear shortly thereafter.
• Vita in the final mission of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS. "I'm almost there. I still have cartridges. I'm fine. It'll be easy." Cue invisible Mecha-Mook stabbing her through the back and her having to prove just how big a Determinator she is.
  • Vita speaks: "Are you stupid?! There's no way you control all these bullets!". And Nanoha does just that.
  • Vita thinks: "OK, this is far enough...." Sorry, not far enough.
  • Fate thinks: "There's no way she could survive that...." Nanoha is alive and ready to return it. With large interest.
  • Quattro thinks: "This is the deepest part of the Cradle, no way...." Yeah, and your enemy is a very pissed-off Nanoha, who does everything, including making friends, using MAXIMUM POWER. Like a maze would hinder her.
    • "I heard the name 'Blaster System' and I thought it was some high-tech awesomeness, but that's just stupid. Hey, Your Majesty? Your mom's a dumbass." Then it hit her full in the face. My oh my....
  • In one episode of A's, Amy notes how unlikely it would be to have an emergency that she would have to deal with ... and one comes up before she even finishes the sentence.
  • In another episode of A's, Shamal finds out Nanoha and Fate are Hayate's friends, and want to visit her in the hospital, which would potentially result in their finding out about her being the master of the Book of Darkness. Signum says, "As long as they don't run into us there, it'll be fine." Guess what happens next episode...
  • And to complete the A's streak, Nanoha tells Yuuno that since the Book of Darkness selects its master at random, then it stands to reason that a girl her age can be selected as well. They dismiss the thought after Nanoha receives a message from Suzuka, introducing her new friend, Hayate Yagami.
• MegaMan NT Warrior Manga, "I'll be, I did it, I've beaten Bass, I'm now the strongest netnavi of all", yeah right (Bass isn't beaten, he's just gotten stronger).
• Two episodes from the end of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, Mu la Flaga reassures Murrue Ramius just before a battle by promising, "I'll be right back, with victory in hand." He isn't.
  • Not until Destiny, anyway.
• In Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz, when Heero Yuy asks if the bunker is shielded, Mariemeia Khushrenada goes ahead and mocks at how powerless his Gundam is against the fortified shelter. Heero's response: "Roger that." In that moment, her pride starts to get vaporized instantly as the Twin Buster Rifle ate through the shelter with just three concentrated blasts.
• In Monster, after miraculously surviving a suicide run against four armed thugs, Martin pulls out a cigarette and mutters, "I'm surprised I lived through that." Naturally, this is the cue for the guy he missed to fatally shoot him in the stomach.
• A slightly less obvious version from My-HiME: It was established that whomever the Himes care the most about is screwed the moment their Child/monster is destroyed. Two Himes do not have a person shown on-screen that they particularly care about. But they're kind enough to tell us that they do have someone and say who it is. Their monsters get destroyed the very same episode. Nao's mother goes from first-mentioned to vaporized in less than 3 minutes.
• In The Mysterious Cities of Gold, Mendoza goads Ambrosius into fighting him face to face. Which he does... after donning his Powered Armor.
• Subverted at least once in Naruto Abridged. Two ninja guards discuss their hatred of giant snakes that pop out of nowhere and kill you. Naturally, a giant snake pops out of nowhere and destroys the guard tower... next to them.
• A prime example comes in Volume 14 of Negima! Magister Negi Magi After finding out about the pacts some of her classmates have made with Negi, Meta Guy Chisame jokes about making a pact and fighting Robot Girl Chachamaru; in reality, she most definitely wants to be normal. Naturally, she ends up having to do just that by the very next day. At least, very next day from the perspective of a normal person. Time Travel was involved, and depending on how you look at it, it could have been as long as a week.
  • Even during the first day of the Mahora Festival, Asuna tried to pull this off while protecting Nodoka against a World-Tree-entranced Negi:
    Asuna: I will protect Honya-chan's lips! If you want to kiss her, then you will have to kiss me first!
    (Beat, followed by a twinkle from Negi's eye)
    Negi: Understood, I'll kiss with Asuna-san first, then...
    (Cue Asuna's light Oh, Crap! expression...)
  • A subtler example during the Battle of Mahora between Negi and the current Big Bad: Negi tells her to surrender, as he had just destroyed the technology that allowed her to fight equally with a mage like him. "You can't beat me, not without magic!" Cue fireball.
  • A more humorous example occurs way back in Chapter 3; Ayaka is talking about how Negi needs someone with a "motherly figure" to take care of him, ending with "and who's got more of a figure than me!?" Cue the four bustiest girls in the class entering the room.
  • Jack Rakan decides to do Dark Magic to show Negi what happens when one is not compatible saying, it's fine I'm me and I'm invincible. Cue giant explosion and 2-3 chapters of Jack Rakan actually in bandages. Also, every time he says he is invincible during that time he gains high pressure blood.
  • And during the final chapters... after being ridiculously hit by a bullet that renders his mana useless and being targeted by the FREAKING WHOLE SCHOOL...
    Negi: I'll have to be especially careful not to run into the martial artists...
    Cue Ku Fei.
    Negi: (Well I guess if it's Ku Fei-san...) Are... you... in this too?
    Ku Fei: Yes.
    Cue love declaration. Five girls in one day, good job Negi!
  • And then there's this example with Fate:
    Fate: It would be a little boring, if it ended... just like this.
    cue Kill Sat beam to the face.
• Naruto:
  • Kankuro tempts fate by addressing Gaara's "impenetrable defenses" in Episode 48. Cue Rock Lee going ballistic and pinballing Gaara across the arena. It doesn't work, however. Not long after, Sasuke pierces Gaara's sand shield and causes him to bleed for the first time.
  • From the first Shippuuden movie (the one with the Priestess Shion), where Naruto is fighting the Quirky Miniboss Squad. "Hah! That's the weakest fire jutsu I've ever seen!" Cue the wind jutsu, which supercharges the fire one and turns a ring of flame into a blazing maelstrom.
  • Kabuto declares that his Impure World Resurrection has no weaknesses. Naturally, it bites him in the ass multiple times; not only that, but the two characters who turn it against him most dramatically (Madara and Itachi) go out of their way to declare that they're its weakness, even though they didn't hear him say it originally.
• In Episode 11 of Neon Genesis Evangelion, after the Tokyo-3 energy supply is sabotaged, Fuyutski says that it would be a disaster if an Angel attacked right now. Which is exactly what happens.
  • This could actually be a subversion because it's explained later on that he and SEELE know the specific times when the Angels will attack.
  • The Bridge Bunnies tempt fate further in End of Evangelion. Twice.
    Aoba: I just hope they don't start using BC weapons! Things could get pretty ugly...
    Hyuuga: Yeah, that or N2 mines —
    (BOOM)
    Aoba: Speak of the devil...!
    Hyuuga: Damn! Haven't they ever heard of moderation?!
    Fuyutsuki: That was a little much...
    (the JSSDF begins a Macross Missile Massacre on the geofront)
  • In Episode 22, Asuka complains about how the Angel hasn't shown up — just before she gets hit by its Mind Rape beam.
  • Also surprisingly happens meta-wise, during the infamous "Ran out of ink" rant by Spike Spencer (Shinji's VA). One of the rants against the Gainax Ending is "Okay, the movie better sure as Hell make up for this, I'm telling you right now, 'cause I'm stuck in Nowhereland!". Sure enough, the movie is released, and... it goes From Bad to Worse. Far worse that Spencer might've preferred being stuck in Nowhereland.
• One Piece usually exploits this for comedic purpose:
  • After Franky recharges on cola and lets out the biggest SUUUUUUUUUPER thus far, the first words out of Fukuro's mouth are "You gonna hit me with another one of your weak punches (chapapa)?"
  • When the Straw Hats have just found the Log Pose, and Nami is reflecting on its importance:
    Nami: All right, Log Pose... I'll make sure to take good care of you. The fate of our journey is all up to you, after all. (Cue flying Luffy smashing into it via Sanji's kick)
  • This also happens in the Dressrosa arc with Donquixote Doflamingo. He mentions how one of the remnants of the previous royal family had put her faith in two powerful pirates, Luffy and Trafalgar Law, to free the country. The latter is with him as he speaks, chained, beaten, bloody, and unconscious…
    Donquixote Doflamingo: …And Straw Hat Luffy will never come out of the Colosseum as a human. And right now, as for the other members of the Straw Hats, Cyborg Franky is attacking the Toy House on his own. But I don't think he can beat the executives of my family. The rest, Pirate Hunter Zoro, Foxfire Kin'emon, Nico Robin, and Sogeking are still here... but I don't think they can even reach the underground level.
    • His confidence in his family is well-founded; Senor Pink is an even match for Franky, and he's fighting him one-on-one with reinforcements on the way. But he's only right for one out of three; Luffy has already escaped the Colosseum, placed his trust in another to gain the tournament's prize, and is en route to the palace with Zoro and Kin'emon, and Robin and Usopp are already in the underground and planning to take down his most important executive.
  • Speaking of Usopp, after Usopp manages to get everyone who has been turned into toys for more than 10 years back to normal, Doflamingo post up a bounty of everyone's head with each 100,000,000 Berries cost one star: Robin, Rebecca, Kin'emon, Viola, Franky (100,000,000 Berries each), Zoro, Kyros (200,000,000 Berries each), Luffy, Sabo, King Riku, and Law (300,000,000 Berries each). Usopp was glad he's not in it...until Doflamingo says his name with...500,000,000 berries, that is more than Luffy's current bounty. Boy, was Doflamingo really pissed for all the ten years he has spend transforming famous and official people into toys.
  • Shogun Kurozumi Orochi is introduced meeting with CP0 who are trying to come to him for resources, but he naturally acts smug and even shoots one of the members while bartering with them while claiming that Wano is untouchable. Obviously, at the moment he can afford to do so since the World Government don't want any trouble with Kaido at the moment and messing with Orochi will surely bring on his wrath. However, with La Résistance starting to plan and make their move, his actions come back to haunt him big time much later, big time. After Kaido announces his intent to turn Wano into a new base, rechristening it as "New Onigahsima", Orochi protests only to be beheaded in the spot, realizing too late he was just a glorified pawn to Kaido. He survives, having lost just one head, but after setting fire to Onigashima in retaliation and eventually being at the mercy of Hiyori, he pathetically begs for his life, and Denjiro decapitates his last head, leaving him to die in the fire he himself set. Karma Houdini Warranty made valid, indeed.
  • Kaido and Big Mom declared they will overthrow the World Government and rule the world. After 2 weeks of this announcement, both of them are beaten by Luffy, Law and Kidd, with them losing the Emperor status which went to Luffy and Buggy.
• In Chapter 4/Episode 2 of Please Tell Me! Galko-chan, Galko mentioned while spicy foods irritates her bowels, she's constipated at that point and it's OK to indulge in as much of it as she wants. Otako thinks it'd get worse when all of it eventually comes out — and Otako is right; the following day Galko's bowels are so irritated that she has problems sitting down.
• Pokémon Adventures: Aqua Admin Matt walks home with the award for Biggest Fate-Tempting Blunder, though other characters in other Pokémon works do their fair share from time to time. How big was his blunder?
  "You've been in the water for three— no, four minutes. Are you trying to set a world record or something?!"
  "Oh? Iron Defense? You may have broken Sharpedo's fangs, but you're not out of danger yet... far from it."
  "Our first task as Admins has been completed." (Evil Laugh)
  • Why are all of these relevant? The first one is done after flooding a locked, airtight cable car in an attempt to kill Sapphire, who demonstrated physical prowess beyond the average peon the last time they met. The second was when she called out her Lairon to break Sharpedo's teeth in what was seemingly self-defense. And the third came when she appeared to have drowned... in reality, she broke the teeth off with the express intent of using them to pop a hole in the glass and drain all that water out, giving her and Flannery a way to breathe and allow her to mount a counteroffensive. Cue a Did You Actually Believe...? from Sapphire as a retort to the Evil Gloating and an extremely justified Oh, Crap! from Matt, who now knows just how many ways he happens to be boned.
  • Earlier in the GSC arc, two security guards casually remark what a terrible thing it would be for the Magnet Train to be hijacked, but that it would be impossible to hack the system. Cue their Oh, Crap! faces seconds before being knocked out by Team Rocket grunts.
  • In the DP arc, after the recent sightings of Team Galactic, Roark hopes that his father doesn't rashly jump to conclusions. Cue him assuming Platinum to be a Galactic member and fighting her.
• Pokémon: The Series anime episode "The Poke Spokesman". At the end Team Rocket is in a balloon in cloudy weather and James says "At least Team Rocket won't be blasting off this time". Seconds later a lightning bolt hits them and they become a Twinkle in the Sky.
  • If Dawn is saying there's "No need to worry!", something worrying is usually happening to her.
• Pretty Cure:
  • Futari wa Pretty Cure has an example for the death of one of the members of the Quirky Miniboss Squad, Poisonny. She has the Cures restrained in her hair and gloats that they cannot hit her with the Marble Screw. Not only do the Cures get it off, but it travels up her hair and kills her, even after she teleports away.
  • Played For Sadness in Pretty Cure All Stars DX3. During an earlier scene, an annoyed Hibiki Houjou told her familiar Hummy that if she wanted to leave then she shouldn't bother coming back. Cue the final battle against Black Hole and then the realization that if they wanted a shot in victory, that means using the last power of Prism Flower which would sever the connection between the human world and Fairy world... which means, Hummy (and many other fairies) would leave and never come back, and the girls will stop being Pretty Cures. On that realization, Hibiki completely broke down in tears and said she didn't mean what she said, while hugging Hummy. Kind of subverted that thanks to a Deus ex Machina in the post-credits scene, Hummy and the other Fairies managed to make it back anyway.
• Puella Magi Madoka Magica:
  • "There's no way I'll regret this." Three episodes later, she passes the Despair Event Horizon.
  • "I'm not afraid of anything anymore." That 'anything' included death and she was quickly eaten by a witch.
  • Kyubey tells Madoka that she could wish to become a god if she wanted. To his surprise, she does just that.
• From Red Eyes. A sergeant, under suppression fire, asking "WHAT?!? YOU ONLY SEND A SINGLE PLATOON HERE?!? A platoon that including Graham "Genocide" Mills himself.
• Rooster Fighter:
  • A nearby school holds an assembly to express gratitude to their pet chickens, only for rooster Tatsuo to monsterize right above them.
  • Misuzu's grandpa says there were no floods in the village for 85 years. Cue the evacuation orders in a few hours due to the dam breaking.
• In The '90s Sailor Moon:
  • During the final showdown with Sailor Moon and Chibi-Usa on one side and the big scary skeleton guy Death Fantom on the other, Fantom repeatedly claims that he is eternally immortal. Then he dies.
  • Near the end of Sailor Stars, after Galaxia takes away the Star Seeds of the Inner Sailor Guardians, the dying Sailor Mars tells Sailor Moon that she still has Mamoru/Tuxedo Mask. A few minutes later, Galaxia shows off Mamoru's Star Seed, revealing she already killed him long ago.
• In Shi ni Aruki, Tokiko's close friendship with Natsuki is a major facet of her character. The manga opens with them hanging out, Tokiko regularly notes that Natsuki is the only person she unequivocally trusts and cares about, the only times that Tokiko shows any visible happiness throughout the comic is when she's with Natsuki, and Tokiko's only goal and desire in life is to always be together with her. To the point she startles herself with the realization that she'd have no idea what she'd do with herself if Natsuki ever abandoned her. Not like that would ever happen, as Natsuki wholeheartedly shares that deep devotion to their relationship right back. The bonus chapters at the end of each volume are even dedicated to how they became friends to begin with. So naturally, the manga has a number of moments where it looks like Tokiko is going to lose her raison d'être. Natsuki finally dies at the end of Chapter 29, which prompts Tokiko to commit suicide two chapters later.
• Sgt. Frog: In Episode 16, the narrator threatens to quit if there's another Split Personality story. Seven episodes later, Keroro clones himself and he makes good on his word until the end of the episode.
• In Shugo Chara!, Amu is having trouble with her one-sided (on her part) Unwanted Harem of three boys. She goes to get help from her best friend Nadeshiko, but she's not home and she meets her twin brother (At least what everyone thinks...) Nagihiko. Congratulations Amu, now your Imagine Spot Unwanted Harem consists of four guys.
• In Tiger & Bunny's second drama CD, Karina notes that she's aware of that thing where two people who constantly bicker with each other end up falling in love, but that she's completely and absolutely 100% sure that it will never, ever, ever in a million years happen between Barnaby and her because there's no way she could ever possibly become attracted to such a trolling jerkass. Barnaby agrees. Then, in the series proper, Karina ends up begrudgingly falling in love... with Barnaby's partner, Kotetsu.
• Somewhere around 1/3 into Episode 5 of Toradora!: "Well, it's not like we'll ever be seeing her again." Oh yes you will. Tomorrow. And for another two. Freaking. Years.
• The Cape maidens of Umi no Misaki constantly emphasize the importance of acting formally around other people, especially Nagi. Naturally, events conspire so they are forced to do the opposite.
• After dodging a Rain of Arrows, one of the villains in Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust mutters "That was close..." seconds before the last arrow catches him through the neck.
• The first thing Masataka "Waseda" Sawatari of Wasteful Days of High School Girls warns to his students on the first day of school is to not fall in love with him, as he likes older women. Albeit this disgusts the girls in his class, Akane starts getting infatuated with him when she finds out that he's "Teishotoku-P", a musician that she adores.
• Wicked City. Hodgkins, the manager of the hotel/safe house where Giuseppe stays, does this twice. First he says "If there's any place safe in this town it's here". Later, as the assassin begins his attack he says "Don't be ridiculous, no one can break through those..." It's like he wanted the attack to succeed.
• In the second episode of Wonder Egg Priority, Ai reasons that the Seeno Evils will only appear if she hatches the Wonder Egg, so all she has to do to stay safe is not crack it. Barely ten seconds after she says this, she trips and falls, knocking the Egg off the desk and cracking it. Sure enough, as soon as the Egg hatches, the Seeno Evils show up.
• The World is Still Beautiful: Episode 4 of the anime gives us this line early on:
  Sun King: If nothing comes up, things should go just as I planned them.
• Your Lie in April:
  • The more Kousei rejects the similarities between Kaori and his late mother, the more relevant those similarities become.
  • Shortly after Kousei wished his mother would die, his mother actually did die due to her illness, which made him feel guilty and traumatized to the point he couldn't hear his own piano playing anymore.
• Characters in Yu-Gi-Oh! have a tendency to say things like:
  Generic Badguy: Oh no, I hope his random trap card with a 1 in 10 chance of hitting me doesn't hit me. If that happened I'd totally lose! (gets hit) Oh no, I just lost!
  Generic Henchman: Hah, you need to be really lucky to beat my unbeatable strategy! (3 minutes later) Oh no, what are the chances that you had one overly specific card in your deck to beat my strategy?!
  • Which is mocked in the abridged series:
    Roba: No! If Jinzo hits my Reflect Bounder, it's all over for me!
    (Jinzo hits Reflect Bounder and both explode)
    Roba: No! Jinzo has hit my Reflect Bounder, and it is all over for me!
  • During the Virtual World arc, Yugi is wandering through a seemingly endless tunnel and complains if it's ever going to end, and after Yami Yugi reminds him that Noa controls the Virtual World, Noa decides to teleport Yugi somewhere For the Evulz. The joke is on him because that results in Yugi reuniting with Anzu, who was in peril during her duel with Crump.
  • In Episode 134 of the dub, when Yugi prepares his final attack, we get this little line from Kaiba:
    Kaiba: YUGI! I WILL NOT BE DEFEATED AT MY OWN TOURNAMENT!!!
• Zatch Bell!: Tia gets angry that another mamodo, Momon, lifted her skirt and took a look at her panties. She pursues him for a while before he's caught by his book master. She muses that at least Zatch and Kiyo didn't see her undies. Cue Momon holding the Goofy Print Underwear he stole from her.

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