Plot twists are a useful tool for creating stories viewers feel engaged in. In anime, few genre shies away from adding dramatic reveals, but the tone and purpose of these twists depend on the type of anime at hand. In a shojo, the protagonist may end up with the dark horse love interest. In a shonen, a secret power or ability may come into play after 300 episodes. In a psychological anime, twists can completely overturn how the viewer perceives the very plot.
Big reveals are meant to shock the audience, but there are times when these so-called "plot twists" are predictable from the very beginning. That being said, the brand of the show is reliable for determining whether this predictability works in the plot's favor. Whether or not this is the case, some anime twists are so anticipated that fans can't feign surprise.
However, a spoiler warning is still necessary, just in case.
10 Lisa Lisa's Identity Makes Perfect Sense In Jojo's Bizarre Adventure
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure is known for its over-the-top writing and nonsensical reveals. Its flare for the dramatics is something fans look forward to. That being said, some hints are ham-fisted into the scenes leading up to the reveal making the big scene bland. When Lisa Lisa, Joseph Joestar's Hamon teacher and mentor, is revealed to be his mother, fans aren't shocked at all.
Other characters have been hinting at her true identity for a while, and anime is no stranger to making powerful middle-aged women look unrealistically young. Lisa Lisa has the heart of someone in the Joestar family, so her identity doesn't throw fans for a loop.
9 Fairy Tail's First Episode Is One Big, Predictable Misunderstanding
Considering this is a first episode twist, it's probably not meant to be too shocking to viewers that Natsu is a member of the guild Lucy dreams of joining. However, this also means the show starts off without doing much to grab the viewer's attention. The young Mage endures a lot to impress "Salamander," a well-known member of Fairy Tail.
However, the fact the real hero is the definition of a shonen protagonist who has been walking beside her most of the episode falls flat. This misunderstanding sets up the plot for Fairy Tail and isn't necessarily distracting, so while it's foreseeable, it doesn't demand criticism.
8 Tokyo Ghoul Couldn't Commit To Its Deaths... More Than Once
A large portion of seinen anime's reputation relies on its ability to tackle darker themes and higher stakes. At first, Tokyo Ghoul appears committed to its deaths and viewers mourn the loss of fan-favorite characters, with Kaneki's best friend, Hide, being the most notable.
While the anime does commit to a few darker turns, it ends on a much happier note than most fans think suits the story. Making peace between ghouls and humans is an interesting conclusion to a macabre tale, but copping out on multiple character deaths makes this ending less impactful and leads fans to start expecting "deaths" to lead nowhere.
7 School Live's Second Twist Is Predictable But Impactful
School Live flawlessly implements one of the best plot twists of anime in its first episode, but the show plays its best cards early. While the second twist that Megu-nee is dead is daring and adds to the despair of the heroes' situation, it's easy to pick up on episodes before the audience is intended to.
The girls always talk over the teacher and it appears as if only Yuki interacts with her. Given how little physical effect she has on the plot in addition to Yuki's well-documented coping mechanisms, most fans figure Megu-nee represents someone who exists only in Yuki's memory.
6 Toradora! Uses Comfortable Predictability In Its Favor
Toradora! is a staple shojo series, but that also means it bears its genre's infamous tropes. While it's meant to function as a sort of twist, the two main characters getting together by the series' end is beyond predictable.
Even though Ryuuji and Taiga agree to act as wingmen and help each other woo one another's best friends, the two protagonists have always had the most chemistry with each other. The coconspirators-to-couple twist is used in countless shows. However, with romance anime, fans often look forward to predictable twists; they add rather than take away from the plot.
5 Fans Knowing Haruhi's Gender in Ouran Makes The First Episode Fun
Proof that not all predictable plot twists are bad, Ouran High School Host Club's first episode relies on the viewer figuring out that, while Haruhi doesn't correct the host club when they assume she's a guy, she is a girl who doesn't pay mind to gender conformity.
The audience piecing together the protagonist's identity and position in this host club only makes the first episode more enjoyable to watch. The host club members start realizing the truth one by one, and fans are invested the entire time. To this day, Ouran's first episode remains iconic.
4 Attack On Titan Saves Its Bigger Reveals For Later
Attack on Titan lays the groundwork for a long series of twists from the story's beginning. While the identities of a few notable titans are paraded as game-changing discoveries, most fans recognize these titans from their human-like features or recognize them as humans as soon as they appear on screen.
While the series probably doesn't intend to shock fans in this sense, these twists pale in comparison to the series' later focuses on the heroes' moral alignments. After all, the titans' identities are a small cog in a much larger and shocking plot.
3 Erased Proves That Not All Mystery Thrillers End With A Good Twist
If any anime should make good use of its plot twists, Erased is at the top of the list. After all, the show is categorized as a mystery thriller and lives up to this claim in earlier episodes. Viewers become invested in learning the killer's identity, assuming it must be someone surprising.
Instead, the last few episodes fail to provide any sudden reveals or turns that do justice to a murder mystery of this show's caliber. The murderer's identity becomes clear and the show plateaus once it becomes evident. The anime's excellent reputation stands, but its final twists and its ending altogether remain lackluster.
2 The Fourth Hokage In Naruto Is Painfully Obvious
Most fans of Naruto and Naruto: Shippuden have come to find its on-the-nose reveals to be staples in its story. That being said, fun predictability is still predictability. In the first episode, Naruto talks about how the best Hokage is the Fourth Hokage, right around the same point Naruto lets viewers know he's an orphan.
From here, it isn't hard to piece together that the Fourth Hokage who sealed the Nine-Tailed Fox in Naruto 12 years ago and his father who died when he was a baby are the same person. However, just because this twist can be clocked from a mile away doesn't make it any less of an integral plot point.
1 Tobi's Identity Seems Too Obvious To Consider
Once again, Naruto's actually surprising twists are spent in battle. After all, it's easy to shock an audience when they don't have time to predict what comes next. In regard to the overarching plot, another cool-but-obvious moment comes into play regarding the Akatsuki member Tobi's true identity.
While he parades around as Madara for a while, most fans don't bite the bait. When he tells the heroes he is Obito Uchiha, Kakashi's former teammate and friend who has been presumed dead, fan theories everywhere are confirmed. Not only do Tobi and Obito share the same Sharingan, but their approximate age and similar names make this "twist" something most fans guess way before it's revealed.