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The smallest things can have the biggest impacts on people’s lives or, in the case of anime, the characters’ futures and even the entire story they live in. Thanks to seemingly minor encounters, nothing is ever the same again.
From happy accidents to contrived conveniences that are a few steps away from predestination, these meetings may seem inconsequential at first, but only reveal their biggest effects in later arcs and episodes.
WARNING: Spoilers ahead.
10 One Piece — Monkey D. Luffy Found The Straw Hats By Chance
Since he’s a pirate sailing the high seas, Luffy meeting all kinds of pirates and Marines was mandatory. What demanded more scrutiny was determining who would be his crewmates, since Luffy wanted a perfect crew of only ten. Thanks to a combination of luck (both good and bad) and chance, Luffy bumped into the pirates who would form his found family.
From former foes like Franky to previously isolated loner and potential love interest Nami, Luffy met his crewmates by happenstance. Right now, Luffy has nine crewmates who aren’t just his closest friends, but the strongest pirates who are fated to change the world by leading their generation’s rebellion against the World Government.
9 Bleach — Byakuya Kuchiki & Renji Abarai’s Arrival Dragged Ichigo Kurosaki Into Soul Society’s War
Despite his active third eye and empowered friends, the Substitute Shinigami Ichigo was an otherwise normal high school student who lived in the boring and uneventful Karakura Town. The most excitement he saw was whenever Rukia Kuchiki roped him into a Soul Reaping mission, making Bleach a buddy-cop comedy with a supernatural slant.
This normalcy was shattered when, one night, Rukia was arrested by her older brother Byakuya and her childhood friend Renji. The moment Ichigo decided to save her from her execution, Bleach transformed from an urban fantasy to a war in another world, complete with sprawling conspiracies and deadly soldiers from all sides.
8 The Promised Neverland — The Grace Field Kids Learned Of The Larger World Thanks To Friendly Demons
After barely escaping the Demons’ slaughterhouse, Emma, Ray and the other kids understandably couldn’t trust anyone who wasn’t human outside their home’s walls. That all changed when, after almost getting captured by pursuing Demons, they were taken in and given safe passage by the Demons Mujika and Sonju.
Besides teaching the kids survival tricks and sheltering them for a time, Mujika and Sonju widened Emma and her family’s perspective of the world. No longer was the Demon world a scary place, but a complex one filled with its own strife and ills. More importantly, Emma learned that not all Demons were monsters out to get them.
7 Death Note — Light Yagami & L Cemented Their Rivalry Through Tennis
Though they’re one of anime’s most famous rival pairings, Light and L took almost 10 episodes to even see each other. Before then, they fought a proxy mind war, where Light covertly imposed his harsh justice on the world while L was watching from a distance. That all changed when they finally met during a tennis game.
After this sporting event, L became morbidly fascinated with Light, but L’s choice to befriend him led to his death. Light, meanwhile, met his match, and he dedicated everything he had to proving his superiority. This in turn led to his gradual self-destruction, with Light letting his ego cloud and eschew what few morals he had to begin with.
6 Cowboy Bebop — Faye Valentine & Ed Reconnected With Their Past Lives
The Bebop’s crew could be best described as a found dysfunctional family. Despite each member’s genuine love for the other, they knew things wouldn’t last forever. That unfortunately came true when the Bebop landed on Earth, where Faye and Ed reconnected with the ghosts of their old lives and futilely tried to relive the past.
While Faye found an old classmate she could barely remember, Ed finally met her long lost father. Even if Faye returned later, her abrupt departure with Ed and Ein set the quintessentially ’90s Cowboy Bebop on the bleak and somber inevitability that it was avoiding this whole time. In the end, the Bebop was never the same and Spike died putting his demons to rest.
5 Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions — Yuta Togashi Learned The Reason Behind Rikka’s Fantasies During Her Family Reunion
At its start, Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions was a rom-com between a reforming chunibyo (Yuta) and one who had yet to outgrow the eighth grade syndrome (Rikka). For those unfamiliar, a chunibyo is an incredibly obsessed otaku that practically lives in their own anime world. That said, this wacky façade imploded during a family reunion.
During a vacation at Rikka’s grandparents’ house, Yuta discovered through her family that Rikka’s Wicked Eye persona is her means of escaping the reality of her father’s death. Following Rikka’s impromptu family reunion, the anime went from an eccentric love story to an examination of escapism’s best and worst effects on Yuta and Rikka’s romance.
4 Mob Psycho 100 — Mob & Reigen Arataka Changed Each Others’ Lives When They Met
When Mob Psycho 100 began, Mob and Reigen seemed like a weird pair of odd-jobbers. If Mob was a powerful psychic, Reigen was his sly conman boss. Their odd but genuine friendship became deeper and more compelling when, in the second season, a flashback revealed how exactly the two came to know one another.
Just when Reigen was about to quit the psychic gig, a young Mob dropped by his office. Though Reigen made up positive life advice like using powers for good, Mob sincerely looked up to Reigen. Mob Psycho 100’s central dynamic then evolved from a comic duo to a more complex one between a student and master whose roles were interchangeable.
3 Yuri!!! On Ice — Yuri Katsuki Forgot That He Drunkenly Confessed To Victor Nikiforov Years Ago
The figure skating icon Victor surprised the world when he didn’t just announce his retirement, but that he’d be shifting to coaching duties. Specifically, he was now going to mentor Yuri, a relatively unknown Japanese skater who went viral after perfecting one of Victor’s routines. Thing is, this seemingly good luck had a lot more to it.
As revealed in a previous Grand Prix Final’s afterparty, Yuri got so drunk that he asked Victor (who he only idolized then) to coach him. Though Yuri forgot, Victor never did. Yuri!!! On Ice went from a meet-cute love story to a fully romantic one; Victor’s actions were not so random as initially shown and their love was no longer in doubt.
2 Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid — Kobayashi Forgot About Saving Tohru
During a drunken stupor, Kobayashi bumped into a dragon named Tohru with a sword in its side. Despite Tohru’s hostility towards her, Kobayashi yanked the sword out and demanded they drink to celebrate. While drinking, Kobayashi offhandedly mentioned her interest in maids and inviting Tohru (now in human form) to come over to her place.
Thing is, Kobayashi forgot this and thinks it was a weird alcohol-addled dream she had. Nevertheless, this drunken encounter set the stage for Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid, a slice-of-life comedy about an office worker and her dragon maid, where Kobayashi slowly breaks out of her shell while both she and Tohru develop feelings for one another.
1 The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya — Kyon Sparked Haruhi’s Imagination Years Ago
As far as Kyon was concerned, he had nothing to do with Haruhi’s shenanigans; he was the victim of her eccentricity. Thing is, Kyon never realized until a certain time travel mishap that he was actually stuck in a self-fulfilling prophecy. In brief, he convinced Haruhi to search for the extraordinary in North High when he met her younger self.
Along with Mikuru Asahina, Kyon wound up three years in the past where he met Haruhi. Not only was Kyon (going by the alias John Smith) actually responsible for helping Haruhi pull off the Tanabata ground writings, but he planted the seeds of the SOS Brigade and the quest for the amazing that would only bear fruit in their futures.
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