Biggest Plot Holes In Popular Anime

Every year, hundreds of anime hit the entertainment industry, and while some get lost in all this noise, others go on to become massive hits. For such anime, a major credit can be given to the plot, or the choices made by the characters, which are often flawless, but sometimes, even great shows are not immune to plot holes.

Whether it’s unexplained details, inconsistencies in timelines, or completely absurd character decisions, these gaps in the plot can leave you scratching your head. Although some of these plot holes are easy to overlook, others are so glaring that they can spark endless debates on Reddit, as they remain as unresolved mysteries that continue to puzzle the fans forever.

10

Kanade In Afterlife – Angel Beats

How Did She End Up In The After Life?

Angel Beats revolves around students stuck in a purgatory-like afterlife, where they are held back by their unresolved regrets. But Kanade’s presence there raises a huge paradox, that no one has a proper explanation for.

This plot hole comes forward when Kanade tells Otonashi that she received his heart after he died. If so, how did she end up in the afterlife before him? Since she outlived him in the real world, she should have arrived long after he did. The series never offers a clear answer, leaving the discussion to the fanpages.

9

Lack Of Research To Remove The Headsets – Sword Art Online

Removing The Headset Was Never A Priority

Sword Art Online’s entire plot is based on thousands of players being trapped inside a VR MMORPG, unable to log out. But there’s one major issue. Why didn’t anyone come up with a solution to remove their headsets safely in the real world?

The anime briefly mentions that removing the NerveGear would kill them, but that explanation doesn’t satisfy the audience. When a team was assembled to research how they could do it, this research was never carried out properly. Considering how long the players were trapped, the lack of effort makes the premise feel shaky.

8

The Missing Kids – Yu-Gi-Oh!

Did Anyone Care About The Missing Kids?

Yu-Gi-Oh! follows Yugi Mutou and his friends as they compete in life-threatening card duels, often against supernatural powers. But let’s be honest, it’s kind of out there to think that no one ever cares much about how many kids go missing during these duels.

Throughout the series, characters like Mokuba Kaiba are constantly kidnapped, and other duelists just vanish after losing. Despite this, there was never any significant police involvement or mass panic. Even with the card battles happening in broad daylight, the world around them seems strangely indifferent, as if disappearing kids were just a normal part of everyday life.

7

The Destruction Of The Moon – Assassination Classroom

Nothing Happened To Life On Earth

In Assassination Classroom, the tentacled teacher Koro-sensei is notorious for destroying a large chunk of the moon, permanently leaving it in a crescent shape. Despite this, the world doesn’t seem to be affected at all.

In reality, such an event would cause extreme shifts in Earth’s tides, weather patterns, and even its orbit. But in the anime, life just goes on as usual, with no such consequences. For a series that acknowledges science in its assassination techniques, it was strange to see that the moon’s destruction was treated as a minor incident.

6

The Nen System – Hunter x Hunter

Normal People Never Knew About It

Hunter x Hunter’s Nen system is one of the most complex power structures in anime and is often praised for how well it is laid out, but there’s a strange inconsistency here, as regular people are not actually aware of it.

Nen users can perform wonders due to their superhuman abilities, such as creating massive explosions, and they even fight in public arenas, yet the public remains oblivious. Even the professional fighters outside the Hunter Association seem clueless about it. Given how often Nen users fight in these major events, the idea that no one ever questions these abilities or tries to learn them makes no sense.

5

Inconsistencies Due To The Timeline – Dragon Ball

When & How Things Really Happen

Dragon Ball’s lore has evolved over decades and so sometimes the timeline of the events can be quite confusing. One such detail is about the exact moment when Planet Vegeta was destroyed.

Depending on the series, the timeline shifts, like how some versions show Goku as a baby when he was sent to Earth, while other versions show him as a toddler. Then Dragon Ball Super makes things even more complicated by suggesting that Broly and other Saiyans survived much longer than previously believed. With so many conflicting timelines, it’s nearly impossible to estimate when the Saiyan race was actually wiped out.

4

Ash Never Gets Old – Pokémon

He’s Still A 10-year-Old Kid

Pokémon has been running for over 25 years, yet Ash Ketchum remains 10 years old forever. The series never acknowledges this, and no explanation has ever been given by the creators, leaving it open to fans who come up with countless theories.

What makes it even stranger is that the surrounding characters sometimes change, yet Ash stays exactly the same. Even in the series’ adaptations, his age remains frozen. No one knows whether this is just some cartoon logic or something, but Ash never aging will remain one of Pokémon’s biggest unanswered questions.

3

Mitsuha And Taki Never Noticing The Dates – Your Name

Just Look At Your Phones For The Dates

Your Name is one of the most beautifully animated films ever and tells the story of Mitsuha and Taki, two strangers who swap bodies across time. But one detail that seems oddly overlooked is why neither of them ever noticed the dates on their phones or in their daily lives?

For a movie that is based on time-travel mechanics, this feels off. Simple things like phone notifications, calendars, or even historical events should have clued them in that they were living in different periods. Yet they only realize the time gap much later, making them initially look dumb.

2

Light Seeing Ryuk – Death Note

The Death Note Never Belonged To Ryuk

At the beginning of the show, Light Yagami picks up the Death Note and instantly sees Ryuk, but it is never truly his. Later in the series, it’s explained that humans should only see shinigami after they actually use the notebook.

By this logic, Light shouldn’t have been able to see Ryuk, rather he should have seen Sidoh since the notebook originally belonged to him. It gets even more confusing later when the gangsters who have touched the Death Note can see Sidoh. While this detail doesn’t take away from the story’s brilliance, it remains a big inconsistency.

1

Naruto’s Upbringing – Naruto

Naruto Never Had A Guardian To Raise Him

Naruto Uzumaki grew up as an orphan, with no known guardian despite being the son of the Fourth Hokage. Given how much respect Minato had, it’s weird that no one took Naruto in or even revealed his heritage to him.

The series tries to justify this by saying the village wanted to keep his identity a secret, but that only raises more questions. The Third Hokage was in charge at the time, so why didn’t he make sure that Naruto had a proper upbringing? Instead, the poor kid was left to fend for himself, making this one of the show’s most frustrating plot holes.