Plot Holes

[Duke]

Since it's pretty popular at the Toonami forum, I guess I'll bring it over here.

Basically you list some plot holes or strange, unexplainable things you see in an Adult Swim show (besides the usual weirdness in the ASC shows), and maybe someone will explain it or something.

Here's one of mine to get us started:

How does Jigen manage to shoot 20 bullets out of his 6-shooter without having to reload?

[Aurochs]

Every Lupin III episode has at least a dozen plotholes. It's not worth examining. Just appriciate it for the kitsch it is.

I have a few about Futurama, but they're not really interesting. I'll tell them if anyone's interested.

[Duke]

Every Lupin III episode has at least a dozen plotholes. It's not worth examining. Just appriciate it for the kitsch it is.

I have a few about Futurama, but they're not really interesting. I'll tell them if anyone's interested.

Well, right now the Toonami forum's one is in a big discussion about dodging Captain Ginyu's Change Beam and if Rini gets a boob job whenever she transforms into Mini Moon. So go ahead, all are welcome.

Here's another one:

Why is it that when InuYasha goes into the future for the first time that he doesn't seem surprised at what's taken place, such as the inclusion of skyscrapers and cars?

[Aurochs]

Fine then, how come in some episodes Bender is shown eating and owning a sense of taste, while in others, he and all others are void of a sense of taste? How come in one episode, Farnsworth says that French is an archaic language, but in another episode, it's in use. Or why do they keep celebrities preserved in jars? Can't they give them clone bodies or at least robot bodies? And how do they have celebrities that have already died in jars? If Ron Polpei invented the technology, how can they have George Washington's head if he died several hundred years before the birth of Ron Polpei? How are anchovies extinct in a future where they can easily clone extinct species? Well, actually, that last one's kind of obvious. There must be a government regulation on the cloning and production of anchovies to protect the lucrativeness of robot oil companies, while on the other hand allowing harmless extinct creatures like Tyrannosauruses and cows to be cloned. (Although the preferred livestock in the future is Buggalo)

[The Landstander]

I'll add one big one to the list...won't list reasons; if you follow, you already know of something or other. My inconsistancy:

Josie Small.

[DianaGohan]

How does Jigen manage to shoot 20 bullets out of his 6-shooter without having to reload?

See the problem is, you think it's just a regular 6-shooter. It's not, it's a very diffrent and much more powerful Multi-Bullet gun which allows Jigen to fire many bullets without reloading.

Why is it that when InuYasha goes into the future for the first time that he doesn't seem surprised at what's taken place, such as the inclusion of skyscrapers and cars?

Actually, in "Enter Shippo Plus, The Thunder Brothers" in the beginning, Kagome was telling Inuyasha all about the future, so I'm assuming at some point before "Terror of The Ancient Noh Mask" She must of mentioned things like skyscrapers and cars to him and what they look like, so that's why he isn't taken aback when he sees them.

Fine then, how come in some episodes Bender is shown eating and owning a sense of taste, while in others, he and all others are void of a sense of taste?

The creators admitted in the early episodes they toyed with giving Bender a sense of taste or not, and finally decided to do so. That's why he only has a sense of taste in a few of the early episodes.

How come in one episode, Farnsworth says that French is an archaic language, but in another episode, it's in use.

There's actually two responses to this. First off, would you really trust everything Farnsworth has to say? Even about science? Secondly unlike any other language, French hasn't evolved over time, so many consider it a "dead" language. For example, the French Celebrate the year 2000 the same way they celebrate the year 3000 in "Space Pilot 3000".

Or why do they keep celebrities preserved in jars? Can't they give them clone bodies or at least robot bodies? And how do they have celebrities that have already died in jars? If Ron Polpei invented the technology, how can they have George Washington's head if he died several hundred years before the birth of Ron Polpei?

The thing is, they could probably give them regular bodies if they wanted to, but Head Jars are far cheaper to use, and not to mention the fact that they could now have the celbrities on full watch all the time. Actually, the "dead" celberties in the Jar are head clones of the real things, it's just not brought up that they're not the original ones.

How are anchovies extinct in a future where they can easily clone extinct species? Well, actually, that last one's kind of obvious. There must be a government regulation on the cloning and production of anchovies to protect the lucrativeness of robot oil companies, while on the other hand allowing harmless extinct creatures like Tyrannosauruses and cows to be cloned. (Although the preferred livestock in the future is Buggalo)

(Ding) Wrong! The reason they couldn't clone anchovies anymore isn't because of Government Regulation, it's because there's no point. You see, over 700 years ago when the Anchovies were first extinct they tried cloning them, and they were succesful. Unfourtanley, every attempt to try and repopulate the species was quickly foiled by Zoidberg's people eating the anchovies before they grew that large in numbers. In fact, it was Zoidberg's Great Ancestors Clawz and Stoma who lead the charge in finishing off all the Anchovies. After a while, the goverment stopped caring and decided to quit cloning them, realizing that there was no point if Zoidberg's people were just going to keep eating them.

Josie Small.

You mean from her disapperence from "The Party" to "Shore Leave". Actually there's a reason. You see, because Paula didn't have really any money because of not having a job, she couldn't support herself, Brendon and Josie at the same time, so she sent Josie to live with another family member while Brendon stayed with her. Obviously after she got her job back after "The Wedding" she picked up Josie from the Relative's house and Josie went back home. If you don't see her in a Season 3 Episode, it's only because she's sleeping upstairs, silently napping.

So anyone else got questions? Cause I'll answer any you want to mention.

[Arxane]

Here's a huge plot hole in "Inuyasha": Why does Kagome need the Sacred Jewel to travel through the Bone Eater's Well when she's obviously gone through the well without the jewel multiple times?

The answer, of course, is that the creators of the anime screwed this up. The original manga never once mentioned that Kagome needed the jewel to go through the well, but the anime creators didn't notice that, now did they?

[Patches]

Here's a huge plot hole in "Inuyasha": Why does Kagome need the Sacred Jewel to travel through the Bone Eater's Well when she's obviously gone through the well without the jewel multiple times?

The answer, of course, is that the creators of the anime screwed this up. The original manga never once mentioned that Kagome needed the jewel to go through the well, but the anime creators didn't notice that, now did they?
This is going to pose a problem after the Shichinintai arc, since Kagome goes home, yet very pointedly has no more jewel shards (since at this point the only ones left are the big honkin' one Naraku has, the one Kohaku has, the two Kouga has, and the one Housenki took to the afterlife). So, either they're going have to weasel in a way for Kagome to keep one of Bankotsu's shards, come up with a lame excuse as to why she can suddenly travel without the shards, leave it a plot hole, or just not have her go home altogether.

[Duke]

How is it that Vash can go 134 years of annonymity (sp)? I mean, there aren't that many towns on the planet, so someone had to have seen Vash more than once during their lifetime.

[Jimmy Kustes]

How come Fry gets his sperm fried but still able to impregnat(sp?) his grandmother?

[Shnay]

You mean from her disapperence from "The Party" to "Shore Leave".

I'm pretty sure he's referring to her origins. Specifically, who her father is. This discussion has been had many-a-time on this board, but, to sum it up, her ethnicity suggests that Andrew is not her father. Some say Eric is the father, some say she's just dark skinned. I think she was accidentally concevied with "some guy" Paula knew (in the Biblical sense) who didn't stick around to play the father role.

Here's some more for the list:

In the Cowboy Bebop episode "Black Dog Seranade," we learn how Jet got his cybernetic arm. Jet was set up by his partner, who ambushed him with (what looked like) a sniper rifle of sorts. It's cut off, but it's implied that only one shot is taken. Why would one shot (even from a very powerful gun) neccessitate the amputation of the entire arm?

How does everybody in the Inuyasha world know that the jewel thingee has been shattered? There's always talking about finding "jewel shards" but how would the whole world have heard about the jewel being shattered?

[Tienshin]

Random Big O thought while caffienating at the office...Not to be taken seriously.

A couple of episodes ago it was estabtlished that our lovely Dorothy while petite is actually quite heavy. So shouldnt she be destroying furniture, ruining Roger's car's suspension, and reaking havoc on unsuspecting floorboards "faster than a fat man who sat down too fast"?

[anime_babe]

That's a good point. I was wondering that myself, especially when she goes hopping on the banaster to ever look the city. That thing should be crashing, you know? :D

[goat]

It seems like Dorothy's not super-heavy, but super-strong. If she doesn't want to be moved, she won't be. But didn't we see Roger scooping her up once? Although, if she really was super-strong, wouldn't she have said that instead of super-heavy?


Inuyasha plot hole: How come every jewel shard the heroes/Naraku find can fit in with their other shards? It'd have to be an enormous coincidence for them to find the jewels in the "correct" order. What happens when they find one that's part of the side that they don't have? It's like trying to fit a corner piece of a puzzle in the middle. Well, I guess Kagome could just put it in her little jar. But then wouldn't it just be easier to put the whole thing in her jar?

[Greek_Honeybee]

Inuyasha plot hole: How come every jewel shard the heroes/Naraku find can fit in with their other shards? It'd have to be an enormous coincidence for them to find the jewels in the "correct" order. What happens when they find one that's part of the side that they don't have? It's like trying to fit a corner piece of a puzzle in the middle. Well, I guess Kagome could just put it in her little jar. But then wouldn't it just be easier to put the whole thing in her jar?As far as I know, the jewel has to be put back together through some kind of magic. When they retrieved the shards from the Spider-Head demon, they noticed they were sort of melded into one big chunk. And in a later ep., Kikyou and Kagome melded three separate shards into one larger shard by praying with their combined powers. So I guess they don't need to be put back together the same way it broke.

[Karl Olson]

In the Cowboy Bebop episode "Black Dog Seranade," we learn how Jet got his cybernetic arm. Jet was set up by his partner, who ambushed him with (what looked like) a sniper rifle of sorts. It's cut off, but it's implied that only one shot is taken. Why would one shot (even from a very powerful gun) neccessitate the amputation of the entire arm?

An even better question considering the amount of damage Spike can take.

But, if the bullet hit the right nerves in the arm, it'd be useless from there down. This is even more likely if it was a high velocity round, even more so if it were an expanding point bullet (the exit wound be the size of an orange.) Now, it's explained that Jet built that arm himself, rather than simply have a clone arm, in one of the episodes. This would make perhaps even more sense because if it'd be useless even after placement/reconstruction. A cybernetic arm could be direct connected in the nervous system in theory.

Or maybe he knew it'd just be really intimitating.

Besides, they never even explain Jet's eye thing.

[Mr. Krinkle]

I'll try it
In one episode Bender requires a chip to give him emotions.
However, in most other episodes he's either angry, sad, scared, etc.

[Aurochs]

I'll try it
In one episode Bender requires a chip to give him emotions.
However, in most other episodes he's either angry, sad, scared, etc.

You're a little mixed up. Bender, like all robots in the year 3000, has a fully functional set of emotions, just like a human. The chip the professor installed in that episode was an empathy chip, not a chip that gave him emotions.


The creators admitted in the early episodes they toyed with giving Bender a sense of taste or not, and finally decided to do so. That's why he only has a sense of taste in a few of the early episodes.

My theory about that is that Bender has another emotion similar to taste, but it's not quite the same. (He mentions that he has eight senses in "30% Iron Chef") He must has a sense that allows him to taste oil, alcohol, and various foods, but it's not as efficiant as the sense of taste.

There's actually two responses to this. First off, would you really trust everything Farnsworth has to say? Even about science? Secondly unlike any other language, French hasn't evolved over time, so many consider it a "dead" language. For example, the French Celebrate the year 2000 the same way they celebrate the year 3000 in "Space Pilot 3000".

Yeah, you're probably right. I figured that the French language has evolved to a point that 20th century French would sound like gibberish.

The thing is, they could probably give them regular bodies if they wanted to, but Head Jars are far cheaper to use, and not to mention the fact that they could now have the celbrities on full watch all the time. Actually, the "dead" celberties in the Jar are head clones of the real things, it's just not brought up that they're not the original ones.

My theory is that the New New York government owns the head celebrities like slaves, and won't allow them to have full bodies for the sake of inexpensiveness and convenience when it comes to keeping them in their prison (ie: The Head Museum) and displaying them for the Head Museum patrons.

An even better question considering the amount of damage Spike can take.

But, if the bullet hit the right nerves in the arm, it'd be useless from there down. This is even more likely if it was a high velocity round, even more so if it were an expanding point bullet (the exit wound be the size of an orange.) Now, it's explained that Jet built that arm himself, rather than simply have a clone arm, in one of the episodes. This would make perhaps even more sense because if it'd be useless even after placement/reconstruction. A cybernetic arm could be direct connected in the nervous system in theory.

Or maybe he knew it'd just be really intimitating.

Besides, they never even explain Jet's eye thing.

If you examine Cowboy Bebop, it doesn't really make any sense. There's no way the entire solar system will be fully populated and terraformed by 2070. And it seems that at times the 20th century popular culture is popular and wide-spread in the 21st century, and at other times, people are ignorant about it. (eg: The "Speak Like a Child" episode, with the video tape confusion) The point of the series is mostly verbal symbolism, and doesn't stand up to dissection.

[Duke]

I'll try it
In one episode Bender requires a chip to give him emotions.
However, in most other episodes he's either angry, sad, scared, etc.

Bender does have a full set of emotions, but he ignores it 90% of the time.

[Master Moron]

If you examine Cowboy Bebop, it doesn't really make any sense. There's no way the entire solar system will be fully populated and terraformed by 2070. And it seems that at times the 20th century popular culture is popular and wide-spread in the 21st century, and at other times, people are ignorant about it. (eg: The "Speak Like a Child" episode, with the video tape confusion) The point of the series is mostly verbal symbolism, and doesn't stand up to dissection.

Could you be a little more specific? When was 20th century culture shown as popular and widespread in Cowboy Bebop?

[Animation Otaku]

Blues and Jazz.

[Aurochs]

Besides that, there's also the dozens of dialogue references and cameos/satirical product placements riddled throughout the series.

[Shnay]

I think that the legacy of Miles Davis would have outlasted the legacy of Beta cassettes. So I don't know if that really counts as a continuity error.

[Aurochs]

I think that the legacy of Miles Davis would have outlasted the legacy of Beta cassettes. So I don't know if that really counts as a continuity error.

Yeah, but it wouldn't outlast the legacy of VHS video tapes.

[Animation Otaku]

Why not? Very few kids these days even know what a Record player is, by 2071 there probably will be very few people who remember VHS tapes.

[Boy Wonder]

Rini gets a boob job whenever she transforms into Mini Moon.

It never happened, and you have to go Japan to get season 4, because it is not permitted here due to violence.

[Mr. Krinkle]

You're a little mixed up. Bender, like all robots in the year 3000, has a fully functional set of emotions, just like a human. The chip the professor installed in that episode was an empathy chip, not a chip that gave him emotions.

Yes, thats right he was sensing Leelas' emotions and al...thanks

[Duke]

Rini gets a boob job whenever she transforms into Mini Moon.

It never happened, and you have to go Japan to get season 4, because it is not permitted here due to violence.

Yea it did, especially in Season 4, Super S, which did air on Cartoon Network a few years ago. Maybe you're thinking of Sailor Stars, which isn't permitted over here because of the gender-changing Starlights.

[herbkir]

A plot hole in the early Inuyasha episodes is where Miroku is introduced, and he hops onto Kagome's bicycle and nonchalantly rides off down a rough cliffside road with nary a wobble, and later rides along with her in the basket. Presumably, he's never seen a bike before and, while he might be smart enough to intuitively grasp how to mount it, I doubt he'd be a proficient rider on his first attempt.

Also, there's a "dialog hole" in another early Inu episode, where Inuyasha is talking with the still-living Kikyo and she talks about her lonely life as a miko. Inu says to her "We all have our cross to bear." I doubt he'd have heard of Christianity in feudal Japan, but if he had he'd be absolutely hostile to it since the Christian church of that era would have viewed demons or half-demons as evil agents and been out to kill him.
(^_*)

[ClockStomper]

A plot hole in the early Inuyasha episodes is where Miroku is introduced, and he hops onto Kagome's bicycle and nonchalantly rides off down a rough cliffside road with nary a wobble, and later rides along with her in the basket. Presumably, he's never seen a bike before and, while he might be smart enough to intuitively grasp how to mount it, I doubt he'd be a proficient rider on his first attempt.

Also, there's a "dialog hole" in another early Inu episode, where Inuyasha is talking with the still-living Kikyo and she talks about her lonely life as a miko. Inu says to her "We all have our cross to bear." I doubt he'd have heard of Christianity in feudal Japan, but if he had he'd be absolutely hostile to it since the Christian church of that era would have viewed demons or half-demons as evil agents and been out to kill him.
(^_*)

The second is a dub flub and the first is definetley a plot hole. If we have to be taught how to ride a bike now, how can he just hop on and take off? And why is he not amazed or befuddled by it?

Futurama plot hole: In the underwater episode, Zoidburg notes a big bucket of anchovies along with the bait. Aren't they extinct?

[Aurochs]

Why not? Very few kids these days even know what a Record player is, by 2071 there probably will be very few people who remember VHS tapes.

Yeah, but I think in 68 years, a very common now-obsolete 20th century medium will be more well known than a 20th century jazz musician, but you're right. It's not a continuity error at all. It's certainly possible.

Here are a few Lupin III plot holes.
1) In "Shaky Pisa", sometimes the ransom is 1 million Liras, while sometimes it's 1 million gold. (Probably the fault of the translators)
2) In "Cursed Case Scenario", if Lupin was being possessed by Tutank Aman and suddenly ran off, how did Fujiko manage to attach a transparent hang-glider to his back?
3) In "Shot Through the Heart", whatever happened to Fujiko? Lupin and Jigen just left without her.
4) How come whenever Lupin appears in public, they don't arrest him on the spot?

[Greek_Honeybee]

A plot hole in the early Inuyasha episodes is where Miroku is introduced, and he hops onto Kagome's bicycle and nonchalantly rides off down a rough cliffside road with nary a wobble, and later rides along with her in the basket. Presumably, he's never seen a bike before and, while he might be smart enough to intuitively grasp how to mount it, I doubt he'd be a proficient rider on his first attempt. There's a funny bit in the manga about it while they're chasing Miroku:

Inuyasha: He's shouldn't have gone too far. 'cuz that iron vehicle falls down all the time.
Kagome: Inuyasha, did you... practice riding it?
Inuyasha: Shut up! (vein popping) Apparently, Miroku just has naturally good balance.

[Roger Smith]

How did Vsah survived A long time without An Arm and how did it make it a arm machine?

[Duke]

Well, considering his scars, I think he could survive with one arm, but it would look silly, and he knows Knives it out there. As to where he got his bionic arm from, I'm assuming he met up with the people on that colony and that scientist guy gave him his original gun arm.

In the Titanic episode of Futurama, Bender says his bowtie is magnetic. But isn't he supposed to start singing folk tunes whenever he gets touched by a magnet?