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伏線回収 fukusen kaishuu
When the setup finally pays off.
What does fukusen kaishuu mean?
That goosebump moment when a throwaway line from episode two turns out to matter. Japanese fans praise stories by how cleanly they collect their own foreshadowing.
Example
最終回で伏線回収されて鳥肌が立った。
The finale paid off all the foreshadowing and gave me goosebumps.
Vibe
Who you can say this to, and how it lands.
Safe to use Fine in ordinary conversation.
The story behind fukusen kaishuu
The two halves come from different worlds. 伏線 is a critic's word, a line laid down in hiding, borrowed long ago from classical Chinese writing on narrative. 回収 belongs to logistics and finance: collecting, recovering, calling in what is owed. Put them together and praising a story sounds like closing an account.
Serialised mystery anime and games made it a standard yardstick through the 2010s, alongside the rise of fan theorising. A work is now rated partly on whether it settles its debts, and audiences watch the early episodes like auditors. The risk is obvious: not every scarf left on a chair is a promise.
Get fukusen kaishuu in your pocket
伏線回収 is one of 308 words in YABAI, a Japanese culture snack for Android. Every word comes with its meaning, an example sentence, a vibe check and a story like the one above — in 13 languages, read aloud by your device. Paid app: no ads, no sign-up, no subscription.
