For many who grew up watching western cartoons on TV, their first experience with anime can make the world of Japanese animation seem impossibly dynamic and artistic. But while anime usually boasts more complex designs, varied perspectives, and generally more polished visuals than its western counterpart, it’s not like Japanese animation is a purely artistic endeavor. As with any other commercial product, the final quality of the project is limited by time and budget constraints.

In other words, sometimes mistakes turn up in the art, like this subtle yet chilling gaffe one Prince of Tennis fan spotted.

The actual focus of some anime can be very different than what it seems to be on the surface. For example, while Prince of Tennis is ostensibly about the high school athletic contests its title promises, that’s not the real reason the series has become such a hit. No, the franchise’s predominantly female fanbase keeps coming back not because of the youth sports, but because it enjoys seeing slender, delicately handsome teen boys panting and getting sweaty as they run around the court.

As such, Prince of Tennis isn’t overly concerned with depicting the game exactly as it is in real life. In the interest of making its characters look cool, the show often takes artistic license by depicting the amateur athletes moving so fast their bodies seem to split into multiple copies, for example.

But maybe the show’s animators have gotten a little too used to not being chained to reality in their artwork. See if you can spot the likely unintended otherworldly phenomenon going on in this scene, as shared by Twitter user Perfect Gorilla Yuka.

Did you find it? Yes, apparently it’s not only the dreamy tennis stars themselves who can bend the laws of time and space, as the chair umpire’s upper body seems to have decided to go check out another match.

Like we said, this is probably just the sort of inevitable mistake that occasionally slips through the cracks as an overworked animation staff copes with unforgiving deadlines. Or, perhaps we’ve misjudged the real appeal of Prince of Tennis, and the secret to the show’s success isn’t its endless roster of pretty boys, but the tension of its slow-burn horror subplot where you never know where the next dismembered body is going to suddenly show up.

Source: Jin, Twitter