i guess we can't only blame japan for the animated tongue snaking anymore, now can we?

Was there ever an explanation for how she can die and come back other than what was given in the execrable feature film?

i always figured it was simply a reoccurring character in otherwise unrelated episodes. i mean, sometimes the setting was completely different. i remember two that she survived, one had her in the real world to become a soccer mom (seriously), the other sent her billions of years into the future. i say that they have nothing to do with each other.