Images Used in Middle of Anime as a Break

Despite the existence of time-loops, stable and malleable timelines, and parallel dimensions, there are really only two types of time travel in anime. From the present to the past or future and from the past or the future to the present. Plot-wise, these types are further divided into two subgroups. One where every action has massive consequences and one where time travel is only a device to comment on the era that the protagonist is exploring (from now on, Time Camping instead of Time Travelling).

As a rule of thumb, Time Camping media tends to be pretty uncomplicated and does not leave viewers with an aftertaste of bitter existential dread. On the other hand, Time Travelling shows are more rewarding to watch for those into intricate narrative mechanics.

Updated on May 12th, 2021 by Rich Keller:Time travel is always tricky to delve into. It seems a hello or a sneeze has an irrevocable butterfly effect on past or future events. However, anime series have been able to tap into different iterations to make each time jump interesting.

15 Occult Academy Is Magic Girls Mixed With An Apocalypse

Occult Academy adeptly combinesmagic girls and time travel into one. Plus, it throws in apocalyptic circumstances for all involved.

In 2012, the Earth is invaded by aliens. Sensing that mankind is on its brink, time travelers are sent back to 1999 to destroy an artifact named the Nostradamus Key. It takes the powers of traveler Fumiaki and Maya, the headmaster of the Occult Academy, to battle various dangers to reach their destination.

14 Orange Takes A Realistic Look At Time Travel

The romantic comedyOrangetakes a different path to time travel. There aren't any battles against evil or earth-shaking disasters. Well, perhaps the latter is true if one considers that the main character is a high school student traversing her way through life.

This particular time travel incident starts when Naho Takamiya receives a letter allegedly written by her older self. While reluctant to believe at first, enough things happen for Naho to believe it's real. In turn, she starts to take the advice of her twentysomething self. This includes watching out for a transfer student who seems to disappear in the future.

13 Zipang Puts Modern Japanese Soldiers In An Awkward Place

Plenty of books and movies have placed modern-day soldiers and equipment into the past. For example, the naval dramaThe Final Countdownplaced a U.S. carrier group into the Pacific a day before Pearl Harbor.Zipangalso places 21st-century warriors into World War II, but not in a situation as saviors.

Instead, they land in Japan in the early 1940s, which is a much different place. With their accumulated knowledge they know how their country's forces can defeat the Allies. However, they also know what this era was like. So, their goal is to keep far away from anything that resembles warfare.

12 Buddy Complex Moves A Hero Into The Future

Buddy Complexis part of theGundamfamily. Yet, it has a completely different vibe to it. Instead of a fight for the freedom of the present, the hero determines if he wants to get into a future battle between mecha forces.

The hero ofBuddy Complex, Aoba Watase, is almost killed by a giant robot. Not only is he rescued but he is also sent 70 years into the future. He's simply time camping there as the people who saved him want him to learn all about the Gundams to prevent his imminent death.

11 Summer Storm! Features Teenagers That Might Not Be Teenagers

Plots about characters being immortal or younger than their images have been around since Oscar Wilde wroteThe Picture of Dorian Gray. InSummer Storm!it's relegated to a teenage romantic comedy.

Here, a young adolescent named Hajime Yasaka meets a beautiful and charming girl named Sayoko Arashiyama. As they continue to bond a friendship, Yasaka finds a photo of Sayoko where she looks like she's in her 60s. Thus begins his journey to unravel the mystery of his friend's age.

10 Steins;Gate Involves Texting Into The Past

If you can only watch one time-travel show, this is the one you should tackle. Not only does it have perfect time-travel mechanics (of the stable time loop/parallel timelines kind) but it also has diverse character designs. As well as a protagonist that suffers from long-winded loquaciousness who is played in Japanese by Mamoru Miyano, and in English by the incomparable J. Michael Tatum.

Both voice actors manage to pull the best tour de force of their careers as Okabe, the main character, unravels as the consequences of his time-travel texting adventures pile on and on and on, it is voice acting beyond anything that Disney can pull.

9 Noein: To Your Other Self Sends The Protagonist Through Time

This show could also be titled Quantum Physics 101. In a universe divided between two factions, the Shangri-La that want to destroy the time-space continuum, and the Lacryma who won't let that happen, the key to saving everyone is the Dragon Torque. Who is actually Haruka, the protagonist.

The writers have taken a lot of care to properly use quantum theory as the almost mystical motor of the story. It's also a great mix of genres because it manages to combine those really chill slice-of-life episodes with epic space battles and almost magical girls. All without breaking any string theory on the way.

8 Sagrada Reset Features A Character That Go Back In Time Three Days

Do not be fooled by the appearance of slice-of-life school anime, this is camouflage for an X-Men level backstory chock-full of philosophical dialogues. Kei, the main character, lives in Sakurada and has an eidetic memory. His good friend Misora has the power to reset time up to three days back.

They both join the Service Club to help people. However, the end of the first episode completely changes the slice-of-life premise on its head. Viewers soon realize that there are other powers moving the pieces of this small village. It is this close to becoming a David Lynch movie.

7 The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya Follows Events Of A Previous Series

If Noein is a great quantum primer, Haruhi Suzumiya's series really gets its collective hands dirty playing with time slime. It establishes time as a stable line with occasional closed-loop paradoxes and rare chronal earthquakes (where everything can be destroyed, but you know, that's par for the course when Suzumiya-kun is involved). Furthermore, it sometimes likes to misdirect viewers into the appearance of alternate realities or split timelines, although these usually resolve at the end of the narrative arc.

Every derivation has a mathematical formula for Haruhi Suzumiya. This makes the Sheldon Coopers of the world incredibly happy. Overall, the Haruhi series has a very novel approach in establishing the difference between the way humans perceive and manipulate time and how an advanced AI not subjected to our physical limitation, and with infinite storage space, deals with the same issues.

6 Future Diary (Mirai Niki) Has The Character Receive Future Messages

Yuki, a normal teenager, gets dragged into a battle to the death to become a God. His main weapon? A special cellphone where he receives messages and tips from his future self. This allows him, to some degree, to foresee what will happen. However, all the other combatants also have cell phones. What they learn from these devices is determined by their personalities and weaknesses.

Future Diary has a tournament format where every episode features a fight between the kind of weak Yuki and the other deranged candidates to become a God. However, the way the mechanics of time travel are developed here (of the unstable timeline/parallel worlds category) is well thought out.

5 Erased Is A Bit Meta When It Comes To The Anime Industry

It's difficult to talk about Erased without mentioning The Butterfly Effect and the videogame Life Is Strange. Both of them share a lot of themes and mechanics with this plot. Here, Satou, the main character, can travel backward in time a few minutes to stop disasters but he doesn't quite control it.

However, when he's accused of the murder of his own mother, his mysterious gift sends him back 18 years, to his high school days, right before one of his classmates was murdered by a serial killer. Satou really wants to save everyone around him. Those who've watched The Butterfly Effectknow that this is not as easy as it sounds, even for someone with time-traveling powers. The soundtrack really adds to that mystery-thriller aspect, and the sound mixing is just excellent if watched with headphones.

4 The Girl Who Leapt Through Time Is A Wish-Filled Anime

Makoto, an outgoing high school girl, falls on top of a walnut-shaped object and gains the ability to literally leap through time. It's a miracle that she promptly uses to make her life a little bit easier in a myriad of different ways. She's feeling great when she realizes that she also has a number tattooed on her arm, which represents the total amount of time leaps she can make.

Although this plot is not epic in any way, shape, or form, The Girl Who Leapt Through Timeintroduces an intriguing concept. It's the idea of cumulative time-leaps that work a bit like using your third genie wish to ask for more wishes. The anime is beautiful to watch and also slice-of-life for those put off by historical time travel or elaborated time-space sci-fi.

3 Tatami Galaxy's Theme Is Similar to Groundhog Day

Tatami Galaxy is framed within a Groundhog Day device of a single day resetting unto itself. The protagonist, Watashi (Japanese for "I"), keeps reliving the same first day of college and trying to get the perfect "rose-colored" college life. Nevertheless, he doesn't even he doesn't know what that means.

Although the structure of all the episodes is similar, the great thing about this 11-episode series is the incredibly original style and the fantastic soundtrack. The conclusion is also cool, as it highlights the optimistic lesson about every time travel narrative. In other words, the most important thing is not to make the perfect decision but to make a decision and enjoy it to the max.

2 Thermae Romae Is A Short Time-Travel Series

For viewers that have 45 minutes and crave the reliable 80's movie plot of bringing a poor wifi-less loser from the past to the present,Thermae Romaehas them covered. When Lucius, an ancient thermae (Roman bathhouse) architect gets fired, he also manages to time-travel to modern Japan through a Roman bath sinkhole. Insert shock reactions at concepts like Japanese toilet technology and soda.

Thermae Romae is one of the most unique and hyper-focused concept anime on this list, as well as the most lighthearted. Those who complete the three-episode anime series might also want to view a brilliant live-action movie filled with laughs.

1 Nobunaga Concerto Is Themed Like The Prince And The Pauper

Nobunaga Concerto is peak Time Camping. Saburo, a scatter-headed high school boy, travels to Japan's Sengoku era and ends up taking the place of Oda Nobunaga, the leader of the Akechi Clan because he looks just like him.

Nobunaga Concerto is more concerned with detailing the facts and showing off its stunningly realistic rotoscope technique than connecting the characters. They also ended the 10-episode season with a major cliffhanger without a resolution.

NEXT: 10 Worst Time Travelers In The DC Universe, Ranked

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