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Orange: A Slice-of-Life Anime With a Time Travel Twist

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Content Warning: This article contains discussions of suicide and mental health.

While the anime industry has a variety of genres to offer, the slice-of-life category is one that has consistently remained a fan favorite. With relatable storylines and a laid-back narrative, these anime are the perfect source of light entertainment. However, one slice-of-life anime takes a different approach, with a heavy-hitting narrative and a storyline that can sometimes be a bit difficult for viewers to digest.

Written and stylized by Ichigo Tanako, Orange is a slice-of-life romance anime, yet it doesn’t quite revolve around the standard light-weight high school plotlines that this genre usually tends to encompass. Rather, the anime focuses on real-life problems that plague high-school students, even touching darker themes such as depression and suicide. The series’ storyline becomes even more distinct with its time travel twist, following a more multiverse-like approach with parallel timelines.

RELATED: The Greatest Slice Of Life Anime Of All Time (November 2022)

Slice-of-Life Storyline With a Twist

Orange does a lot of things differently than its slice-of-life counterparts , yet its most distinct element is the incorporation of time travel into the plot. This is revealed in the first episode, when Naho Takamiya receives a letter from her future self, warning her about the events that will transpire. Although Naho initially does not believe the authenticity of these letters, she eventually starts to realize that the letters are actually from her future self when every single detail mentioned starts to become true.

The series even gives a scientific explanation for how the time-traveling mechanism works , yet the vague explanation wasn’t enough to satiate fans. The characters’ future-selves find a blackhole and send the letters to their past selves through that rift in reality. While the explanation was not necessary as the undefined nature of the mechanism added a bit of mystery to the anime, many fans still appreciate the author’s efforts to include an explanation for the turn of events.

It is worth mentioning that the time-traveling phenomenon in the series follows a more multiverse-like approach , as the future characters can’t change their own timeline, and instead try to change the past in a separate timeline. A linear timeline approach would have created several complications, as even a single change in the past would have drastically altered the future.

While most slice-of-life anime follows a linear storyline centered around high school drama and romance , Orange takes on much heavier themes such as suicidal ideation and depression. This is also why the characters start receiving letters from the future, as the primary purpose is to ensure their new friend, Kakeru Naruse, does not succumb to his crippling depression.

The show also explores how this affects the relationship between them, since most people are not aware of how one should deal with a loved one suffering from this mental illness . The awkward moments throughout the series feel even more attuned to reality, as dealing with such a complicated and severe issue can be daunting for people, especially for those that are closest to the person suffering from depression.

RELATED: The Morbid Slice-of-Life Series Anime Fans Forgot About

These triggering issues are exacerbated by the end of the series, when Kakeru actually tries to commit suicide, creating an extremely heavy and heart-wrenching scene. Even though he rethinks his decision last minute, adding such a distressing scene to the series was necessary in order to portray the extent of this illness, and how a simple act of love and kindness can deter a person from ending their own life.

Relatable Characters

Apart from the accurate display of the crippling effects of depression, another thing that Orange nails down is the authenticity of its characters. Unlike other slice-of-life anime that portray highschool students as flamboyant individuals, Orange gives its characters a relatable depth, from their awkward interactions to the display of shy love and affection , one can easily put themselves in that position.

The portrayal of the future characters is also an element that the anime perfectly nails, as each character’s distinct personality is clearly visible in their future-selves, just slightly more mature. Portraying mature versions of characters is always a difficult task for authors, yet Ichigo Tanako achieved this feat easily with her excellent depiction of each character’s matured future-self. Overall, the anime takes a very life-like approach to teenage relationships – be it friendships or romantic relations. Coupled with its dark themes and time traveling twist, Orange easily becomes a must-watch anime, especially for those looking for something with a touch of hard-hitting reality.

MORE: Dark Slice Of Life Anime

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Top 20 Best Time Travel Anime Series & Movies

Here’s a question: what’s your favorite time travel anime? Are there even enough good titles in this sci-fi subgenre?

It isn’t filled to the brim each season unlike with the case of isekai titles, but it’s not impossible to find some great ones.

If you’re in the mood for some mind-boggling twists and turns (or even minor time travel elements in an otherwise typical anime) check out my list below.

And fair warning: spoilers ahead(in some cases). Some titles here have time travel itself as a key turning point or surprise in the series, so if you don’t want to know any more just skim the titles and pick one that interests you!

20. Nobunaga Concerto

I’m going to start with Nobunaga Concerto, an anime that does have time travel — but is also more of an isekai.

This is why I’m including it on my list but, but not the highest for sure. So what’s it all about?

As you may have already guessed, it involves Oda Nobunaga . Arguably one of the most popular Japanese historical figures.

He was a brutal leader, but he was also brilliant and a key figure in the reunification of Japan.

But Nobunaga isn’t the OP. In Nobunaga Concerto, he meets Saburou who mysteriously time travels from the 21st century and looks like him.

Saburou was just an ordinary high school kid, but now he must replace Nobunaga, who wishes to relax in his final years.

19. Natsu-iro no Sunadokei (Sandglass of Summer Colors)

This is an old anime. Like, really old.

But while its character design, animation, and overall quality haven’t stood the test of time, it is a worthwhile show that involves more time travel than Nobunaga Concerto.

Sandglass of Summer Colors is an adaptation of a video game, a visual novel (VN) from Princess Soft that was released way back in 2002.

Also, it only has two episodes; it’s an OVA. Still, it’s an intriguing show.

Yes it once again involves a teenage boy, this time named Kotaro Makimura.

But here, the time travel comes in the form of Kotaro waking up to the next school year, and then going back and forth to specific days of his summer vacation.

Through this he learns some very crazy news about his girlfriend Kaho Serizawa. It gets deep.

18. Buddy Complex

In 2014, Sunrise released an action-heavy mecha title that surprisingly wasn’t another entry to their sprawling Gundam franchise.

It’s called Buddy Complex, and it does enough to distinguish itself from other similar titles with its appealing trio, plot, and solid execution.

Buddy Complex starts with the main hero Aoba Watase nearly getting killed in the hands of a massive robot from the future.

Hina Yumihara saves him, and also takes him 70 years into the future for him to learn all about the fighting robots and possibly prevent his demise.

Can he go back to his actual timeline? Or is he stuck in this future of warring military forces?

17. Doraemon

Yes, Doraemon is indeed a time-travel anime — and quite a good one at that.

Some argue that the time travel aspect is a mere gimmick here. But I honestly love what the anime has done with it.

The story isn’t about a dystopian future and someone who wants to save it by going back to the past.

No, it’s about Sewashi Nobi from the 22nd century sending a cat robot to improve the life of his grandfather Nobita Nobi — and that’s wonderful.

With 1,700 episodes, Doraemon has proven that this subgenre can be wholesome for kids.

Likewise, who doesn’t want a four-dimensional pouch that can bring out all sorts of gadgets of different sizes?

16. Punch Line

Punch Line was MAPPA’s third original anime after Garo: The Animation and Zankyou no Terror, the latter being one of my all-time favorites.

No, Punch Line wasn’t a modern classic in my eyes at all.

It didn’t have the serious or ambitious tone of those previous shows.

However, Punch Line was a creative risk that needs commending — and even a reappraisal from anime fans.

It’s silly but fully aware of it.

How silly? It involves spirits, nose bleeding, panty shots.

Also, the OP has to avoid looking at panties as he travels through time as a spirit. Otherwise a meteor immediately kills all life on Earth. So that’s fun.

15. InuYasha

I’ve got another entry here from Sunrise Studio.

InuYasha was one of the biggest shounen titles before series like Naruto, Bleach, and Fairy Tail took over — and it does have time travel.

Kagome Higurashi goes back hundreds of years to feudal Japan. The difference is instead of meeting a general, he meets a white-haired guy who also has dog ears.

Also, both Kagome and Inuyasha can travel between modern Japan and feudal Japan with relative ease.

And I suggest InuYasha just because it’s one of the best shounen series of all time. Time travel or not.

14. Irozuku Sekai no Ashita kara (Iroduku: The World in Colors)

I have a soft spot for original anime. It takes a lot of guts to push through with a story you don’t know will work out.

It doesn’t have a built-in fan base unlike with adaptations of manga, LNs, and video games.

But Iroduku: The World in Colors was more than just an original anime.

It was a visually imaginative and wonderfully animated series, and it was clear that P.A. Works didn’t just do this half-heartedly.

Think of it as a blend of sci-fi, fantasy, and school drama.

A grandmother sends her emotionally distant granddaughter 60 years back to the past, but she doesn’t say why.

And now that she’s back to 2018(present when released) the young girl named Hitomi Tsukishiro learns all about self-discovery and human connection. Go see it.

13. Charlotte

Look, I get it — Angel Beats was a great anime series.

That was a show that managed to make me love all the students in just 13 episodes.

Plus, I’m confident that most viewers won’t ever forget the ending.

Since then, people have been clamoring for something like it from Jun Maeda.

Well Charlotte came into the fray, but it wasn’t exactly as good as Angel Beats or Clannad.

Still, Charlotte certainly has its moments as a school drama with time travel (among other powers).

Also this is an anime original, and I think the best moments outweigh the pacing and plot issues by the end.

I don’t blame you if you haven’t heard of Zipang.

Despite being released two full years later than Naruto, Zipang somehow sports a more old-school design.

Then again, it’s a fitting choice given the military and historical setting.

Simply put, it’s about a Japanese missile destroyer (a navy warship) called Mirai that gets itself into a storm, but it was no ordinary storm.

Once Mirai gets away from the storm, its crew realizes that they’ve all time-traveled to 1942 — back to the Second World War.

Exciting, right?

Here’s the more interesting part: They must try their best not to change history. But can the crew keep themselves in the background when people are dying left and right?

11. Natsu no Arashi (Summer Storm!)

Interestingly enough, I didn’t catch this until last year — a full decade since its release.

But hey, this is an excellent example of “better late than never” because this is a fine mix of time travel and comedy.

Natsu no Arashi is about, again, a male teenager who meets a beautiful girl.

But Sayoko Arashiyama is far from an ordinary teenager.

She may not even be a teenager as Hajime Yasaka finds a photo of her in her 60s.

What’s going on? And why does Sayoko still look young?

Check out Natsu no Arashi. It’s made by Shaft so expect some visual delights.

10. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (When They Cry)

We’re getting closer to the highest ranking so let’s be really careful now. I did warn about spoilers, so be prepared.

When They Cry deceives its audience by portraying itself as another generic anime with a guy OP and a bunch of cute girls.

Only for it to actually be a murder mystery with a time loop to boot.

Also, it may even be the only horror and time travel anime out there.

One minute you’re seeing kids playing together, all smiles. The next, they’re splattered with blood and having edgy expressions.

Admittedly I hate what happened to the anime adaptation here (although the movie Orange: Future was way better in terms of animation quality and consistency).

I read the manga, and it had moments that could’ve catapulted the anime as a classic.

But the anime did not meet or exceed expectations.

Orange was just above average. But still good enough to warrant a spot here.

If you think the anime was good and made you cry and laugh, consider the gorgeous and much more emotional manga too.

8. Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu (Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World)

I think Re:Zero is a fine isekai and time travel anime.

It could’ve been like any typical isekai after all the hype for Sword Art Online. But it etched its own place in history.

Re:Zero makes you think that it’s just another guy getting transported to a fantasy world. But the time loop aspect elevates the series to new heights of dread and sheer desperation for Subaru.

It’s not just an escape to a better world with waifu material like Emilia and Rem, it’s overall a really engaging show. And I’m definitely excited for season 2 .

7. Kimi no Na wa. (Your Name.)

Yup, this is big spoiler territory.

I sure hope that you’ve already watched the critically acclaimed movie, which also broke records around the world — or that you’ve read the novel of the same name.

Because time travel is what made audiences gasp in the middle of the movie. Kimi no Na wa is seemingly just about two people living in different regions… but what viewers didn’t know was that they also lived in different periods.

I still remember the shock everyone had in the cinemas (because I saw this twice in theaters).

There is nothing quite like the audiovisual spectacle of a Makoto Shinkai film on the big screen. And the ending is so rewarding if you’ve watched Five Centimeters Per Second.

6. Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei (The Tatami Galaxy)

Masaaki Yuasa needs no introduction after Devilman Crybaby garnered rave reviews from fans and critics all over the world, in part because it was available on Netflix.

But even before that, I was a huge fan of Yuasa’s directorial prowess.

He’s a man with impeccable skill, ensuring that both substance and style are way above the competition.

The Tatami Galaxy features rapid conversations (so you have to read fast if you prefer subtitles like me) and there’s so much going on when this is all about a young man’s life (and love life).

Watch him go through some sort of Groundhog Day, but in a much more artistic, magical manner.

It’s a rewarding experience across space and time (and tatami), I promise you that.

5. Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)

At this point, I’m not sure which of my top picks have time travel as one of its biggest turning points.

This one has a certain episode in the latter half that completely turns it from an impressive series to arguably one of the best anime of all time.

You may not agree that it’s a “deconstruction” of the magical girl genre . But it’s clear evidence that Gen Urobuchi could change the game if he had the right team.

Also, this original anime looks breathtaking.

It’s dark, it’s exciting, it’s inspirational.

Shaft had a classic in their hands and they didn’t waste the opportunity.

4. Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya)

As one of Kyoto Animation’s first big hits, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya took the relatively small 2006 global anime community by storm.

It was hilarious, had a stellar set of characters, had a viral opening song, and had episodes that didn’t line up chronologically.

And yet the order of events didn’t ruin the story at all.

The nonlinear structure enabled a new way of looking at the character dynamics. And it made rewatches (in the chronological order) more rewarding.

Once you’ve watched the series (and bless you if you’ve seen the Endless Eight arc) go ahead and enjoy The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya .

3. Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo (The Girl Who Leapt Through Time)

Like Masaaki Yuasa and Makoto Shinkai, Mamoru Hosoda is one of the best anime directors today.

And he’s done many more amazing films besides this one: Summer Wars, Wolf Children, and The Boy and the Beast, just to name a few.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time works as well as it does because of how it didn’t just use time travel as a gimmick.

It thought of how to shape the character and the story as a whole, creating tension and developing emotional impact in the latter half.

Plus I think many of us can relate to Makoto Shonno. Spending the last year of high school knowing that life is about to change, and yet you’re unsure of your own future.

It’s thrilling, hilarious, and has a heart at its core.

2. Boku dake ga Inai Machi (ERASED)

Am I making a controversial choice by putting this so high on my list?

Not really.

Sure, not everyone was a fan of the adaptation. And I admit that the suspense thriller aspect to it was a bit heavy-handed.

But like with how I feel about Zankyou no Terror, ERASED has highs that are so high, they easily make up for the lows.

It’s an imperfect masterpiece in my eyes.

The first episode was a 10/10 with how it easily grabbed my attention by the end with the change in aspect ratio, signifying the drastic change in time… it’s really interesting.

ERASED has a killer OP from none other than Asian Kung-Fu Generation, and I still think that the birthday scene of Kayo is one of the most heart-wrenching yet simultaneously heartwarming moments in anime.

Also, (big spoiler ahead) I dislike that some fans think the show was bad just because the guy didn’t end up with the girl he saved(and attempted to save again and again) in the past.

Look, you don’t just get to marry someone because you saved their life. You save someone because it’s the right thing to do, not because you expect something in return.

1. Steins;Gate

Is there even any other anime that could be at the No. 1 spot?

It’s the first show that comes to mind if you ask most anime fans what the best time travel anime is. And for good reason.

Furthermore, Steins;Gate isn’t just lauded as the top time travel series ever.

It’s also in the running as possible the best anime in general, usually in competition with FMA: Brotherhood.

Steins;Gate is both an outstanding gateway show to anime and one that becomes rewarding once you’ve consumed a ton of anime.

Some claim that it’s overrated, but one thing’s for sure: It set the standard for what a time travel anime could achieve in terms of sheer brilliance and entertainment.

Millennial introvert on the lookout for slice-of-life anime, world cinema, and European music. Follow on Twitter @notspencer08

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9 best time travel anime.

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From Tokyo Revengers to Steins;Gate, these are the best anime that focus around the concept of time travel.

• Time travel in storytelling requires attention to detail and tying together diverted paths can be difficult indeed.
• The choices characters make, regardless of size, can have massive consequences, making time travel stories engaging rollercoasters.
• Time travel can serve as a bittersweet method of communication, enhancing themes of actions, consequences, and personal growth.

Whether it's a mere five minutes or an entire decade, time travel is one of the most compelling yet complicated devices in storytelling. What makes it complicated is the attention to detail required: one story must already be established in order for diverted paths to take place, and tying them together effectively can be very difficult indeed.

RELATED: Saddest Deaths In Anime, Ranked

The choices that characters make, regardless of how small or big they perceive them to be, can have massive consequences. More often than not, the audience discovers the stakes of these choices along with the characters themselves. Therefore, a time travel story can become quite the rollercoaster, with a sometimes unpredictable track. Here are some of the best anime for fans of the fascinating concept of time travel.

9 Irodoku: The World in Colors

Despite coming from a long line of witches, Hitomi Tsukishiro has a rather strained relationship with witchcraft. Unable to truly master her her potent magic , she loses her ability to connect with the world around her in a literal sense. She can no longer see colors. Her grandmother hopes to reconnect her with her roots by sending her back in time to meet a younger version of the guardian.

Irodoku is a story of true connection with the world and, in a way, with one’s heritage. It speaks earnestly to the challenges one faces when it comes to mental health, and presents hope as an answer through the lens of Hitomi’s grandmother’s past.

People are not the ones to travel through time here: letters do instead. Naho Takamiya finds a letter addressed to her, soon discovering that it is from her future self. Future Naho gives herself glimpses of the future and shares regrets she had during high school. In doing so, she hopes to convince Present Naho to make different, bolder decisions that could just save someone they both care for dearly.

Orange is, in a way, a melancholy ode to those who sit on the sidelines of their own lives. It is also a reminder that reaching out may seem small and insignificant to some, but it can mean the world to others. Time travel is a bittersweet method of communication in this story that only serves to enhance these messages as the show progresses.

7 The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

Hit the brakes and check out this early 2000s anime movie classic . Based on a novel by the same name, the story follows Makoto Konno as she is suddenly granted the ability to leap through time. Makoto starts to use these leaps to her own advantage, often for selfish reasons. However, she only has so many she can use, and some decisions lead to terrible consequences.

It's expected that a teenager like Makoto may make a few silly, albeit selfish, decisions when discovering a new power like time travel. The story becomes even more compelling when she becomes aware of this and tries to remedy some of the decisions she’s made. In doing so, this movie truly broaches the subject of actions and consequences, on both a small and large scale.

6 The Tatami Galaxy

Take a trip that starts with something quite familiar to the college-age demographic: ramen. A third-year college student finds himself at a mysterious ramen stand, where he reflects on his lonely years thus far. Jealous of the surrounding couples, he secretly harbors the regret of not trying harder to be in a relationship like his peers. He is then thrown back into the beginning of his college years once more, for another chance to do just that.

RELATED: Best Anime Set In College

This show is a journey and a half for anyone not used to a more surrealist animation style. Yet, all-in-all, it is a story about a young man trying to find his place among his peers. It speaks honestly to the reality that sometimes life is a series of repetitive situations and different choices.

5 Tokyo Revengers

It’s a jarring reality to go from having it all to losing something dear and cherished. Takemichi Hanagaki used to have a more joyful life, supported by friends and his girlfriend. As time progresses, though, he loses his footing in the world and his ex-girlfriend. It isn’t until he finds himself gifted with the ability to alter time that he decides to use this ability to save the girl he once loved.

RELATED: Best Anime Like Tokyo Revengers

Based on the manga of the same name by Ken Wakui, the world of Tokyo Revengers is brutal and precise, especially with what Takemichi is attempting to achieve. He is also an underdog character, as he is not strong right from the get-go. Rather, he grows from his experiences and keeps to his wits as much as he can to achieve his desired outcome.

4 Your Name

Small-town-girl-meets-city-boy is taken to an entirely different level when it comes to this CoMix Wave film. While Mitsuha Miyamizu lives her life in the rural village of Itomori, Japan, Taki Tachibana lives his life in the bustling city of Tokyo. Both begin to have strange "dreams" where they swap lives without knowing it, until suddenly, they realize they are actually swapping bodies.

Winning three awards both for its stunning animation and its compelling story, Your Name is a tragic yet beautiful story worth falling into . The movie uses tension and suspense through the narrative of time, showing its audience slices of its protagonists’ lives.

When accused of murdering someone near and dear to him, Satoru Fujinuma turns to the past in order to clear his name. His ability, called Revival, allows him to travel into the past and alter events about to happen. While at one point he traveled mere minutes prior to an event, this time he is sent back to when he was just a child in order to solve the murder of one of his classmates.

Erased wraps a mystery within a time travel blanket that does nothing but enhance the suspense of its story. Time seems almost autonomous in the show, as it serves as a guide for Satoru while he decides to make the ultimate decisions. In a sense, he is not in it alone either, because he finds support in the most convenient of places: home.

2 Re:Zero – Starting Life in Another World

Just in the blink of an eye, Subaru Natsuki is transported to a fantasy realm called the Kingdom of Lugunica. Initially, he is more than excited to escape the mundanity of his regular life. Soon enough, though, he discovers that there are still challenges around the bend that he must face. Luckily, he has an ability that no one around him realizes: the ability to return to a specific point in time after "dying."

The story of Subaru takes some unexpected turns that lead him down a much darker road than he ever anticipated. Yet, part of what makes Re:Zero such a successful story is its protagonists’ slow growth over time. Each "death" is an opportunity for Subaru to truly take in his surroundings and learn to make conscious decisions. Additionally, the show is certainly dedicated to its small details and world-building. This only enhances the viewing experience for the audience.

1 Steins;Gate

Every great scientific discovery starts with something simple, right? For Rintarou Okabe and his team, that beginning comes in the form of a microwave. However, after attending a conference on time travel, Rintarou starts to see their invention in a new light. This discovery leads him into dangerous territory that not only puts his team at risk, but also his mind.

This anime is a roller coaster that makes its audience question what’s real and what isn’t. Humor turns into horror, and that horror leads into the core questions that Steins;Gate asks: What is the cost of time travel? What do we truly have control over when it comes to some of life’s most haunting consequences?

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Orange (2016)

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News Orange Time-Travel Romance Anime's Designs Revealed

The official website for the television anime of Ichigo Takano 's time-travel romance manga Orange posted the designs for the main characters when they were 16 years old in high school.

Kakeru Naruse

Hiroto Suwa

Azusa Murasaka

Takako Chino

Everyone has regrets in life. So who wouldn't take the chance to change the past if given the opportunity? When sixteen-year-old Takamiya Naho receives a mysterious letter, claiming to be from her twenty-seven-year-old self, her life is suddenly thrown into flux. The letter tells her that a new transfer student by the name of Naruse Kakeru will be joining her class, and to keep her eye on him. But why? Naho must decide what to make of the letter and its cryptic warning, and what it means not only for her future, but for Kakeru's as well.

Hiroshi Hamasaki ( Steins;Gate , Terra Formars ) is directing the anime at TMS Entertainment and Telecom Animation Film , and Yuuko Kakihara ( Chihayafuru 2 ) is writing the scripts. Nobuteru Yuki ( The Vision of Escaflowne , Kids on the Slope ) is designing the characters. The series will premiere this summer.

Takano ( Yume Miru Taiyō ) began the shōjo manga in Shueisha 's Bessatsu Margaret magazine in 2012, but moved it to Futabasha 's seinen magazine Monthly Action in 2013. Takano ended the manga in the October issue of Monthly Action on August 25. Futabasha published the fourth compiled volume of the manga on February 20, 2015 and published the fifth and final volume on November 12. The series has collectively sold over 4 million copies. Crunchyroll publishes the manga in English digitally. Seven Seas plans to release the complete series in two omnibus volumes.

Source: Comic Natalie

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Whether it's to the past or to the future, time travel can create a whole host of interesting problems. That's why there is so much good time travel anime out there. Most recently, there's the wildly popular 2021 time travel anime  Tokyo Revengers,  which is about a twenty-something who goes backwards in time to save his ex-girlfriend from gang warfare.

But that's not the only exciting time travel anime where lives are at stake. There's also  ERASED, Steins;Gate, Zipang,   Re:Zero  and more. Looking for something less action-oriented? The time travel niche also focuses heavily on human emotions and everyday life. The recent  Remake our Life!  follows an adult getting a chance to redo his college years to get his career on the right track. There's also  Mirai,  an anime movie that's all about family. 

Steins;Gate

Rintarou Okabe is a college kid who calls himself a mad scientist because he has a knack for inventing things with his friends. His latest invention is the Phone Microwave, which seems to do nothing but transform bananas into green gel. But Okabe soon discovers that it can send emails into the past - a function that has profound effects on the present and future. Can he handle the terrifying consequences of messing with time? Or will he inadvertantly destroy everything he cares about? 

Before an accident, Satoru Fujinuma is usually able to go backwards in time by a few minutes in order to prevent it. One day, his power goes into overdrive, sending him hurtling back to 1988 when he was an elementary school student. This time, the disaster he must prevent is a major one - he has to stop his classmate Kayo from losing her life. This story is absolutely heartbreaking, but it's beautiful and smart, too. 

Mitsuha Miyamizu and Taki Tachibana are leading two very different lives - Mitsuha lives out in the country, while Taki is managing a busy city life. The two of them get a taste for each other's lives when they suddenly start waking up in each other's bodies. At first, they're simply baffled by the body-swapping, but they soon realize that they're also travelling through time - with Taki going two years back and Mitsuha going two years forward.

What's more, in Taki's time, Mitsuha and her small down no longer exist, as they were wiped out by a comet. The two of them must work together to change Mitsuha's timeline and save her life.

After Subaru Natsuki is suddenly transported to a fantasy world, he discovers that he has one ability - the power to go backwards in time to a 'reset' point whenever he passes away. While this makes him functionally immortal and allows him to redo situations that end terribly, it also means that he has to repeatedly suffer the pain of losing his life. Meanwhile, his new world has plenty of confusing challenges to deal with, whether it's Elsa trying to disembowl him, witches and their acolytes causing chaos, or his new friend Emilia's politcial woes. 

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time  is a film that follows a high school girl named Makoto Konno who is about to graduate but has no real direction in life. When she discovers that she can leap backwards in time, she uses it to do mundane things like get good grades and extend her karaoke sessions. But she soon discovers that her time travel has a negative effect on others - and she has a limited number of leaps left. 

At the start of her sophomore year in high school, Naho Takamiya recieves a letter form herself, ten years in the future. The letter warns her that her new friend Kakaru Naruse is going to take his own life unless she alters the course of history to prevent it. Thus begins her attempts to understand and assuage Kakeru's sadness, and to prevent the terrible future ahead. It turns out that her other friends have recieved similar letters from their own past selves - but is that enough to save the day?

Tokyo Revengers

Takemichi is a twenty-something whose life is going nowhere - that is, until he discovers that he can travel backwards in time. His ex-girlfriend Hina lost her life to gang violence, and with the help of her policeman brother, Takemichi now has the chance to rewrite history and prevent the tragedy from ever occurring. This is much easier said than done - he has to go from a lackey getting pushed around to someone with real influence in the Tokyo Manji gang. Not only that, but he has to discover which events led to Hina's demise, and figure out not just how to protect her, but how to protect the friends he makes as he gets more and more involved with the gang. 

As one might expect from a four-year-old, Kun Oota is having trouble acclimating to the fact that his parents had another baby. Where before he had all their attention, now he has to share it with someone else. In order to help him get used to it, his little sister's older self travels from the future. Together, they go on a journey through time that teaches little Kun about the meaning of being a family - and about his specific role as an older brother. 

Remake our Life!

When 28-year-old Kyouya Hashiba's internship at a gaming company ends, he has no prospects and winds up having to move back in with his parents. He thinks he might have been more successful if he'd gone to art school instead of business school, but you can't redo your life...or can you?

He wakes up one day ten years in the past, and decided to enroll at the Oonaka University of Art. There, he meets a wide range of aspiring artists, and starts the collaborative creative career that he wished he'd pursued in his youth. 

The Tatami Galaxy

An unnamed student in his third year of college gets the chance to relive his college experience. He's convinced that if he can just join the right club and avoid the involvement of his demonic best friend Ozu, he'll be able to have the ultimate amazing college expereince - but every time he tries, some disaster or another happens, and he ends up unsatisfied. Through a series of increasingly surreal adventures, he learns some tough lessons about what's really important in life. 

Iroduku: The World in Colors

Hitomi Tsukishiro is a depressed teenage girl who no longer sees in color. In order to help her find the joy in life, her grandmother sends her backwards in time by 60 years, and tells her to befriend her younger self. Hitomi does - but she also meets the incredibly talented Yuito Aoi, whose beautiful art helps her see the colors her life has been missing. 

Occult Academy

Fumiaki Uchida is a time traveller from the year 2012. Aliens have invaded, and the only way to stop them is by finding and destroying the agent of the apocolypse, the Nostradamus Key. The only way to do that is to travel back to 1999. There, Fumiaki meets Maya Kumashiro, the daughter of the headmaster of Waldstein Academy. She intitially plans to destroy the academy, but she ends up working with Fumiaki to use the school to help track down the key. 

Nobunaga Concerto

High school student Saburou doesn't care much about Japanese history - that is, until he's flung into the Sengoku period and is suddenly expected to take the place of Nobunaga Oda, the powerful daimyo who overthrew all the other daimyos to unite Japan. With no idea what he's doing, Saburou is going to have to figure out how to uphold his new responsibilities. His modern knowledge will help, but can it possibly be enough?

Thermae Romae

Thermae Romae  is definitely one of the weirder entries on this list, which is exactly why you should watch it. Lucius Modestus is an architect in ancient Rome who is struggling to come up with new ideas. Hoping to distract him from his slump, his friends drag him out to the bath house. There, he's transported through time to modern Japan. Armed with a ton of new ideas about how to build baths, he returns to his own time and ignites his career. 

While running regular training exercises, the Japanese Self Defense Force (SDF) encounters a strange storm that sends them hurtling backwards in time to the Battle of Midway on June 4th, 1942. Capain Umezu Saburo and Executive Officer Kadomatsu Yosuke and the rest of their squadron decide that they will interfere as little as possible to avoid altering the future. But when they discover Lt. Commander Kusaka Takumi, XO about to pass away, Kadomatsu can't stop himself from saving a life. Kusaka Takumi's survival will impact history in ways that nobody anticipated. 

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25 Time Travelling Anime That Will Blow Your Mind

Time Travel, a concept so infinite and unexplainable. A staple in the works of science fiction mystery, and fantasy, the focus of Time Travel is to make changes either by accident or intentionally.

Imagine going back in time to right that one wrong you made, that one mistake that costed you everything in the future.

You could also change the future so that your past self would be better informed of what is to come. The possibilities of Time Travel are endless, and these 25-hand selected anime prove the concept of time is not only infinite but conventional as well.

1. Your Name.

2. re:zero -starting life in another world-, 4. steins; gates, 5. mahou shoujo madoka★magica, 6. the girl who leapt through time, 7. tokyo revengers, 8. bokutachi no remake, 9. future diary, 10. the melancholy of haruhi suzumiya, 11. buddy complex, 12. higurashi when they cry, 13. mekakucity actors, 14. sakurada reset, 15. zegapain, 16. urusei yatsura movie 2: beautiful dreamer, 18. little busters, 19. occultic;nine, 20. date a live, 21. iroduku: the world in colors, 23. nobunaga concerto, 24. punchline, 25. charlotte.

The protagonists are Tachibana Taki, who lives in Yotsuya, Tokyo, and Miyamizu Mitsuha, who lives deep in the mountains of Hida. When they wake up one morning, Taki’s consciousness shifts to Mitsuha’s body and Mitsuha’s to Taki’s, and the two begin their life as swapping bodies. They are strangers who do not know each other, and they are in the midst of puberty.

They sometimes complained about the unfamiliarity and confusion, but before they knew it, they had grown into an indispensable part of each other’s lives.

Technically speaking, labeling this film a “masterpiece” is an insult by omission. Given that Shinkai is a master, anything he makes is obviously going to be a “masterpiece,” but among silt there is gold, and among gold there may be diamonds. This movie is a diamond, easily the prettiest feature-length film.

• The story is conceptually very simple, but a lot of depth is added as the story goes on. The show drives several important points, which can be very philosophical, without being too complicated for the average viewer to understand
• There was not a single sound that felt out of place. All the characters’ voices suited their appearances, leading to a very immersive experience
• Spectacular animation. There is one particular scene near the beginning which has a sort of “3D camera rotation” that looks so real that I thought it was rendered; but at the last second, the character turned their head, and I was able to tell that it had been entirely hand-drawn

Based on the novel of the same name by Tappei Nagatsuki , abbreviated as Re-Zero . The story begins when Subaru, a NEET high school student, is summoned to another world on his way home from a convenience store. As soon as he arrives, he is tangled up with a gang of thugs and in a pinch, but it is Emilia, a spirit user, who saves him.

Every time he loses a battle and loses his life, he always wakes up at the same point in time. Subaru had unknowingly acquired the ability to rewind time back to death. Subaru was exhausted by his mentally and physically damaging ability, but it was the demon maid, Rem, who loved and encouraged him.

Can Subaru rely on his “return to death” to protect his loved ones? And which love will he accept?

• The character designs are very lovely. They are usually rather detailed, especially their facial expressions and features during moments when their faces are zoomed in on. Vibrant colors also help to bring the characters and scenery to life
• An Isekai MC that is not insanely overpowered, making it easier for the audience to connect with his challenges
• As a light novel adaptation, you’ll probably find many standard tropes ranging from the generic jealousy of certain girls to the childish antics of Beatrice. Subaru also tends to make himself look like a fool in front of others which can be irritating to watch. Still, the comedy of the show on most occasions is properly timed to balance out the darker themes

Satoru Fujinuma, an unsuccessful manga artist, has a mysterious ability called “replay (revival),” which is triggered in a pinch and repeatedly rewinds until the unfavorable outcome is corrected.

Eighteen years ago, Kayo Hinatsuki died in a series of kidnappings, and her mother, Sachiko, recognized the kidnappers and turned the tables on them. When Satoru is about to be accused of his mother’s murder, a revival is triggered.

The place where Satoru’s consciousness was transferred was inside 11-year-old Satoru in 1988, the year the kidnapping took place. March 1, the day Kayo disappeared. Can he keep Kayo away from the incident and protect her? Satoru runs through time for the future where his loved ones are still alive.

• The suspenseful atmosphere which Erased is able to create, and the facial expressions which arouse suspicions on various characters are perfectly executed which supports its mystery genre incredibly well
• OP and ED are amazingly executed. They even became a staple for online anime content creators for a time
• The way ‘Revival’ is portrayed by showing a blue butterfly across the screen and the way history or the future is compared with the timeline using movie reels makes Erased more interesting to watch

A TV animation based on a hypothetical science ADV game by 5pb. The “Future Gadget Laboratory” in Akihabara is a rather strange invention club led by Rintaro Okabe and consisting of lab members Itaru Hashida and Mayuri Shiina.

They have discovered that their invention, a “telephone range (tentative),” can be used as a time machine to send cellular phone e-mails to the past. Further experiments revealed that the past can be altered by D-mail.

By the time they had succeeded in advancing their research and commercializing the time leap machine, they were being stalked by a mysterious organization. The past alteration involves great risk, and we learned the cruel fact that one of our friends will always die, whether in the alpha or beta world line…

Mayuri, his childhood friend, and Kurisu, to whom he is attracted. Can Okabe find a way to save them both?

• The art style simply has a way more realistic feel to it than your generic anime
• The characters are written in such a way that you are bound to like them. They all have their own likable and recognizable traits, which are perfectly described from the start: Makise Kurisu the tsundere, Daru the nerd, Mayuri the childish girl, and so on
• The voice talent in the anime is strong, with Miyano Mamoru’s performance as Okabe in particular standing out. The other performances are somewhat overshadowed by this, but are solid performances nonetheless

Director Akiyuki Shinbo and Shaft have teamed up to create a masterpiece of dark fantasy. It depicts the daily battles of girls who choose to live as “magical girls” in exchange for a wish.

Madoka Kaname and Sayaka Miki are saved by the magical girl Mami when they wander into a witch’s ward, and they have a strong yearning for each other. However, they are reminded of the reality when they witness the horrific scene of Mami being eaten by a witch.

M adoMagi takes a turn from the heartwarming everyday life and takes on a darker fantasy aspect. What is the harsh fate that magical girls bear? What decision will Madoka make?

• Magical Girl overtones combined with the trance-like aesthetics of Shaft and the glorious character designs by a small green man who lives on top of an all-girls Japanese high school dormitory
• The script is written by Urobuchi Gen , known for his work on Fate/Zero (hence the poem) and the highly acclaimed (and crazy good) visual novel Saya no Uta
•  Madoka has an uncanny knack for going from quaint to disturbing incredibly fast. It also has the ability to BLOW YOUR MIND

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is a juvenile novel written by Tsutsui Yasutaka . It became a TV drama, movie, and manga several times. However, this movie is its first anime adaptation. The main character, Konno Makoto, is brighter and more easygoing than any other characters in movies or TV dramas made before. At once she knows she acquires the power of “time leap.” She uses it without hesitation to satisfy her own desire.

Makoto Konno is in her last year of high school, but is having a hard time deciding what to do with her future. In between enduring the pressure of her teachers and killing time with her best friends, Makoto’s life suddenly changes when she accidentally discovers that she is capable of literally leaping through time.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time follows Makoto as she plays around with her newfound power. However, she soon learns the hard way that every choice has a consequence, and time is a lot more complicated than it may seem.

• Tsutsui Yasutaka is a prolific author and known for science fiction works featuring dark humour/satire. His most famous work is probably The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
• The art in this movie is special. Featuring what seems to be simple character work, yet extremely detailed environments, you begin to feel sort of immersed into the characters because of discerning features, particularly of their personality, rather than by simply their appearances alone
• This is an excellent, dramatic movie with a small amount of romance thrown in. The movie can actually be quite funny at times, especially with Makoto’s priceless reactions to some things

Takemichi Hanagaki’s second year of middle school was the highest point in his life. He had respect, a gang of friends he could count on, and even a girlfriend. But that was twelve years ago. Today, he’s a nobody: a washed-up nonentity made fun of by children and always forced to apologize to his younger boss. 

A sudden news report on the Tokyo Manji Gang’s cruel murder of the only girlfriend he ever had alongside her brother only adds insult to injury. Half a second before a train ends his pitiful life for good, Takemichi flashes back to that same day twelve years ago, when he was still dating Hinata Tachibana.

After being forced to relive the very same day that began his downward spiral, Takemichi meets Hinata’s younger brother. Without thinking, he admits to his seeming death before flashing back to the past. Takemichi urges him to protect his sister before inexplicably returning to the future. 

Miraculously, he isn’t dead. Stranger still, the future has changed. It seems as though Takemichi can alter the flow of time. Given the chance to prevent his ex-girlfriend’s tragic death at the hands of the Tokyo Manji Gang, Takemichi decides to fly through time to change the course of the future.

• From fluid fight scenes to encapsulating settings, the animators really put their hearts into it
• The OSTs, opening themes and ending are all bangers! (It was the first anime to feature a yodelling segment in the OP)
• The story can feel slow at times, but from it comes huge buildups for future events/arcs which you won’t want to miss

Life is not going well for 28-year-old Kyouya Hashiba. Having left his office job to pursue a career in the video game industry, his internship at a popular game studio abruptly ends, leaving him unemployed and forcing him to move back in with his parents. 

Additionally, his jealousy toward the success of the “Platinum Generation”—a group of similarly-aged creators—has caused him to regret his decision to attend a traditional university instead of an arts college. Even though he believes there are no second chances in life, Kyouya is suddenly given one when he wakes up one day and finds himself 10 years in the past.

Instead of choosing a business school like he originally had, Kyouya decides to pursue his passions and attends the Oonaka University of Art. There, he meets classmate Eiko Kawasegawa, the woman who had hired him as an intern in the present, alongside his new housemates and future Platinum Generation members: underachieving artist Aki Shino, an aspiring singer and actress Nanako Kogure, and naturally-gifted writer Tsurayuki Rokuonji.

With each project they complete together, Kyouya and his friends venture closer to discovering their true potential as creators and remaking their lives into the ideal versions they desire.

• With a character cast of young adults, the anime has an overall more mature feeling. While the anime is very light on fan service, it still has some compromising moments and the obligatory beach episode
• This isn’t a difficult anime to get into and you can watch this without breaking a sweat. It’s a simple show that uses time travel as a plot device but ultimately doesn’t rely on it to sell its main story
• One of the bigger selling points of the show is realism. It’s very refreshing to see young amateurs build their way up and learn about the video game industry

Based on the suspense manga of the same title by Esuno Sakae . For Yukiteru Amano, who is not good at interacting with others, the only people he can call friends are the imaginary creatures “Deus” and “Murmur”. When Yukiteru was typing in his diary on his cell phone as usual, a text that he does not remember was floating on the cell phone screen.

He also announced a survival game for the 12 owners of future diaries, starting with the first owner, Yukiteru, and ending with the 12th, with the winner of the game taking the title of god.

The diary owners join hands and cheat each other. During the battle, we learn that classmate Yuno Gasai, the 2nd, is actually Yukiteru’s single-minded stalker. How will the survival game turn out? Will Yuno’s paranoid love reach him?

• It explores how one’s actions and willpower can change the future and how good people can go insane or do terrible things because of traumatic experiences
• The pacing is fairly fast, but not forced, even when there’s no intense action going on, you find yourself on the edge of your seat knowing that an enemy could pop up at any time
•  The music (OSTs, OP, and ED) is decent, they wisely avoided sound during some of the intense, dark & scary moments where they let the suspense and fear build up in the viewers

Kyon is a high school boy who has taken a liking to his eccentric classmate Haruhi Suzumiya. Haruhi, seeking something out of the ordinary, starts a club of her own, and invites Yuki Nagato, a former member of the Literature Club, Mikuru Asahina, a moe, and Itsuki Koizumi, a mysterious transfer student, to form the SOS-dan (Haruhi Suzumiya’s group to make the world a more exciting place).

Unexpectedly, Haruhi’s activities are to “seek out and play with aliens, people from the future, and psychics,” which she has set as her mission statement. Yuki Nagato was an alien who observed Haruhi, Mikuru was a futurist who monitored Haruhi, and Koizumi was a psychic who belonged to an “agency.

The second season episode, “Endless Eight,” depicts a summer vacation that never ends due to a time loop. 8 episodes, almost two months of the same story, were aired (the drawings and direction were different for each episode), giving the viewers the feeling of being in a time loop. It became a topic of conversation among anime fans.

• There’s one episode where a particular character is singing and they have the lyrics/drummer/guitarist synced perfectly. Beautiful fight scenes (though these are short and infrequent) too
• It’s presented to you out of chronological order. That means episode 4 comes after episode 6, and episode 8 comes before 5 (not the actual order of the show). Don’t worry though, the episodes are out of order with purpose and intention, and it makes the anime all the more interesting
• The characters are spins on stereotypes. Kyon is the ‘boring unexceptional brown-haired guy’, Mikuru is the walking pile of moe, Yuki is the aloof meganekko, and then there’s Haruhi. She’s so original that I cannot even place her in a set category

Buddy Complex , a.k.a. BuddyCon , an original robot anime produced by Sunrise , follows Aoba, a high school student living in the year 2014, who is transported to the future 74 years in the future, where he lives as a confused pilot.

In 2014, Aoba, a high school student, is relentlessly pursued by Bizon, a passenger on the giant robot “Nebiros”. To protect Aoba, it is her classmate Hina Yumihara who fights back with “Carla”. The moment Bizon tries to take her along by self-destructing, a singularity appears. Hina is sent to the future of 2078, and Aoba is sent to the future of 2088.

Aoba arrives in the world of 2088, and a chick that looks exactly like Hina appears in front of him. Why does Bizon attack Aoba? What happened behind the time leap between Hina and Hina?

• They are easily likable and feel human enough not to feel two-dimensional. Also, when they get emotional, there are clear reasons behind them, and there are also no noticeable plot holes that I have noticed while casually watching the show
• Coming from Sunrise , it is not much of a surprise that the art and sound are well done. The background music during the battles and while they are on standby fit in very well, and the OP and ED are catchy
• The plot did a great job creating a sci-fi-action anime with a romantic kind of atmosphere at some parts

The original is a computer game produced by the doujin circle 07th Expansion . The first season includes “Onikakushihen”, “Watanagashihen”, “Chousakushihen”, and “Biyasushihen” the question-and-answer version, and “ Meakashihen ” and “ Kakushihen ” the solution version, for a total of 6 parts.

The setting is the village of Hinamizawa in 1983. Keiichi Maehara, a transfer student from the city, was enjoying his life in the village surrounded by Rena, Enone, Satoko, Rika, and other cheerful friends.

However, the situation gradually changes, and he finds himself drawn into the vortex of a mysterious incident in Hinamizawa. When they are tormented by anxiety and unable to trust others, who reaches out to them? You will have to see for yourself why this is a “time-lapse” work!

• The pacing is excellent, and the suspense is palpable. You know terrible things are going to happen, but you don’t know exactly what
• Each experiment you run (arc you see) reveals a few more clues, and you formulate a new theory, only to find it shattered by another totally unexpected horror in the very same arc
• Higurashi would appeal to two types of people. The megalomaniacs who cackle madly in seeing a happy community descend into the depth of oblivion, and the curious scientist who watched each arc with intense interest… for they want to know exactly *why* everything goes wrong (though they can also cackle madly just a little)

The animation division of the Kagerou Project by Jin (Enemy of Nature P). A long time ago, Azami, a medusa, fell in love with a young human named Tsukihiko and created “Kagerou Days,” a world that will never end because of the shortness of human life.

When her granddaughter Marie was beaten to death, Azami brought her back to life by drawing her into the Kagerou Days and giving her the power to control all snakes!

Meanwhile, a reclusive young man named Shintaro encounters a strange group called the Mechakushidan as soon as he steps out into the outside world for the first time in two years because of a prank played on him by a mysterious software program called Dennou Shoujo Ene. Kido, the leader of the Mekakushi-dan, has the ability to “hide his eyes,” Set has the ability to “steal eyes,” and Kano has the ability to “deceive eyes”.

The members of the Mekakushi-dan, a group of people with abilities related to “eyes,” seem to have powers that stem from their respective pasts. This is a time-lapse work in which the Mekakushi-dan, made up of such unique members, are active!

• What Mekakucity does do, as a result of its roundabout approach to storytelling, is repeatedly twist your perception of the main characters. The show’s big ‘mystery’, where you have to guess which character is actually the one holding the witch’s power, is one that takes a while to become obvious
• Produced by Jin , the music was quite popular before the anime was released. Which helped the anime skyrocket popularity with viewers
• The voice actors of Mekakucity Actors bring so much more into the story, really justifying the anime adaptation, and a special mention goes to Ene’s voice actor Kana Asumi – her character never fails to bring a smile to your face!

The popular novel by Yutaka Kono , consisting of seven volumes, has been adapted into an anime. The story depicts the love and friendship between high school boys and girls in Sakurada, a town where people with supernatural powers gather. Kei Asai, who can retain all her memories, and Misora Haruki, who can rewind the world for up to three days, have a mission to accomplish.

They are still trying to bring back Violet Aima, their classmate, who died two years ago as a result of the resetting process.

During these days, Kay and Harusaki meet two important figures in Sakirata’s history: Sasano, an old man who can enter photographs, and a witch who has the ability to see into the future.

• There are scenes that have a really deep impact while having a good harmony with the soundtrack
• The characters manage to develop well in a very surprising way, they start getting more emotional over time while dealing with very philosophical and psychological events that will help them understand more about themselves, the story of Sakurada, and the ability users
• If you aren’t into a slow-paced story with characters that will develop quite slowly, this show certainly might not be for you. but if you are patient enough, certainly this anime will keep you hooked and will reward those that stick to the end

Sunrise presents this robot coming-of-age anime. The story centers on Kyou, a carefree high school student living in Maihama City, his childhood friend Ryoko, and a mysterious beautiful girl named Shizuno.

At Shizuno’s invitation, Kyou sets out in his giant robot Zegapain. He is convinced that what he sees is a virtual world that bears no resemblance to the peaceful everyday world, but what he sees is the real world of war.

In fact, it has been a long time since humans disappeared from the earth, and Kyou and Ryoko were nothing more than “phantom bodies,” personality memory bodies, and data without substance. Their high school life in Maihama and club activities were all virtual spaces created by computers.

Is the phantom body human? Or is it …? What was the answer they came up with after all their troubles? The story of Ryo, a high school student, struggling to discover what is important to him will touch your heart.

• Zegapain manages to maintain a complex fully explored setting and plot advancements without any of those, the show is maturely handled, always evolving with its characters and plot developments, always rewarding, and never breaking its rules
•  All the characters have a purpose and add something to the show but some of the side characters can lack some presence occasionally and are rather forgettable despite being well fleshed-out and having solid development and backdrop
•  Something that can also throw a lot of shows off the deep end is a shoehorned romance or love triangle that just isn’t well handled in general, Zegapain deals with its romance very well

This is the second theatrical version written and directed by Mamoru Oshii , who was the chief director of the TV series. It is highly regarded as the original “loop” film, and is known as a work that had a great influence on creators in later generations.

The main character, Ataru Moroboshi, attends Tomobiki High School, which is in an uproar with the school festival coming up the next day. The day before the school festival is about to begin, the students are in an uproar, but something unusual is discovered when Ataru’s exhausted homeroom teacher, Onsen Mark, complains, “I feel like I’m repeating the day before the school festival”.

Sakura, a public health doctor, embarks on an investigation and comes upon the frightening sight of the entire town of Tomobiki being transported on a giant stone statue of a turtle. Not Urashima Taro on the back of a turtle, but Tomobikicho… What on earth is going on? And will Ataru and his friends be able to escape from the loop?

• The animation has a lot of fun stylistic choices and tends towards being very inventively surreal
• Music–it’s a combination of atmospheric creepy tones and 80s synth. Oh and let me tell you, the 80s synth gets really hilarious really quickly
•  The characters never keep you in a state of being uninvested, and the story has a certain weight to it that truly lends itself to some of the heavier dialogue

The anime Orange is based on a shoujo manga by Takano Ichigo . At the opening ceremony of her second year of high school, Naho Takamiya receives a letter from “herself in 10 years”. In the letter, it told Naho what would happen to her in the future and the actions she should take to avoid it.

At first, Naho was skeptical, but then a boy named Kakeru Naruse transferred from Tokyo, just as the letter said. In the letter, it was written that Naho would fall in love with Sho from now on, but that Sho would die in an accident in the winter of his seventeenth year. 

It was also discovered that similar letters had been sent to Naho’s friends, Hiroto Suwa and Takako Chino. Naho and his friends believe the contents of the letters and cooperate to prevent Sho’s accident.

• The opening “Hikari no Hahen” by Yu Takahashi is really splendid and set the mood for the next 20 minutes of the show while the ending “Mirai” by Kobukuro acts as a catalyst to all those feelings we go through
• The main casts do get their developments due to the main cast being in a group and there are some romantic tensions here and there
• The animation was consistent throughout and the visuals on how the camera was used were used to great effects, such as sudden transitions on weird differing angles, made a rather mundane occurrence, intense at times, huge praise goes to its backgrounding artwork as it was utterly gorgeous at the best of times

Based on the romance adventure game produced by Key, Little Busters! (Abbreviated as “ LITBUS “). The main character, Naoe Riki, who lost his parents when he was a child, was saved by the “Little Busters,” an ally of justice led by his childhood friend Kyosuke.

Time passed, and the members of the Little Busters became high school students. Kyosuke announces the formation of a baseball team and orders Riki and Suzu to gather the members. Kyosuke watches over each member as Riki takes care of each one of them. Before the first game, Kyosuke tells the team that the leader will be replaced.

Riki begins to climb the stairs to adulthood, fighting his desire to be pampered by Kyosuke. Meanwhile, the “secret of the world” is revealed. With Kyosuke at the helm, Riki forms an emotional bond with his childhood friends who support him. It is a moving work that will inevitably bring tears to your eyes when you discover the truth behind peaceful everyday life!

• If you love slow-paced storylines, this is a time-travel anime made for you
• The voice actors/actresses sound more natural and the dialogue feels more fluid than forced between the characters
• *Psst*, heard you were looking for fanservice, if so, there’s lots of it here for you

Based on a novel by Chiyomaru Shikura , creator of “STEINS;GATE”. Gamon Yuta, a.k.a. “Gamotan,” is a high school sophomore who runs the occult-related website “Kirikiribasara” for affiliate income.

He visits Hashigami, an “occult-oriented” professor who has attracted media attention, on the recommendation of the site’s staff member, Ryoutan (Narusawa Ryoka), and comes face to face with Hashigami’s corpse, which has been murdered by someone!

A few days later, a large number of dead bodies surface in a pond in Inokashira Park, titled Case 256, and since there is no major damage to the bodies, suicide or brainwashing is suspected. Gamotan and “Kiribasa” officials were interested in the case, but they were confronted with an unexpected fact…

In fact, Gamotan and the others were victims of the 256 incidents and had become ghosts without their knowledge. How did they end up dying? Gamotan and his team, now in spirit form, take on the giant organization behind the case!

• The sound is amazing and is composed by Yokoyama Masaru ( Your Lie in April , Plastic Memories ) with it just adding to the immersion in certain scenes
• The art style is a breath of fresh air with the character designs being relatively unique
• The animation as expected from this studio is relatively good with most scenes being aesthetically pleasing and generally fluid

The Date A Live series is an anime work based on science fiction and romantic comedy themes. Based on a light novel by Tachibana Kouji.

The setting is a world 30 years after the spatial earthquake, a catastrophe caused by the appearance of mysterious life forms called “spirits”. The main character, Shidou Itsukawa, meets a spirit girl, Juka Yatogami, at the place where the spatial earthquake occurred. However, Shido was caught up in the battle between the human and the spirit and collapsed. When he woke up, he found himself on board the Fluxinus, an aerial ship. There, he learns that his sister, Kotori Gokawa, is the commander of Ratatosk, an organization dedicated to the peaceful resolution of spatial tremors.

Kotori’s surprise solution to stop the spatial earthquake is to “date the spirits and make them fall in love with each other”? In order to negotiate with the spirits, Shido has to repeatedly go on dates with various beautiful spirit girls.

• The art style and animations are beautiful to look at. If there is one thing DAL does great its the animations. There were no derp faces, the fight scenes looked crisp, the backgrounds were well done, and everything about was done to a tee
• The soundtrack is another category DAL excels at. The BGM fits almost every scene and really brought the most out of each scene
• Buddy, look at me, harem plus ecchi, you get the best of both worlds

Iroduku: The World in Colors is an anime work written by Yashio Natsuka and produced by P.A. WORKS. 13 episodes were broadcast as an original anime.

Nagasaki City, Nagasaki Prefecture, in the year 2078 A.D., is a mysterious world where magic is available. Hitomi Tsukishiro, a girl with color blindness who cannot use magic very well, is a girl with little emotion because she lost her color vision at an early age. Her grandmother, Tsukishiro Amber, a great magician, is worried about Hitomi and sends her back in time to the year 2018 in Nagasaki Prefecture.

The place where Hitomi crosses time and space is the room of a high school boy, Yuiyo Aoi. She rushes out of the room, but sees vivid colors on the picture he drew.

• The pacing is slow, but this is intentional since the author wants you to learn every characters growth/story
• As it’s part of the plot, the show’s visuals manages to capture the essence of that at its finest
• From Hitomi joining the photography club to experiencing the cultural festival together with friends, P.A. Works manages to sell this series as a modern coming of age fantasy

The anime ISLAND is based on the Windows video game software released by Front Wing. A young man washes ashore on an island called Urashima, which has an exclusive climate.

The young man has amnesia and believes from his fragmented memories that he has come to the past to save the world from the future. A girl named Rinne Ohara gave him a name, which he changed to Sanzenkai Setsuna.

Urashima holds many mysteries, such as “Baimon disease,” which kills people when exposed to sunlight, and “Boryujima,” which only appears on stormy days. Kirina, together with Rinne, Kurutsu Karen, Garando-Sara, and others, will explore the mysteries of the island.

• The story is well written and will have you at the edge of your seat waiting to find out what happens at the end of each episode
• The art style is very unique and its animation has received high praises
•  The characters’ personalities were as well-written as the story as well. Each of the four main characters—Rinne, Setsuna, Sara, and Karen—had their own character developments which developed quite nicely

The original story of Nobunaga Concerto is a shonen manga by Ayumi Ishii . It won the 57th Shogakukan Manga Award in the Juvenile Division.

Saburo, a high school boy living in the present day, accidentally travels back in time to the 18th year of the Sengoku Period (1549). In Sengoku-era Japan, Saburo meets Nobunaga Oda, a man with a face identical to his own. Nobunaga, who is sickly and frail, unlike the legends of history, asks Saburo to switch places with him and live as Nobunaga Oda.

At first, Saburo does not accept the idea of taking Oda Nobunaga’s place. However, Saburo skillfully survived the Warring States period with his bold words, actions, and ideas.

• The storytelling is brilliant – no cliches, no harems, no love triangles, it’s all about Oda Nobunaga quest to unite all of Japan in Saburo’s way
• The sound is amazing too (listening to the ED as I write this), making you cry at times – from sadness and happiness alike
• Character development is subtle yet clear, you might even end up cheering for the once-disgusting guy

An original work by the animation production company MAPPA. The story is about a high school student, Yuta Irritatsu, who aims for the survival of the earth after he sees a pair of underpants that will lead the human race to the end of the world.

The story begins when Yuta and the residents of Furukaikan, Labura, encounter a bus hijacking. Strange Juice, an ally of justice (who is actually Mikatan, a resident of Korokan), rushes in and quickly defeats the enemies, but the leader of the group takes his back and is killed by a man.

Yuta awakens when he sees the underwear of the unconscious labra, and dives into the river with the man in tow. As Yuta is pulled out of the river, all he sees is Strange Juice Mikatan’s underwear!

The amount of energy released exceeds the limit and Yuta dies, and the human race faces extinction. Yuta, now in spirit form, decides to go back in time and fight in order to regain his reality and save the earth from destruction.

• Punch Line is a good flex of narrative muscle, bringing together originally stereotypical characters into a community that gives them just a little more innovation than the rest of the industry can do right now
• It’s a riotous comedy that inverts all sorts of terribleness from the known-to-all loved-by-none (or degenerate) genre of ecchi. It has everything; a zany premise, harem situation, superpowers, nose bleeds, the promise of sex jokes, robots, time travel, ninjas, mascot characters, archetypal cast, forgettable lead, low-budget setting, and the list goes on
• This completely absurd show with no boundaries and just a handful of troupes that the scriptwriter wanted to toy with actually manages to make you care. That is Punch Lines’s charm

The second original anime by Key . Yuu Otosaka is enjoying carefree high school life, abusing her ability to “take over another person’s body for 5 seconds” for her own trivial desires. However, the sudden appearance of Nao Tomori, the president of Hoshinoumi Academy, uncovers Yuu’s evil ways and forces him to help out with student council activities.

At first, he was reluctant to join the student council, but as he learns of his destiny as a gifted student, he gradually discovers what he is meant to do. When he realizes that his ability is “looting,” an extremely dangerous ability, he makes an important decision.

• Each Character is given a whole episode for introductions and has a backstory. And as you continue through this series you will see the main character Otosaka Yuu changing positively, as he was a narcissist
• Music and art-wise, this anime has it all and even spawned memes that are still used until this day
• An outstanding, dramatic, and heartwarming story that will make the biggest man “shed dem tears”

The power of time travel elevates your perspective and increases possibilities by infinite multiples. We either go back in time to fix something we once fumbled, or we go to the future and explore new horizons that have yet to be encountered. 

Time an infinite concept, and with these kinds of anime comes a variety of paths to be explored. We all have that one moment where we wish we could have gone back in time, so let’s experience that with this grand list of anime to binge and chill too. 

Be sure to keep checking back on our site for more great anime recommendations!

25 Best Time Travel Anime Series & Movies

Here’s a question: what’s your favorite time travel anime? Is this type of science fiction even full of good books?

Time travel anime is one of the more popularly used story hooks in modern anime and it can take unique shapes!

It doesn’t have a lot of great titles every season like isekai does, but it’s not hard to find some good ones.

From tradition time travel anime stories ( Steins;Gate ) to ones that use “time reset” ( Re:Zero) , there is no shortage of creativity at play.

Check out my list below if you’re in the mood for some twists and turns that will blow your mind (or even small bits of time travel in an otherwise normal anime).

And fair warning: (in some cases) there will be surprises ahead. Some of these books are about time travel, and it’s a big part of the plot or a big surprise.

If you don’t want to know more, just skim the names and pick one that sounds interesting.

Here are some popular time travel anime that fans should watch.

Table of Contents

25. Natsu-iro no Sunadokei (Sandglass of Summer Colors)

This anime is quite old. Really old, like.

But even though its character designs, animations, and general quality haven’t held up over time, it’s still a good show with more time travel than Nobunaga Concerto.

Sandglass of Summer Colors is based on a Princess Soft computer game called a “visual novel” (VN) that came out in 2002.

Also, there are only two episodes because it is an OVA . Still, the show is interesting.

Yes, it’s about a teen boy again. This time, his name is Kotaro Makimura.

But in this case, Kotaro travels through time by waking up in the next school year and then going back and forth to different days of his summer break.

He finds out some very strange things about his girlfriend, Kaho Serizawa, as a result. It gets deep.

24. Buddy Complex

Sunrise launched a mecha game with a lot of action in 2014, but it wasn’t another part of their long-running Gundam series.

It’s called Buddy Complex, and its appealing trio, interesting story, and solid execution set it apart from other games in the same genre.

At the beginning of Buddy Complex, the main character , Aoba Watase, is almost killed by a huge robot from the future.

Hina Yumihara saves him and takes him 70 years into the future so he can learn about beating robots and maybe stop himself from dying.

Can he return to his real past? Or is he stuck in a future where armed forces fight each other?

23. Doraemon

Yes, Doraemon is a time-traveling anime, and it’s a pretty good one.

Some people say that the time travel is just a trick. But I really love what they did with it in the anime.

The story isn’t about someone trying to save a bleak future by going back to the past.

No, it’s about Sewashi Nobi from the 22nd century sending his grandpa Nobita Nobi a cat robot to make his life better, which is great.

Doraemon has shown that this style can be good for kids with 1,700 episodes.

Also, who wouldn’t want a four-dimensional pouch that can pull out different sized gadgets?

22. Punch Line

After Garo: The Animation and Zankyou no Terror, Punch Line was the third original anime made by MAPPA. Zankyou no Terror is one of my all-time faves.

No, I didn’t think Punch Line was at all a modern classic .

It didn’t have the same level of seriousness or ambition as those other shows.

But Punch Line took a creative risk that should be praised and even reevaluated by anime fans.

I know it’s silly, but I don’t care.

How stupid! It has to do with ghosts, nosebleeds, and poop shots.

Also, as a spirit traveling through time, the OP can’t look at underwear. If not, a rock would kill all life on Earth right away. That’s cool.

21. InuYasha

I have another piece from Sunrise Studio to show you.

Before Naruto , Bleach , and Fairy Tail came along, InuYasha was one of the most popular shounen books, and it does have time travel.

The story of Kagome Higurashi takes place in old Japan, hundreds of years ago. The only change is that instead of a general, he meets a man with white hair and dog ears.

Also, it’s not hard for either Kagome or Inuyasha to go between current Japan and feudal Japan.

And I recommend InuYasha because it is one of the best shounen shows ever. Can you go back in time?

20. Irozuku Sekai no Ashita kara (Iroduku: The World in Colors)

Original anime is one of my favorite things. To keep going with a story you’re not sure will work takes a lot of guts.

It isn’t based on a comic, light novel, or video game, so it doesn’t already have fans.

Iroduku: The World in Colors wasn’t just an original anime, though.

It was a visually creative and beautifully drawn show, and it was clear that P.A. Works put a lot of effort into it.

It’s a mix of science fiction, magic , and school drama .

A grandma sends her emotionally distant granddaughter 60 years back in time, but she doesn’t say why.

And now that she’s back in 2018, Hitomi Tsukishiro, a young girl, has a lot to learn about self-discovery and how to connect with other people. Go see it.

19. Charlotte

Look, I get it — Angel Beats was a great anime series.

All of the kids on that show became my favorites in just 13 episodes.

Also, I’m sure that most people will never forget how it ends.

Since then, people have been begging Jun Maeda to do something similar.

So Charlotte joined the competition, but it wasn’t as good as Angel Beats or Clannad .

Still, Charlotte is a school drama with time travel and other skills that has its moments.

Also, this is a new anime, and I think the best parts make up for the story and pacing problems by the end.

18. Natsu no Arashi (Summer Storm!)

It’s interesting that I didn’t see this until last year, even though it came out ten years ago.

But hey, this is a great example of the saying “better late than never” because it is a great mix of time travel and comedy .

Again, Natsu no Arashi is about a young boy who meets a pretty girl.

But Sayoko Arashiyama isn’t like other teenagers at all.

Hajime Yasaka gets a picture of her when she was in her 60s. This means she might not even be a teenager.

What’s happening? And why does Sayoko still look young?

You should look at Natsu no Arashi. Since it was made by Shaft, you can expect it to look good.

17. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (When They Cry)

We’re getting closer to the top spot, so let’s be extra careful. I did say there might be spoilers, so be ready.

When They Cry tricks its viewers into thinking that it is just another generic anime with a guy as the opening theme and a bunch of cute girls .

It turned out to be a murder riddle with a time loop on top of that.

Also, it might be the only anime that is both scary and goes back in time.

One minute, you see a bunch of happy kids playing together. The next thing you know, they’re covered in blood and have angry looks on their faces.

I hate what happened to the anime version here, even though the animation quality and consistency of the movie Orange: Future was much better.

I read the book, and there were parts in it that could have made the anime a classic.

But the anime didn’t live up to or go beyond what was expected.

Orange wasn’t much better than normal. But it is still good enough to be here.

If you liked the anime and how it made you cry and laugh, you might also like the manga, which is much more beautiful and emotional.

15. Kimi no Na wa. (Your Name.)

Yes, this is a very big surprise.

I’m sure you’ve already seen the highly acclaimed movie or read the book with the same name, which broke records all over the world.

People gasped in the middle of the movie because it was about time travel. Kimi no Na wa seems to be about just two people who live in different places… But people didn’t know that they lived in different times as well.

I can still remember how shocked everyone was in the theater, where I saw this movie twice.

There is nothing quite like seeing a Makoto Shinkai movie in a theater, where you can hear and see everything at once. And if you’ve seen Five Centimeters Per Second, you’ll love how it ends.

14. Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei (The Tatami Galaxy)

Devilman Crybaby got great reviews from fans and reviewers all over the world, in part because it was on Netflix .

But I was a big fan of Yuasa’s directing skills even before that.

He is a very skilled man who makes sure that both content and style are way ahead of the rest.

Since it’s about a young man’s life (and love life), there’s a lot going on in The Tatami Galaxy. If you like subtitles like me, you’ll have to read quickly.

See him go through something like Groundhog Day, but in a much more magical and artsy way.

I promise you that it will be a rewarding journey across space, time, and tatami.

13. Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)

At this point, I don’t know which of my top choices has a big turning point that involves time travel.

In the second part of this series, there is one episode that makes it go from being a good show to being one of the best anime of all time.

You might not agree that it is a “deconstruction” of the magical girl type. But it’s clear proof that Gen Urobuchi could change the game if he had the right team.

Also, this original anime is stunning to look at.

It’s scary, exciting, and full of ideas.

Shaft had a chance to make a classic, and they didn’t waste it.

12. Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya)

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya was one of Kyoto Animation’s first big hits. In 2006, when the anime community was still small, it took the world by storm.

It was funny, had great characters, a catchy opening song that went viral, and shows that didn’t go in order.

Still, the order of events didn’t make the story any less interesting.

The story’s nonlinear framework gave us a new way to look at how the characters interact with each other. And it made it more fun to watch again in the right order.

You can enjoy The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya after you’ve seen the series (and God bless you if you’ve seen the Endless Eight arc).

If you haven’t heard of Zipang, I don’t blame you.

Even though Zipang came out two years after Naruto, it looks more like something from the past.

The military and historical setting, on the other hand, makes it a good pick.

Simply put, it’s about a Japanese warship called Mirai, which is a missile cruiser. Mirai gets caught in a storm, but it’s not just any storm.

Once Mirai is out of the storm, the crew learns that they have all gone back in time to 1942, which is during the Second World War.

Isn’t that cool?

The most interesting part is that they have to do their best not to change history. But can the team stay in the background when everyone around them is dying?

10. Noein: To Your Other Self

Studio:  Satelight

Episodes:  24

Quick pitch:  In the future, a violent war between two dimensions threatens the existence of space-time. A group called the Dragon Calvary is dispatched to search for the Dragon’s Torque, which is said to be the only thing to stop the war.

9. Mirai Nikki (The Future Diary)

Studio:  Asread

Episodes:  26 + 1 OVA

Quick pitch:  Yukiteru Amano spends his days writing a diary on his cell phone and talking to two imaginary friends, Deus Ex Machina and Murmur.

Deus reveals himself as a god of space and time, and grants Yukiteru a “ Random Diary .” This device shows descriptive future events to Yukiteru and he must use it to survive a deadly battle royale against 11 other people with similar diaries.

8. Thermae Romae

Studio:  DLE

Episodes:  6

Quick pitch:  Lucius is a Roman architect who has trouble coming up with ideas. One day, he discovers a tunnel underneath a spa that leads him to a modern Japanese bath house. Inspired this discovery, he creates a spa based on modern ideas from Japan.

7. Nobunaga Concerto

I’ll start with Nobunaga Concerto, which is an anime about time travel that is also more of an isekai.

Because of this, I’ve put it on my list, but it’s not the best. So what’s going on?

As you might have guessed, it has to do with Oda Nobunaga. Possibly one of the most well-known people in Japanese history.

He was a cruel boss, but he was also smart and a big part of how Japan got back together.

Nobunaga isn’t the OP, though. In Nobunaga Concerto, he meets Saburou, a man from the 21st century who strangely travels back in time to meet him. Saburou looks just like him.

Saburou was just a regular high school student, but now he has to take over for Nobunaga, who wants to take it easy in his last years.

6. Occult Academy

Studio:  A-1 Pictures

Episodes:  13

Quick pitch:  In 2012, the world is invaded by aliens. To stop this from happening, Fumiaki Uchida is sent back to 1999 to prevent the apocalypse from occurring by destroying the Nostradamus Key. In order to find the key, he forms a partnership with Maya Kumashiro, who is a girl with a strong hatred for the occult .

5. Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Studio:  Shaft

Episodes:  12 + 3 (kind of remakes / sequel) movies

Quick pitch:  Madoka Kaname and Sayaka Miki are friends who live normal middle old school lives, but everything changes after they meet a cat-alien named Kyuubey and a transfer student named Homura Akemi.

Kyuubey offers to grant them a wish in exchange of becoming magical girls, but Homura urges the duo to decline or they will enter a world of despair.

4. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

Mamoru Hosoda is one of the best anime directors working today, along with Masaaki Yuasa and Makoto Shinkai.

He has also made many other great movies, like Summer Wars, Wolf Children, and The Boy and the Beast, to name just a few.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time works so well because it’s not just a story about time travel.

It thought about how to shape the character and the story as a whole, making the second part more tense and emotional.

Also, I think a lot of us can understand Makoto Shonno. You’re in your last year of high school, and you know that things are about to change, but you don’t know what will happen to you.

It’s scary, funny, and has a heart at its center.

3. Boku dake ga Inai Machi (ERASED)

Putting this so high on my list, am I making a risky choice?

Actually, no.

Sure, not everyone liked how it was changed. I’ll admit that the tension thriller part was a bit too much.

But, like how I feel about Zankyou no Terror, the high points in ERASED are so good that they easily make up for the bad points.

I think it’s a classic, even though it has flaws.

The first episode was a 10/10 because it was easy to keep my attention by the end, when the aspect ratio changed to show how much time had changed. It’s very interesting.

Asian Kung-Fu Generation makes a great opening theme for ERASED, and I still think that Kayo’s birthday scene is one of the most heartbreaking and moving moments in anime.

Also, I don’t like that some people think the show was bad just because the guy didn’t end up with the girl he saved (and tried to save again and again) in the past.

Look, just because you saved someone’s life doesn’t mean you can marry them. You help someone because you should, not because you want something in return.

2. Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World

Re:Zero is a good isekai and time travel show, in my opinion.

After all the talk about Sword Art Online , it could have been like any other isekai. But it made its own mark on the past.

Re:Zero makes you think that the main character is just another guy who goes to a dream world. But the time loop takes the series to a whole new level of fear and hopelessness for Subaru.

It’s not just a way to flee to a better world with waifu characters like Emilia and Rem; the show as a whole is very interesting. I can’t wait for the second season.

1. Steins;Gate

Is there even another show that could be No. 1?

If you ask most anime fans what the best time travel anime is, this is the first show that comes to mind. And with good cause.

Also, Steins;Gate isn’t just praised for being the best time travel show ever.

It’s also in the running for the best anime of all time, usually against FMA: Brotherhood.

Steins;Gate is a great show to watch if you’re new to anime, but it also gets better the more anime you watch.

Some people say it’s overrated, but one thing is for sure: it set the bar for how brilliant and entertaining a time travel anime could be.

Don’t Forget to share it with your fellow otaku’s and bookmark MOW.

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About the Author

Garima Singh

Moshi Moshi everyone! I'm Garima, an anime enthusiast with a passion for sharing my love of anime with others. I've watched over 1000 anime, and I'm always on the lookout for new and exciting shows to watch.

I love everything about anime, from the stories and characters to the animation and music. I'm also a big fan of anime culture, and I love to learn about Japanese culture and history through anime.

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The Top 10 Time Travel Romance Anime

February 18, 2024

Tops & Rankings

We all love a good, well-written love story, right? But why not add some spice to it?

Why watch romantic anime and anime with the time travel component separately when you can have both?

So, here are the best time travel romance anime that you need to add to your watchlist if you’re looking for something fresh and new.

Table of Contents

10. The Ambition of Oda Nobuna

The Ambition of Oda Nobuna is an intriguing isekai anime with a historical backdrop, blending action, comedy, and romance. It was released in 2012 and consists of 12 episodes.

The story revolves around  Yoshiharu Sagara , a modern-day boy who finds himself transported in the past to an alternate version of  Japan’s Sengoku era , where renowned warriors of that time are depicted as beautiful girls.

In this new world, Yoshiharu becomes entangled in the lives and battles of female versions of legendary warriors such as  Oda Nobunaga, Masamune Date , and many others.

The Ambition of Oda Nobuna serves almost as a parody take on traditional historical anime, infusing a lighthearted and comedic atmosphere along with harem romance elements.

So if you’re seeking an entertaining and unpretentious series, it could be a suitable choice for you.

9. Remake Our Life!

Released in 2021 in 12 episodes, Remake Our Life! is a slice-of-life anime with comic, romance, and supernatural elements.

Kyouya Hashiba  is a 28-year-old developer who, as a result of the bankruptcy of the development house he works for, finds himself stranded.

But all changes when he finds himself  10 years in the past , with an opportunity to set things right.

Here he will meet a talented team of girls, with whom he will begin the project of  creating some anime , while some romantic entanglements will soon surface.

Remake Our Life! is a good anime, with some psychological themes related to second chances in life combined with interesting comic scenes performed by a good cast.

Highly recommended if you are looking for a combination of these genres.

8. Nobunaga Concerto

Nobunaga Concerto is a 10-episode anime from 2014 that revolves around  Saburou , a high school student who finds himself thrown back in time to the  Sengoku Era.

Here, he will encounter none other than the legendary Oda Nobunaga , but the unexpected occurs: the famed general who unified Japan requests Saburo to take his place, expressing his weariness with his responsibilities.

What unfolds next? Saburo certainly cannot afford to alter the course of history, which includes Nobunaga’s love life!

Nobunaga Concerto is an interesting and underrated anime that deserves discovery.

It features an original and fresh storyline with really well-executed animations, and despite the love subplot not being central to the story, it works well and perfectly complements the narrative.

7. Iroduku: The World in Colors

Iroduku: The World in Colors is a brief 13-episode anime that premiered in the fall of 2018.

The story unfolds in a future where magic has become commonplace. The protagonist,  Hitomi , is a descendant of wizards and witches, but she loses her ability to perceive colors at a young age, leaving her emotionally detached.

In response to this, her grandmother  Kohaku , a powerful witch, sends Hitomi back in time to an era where she can finally experience the colors she has always longed for.

This journey awakens beautiful emotions in Hitomi, transforming her life and even making her rediscover an emotion that she had forgotten for a long time: love.

Iroduku: The World in Colors is a captivating and quite  underrated anime  that seamlessly blends a narrative filled with magic and fantasy with a profoundly  touching psychological story .

The animations are also simply stunning,  employing vibrant colors and playing with the theme of color , which is central to the storyline.

Re:Zero is undoubtedly one of the best isekai anime released in recent years, starting in 2016 and spanning multiple seasons.

The protagonist,  Subaru , finds himself transported to the mysterious and magical world of  Lugunica  after an accident, encountering various creatures such as demons and spirits.

Here, he meets  Emilia , a half-elf with whom he falls in love from the very beginning.

But after a tragic incident where they both lose their lives, Subaru discovers that he has the ability to respawn and return back in time, similar to respawning in videogames.

What secrets lie behind this peculiar phenomenon?

Re:Zero may appear to be a typical isekai anime at first glance, but trust us when we say that it is a unique and emotionally charged story and  one of the best meeting points of isekai and romance .

The romance subplot plays a significant role in the overall plot, evolving in various intriguing ways, and it even features  one of the most acclaimed love triangles  in recent memory, involving Subaru, Emilia, and Rem.

5. Kamisama Kiss: Kako-hen

Kamisama Kiss: Kako-hen is a 2015 OAV series that directly connects to the original series.

For fans of the first animated series, we highly recommend it to delve into new adventures with the characters. On the other hand, we don’t recommend it as a starting point if you’re new to the work.

But if you haven’t watched it yet and enjoy romantic anime with fantasy elements, it’s worth catching up on, as this series is perfect for your tastes.

This OAV is set after the conclusion of the original story in the animated series. The first episode narrates volume 15 of the manga, while the remaining 5 episodes are original stories, including some cool time travel intrigues.

Prepare yourself to embark on new adventures in the company of Nanami and Tomoe!

4. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time stands as one of Mamoru Hosoda’s greatest works, alongside other masterpieces like Mirai .

The story follows  Makoto Konno , a high school student who gains the ability to leap through time following a strange accident in the science lab.

Initially using her newfound power for small and self-centered reasons, Makoto soon realizes that her actions have far-reaching consequences, leading her to confront the weight of her decisions.

The movie strikingly balances elements of comedy, romance, and lighthearted moments with profound psychological themes, resulting in a great and thought-provoking experience.

And with the addition of  supernatural and Sci-Fi elements , the plot becomes incredibly engaging and entertaining, making it a perfect pick for this list.

3. InuYasha

Inuyasha is an iconic anime based on the manga by the legendary Rumiko Takahashi, the legendary Queen of Manga, adapted in 167 episodes by Sunrise.

The story follows  Kagome , an ordinary eighth-grade student who unexpectedly falls down a well in her home’s garden and is transported 500 years into the past, to the   Sengoku era .

In this era, Kagome discovers that she is the reincarnation of  Kikyo , a powerful priestess who had the responsibility of protecting the Shikon Jewel, a dangerous object coveted by villains.

Teaming up with  Inuyasha , a half-demon with canine-like traits, Kagome embarks on a journey to safeguard the sacred jewel from falling into the wrong hands.

Inuyasha is one of the best examples, if not the best, of how to masterfully combine a fantastic action, a fantasy storyline and a stunning feudal Japan setting  with a remarkably well-crafted romance.

This series is a modern classic that is steadily gaining recognition as a cult favorite, much like many of Rumiko Takahashi’s other works.

If you’re reading this list and haven’t watched it yet be sure to add it to your watchlist as soon as possible.

2. The Tatami Galaxy

The Tatami Galaxy is a unique anime consisting of 11 episodes based on a novel written by Tomihiko Morimi and adapted in 2010 by Yuasa.

The beauty of The Tatami Galaxy is that it is seemingly simple in its unfolding but manages to enrapture because of its  surreality  and especially because of the  stream of consciousness .

Yes, you read that right, the whole work gravitates around the  streams of consciousness of the protagonist , so an incessant flow of words and tangled thoughts, a little like the hard life we live every day.

Tatami Galaxy is an anime in which  you can see and mirror yourself , especially if you are a college student or have ever thought about different choices in your life.

In a society constantly in motion, where fashions shift as swiftly as the seasons, we often find ourselves discontent with what we have, always yearning for more. But yet, what we already possess holds significant value.

This is the message that Morimi and Yuuasa aim to communicate to us, amidst a backdrop of visionary, psychedelic scenes, a solid romance subplot and a time travel premise that is perfect for this anime.

Orange is an excellent anime that combines drama, science fiction elements, a compelling plot filled with twists and turns, and a believable love story that perfectly integrates into the narrative.

The story follows  Naho Takamiya , a girl who receives a letter from her future self.

Initially skeptical, Naho becomes convinced of its authenticity when events predicted in the letter start to come true, including the arrival of a new student named  Kakeru Naruse.

The letter urges Naho to treat Kakeru with love and care, as he will tragically lose his life in the future. As the story unfolds, both Kakeru and Naho develop feelings for each other, while Naho remains unaware of her best friend  Hiroto’s  secret love for her.

As you can tell from the plot, this anime is  filled with unexpected twists , intense moments that will keep you on the edge of your seat, and heartwarming romantic scenes.

It’s a rollercoaster of emotions that you won’t want to miss, so add it to your list ASAP.

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Netflix’s Time Patrol Bon is a sci-fi anime odyssey about the value of human life

The smallest of actions beget the most profound of consequences

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Share All sharing options for: Netflix’s Time Patrol Bon is a sci-fi anime odyssey about the value of human life

Most time travel stories are either stories of intervention or preservation; following protagonists attempting to either alter the past to correct for something in the future, or doing everything in their power to return to their own time period without drastically altering the past. Time Patrol Bon sits squarely in the middle, which is exactly what makes it a beloved cult classic manga — and a surprisingly prescient adaptation from Netflix.

Based on the manga by Fujiko Fujio, the comic book-writing duo known for creating the beloved Japanese pop culture icon Doraemon , Time Patrol Bon (stylized on Netflix as T.P Bon ) follows Bon Namihira, an ordinary junior school student living in present-day Japan. He inadvertently crosses paths with a time-traveler named Ream from the future and learns of the existence of Time Patrol, a technologically advanced organization that travels through time and space rescuing innocent lives while maintaining the course of history.

It’s only after discovering Bon plays a pivotal role in the history of humanity that they choose not to erase him from history to protect the secret of Time Patrol’s existence; instead they offer him an opportunity to join their cause. Accompanied by Buyoyon, a sassy, ghost-like extra-dimensional creature, Bon joins Ream as her apprentice as they travel across history saving lives while growing into his new responsibilities as a Time Patrol agent.

It’s a fascinating premise, one that naturally begs a question that’s not all that dissimilar from what multiverse stories often broach: What is the value of a single life in the totality of existence? And who, if anyone, should have the authority to decide that? In the case of Time Patrol Bon , that authority is the Time Patrol Research Office, who are dedicated to finding and saving the lives of individuals who will not impact the course of history. In emphasizing the value of good, but otherwise unhistoric people whose lives were cut short on account of tragic accidents, misunderstandings, or overt malice, T.P Bon makes a case for the abiding value of all life in and of itself, as well as the importance of human relationships.

Take the anime’s eighth episode, wherein Bon and Ream are assigned to save one — and only one — kamikaze pilot during the Battle of Okinawa. Torn between his compassion for all human life and his obligation to uphold Time Patrol’s parameters lest he compromise the organization’s mission and very existence, Bon ultimately resolves that saving any life, even if only one life, is a worthwhile and noble endeavor if it can be done. It’s a really profound moment that nails home both Bon maturing into his responsibilities as a member of a Time Patrol, but also the series’ overall humanistic message. To put it another way: Not everything that is faced can be changed, but that’s not an excuse to do nothing. Even the smallest of actions is worth doing if it contributes to lessening the sum of human suffering.

By his own admission, Bon is an average everyday teenager. He doesn’t have any special powers, isn’t especially physically gifted or academically accomplished, and isn’t even all that popular at his school. From a glance, he barely registers as a footnote in the history of humanity, let alone the grand scheme of existence. If someone like Bon can go on to impact the future of humanity, aside from his role as a member of Time Patrol, then anyone can.

It helps that T.P Bon is helmed by respected animator Masahiro Ando, known for his work as a key animator on 1995’s End of Evangelion and Ghost in the Shell , as well as his own 2007 anime film Sword of the Stranger . Such a resume helps the show be all it wants to be: T.P Bon is an excellent blend of whimsical sci-fi spectacle, drama, and occasional edutainment, with stories featuring Bon and Ream rescuing sailors lost at sea, thwarting prehistoric poachers in the Jurassic period, and even inadvertently inspiring the 16th century legend of Journey to the West. In creating a series that strikes the balance between light-hearted adventure and existential meditation, Ando and studio Bones have delivered not only a faithful and worthy adaptation of Fujiko Fujio’s original manga, but one for the ages.

T.P Bon season 1 is available to stream on Netflix.

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Top 15 Best Time Travel Anime of All Time

What if you could travel in time? Leap into the past or the future with these 15 anime! But be forewarned: traveling through time can have some serious consequences...

Do you believe in time travel? Enter the forbidden realm.

If you could time travel, where would you go? Would you visit the future just to see their advanced tech? Head back to the age of the dinosaurs and marvel in their glory?

Time travel has been fascinating us for a long time , and it's given rise to a whole collection of time travelling movies, TV shows, and, of course, anime. Instead of focusing on the awesome potential of time travel, though, many of these shows and movies point out the dangers and dark side of it.

You'd think twice about doing any time traveling if you were in any of these time-travel themed anime!

This article contains minor spoilers. Please be forewarned.

Come check out 15 of the most popular time travel anime!

Toki wo kakeru shoujo (the girl who leapt through time), mal rating: 8.47 | ranked: #144.

Steins;Gate

Mal rating: 9.17 | ranked: #3.

The anime also uses the idea that you can only use a time machine to visit some place that already has a time machine - an idea that's been used in real life to explain why we haven't seen any time travelers yet. It would be like trying to use a smartphone to call someone who's still using telegrams.

Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)

Mal rating: 8.54 | ranked: #83.

Boku dake ga Inai Machi (Erased)

Mal rating: 8.80 | ranked: #25.

MAL rating: 7.91 | Ranked: #651

Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu (Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-)

Mal rating: 8.32 | ranked: #201.

Mirai Nikki (TV) (The Future Diary)

Mal rating: 8.14 | ranked: #362.

Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin (Occult Academy)

Mal rating: 7.17 | ranked: #2727.

Buddy Complex

Mal rating: 7.32 | ranked: #2185.

Nobunaga Concerto

Mal rating: 7.82 | ranked: #801.

Oda Nobuna no Yabou

Mal rated: 7.73 | ranked: #977.

MAL Rated: 7.57 | Ranked: #1350

Arata naru Sekai: World's/Start/Load/End (World's End)

Mal rated: 6.53 | ranked: #5030.

Thermae Romae

Mal rated: 7.15 | ranked: #2802.

MAL rated: 7.77 | Ranked: #881

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The 25 Most Popular Anime Of All Time (According To MyAnimeList)

It's hard to choose which anime is the best, thankfully MyAnimeList shows which series fans love the most.

As is the case with any other form of media, watching Japanese anime can be a deeply personal experience, with many series leaving a long-lasting mark on viewers. It's common for fans to take to the internet in support of their favorite series, with sites such as MyAnimeList making it easier than ever for like-minded fans to come together and do so. This allows sites like MyAnimeList to rank the most popular anime of all time according to the fans.

MyAnimeList ranks its titles in several different ways, with the Most Popular tab sorting shows by how many fans have joined a certain anime's community. Each of the top ten most famous anime have upwards of a staggering two-and-a-half million fans, and the top three manage to go over three million. Through the shared community setting, the most watched anime only continue to grow in popularity as more fans gather. With anime constantly growing and changing, the lists shift as new anime rise through the ranks to reach the coveted top 10 most popular anime.

Update on February 8th, 2024 by Louis Kemner: This list has also been updated to adhere to CBR's current publication standards and includes a few brand-new entries as well.

25 Akame Ga Kill! Features A Team Of Assassins

Akame ga kill.

A countryside boy named Tatsumi sets out on a journey to The Capital to make a name for himself and meets a seemingly dangerous group of Assassins known as Night Raid. Their journey begins.

Akame Ga Kill! Anime Scores:

• MyAnimeList: 7.47
• Anime Planet: 3.9/5

Akame Ga Kill! is a dark shonen action anime that relies on blood, gore, and torture to make its fight scenes more intense and its villains more despicable. Protagonist Tatsumi decided to become an adventurer, only to quickly realize that the world is a brutal place filled with twisted people.

Tatsumi will join Night Raid, a group of assassins who oppose the cruel Empire and its ways, and learn to fight. The members of Night Raid use special rare weapons called Imperial Arms, and they'll need all the firepower they can muster against their even deadlier enemies across the hostile Empire. All this adds up to a pretty cool action/adventure anime, but Akame Ga Kill! lacks that mythical "it" factor that the very best anime have, so it ranks low among the most popular anime ever.

24 Erased Is A Time-Travel Adventure

Erased (2016).

29-year-old Satoru Fujinuma is sent back in time 18 years to prevent the events leading to his mother's death, which began with a series of kidnappings while he was in 5th grade.

Erased Anime Scores:

• MyAnimeList: 8.3
• Anime Planet: 4.3/5

Fans of Tokyo Revengers , a shonen anime about the hero going back in time to his teenage years to save the day, might also enjoy Erase d. This anime stars the adult lead Satoru Fujinuma, who goes back in time to his youth to save lives. Then he goes back to 1988 after he's wrongly accused of murder, and he wonders if the murder case is connected to the abduction of his childhood friend.

Finding the truth in the past won't be easy, but for the sake of himself and his classmates, Satoru must try his best, and a tense and exciting adventure will soon follow.

23 Angel Beats! Is About School & Unresolved Personal Baggage

Angel beats.

Rebellious teens fight in armed combat against one dispassionate girl's supernatural powers in an afterlife high school.

Angel Beats! Anime Scores:

• MyAnimeList: 8.06
• Anime Planet: 4.1/5

Angel Beats! may look like a wacky high school anime series with fantasy and light isekai elements, but it's much more than that. Angel Beats! became a top anime series because of its intriguing true premise and its heartfelt themes. Protagonist Yuzuru Otonashi will awaken in a strange, isolated high school where the student council president, Angel Tachibana, is evidently a deadly foe. That means Angel Beats! is no ordinary high school anime , no matter its setting.

However, this school and Angel are not what they seem, and Yuzuru will get to the bottom of it soon enough. He and the other students are in this purgatory-like school because they have unresolved business, and perhaps Angel is not so bad after all — Yuzuru and the other students might actually need her help.

22 Noragami Stars A Cast Of Japanese Gods & Spirits

Minor deity Yato’s life is saved when middle school student, Hiyori Iki, protects Yato from a car accident. This fateful encounter intertwines their destinies and sets them on a journey to change their fortune. This supernatural adventure is not without its moments of humor.

Noragami Anime Scores:

• MyAnimeList: 7.95

Noragami is a popular fantasy action anime series that should appeal to fans of series like InuYasha , Bleach , Jujutsu Kaisen , and Demon Slayer . Even if Noragami isn't quite an instant classic like the others, it's still one of the most popular anime of the 2010s. It's worth a watch for any anime who's caught up on the must-watch shonen titles.

The story of Noragami starts small, focusing on the obscure minor god Yato and his new human friend Hiyori Iki, who can now see spirits and deities. They make a great team hunting spirits, but later on, many more Japanese gods, including some big names, will enter the picture as a great divine battle unfolds.

21 Bocchi The Rock! Is A Hilarious Comedy About Music And Social Anxiety

Bocchi the rock.

Hitori "Bocchi-chan" Goto is a lonely high school girl whose heart lies in her guitar; she meets Nijika Ijichi and joins "Kessoku Band."

The Real-Life Guitars & Drums From Bocchi the Rock! – And Where to Buy Them

Bocchi the rock scores:.

• MyAnimeList: 8.8
• Anime Planet: 4.33/5

Bocchi the Rock! aired for 12 episodes in the Fall 2022 anime season, where it became a sleeper hit like nothing anime fans had ever seen. Even the original manga's author was shocked by Bocchi 's explosive popularity, suggesting that this wonderful comedy anime has a strong "it" factor that really draws in the crowds. Anime fans can't wait for another season of Bocchi the Rock! and its upcoming movie.

Bocchi the Rock! won over legions of fans with its sharp blend of cool rock music, hysterical humor, "cute girls doing cute things," and its charming underdog story of the skilled but incredibly shy protagonist, Hitori Gotoh/Bocchi. After practicing the guitar alone at home for a few years, Hitori pushed herself to start playing for live audiences and join a band, and it worked — though her overwhelming social anxiety remained a serious challenge to overcome.

20 Re:Zero: Starting Life In Another World Is A Brutal But Fascinating Isekai Romance

Re:zero − starting life in another world.

After being suddenly transported to another world, Subaru Natsuki and his new female partner are brutally murdered. However, Subaru awakens to a familiar scene, meeting the same girl again. The day begins to mysteriously repeat itself.

Re:Zero Anime Scores:

• MyAnimeList: 8.23

Re:Zero is one of the most popular isekai anime titles out there, even if its premise sounds highly conventional at first. Sure enough, protagonist Subaru Natsuki is a tracksuit-wearing NEET self-insert who ended up in a fantasy world of elves and monsters, but this series found creative and brutal ways to push this familiar formula into new territory.

From the start, Re:Zero tantalized viewers with ongoing mysteries such as who Satella is, how/why Subaru even got here, and why he keeps coming back to life at pre-set checkpoints every time he dies. Everything about Re:Zero makes it an outstanding isekai that's more than the sum of its parts, including a highly debated love triangle between Subaru, the half-elf Emilia, and the popular ogre girl Rem . It's definitely one of the best isekai, but perhaps due to general isekai burnout, Re:Zero actually ranks a bit low among the most popular anime, despite its many strengths.

19 Your Lie In April Is About Music And Healing The Heart

Your lie in april.

A piano prodigy who lost his ability to play after suffering a traumatic event in his childhood is forced back into the spotlight by an eccentric girl with a secret of her own.

Why This High School Music Anime Is Often Mistaken as a Shojo Series

Your lie in april anime scores:.

• MyAnimeList: 8.65
• IMDb: 8.6/10

Your Lie in April is a well-respected tearjerker of an anime. Even if Your Lie in April can easily make anime fans cry with an aching heart, it also has strong themes of rekindled hope, the power of music, and most of all, the power of friendship and love. That makes it a powerfully bittersweet anime and made secure its position as one of the most popular anime of all time.

In Your Lie in April , the teenaged Kosei Arima feels lost and empty, since his abusive mother took all the joy out of playing the piano. Then Kosei will meet the lively Kaori Miyazono, whose burning passion for music will inspire her new friend Kosei to reignite his own love of music — and finally hear the piano's keys once again.

18 Toradora! Is A Surprisingly Dramatic Rom-Com Series

Toradora (2008).

Toradora tells the tale of Ryuji (dragon) and Taiga (tiger) helping each other confess to their crushes.

Toradora! Anime Scores:

• MyAnimeList: 8.07

While many of the most popular anime of all time are shonen or seinen action series, Toradora! is a finely crafted romantic comedy instead, with enough drama to give the story some much-needed emotional weight. Toradora! shows what happens when two very different people unexpectedly fall in love but aren't fully ready to go the distance until they grow up a little more.

The gentle protagonist Ryuji Takasu had a crush on the genki girl Minori Kushieda, while his tsundere classmate Taiga Aisaka had eyes for Ryuji's pal Yusaku Kitamura. What follows is a bizarre, hilarious, and heartfelt story of four teenagers trying to untangle their confusing romantic feelings and determine what it is they truly want from each other — and themselves.

17 Code Geass Is A Complex Sci-Fi Action Anime About Fighting For Freedom

Code geass: lelouch of the rebellion (2006).

After being given a mysterious power to control others, an outcast prince becomes the masked leader of the rebellion against an all-powerful empire.

Code Geass Anime Scores:

• MyAnimeList: 8.7

The sci-fi anime series Code Geass ranks highly among the most popular anime of all time, and its antihero, Lelouch Lamperouge, stands as the most popular anime character on MAL. Clearly, this high-IQ action anime is doing a lot of things right with its characters and story, hence its stellar reputation.

Code Geass takes place in the future after the vast Britannia Empire conquered Japan and renamed it Area 11. Lelouch will play both sides of the ongoing struggle to achieve his own lofty goals, making friends and enemies all over the place as he goes. This series has it all: futuristic combat scenes, giant robots, lively characters, heartfelt drama, and the unique power of the Geass in Lelouch's eyes.

16 A Silent Voice Is About Communication & Forgiveness

A silent voice.

A young man is ostracized by his classmates after he bullies a deaf girl to the point where she moves away. Years later, he sets off on a path for redemption.

A Silent Voice Anime Scores:

• MyAnimeList: 8.93
• Anime Planet: 4.5

A Silent Voice is a highly popular anime movie based on the seven-volume manga series of the same name. It's a romance drama anime that's about not just the consequences of bullying in school, but two people desperately trying to hear and understand one another despite their differences.

In A Silent Voice , Shoya Ishida tormented his classmate Shoko Nishimia in 6th grade, and it cost him dearly when his disgusted classmates alienated him. Years later, in 12th grade, a remorseful Shoya will strive to make amends with Shoko, if she and her family are ready to hear him out and possibly forgive what he has done.

15 No Game No Life Is An Isekai Anime About High-IQ Gaming

No game no life.

Siblings Sora and Shiro make up the most feared team of pro gamers in the world, The Blank. When they manage to beat God himself in a game of chess, they are sent to a world where all disputes are settled with games.

No Game No Life Anime Scores:

• Anime Planet: 4.2/5

No Game No Life is one of the most popular isekai anime titles in the anime industry today and is also one of the most popular anime of all time of any genre. This series is still stuck at just one season, but passionate fans don't mind, because the material they do get is quality over quantity.

No Game No Life stars the foster brother/sister duo Sora and Shiro, who share the identity [BLANK] while playing online games. Now they've been isekai'd to a colorful world where games resolve all conflicts, so Sora and Shiro will eagerly dive right in and conquer this game with their devious tactics. This means No Game No Life ranks near the middle among the most-watched anime of all, though due to its short length and unresolved ending, it can't compete with the industry's very best.

14 Frieren: Journey's End Explores The True Meaning Of Immortality

Frieren: beyond journey's end.

An elf and her friends defeat a demon king in a great war. But the war is over, and the elf must search for a new way of life.

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Scores:

• MyAnimeList: 9.13
• Anime Planet: 4.55/5

Any fantasy anime series can show a Dungeons and Dragons -style team of heroes fighting cool monsters and defeating the obligatory demon king supervillain, but not just any series will show what happens next. Frieren: Beyond Journey's End is all about that under-explored phase of a fantasy hero's life, viewed through the eyes of Frieren the long-lived elf lady. Frieren is an emotionally sensitive kuudere who must contend with the pain of seeing everyone she loves die over the long decades and centuries.

When the story begins, Frieren and her three adventurer friends have already taken down the demon king, so Frieren must decide what her post-adventure life looks like — and actually appreciate the short-lived people around her this time. Humans will come and go in Frieren's long life, so she must truly value and understand them during their short time in the world. All that adds up to an emotionally resonant anime that breathes new life into the fantasy genre, and fans responded with enthusiasm.

13 Jujutsu Kaisen Is A Terrific Horror/Action Anime Series

Jujutsu kaisen.

A boy swallows a cursed talisman - the finger of a demon - and becomes cursed himself. He enters a shaman's school to be able to locate the demon's other body parts and thus exorcise himself.

Is Jujutsu Kaisen 0: The Movie Canon?

Jujutsu kaisen anime scores:.

• MyAnimeList: 8.63
• Anime Planet: 4.5/5

Jujutsu Kaisen ranks among the best anime to watch in the 21st century, being a spiritual successor to Bleac h and a member of the popular "dark trio" alongside Hell's Paradise and Chainsaw Man . The Jujutsu Kaisen anime stars protagonist Yuji Itadori , who just gained curse power and must fight monstrous curses to save humanity.

Jujutsu Kaisen has many things working in its favor, from its intriguing fantasy combat system to its well-designed characters and strong horror/action elements, plus ample humor. The anime also recently got a second season in the Summer and Fall 2023 seasons, and fans can also try out the Jujutsu Kaisen 0 movie for more fantasy fun.

12 Steins;Gate Is A Smart Anime About Time Travel

Steins;gate (2011).

After discovering time travel, a university student and his colleagues must use their knowledge of it to stop an evil organization and their diabolical plans.

Steins;Gate Anime Scores:

• MyAnimeList: 9.07
• Anime Planet: 4.4/5

Why Steins;Gate Is Considered One of Anime's Best English Dubs

The ultra-popular anime series Steins;Gate is based on a 2009 visual novel game of the same name — a time-bending science fiction adventure that anime fans still love to this very day. Rintaro Okabe is a self-proclaimed "mad scientist" working in Akihabara, Tokyo, where he soon stumbles upon a mystery surrounding Kurisu Makise.

Kurisu seemed dead at first, but she is very much alive, and Rintaro's messages sometimes arrive before he can even send them. Then he learns that his cell phone-operated microwave oven can send D-mails through time, leading to a whirlwind adventure of science, time travel shenanigans, and high-stakes mysteries.

11 Your Name. Is Makoto Shinkai's Anime Movie Masterpiece

Your name (2016).

Two teenagers share a profound, magical connection upon discovering they are swapping bodies. Things manage to become even more complicated when the boy and girl decide to meet in person.

Your Name. Anime Scores:

• MyAnimeList: 8.84

Your Name. released in 2016 and quickly established itself as one of the most critically acclaimed and popular anime movies of all time, competing well even against the best Studio Ghibli titles. Even now, Your Name. is director Makoto Shinkai 's crowning achievement, though Mr. Shinkai's other movies shouldn't be overlooked.

Your Name. started as a fun body-swap story between a Tokyo student and a girl living in rural Japan, but it soon became far more. The girl, Mitsuha, mysteriously stopped swapping bodies, and the boy, Taki, went on an emotional journey to find and possibly save her at any cost, even though he couldn't remember her name.

10 Hunter x Hunter Introduced The Nen Combat System

Hunter x hunter.

Gon Freecss aspires to become a Hunter, an exceptional being capable of greatness. With his friends and his potential, he seeks out his father, who left him when he was younger.

Hunter x Hunter Anime Scores:

• MyAnimeList: 9.04

Hunter x Hunter is one of the most famous anime of the 2010s, a shonen series that follows protagonist Gon Freecss, who spends the majority of his young life believing that both of his parents are dead. After it's revealed that his father is not only alive, but a renowned Hunter, Gon sets off on a journey to become a Hunter himself, believing it will help him find his father.

Gon has to pass the Hunter Exam before he can set out, and it's here that he meets Kurapika, Leorio, and Killua. They're all incredibly different characters, but they still band together for the sake of their goals, setting off on an unforgettable journey for both the main characters and the viewers. With all Hunter X Hunter has to offer, there's no surprise it's become one of the most popular anime of all time at #10, with nine series proving to be even more popular among mainstream anime fans.

9 Tokyo Ghoul Is A Dark Story Starring A Half-Other Antihero

Tokyo ghoul.

A Tokyo college student is attacked by a ghoul, a superpowered human who feeds on human flesh. He survives, but has become part ghoul and becomes a fugitive on the run.

15 Anime to Watch If You Love Tokyo Ghoul

Tokyo ghoul anime scores:.

• MyAnimeList: 7.79

The premise of Tokyo Ghoul is equally dark and compelling. In a world where ghouls live alongside humans in secrecy, Kaneki Ken is almost killed by his date Rize when she reveals herself as a ghoul and attempts to feed on his flesh. He becomes a half-ghoul during surgery, as some of Rize's organs have been transplanted into him.

Tokyo Ghoul centers around Kaneki attempting to get a handle on his new life as a half-ghoul. While fans of the original manga feel that the popular anime adaptation suffers for how much it attempts to adapt in so few episodes, viewers starting out with Tokyo Ghoul adore it for its action scenes and soundtrack.

8 Naruto Helped Define An Era Of Shonen Action Anime

Naruto Uzumaki, a mischievous adolescent ninja, struggles as he searches for recognition and dreams of becoming the Hokage, the village's leader and strongest ninja.

Naruto Anime Scores:

• MyAnimeList: 7.99
• Anime Planet: 4.0/5

Naruto is both a gateway anime for many new viewers and one that sticks with them throughout their lives, as it has become one of the most popular anime of all time. The young outcast Naruto Uzumaki dreams of one day becoming the Hokage, a position that demands admiration and respect from everyone in the Hidden Leaf village.

Alongside his teammates, Sasuke and Sakura, Naruto grows exponentially as both a person and a shinobi. Naruto teaches viewers unforgettable life lessons while endearing viewers to its large and colorful cast at the same time, and viewers feel as if they grow up alongside the Konoha 11.

7 Demon Slayer Is A Heartfelt Shonen Fantasy Adventure

Demon slayer: kimetsu no yaiba.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is unarguably one of the best anime in the past year, and one of the best anime of the past decade. Swordsmen that move with the grace of dancers, savage demons imbued with horrific powers and flashes of steel that strike at the perfect moment are hallmarks of this remarkable series.

Demon Slayer Anime Scores:

• MyAnimeList: 8.49

One of the most popular titles in recent years, Demon Slayer follows Tanjiro Kamado, who comes back home to virtually his entire family having been killed by demons , after being gone for only a single night. The only survivor is his sister, Nezuko, but he horrifyingly realizes that she herself has been turned into a demon.

Demon Slayer puts a heavy focus on the theme of familial bonds, as Tanjiro swears to avenge his family while helping Nezuko hang onto what's left of her humanity. By now, Demon Slayer is one of the most-watched anime series of its generation thanks to its winning combination of fantastic animation, fun characters, great action sequences, and a strong emotional core.

6 My Hero Academia Is An Excellent Superhero Shonen Series

My hero academia.

Usually, anime and manga connoisseurs tell you to read the manga before watching the anime - it’s the equivalent to reading the book before watching the film or TV series. However, My Hero Academia slaps that lesson in the face, making the anime an incredible series to watch without having to read the manga. The story follows Izuku Midoriya, a boy born without superpowers in a world where they have become commonplace, but who still dreams of becoming a hero himself.

My Hero Academia Anime Scores:

• MyAnimeList: 7.88

My Hero Academia has become one of the most-watched shonen anime since its release. Izuku Midoriy/Deku is a Quirkless kid in a world full of Quirk-powered superheroes, but he never gives up on his dream of wanting to be just like his hero All Might.

After being blessed with an incredibly powerful Quirk from All Might, the number-one Pro Hero himself, Izuku's struggles become about controlling his newfound power without hurting himself in the process. Along the way, he meets not only colorful classmates who support him while chasing their own dreams, but dastardly villains set on destroying the world as well.

Top 10 short anime series ideal for beginners

E mbarking on the journey into the vast world of anime can be daunting, especially with the plethora of long-running series that demand a significant time commitment. For those new to the anime scene, here's a curated list of 10 short anime series that provide an excellent entry point into this diverse and captivating realm.

Navigating through extensive anime catalogs can be overwhelming, particularly with the array of high-rated series spanning various genres. Many enthusiasts tend to gravitate towards the popular Shonen genre, inadvertently overlooking some hidden masterpieces. However, the beauty of anime lies not in the episode count or genre but in the narrative and execution.

From timeless classics to hidden gems, this list offers a selection of 10 shorter anime series tailored for beginners, ensuring an immersive and enjoyable experience.

1. Parasyte: The Maxim

A Seinen series known for its gore, Parasyte: The Maxim boasts stunning animation and a gripping plot. Alien parasites infiltrate Earth, taking over human bodies, but the story takes a unique turn when protagonist Shinichi Izumi's right arm becomes the host. The series explores their symbiotic relationship and the challenges they face against hostile parasites.

2. Dororo (2019)

A reboot of Osamu Tezuka's classic, Dororo (2019) explores dark themes in feudal Japan. The protagonist, Hyakkimaru, embarks on a journey to reclaim his stolen body parts, encountering the young Dororo along the way. With gory undertones and a captivating narrative, this series is a must-watch for anime newcomers.

3. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

Kicking off the list is the timeless classic, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Spanning 64 episodes, this series seamlessly blends comedy, tragedy, character development, and intricate backstories. Following two brothers on a quest for a Philosopher’s Stone to reclaim their bodies, the series is a masterclass in storytelling and emotional depth.

4. Kids on Slope

For those seeking a comforting anime with a steady pace, Kids on Slope is a hidden gem. The story follows Kaoru Nishimi, a high school student struggling to fit in until he discovers a love for music. Bonding with Sentarou Kawabuchi over jazz, the series beautifully explores friendship, music, and self-discovery.

5. Your Lie in April

A musical romance that unfolds in just 22 episodes, Your Lie in April is a tearjerker with a compelling narrative. Centered around Kousei Arima, a pianist overcoming trauma, and the free-spirited violinist Kaori Miyazono, the series explores themes of love, jealousy, depression, and determination through their musical journey.

Set in prohibition-era America, 91 Days is a dark and sorrowful tale of revenge spanning 12 episodes. Angelo Lagusa seeks vengeance for his family's murder, leading him into the world of the mafia. The series skillfully explores the consequences of revenge and the moral dilemmas faced by its characters.

With a captivating time-travel narrative in 12 episodes, Erased follows Satoru Fujinima, who discovers his ability to prevent tragedies by traveling back in time. When wrongly accused of his mother's murder, Satoru finds himself 18 years in the past, determined to save a classmate from a tragic fate.

8. Summer Time Rendering

Running for 25 episodes, Summer Time Rendering captivates with unexpected plot twists and intense storytelling. The protagonist, Shinpei Ajiro, finds himself in a time loop, attempting to prevent tragic events. Teaming up with his deceased childhood crush, they confront an impending threat and unravel the mysteries surrounding their island.

9. Barakamon

An exploration of self-discovery within the slice-of-life genre, Barakamon unfolds in 12 episodes. Calligraphist Sei Handa, sent to Goto Islands for reflection, undergoes personal growth and learns life lessons through interactions with eccentric locals and a mischievous child named Naru Kotoishi.

10. Ghost Hunt

Combining horror and comedy in 25 episodes, Ghost Hunt delves into eight individual cases of paranormal investigation. Drawing inspiration from real-life stories and ghost theories, the series follows protagonist Mai Taniyama as she joins a diverse team of ghost hunters, uncovering her own latent psychic abilities.

These 10 short anime series provide a diverse and captivating introduction to the anime world, offering a balance of genres, compelling narratives, and emotional depth. Whether delving into timeless classics or discovering hidden gems, beginners are sure to find an enriching and enjoyable anime experience within this carefully curated selection.

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