In the world of anime, it's not uncommon to see a character running late for school or some similar appointment, often with a piece of toast in their mouth. In fact, it's a pretty popular way to start an anime and introduce the main character. It's so common for anime to start this way that it's often invoked as parody.
This is a popular trope in anime because it quickly establishes that the main character is flawed in a way that's sympathetic and relatable. After all, even viewers who manage their time well can still be annoyed by having deadlines. On the other hand, it can also be a sign the character doesn't take things seriously. However, there are a few times when a character turns out to have justified or sympathetic reasons for being late all the time.
10 Naruto: Kakashi Has His Reasons For Being Late
In Naruto, Kakashi Hatake, also known as Kakashi of the Sharingan, is regarded as one of Konoha's most gifted ninjas and is seen as a capable leader and sensei. Despite this, he initially appears to be rather laidback, complete with a habit of showing up late for training sessions.
It later turns out that he has a sympathetic reason for always being late: every morning, he spends hours at the Konoha memorial for dead shinobi, regularly staring at the name of his late friend, Obito.
9 Sailor Moon: Usagi Practically Starts The Series Late
In Sailor Moon, Usagi Tsukino literally starts the series being late for school. This initially turns out to be a good thing, as this is how she meets Luna, starting her adventures as Sailor Moon. Unfortunately, Usagi being late for things, from going to school to meeting up with the other Sailor Senshi, becomes something of a running gag.
The '90s anime occasionally shows that Minako has the same problem. By Sailor Stars, when she and Usagi enroll in the same school, they are even shown running late together.
8 CLANNAD: People Think Tomoya Is A Delinquent Because He's Always Late
In CLANNAD, Tomoya Okazaki kind of has a reputation for being a delinquent, thanks to regularly being late for school, missing classes, and staying out at night.
Admittedly, he's much milder than his classmates make him out to be, but he genuinely doesn't take school too seriously. He does have a few other flaws, like an occasional bad temper.
7 Slam Dunk: Akira Sendoh Is Always Late For Practice
In Slam Dunk, Sendoh is shown to have many quirks. He has a reputation for running late for both matches and practice sessions, largely due to his habit of sleeping in. Being one of the most talented players in the series, however, his recurring lateness is usually tolerated.
All in all, his tardiness is just one of his various quirks in the series. He always smiles, often goes fishing, and loves eating lemon slices. While he does like basketball, he just doesn't take it too seriously.
6 Cardcaptor Sakura: Sakura Left For School Early In The First Episode, But Then Things Went Downhill
In the first episode of Cardcaptor Sakura, Sakura kind of pulls a bait-and-switch: she actually manages to leave early for school so she could see Yukito. Interestingly, the Nelvana English dub actually opens up with Sakura complaining about being "already late" like "every other morning." Either way, it's later shown that she does have a habit of being late for things.
In fact, in the manga, Syaoran is actually surprised to learn that Sakura normally doesn't get tired after capturing a Clow Card, since he thought that was the main reason she was often late for school. Her embarrassed reaction to this implies being late is just her normal behavior.
5 Ranma ½: Ranma & Akane Have Lateness In Common
In Ranma ½, there's a running joke that Ranma and Akane often find themselves late to school, especially in the first season, starting with the second episode.
In fairness, they both have a lot of unusual circumstances against them. In the aforementioned second episode, Ranma has to put up with his occasional transformations and Akane has to fight off a lot of unwanted suitors, something her sister says happens daily, although Akane later claims she normally fights them off in time.
4 Project A-ko: Even Being The Daughter Of Superman Can't Help A-ko From Being Late
In Project A-ko, A-ko is shown to normally wake up for school late. Fortunately, she does have some superpowered speed at her disposal, what with her being the daughter of Superman and Wonder Woman. Unfortunately, having to put up with her rival B-ko often causes her to be late anyway and she's usually punished. Added to that, her inhuman speed often causes a lot of damage to her surroundings.
When she actually manages to wake up early and still finds herself putting up with B-ko's shenanigans, she even complains that she might never be able to wake up early again.
3 Pokémon: Ash Ketchum Got Pikachu Because He Was Late
In Pokémon, Ash Ketchum's whole journey started when he woke up late to meet with Professor Oak. Because of this, he was unable to choose a Squirtle as his starter like he planned to and was given Pikachu instead. This in turn caused set off a chain of events that would have a lasting impact on the series, from his meeting up with Misty to him being targeted by Team Rocket.
The first episode of Pokémon Journeys also has Ash be late for Professor Oak's summer camping trip, suggesting his being late at the start of the original series wasn't an isolated incident.
2 Pretty Cure: Nozomi Is Even Late In The Series Opening
The whole Pretty Cure franchise has given fans a new set of magical girls for practically each series and, considering being late for school is such an iconic trope for magical girls, it's not surprising that lateness would occasionally show up as a bad habit in the series. In fact, by Yes! Pretty Cure 5, the leader of the girls, Nozomi can be seen chasing after her school bus right in the opening of the series.
1 Yu-Gi-Oh! GX: Jaden Got To Meet Yugi By Being Late
The Yu-Gi-Oh! GX anime even starts out with Jaden being late for the Duel Academy's entrance exam. He actually gets to meet Yugi Muto because of this: he crashes into him and the famous duelist even gives him the Winged Kuriboh card.
Another episode shows Jaden being late for class thanks to sleeping in late, causing him to meet a woman who runs a card shop. Once again, being late turns out to be opportune, since the woman ends up giving Jaden cards to thank him for helping her.