It is easy to find comfort in the past that isn't full of hardships. Constant running and avoiding problems end up deluding the reality of what's happening. This is true both in the real world and in fiction. Anime is a medium that has plenty of characters who spend more time in the past than they do appreciating their present.

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For some anime characters, their past means everything and moving on means letting go. Their attachment to the memories of their past is bittersweet. Characters must overcome their sentiment if they are ever to move forward. While clinging to the past can be a comfort, it can inhibit personal growth.

10 Beatrice Finds Comfort In The Solitude Of Her Past

Re:Zero

Beatrice in Re:Zero.

Letting go of promises and hope is not an easy choice. Isekai anime Re:Zero relies on the importance of time for its plot. Re:Zero offers characters who can manipulate time for their advantage, yet Beatrice chooses to live in her past.

Beatrice isolates herself in her library to avoid the pain caused by unfulfilled promises. Beatrice reveals why she can't let go of her past as she has to wait for her savior. Beatrice tells Subaru her prophecy book is full of blank pages, not telling her how to move on with her life. After denying that Subaru is the one to save her, she realizes he is the only one to ever find her after years of waiting.

9 Brook Holds Past Crewmates Close To His Heart

One Piece

Brook finally reviving himself in One Piece.

One Piece does not miss when it comes to a sad backstory for its characters. Brook's original crew, the Rumbar pirates, was a crew full of musicians. While Brook is singing, a flashback shows the Rumbar pirates dying one by one while singing "Bink's Sake" as a final goodbye.

Brook's Devil Fruit brings him back to life, leaving him to live every day in his past to avoid knowing he was entirely alone in the middle of the sea. Talking to himself and singing had been the only way for Brook to keep going. Until Luffy stumbles across his ship, Brook has to say goodbye to his crew and joins the Straw Hats.

8 Naruto Won't Let Go Of Sasuke Or His Childhood

Naruto

Naruto vows to win for Hinata in Naruto.

The power of friendship and loneliness has led Naruto Uzumaki to live in his early childhood in Naruto. Getting Sasuke back has been Naruto's sole motivation to get stronger. Remembering how lonely he had felt and Sasuke being there to challenge him are sentiments of his past. Sasuke even tells Naruto multiple times to let go of the past, as he won't go back to him or Konoha.

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Naruto only realizes that he has not moved on when he fights himself, seeing the effects of his self-hatred. After accepting himself and Sasuke's decisions, Naruto finally understands Sasuke's pain and sees how to get him back.

7 Victor Accomplished His Goals Too Soon

Yuri!!! On Ice

Victor Nikiforov from Yuri!!! On Ice.

Yuri!!! On Ice focuses on the idea of not giving up. Yuri shows what it means to keep going, fighting to make things change. On the other hand, Victor, who has won every competition and medal, cannot move on from what he has accomplished.

World records and motivation have left Victor and his skating career to live on in the past. Accomplishments and records that Victor would look forward to would grow meaningless. Yuri skating with passion beats Victor's world record and shows him there is more to skating. As Yuri teaches Victor a different way of skating, Victor dusts his skates off, joining Yuri back on the ice.

6 Jiraya Is Reminded Of His Past From The Ones Around Him

Naruto

Jiraya sitting down for ramen with Naruto in Naruto.

Jiraya in Naruto habitually compares students and friends to his past. Due to his failure to save the people around him, Jiraya clings to his regret into his present days.

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A constant comparison Jiraya makes is with Naruto and his father, Minato. While they are similar, Jiraya sees them as identical. Even when it comes to Tsunade, Jiraya never fails to compare her to her younger self when he first started liking her. Jiraya being stuck in his past left him with one outlet: writing. When it comes to his final moments, overcoming his failure as a teacher, Jiraya places his hope in Naruto knowing he'd be a greater shinobi.

5 The Past Cost Edward An Arm & A Leg

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

Edward Elric making a transmutation circle in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood has one main rule: alchemy comes at the price of equivalent exchange. Young Edward and Alphonse had tried using alchemy to revive their late mother. This forbidden alchemy cost Edward's limbs and Alphonses' body. Another limb exchange would have to take place to get Alphonse's soul back, leaving his body behind.

Regretting his decision, Edward has tried everything he could to change their outcome. Alphonse being Edward's constant reminder makes him unable to forget what he lost. It's not until a full-out war that Edward can finally settle his past once and for all. Regaining his lost arm and legs along with his brother's body, Edward can move on with his life.

4 Eren's Motivation Is His Memories

Attack On Titan

Eren Yeager from Attack on Titan's final season.

Eren is a unique character from Attack On Titan who shows the complexity of right and wrong. While Eren fights for freedom and what he thinks is right, he becomes stuck in the memories of days spent with Mikasa and Armin. Innocence and memories control Eren's future actions. Mikasa, Armin, and the scouts serve as a constant reminder of what Eren has lost.

Between the Eldians and the Marleyans, Eren has to hide his true feelings that have been kept buried deep in his past. Not being able to move on from those days spent with the people close to him, Eren has to move forward with his idea of freedom.

3 Takemichi Doesn't Want To Go Back To The Present Day

Tokyo Revengers

Takemichi beaten and crying in Tokyo Revengers.

From saving a middle school girlfriend and joining a gang, Takemichi from Tokyo Revengers does not have enough time. As Takemichi gains the ability to go back in time, he must save Tachibana and preserve the Tokyo Manji Gang.

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Takemichi has to go between the past and present to plan what he has to do next. This back and forth leaves Takemichi with a heavy heart, as it seems he never has enough time. Memories and sorrow are left when Takemichi does not make the right choices and has to go back to his current time. Watching the tragedy unfold, Takemichi is left wanting to relive his middle school life in the hopes of saving the people closest to him.

2 Kaede Stays Home To Avoid The Outside World

Rascal Does Not Dream Of Bunny Girl Senpai

Kaede Azusagawa from Rascal Does Not Dream Of Bunny Girl Senpai holding a cat.

Adolescence Syndrome is a term used to describe a phenomenon in Rascal Does Not Dream Of Bunny Girl Senpai. Kaede is one character out of many who have this syndrome. From being bullied in person and online, Kaede stays home to avoid confrontation with her past.

Kaede's way of avoiding her trauma is to regress to a younger age. Onesies and childlike mannerisms have taken over Kaede's personality. Kaede avoids going to school and out of her house. Sakuta, her brother, knows she has to overcome the syndrome. Little by little, Sakuta shows Kaede that the world isn't the same as it was. After realizing she won't be hurt again, Kaede gathers her courage to go back to school.

1 Yukiastu Can't Let Go Of His Love For Menma

Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day

Yukiatsu from Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day.

Mourning over a lost childhood friend can have its baggage. Yukaistu from Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day takes the loss of childhood friend Menma personally. Yukaistu's personality and growth have all stayed behind in the days they were all together.

When Jintan brings up Menma and their past childhood days, Yukiastu is the first to be upset. Anohana later reveals the irony as Yukiastu was the one who had never let go, as it shows him dressing up like Menma. The obsession and love for Menma will keep Yukiastu in his past. The only way he can move on is to grieve by saying his final goodbye.

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