Despite the existence of time-loops, stable and malleable timelines, and parallel dimensions, there are really only two types of time travel in anime, which are further divided into two subgroups. One where every action has massive consequences and one where time travel is only a device to comment on the era that the protagonist is exploring.

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

Updated on April 2nd, 2024 by Chelsea Steele: Time travel is a classic sci-fi concept that can be found in just about every form of media under the sun, and that includes anime. In fact, some of the greatest anime series of all time feature this unique premise, offering mind-bending stories that often delve into the psychological genre. We've updated this list to meet CBR's current publication standard, providing more info on some of the best time travel anime currently available.

20 Tokyo Revengers Follows Takemichi A He Travels Back In Time To Save His Loved Ones

Tokyo Revengers Rating Scores

Tokyo Revengers provides a familiar "do over" time travel plot, filtered through a bunch of classic delinquent tropes. The lead is Takemichi Hanagaki, a man leading a life full of regrets until he gains the ability to go back in time. Eager to save his childhood girlfriend, Takemichi's actions send him down a dangerous road of trying to give everyone a better future.

Tokyo Revengers is a series that will appeal to a certain brand of anime fan. Though the sci-fi elements are always prevalent, the true focus is on all the delinquents in Takemichi's life, and whether Takemichi can truly change as a person. With a deep, emotional story, a strong cast of characters, and tons of thrilling fight scenes, Tokyo Revengers joins together the action of classic shonen and the otherworldliness of sci-fi for a series like no other.

19 Iroduku: The World In Colors' Hitomi Tsukishiro Seeks Help From The Past

Iroduku: The World In Colors Rating Scores

Iroduku: The World in Colors offers fans a bittersweet time travel romance series. In the year 2078, Hitomi Tsukishiro is a young witch who lost the ability to see colors after her mother abandoned her. Out of a desire to help her, Hitomi's grandmother Kohaku sends Hitomi back to the distant past of 2018. Though Hitomi has no idea what to do there, the people she meets in the Magic Photography Arts Club show her a different type of magic, as they restore the color to her life.

Fans of time travel and slice of life will find Iroduku an easy weekend binge. As ever with P.A. Works, fans can expect a visual showcase, as the studio outdoes themselves with Iroduku's gorgeous and lush color palette. However, watching Hitomi learn how to reconnect with people is also a delight, even if the ending is obvious from the jump.

18 Re:Zero -Starting Life In Another World- Sees Subaru Stuck In A Time Loop Of Life & Death

Re:Zero -Starting Life In Another World- Rating Scores

At the start of Re:Zero, protagonist Subaru Natsuki thinks he's going to have it easy when he awakens in an alternate world. He's expecting pretty women, and awesome special powers to navigate this new fantasy environment. However, what he discovers is he has one ability: when he dies, time rewinds back to an earlier point. What follows is Subaru figuring out a way through this new world, while dealing with the pain of his Return By Death ability. As he battles the despair of his new reality, he tries his best to use his power for good and help those around him.

Re:Zero is perfect for people who love time loop storylines. Over the course of the series, Re:Zero gradually turns into a puzzle, where Subaru is challenged to come up with the best possible option not just for himself, but the people around him. It's easily one of White Fox's best series, and time travel fans who don't mind a gritty fantasy world would do well with this one.

17 Vivy: Fluorite Eye's Song Stars An AI Songstress Fighting To Save The Future

Vivy: Fluorite Eye's Song Rating Scores

Vivy: Fluorite Eye's Song is like if Terminator 2's main hero was the T-800. One hundred years in the future, AI evolves enough to strike out at mankind, wiping out most of the population. The last chance is an advanced AI, Matsumoto, going back one hundred years with the knowledge of the future, to try and prevent the war between humanity and AI. In the past, Matsumoto relies on Vivy, the original sentient AI, to help him protect humanity.

Vivy is one of the best sci-fi series in recent memory. Following a captivating lead protagonist, viewers gradually see the development of human history, wondering whether the war with AI is inevitable or if the future can be changed. Wit Studio's beautiful animation makes every episode a treat, and the short runtime means people can get through the show in a single weekend if they like.

16 Link Click's Cheng Xiaoshi & Lu Guang Jump Through Time Using Photographs

Link Click Rating Scores

With Link Click, LAN Studio brings fans an awesome new time travel anime. In the series, Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang operate a business they call "Time Photo Studio". An innocuous name, but with their powers they're able to travel back in time by looking at photographs. While living in these snapshots through time, the two try to fulfill their client's requests, while also trying not to alter the past too much.

Link Click is one of the hottest new sci-fi anime, and its on pace to become a modern classic. The series offers an expertly crafted mystery that demands binging thanks to its awesome cliffhangers. LAN Studio's excellent animation also makes this anime quite the looker, which stands out that much more when Link Click goes into its superbly choreographed fight scenes. For fans of thrilling time travel stories, there's no reason not to check this series out.

15 Occult Academy Follows Time Travelers On A Mission To Save Earth

Occult Academy Rating Scores

Directed by Tomokiho Ito, Occult Academy adeptly blends magical girls and time travel, weaving these two seemingly unrelated concepts into a seamless tapestry. The show revolves around a pre-apocalyptic scenario in which the heroes have to travel back in time to save the world.

Set in the year 2012, the world of Occult Academy has been ravaged by alien invaders. As mankind is on the brink of extinction, time travelers are sent back to 1999 and tasked with destroying an artifact named the Nostradamus Key, in hopes that this will stop the invasion from ever happening. Assuring humanity's survival requires the combined powers and battle expertise of a Traveler named Fumiaki and Maya, the headmaster of the Occult Academy. A unique mixture of sci-fi, mystery, and supernatural, Occult Academy is a fascinating approach to the classic time travel premise and is sure to appeal to fans of postapocalyptic stories.

14 Orange Follows Naho As She Tries To Change The Past

Orange Rating Scores

Orange is a dramatic romance series that takes a very different approach to time travel. There aren't any battles against evil or earth-shaking disasters. On the contrary, the protagonist begins her character arc as a high school student traversing her way through life. This particular time travel incident starts when Naho Takamiya receives a letter allegedly written by her older self.

While reluctant to believe it at first, enough things happen for Naho to eventually accept the truth. As a result, she begins taking the advice offered by her older self, including watching out for a transfer student who vanishes in the future. Thus begins Naho's emotional journey as she and her group of friends slowly change reality and alter the past, ultimately saving the life of Kakeru Naruse in the process. One of anime's most unique time travel stories, Orange is an emotional and heartfelt story of friendship, love, and overcoming grief.

13 Zipang Follows Modern Soldiers As They Travel Back To WWII Japan

Zipang Rating Scores

Plenty of books and movies have taken modern-day soldiers and equipment into the past. For example, the naval drama The Final Countdown placed a U.S. carrier group into the Pacific a day before Pearl Harbor. Much like the 1980 film, Zipang also places 21st-century warriors into World War II, but not where they can serve as saviors.

Instead, they land in Japan in the early 1940s, which is a radically different place. With their accumulated knowledge, they figure out how their country's forces can defeat the Allies. However, they're painfully aware of what the Showa era was like in Japan, which is why they desperately attempt to stay away from anything resembling warfare. A remarkable re-telling of WWII Japan, Zipang follows Commander Kadomatsu and his crew as they set off an unstoppable chain of events that alter history as they know it.

12 Buddy Complex Is The Story Of An Unlikely Hero Sent To The Future

Buddy Complex Rating Scores

Buddy Complex is technically part of the Gundam family. And yet, it has a completely different vibe to it than the rest of the franchise. Instead of a fight for the freedom of the present, the hero determines if he wants to get himself involved in a future battle between mecha forces. The story is simple and much shorter than most Gundam series, but it's nonetheless engaging, with a well-executed time travel premise that fans are sure to enjoy.

Buddy Complex begins when protagonist Aoba Watase is almost killed by a giant robot. Although he's saved from this gruesome fate, Aoba is simultaneously sent 70 years into the future. In this time, the world is ravaged by war, and Aoba quickly finds himself caught in the crossfire. He spends most of the story camping in that specific timeline, as his rescuers want him to learn all about the Gundams, allegedly to prevent his imminent death.

11 Summer Storm! Stars A Young Couple With The Ability To Jump Through Time Together

Summer Storm! Rating Scores

Plots about characters being immortal or younger than their visual representations have been around since Oscar Wilde wrote The Picture of Dorian Gray. In Summer Storm!, this unique narrative notion is revised into a teenage romantic comedy. Here, a young adolescent named Hajime Yasaka meets a beautiful and charming girl named Sayoko Arashiyama. As they continue to develop a bond, Yasaka discovers that Sayoko is no ordinary girl.

Why she may appear average on the surface, Sayoko is actually the ghost of a girl who passed during the WWII era. After sensing a connection between them, Sayoko uses Yasaka to travel through time, where the two work together to save victims of the war. An underrated gem of the 2000s, Summer Storm! is probably one of the most unique time travel series out there.

10 Steins;Gate Is One Of Anime's Most Beloved Time Travel Stories

Steins;Gate Rating Scores

Though there have been many amazing time travel stories throughout anime history, few can compare to Steins;Gate. One of the most popular time travel anime out there, this thrilling psychological series is considered one of the best modern depictions of time travel to date. Steins;Gate stars Rintarou Okabe, an eccentric genius scientist who discovers a way to travel back in time using a bizarre device he has named the "Phone Microwave". Using this gadget, Rintarou is able to send messages to the past that alter the future.

Though a groundbreaking discovery, Rintarou soon finds that messing with the past has dire consequences. Thus, the series follows him on a harrowing journey as he desperately tries to fix his mistakes, ultimately creating a thread of alternate realities in the process.

9 Noein: To Your Other Self Uses Real-Life Science & Quantum Theory To Tell Its Story

Noein: To Your Other Self Rating Scores

With its complex storyline based on real-life science theories, Noein: To Your Other Self could also be titled Quantum Physics 101. This mind-boggling series features a universe divided between two factions, the Shangri-La who want to destroy the time-space continuum, and the Lacryma who refuse to let that happen. However, the key to saving everyone turns out to be the Dragon Torque, who is actually the protagonist, Haruka Kaminogi.

The writers rely on modern quantum theory as the almost-mystical motor of the story. Combined with elements of sci-fi and fantasy, this lesser-known time travel anime is easily one of the most unique within the genre. Noein: To Your Other Self is a great mix of various themes and subgenres because it manages to combine really chill slice-of-life episodes with epic space battles and even magical girls, all without breaking a single string theory along the way.

8 Sagrada Reset Stars A Strange Girl With A Unique Power

Sagrada Reset Rating Scores

Do not be fooled by Sagrada Reset's slice-of-life exterior, as this anime is basically camouflage for an X-Men level backstory chock-full of philosophical dialogues. In this series, protagonist Kei Asai lives in Sakurada, a strange town where all its inhabitants possess otherworldly abilities. Kei's ability gives him an eidetic memory, which means he remembers practically everything. Meanwhile, his new friend Misora has the power to reset time up to three days in the past. Together, Kei and Misora combine their gifts to help others and make life in Sakurada better for everyone.

While they both join the Service Club to help people, the end of the first episode turns the slice-of-life premise on its head. Viewers soon realize that there are other powers moving the pieces of this small village, and it's up to these young heroes to unravel the mystery. A thrilling story of a supernatural conspiracy, Sagrada Reset is a must-watch for time travel and mystery fans alike.

7 The Disappearance Of Haruhi Suzumiya Introduces An Alternate World Where Haruhi Doesn't Exist

The Disappearance Of Haruhi Suzumiya Rating Scores

The Haruhi Suzumiya franchise is well-known for its bizarre plots that feature many mind-bending and often confusing situations, from alternate dimensions to frustrating time loops. As such, it's no surprise that The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya carries on this trend. In the film, protagonist Kyon wakes to find himself in an alternate version of his reality, where everyone and everything has changed. Most notably, titular heroine Haruhi is nowhere to be found.

Thus, as the only one aware of this reality shift, Kyon must make choice. Either he accepts this new reality and lives a normal life, or he travels through time and space to restore things to the way they once were. Considered by many to be the best storyline in the entire franchise, The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya is hailed as one of the best time travel concepts in anime.

6 Future Diary Combines Classic Battle Royale With Time Travel Elements

Future Diary Rating Scores

In the iconic series Future Diary, protagonist Yukiteru Amano gets dragged into a battle to the death where the victor becomes a God. His main weapon is a special cellphone that receives messages and tips from his future self. This allows him to foresee what will happen, albeit to a limited degree. However, all the other combatants also have similar cell phones, further adding to the challenge.

Future Diary has a tournament format where every episode features a serious duel between Yukiteru and the other candidates. Further, the mechanics of time travel are extremely well-developed in this series, particularly the unstable timeline/parallel worlds concept. Combined with the classic battle royale concept, Future Diary stands out as one of the more unique time travel series in anime.

5 Erased Is A Gripping & Emotional Murder Mystery Story

Erased Rating Scores

It's difficult to talk about Erased without mentioning The Butterfly Effect and the video game Life Is Strange. Both of them share several themes and mechanics with this plot. Erased stars Satou, a man who can travel backward in time a few minutes to stop disasters, but he doesn’t have perfect control over this ability. Nevertheless, Satou tries to use his ability to help others as best as he can.

However, when he’s accused of matricide, Satou's mysterious gift sends him back to his high school days, right before one of his classmates was murdered by a serial killer. Now living in the past, Satou sets out to solve the mystery and save Kayo Hinazuki before it's too late and history repeats itself. Those who've watched The Butterfly Effect know that Erased's Satou has his work cut out for him, despite his time-traveling powers.

4 The Girl Who Leapt Through Time Follows Makoto As She Learns That Time Traveling Has Its Consequences

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time Rating Scores

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time stars Makoto Konno, an outgoing high school girl who accidentally gains the ability to leap through time. She promptly uses this unanticipated blessing to make her life easier in a myriad of different ways as she tries to figure out what she wants in life. Unfortunately, Makoto soon realizes that she also has a number tattooed on her arm, representing the total amount of time leaps she can make. Not only that, but as she meddles with time, she starts to see the unexpected consequences of her time jumps and what that means for her future.

Although this plot is not epic or action-packed in any way, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time introduces an intriguing concept. Makoto's ability to use cumulative time-leaps is similar to asking a genie for more wishes. The anime is beautiful to watch and its slice-of-life setup is sure to appeal to those put off by historical time travel or overly elaborate sci-fi.

3 The Tatami Galaxy Gives A Bitter College Student A Chance To Re-Do His Life

The Tatami Galaxy Rating Scores

The Tatami Galaxy is framed within a Groundhog Day device of a single day resetting unto itself. The series follows a young man named Watashi, who keeps reliving the same first day of college and trying to get the perfect “rose-colored” college life he's always dreamed of. After lamenting bitterly to himself about his regrets, Watashi is sent through time to re-start his college days, in hopes of doing it right this time. Thus, he goes on a journey to face his regrets and finally do everything he wished he could before.

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

2 Thermae Romae Is A Hilarious Story Of What Would Happen If Someone From The Ancient World Came To The Future

Thermae Romae Rating Scores

A popular theme in time travel stories is the concept of bringing someone from the past to present and exposing them to the marvels of the modern world. Historical comedy Thermae Romae does just this, transporting an ancient Roman to the future. When Lucius, an ancient thermae (Roman bathhouse) architect, gets fired, he also somehow manages to time-travel to modern Japan through a Roman bath sinkhole. Here, he makes a name for himself as a genius architect whose ingenuities are far head of his time.

This hilarious series follows Lucius' daily adventures as he navigates the modern world, shocked and delighted by the future's modern technology. Thermae Romae is one of the most unique anime based on the time travel trope, as well as the most lighthearted. Those who complete the three-episode anime series might also want to view a brilliantly scripted live-action movie.

1 Nobunaga Concerto Follows Saburou As He Travels To Feudal Japan & Trades Places With A Legendary Warrior

Nobunaga Concerto Rating Scores

Nobunaga Concerto is a historical shonen series following the adventures of Saburou, a carefree high school student whose life is turned upside down when he suddenly finds himself transported back in time to the Sengoku Era. Here, he meets Nobunaga Oda, the legendary leader of the Akechi Clan. After this chance encounter, Saburou suddenly finds himself swapping identities with Nobunaga, posing as the general himself. Now in an unfamiliar time forced to pose as a feudal lord, Saburou must use his modern knowledge to get him by as he helps to unite Japan.

With its unique visuals and refreshing take on historical fiction, Nobunaga Concerto is a highly underrated time travel series. The story is simple and straightforward, yet gripping and emotional, with brilliant character development that really gets the audience invested.