Time travel is one of my favorite genres, both in anime and movies and series. In this article, we are going to share the best time travel anime followed by a complete list of them, including OVAs and movie animations.
I want to take this opportunity to mention that my favorite Western series are time travel ones. It is 12 Monkeys and Travelers, I recommend watching both. I also recommend the Dorama Nobunaga Concerto.
Table of Content
Steins;Gate - O melhor anime de todos os tempos
Steins;Gate is not only the best time travel anime, but also one of the best anime of all time that dominates the top positions on MAL. A very good anime, but unfortunately unknown to many.
The anime has two seasons and a movie, one of the seasons being an alternate view of what passes between two timelines. The anime approaches time travel in a funny way with a lot of suspense and a lot of psychological terror.
The beginning of the anime and its synopsis is a bit strange, it tells the story of a somewhat crazy young man who suffers from chuunibyou syndrome. In his mad scientist daydreams with his friends, they manage to invent a machine that sends SMS messages to the past.
The first 13 episodes have a light, funny and a little crazy atmosphere, but then the anime's scenario totally changes to something that messes with the psychological of those who watch, makes the person very tense and makes all the madness of the previous episodes play an important role in the story.
The anime has a perfect beginning, middle and end, without leaving any flaws and with complements of the same quality as the original series. The anime is based on a visual novel computer game that allows different player choices.
Erased - Boku dake ga inai machi
Hardworking manga author Fujinuma Satoru is plagued by a fear of expressing himself. However, he has the supernatural ability to be forced to avoid deaths and catastrophes by being sent back in time before the incident occurred, repeating time until the accident is averted.
One day, he is involved in an accident that incriminates him as a murderer. Desperate to save the victim, he travels back in time only to find himself an elementary school student a month before his classmate Hinazuki Kayo disappears. Satoru now embarks on a new quest: to save Kayo and solve the mystery of her disappearance.
Erased does not present complex themes, as Steins;Gate does, although Erased is the type of story that does not require much explanation, but rather the appreciation of its characters, scenarios, and the development of the story.
RE:Zero Kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu
It tells the story of Subaru a normal boy who lives as an Otaku geek who one day is taken to a fantasy world with the power to go back a little in time when he dies. Unfortunately he cannot tell about this power.
Suffering a lot in this world, Subaro falls in love with a white-haired girl with the power of ice who resembles a witch who causes panic in the inhabitants of this world.
Considered one of the best Anime of 2016, this anime is undoubtedly an opinion divider. Some think it didn't have a good outcome and development, while others think it was the perfect anime.
List of time travel anime
| Steins;Gate | 2011 |
| ERASED | 2016 |
| Steins;Gate 0 | 2018 |
| Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- | 2016 |
| InuYasha: The Final Act | 2009 |
| Time Jam: Valerian & Laureline | 2007 |
| IRODUKU: The World in Colors | 2018 |
| The Ambition of Oda Nobuna | 2012 |
| Nobunaga Concerto | 2014 |
| InuYasha | 2000 |
| Zipang | 2004 |
| Ojarumaru | 1998 |
| Natsu no Arashi! Akinaichuu | 2009 |
| Meiji Tokyo Renka | 2019 |
| Buddy Complex | 2014 |
| Occult Academy | 2010 |
| Natsu no Arashi! | 2009 |
| Generator Gawl | 1998 |
| Muka Muka Paradise | 1993 |
| Sakurada Reset | 2017 |
| Time Travel Tondekeman! | 1989 |
| Extra Olympia Kyklos | 2020 |
| Punch Line | 2015 |
| Gan Gan Ganko-chan | 2017 |
| DNA² | 1994 |
| Battle Girls: Time Paradox | 2011 |
| Time Travel Girl | 2016 |
| YU-NO: A Girl Who Chants Love at the Bound of This World | 2019 |
| Island | 2018 |
| Time Bokan | 1975 |
| Bakumatsu: Crisis | 2019 |
| Gunslinger Stratos: The Animation | 2015 |
| Rakugo Tennyo Oyui | 2006 |
| Zentrix | 2003 |
| Tsuki wa Higashi ni Hi wa Nishi ni: Operation Sanctuary | 2004 |
| Flying House | 1982 |
| RErideD: Derrida, who leaps through time | 2018 |
| Flint the Time Detective | 1998 |
| Ikemen Sengoku: Toki wo Kakeru Koi | 2017 |
| Time Bokan: The Villains' Strike Back | 2017 |
| Butlers x Battlers | 2018 |
| Bakumatsu | 2018 |
| Tamagotchi! Miracle Friends | 2013 |
| Time Bokan 24 | 2016 |
| Nobunaga teacher's young bride | 2019 |
| Dokachin | 1968 |
| Mirai Kara Kita Shounen Super Jetter | 1965 |
| Gan Gan Ganko-chan 2nd Season | 2018 |
List of time travel manga
Below we will share a list of mangas that have a focus or some relation to time travel:
| Nome do Manga ou Novel | Ano |
| Sousei no Taiga | 2017 |
| Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- (Light Novel) | 2014 |
| Sengoku Komachi Kuroutan: Noukou Giga | 2017 |
| Red River | 1995 |
| Pharaoh's Concubine | 2015 |
| Erased | 2012 |
| The Journey | 2007 |
| Steins;Gate: Chouyoku no Divergence - Reverse (Light Novel) | 2011 |
| Tokyo Revengers | 2017 |
| Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-, Chapter 3: Truth of Zero | 2015 |
| Doraemon | 1964 |
| The Ambition of Oda Nobuna (Light Novel) | 2009 |
| Kimi to Boku no Ashiato: Time Travel Kasuga Kenkyuusho | 2009 |
| Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-, Chapter 2: A Week at the Mansion | 2014 |
| Henyoku no Labyrinth | 2014 |
| Nobunaga no Chef | 2011 |
| Threads of Time | 1999 |
| Souboutei Kowasu Beshi | 2016 |
| Daichohen Doraemon | 1988 |
| Jin | 2000 |
| Sailor Moon | 1991 |
| Ashi-Girl | 2011 |
| Golden Days | 2005 |
| Ryuurouden | 1993 |
| Feng Yu Jiu Tian (Novel) | 2004 |
| Thermae Romae | 2008 |
| Nobunaga Concerto | 2009 |
| Shinobi Life | 2006 |
| Tsuyokute New Saga | 2014 |
| Sengoku Strays | 2007 |
| Namidaame to Serenade | 2014 |
| 5-fungo no Sekai | 2018 |
| Babel (Noriyoshi Inoue) | 2015 |
| Crazy Girl Shin Bia | 2008 |
| The Ambition of Oda Nobuna | 2011 |
Japanese Time Travel Animated Films
The list below shows some Japanese movies followed by year of release that have some kind of time travel or are focused on that genre. Hope you like the short list of movies below:
| Cleopatra | 1970 |
| Doraemon: Nobita's Dinosaur | 1980 |
| Toki no Tabibito: Time Stranger | 1986 |
| Doraemon: Nobita's Version of Saiyuki | 1988 |
| Doraemon: Nobita at the Birth of Japan | 1989 |
| Maroko | 1990 |
| Dorami-chan: Hello Kyouryuu Kids!! | 1993 |
| Crayon Shin-chan Movie 3: Unkokusai no Yabou | 1995 |
| Doraemon: Nobita's Genesis Diary | 1995 |
| New Kimagure Orange Road: Summer's Beginning | 1996 |
| Doraemon: Nobita no Kekkon Zenya | 1999 |
| Doraemon: Nobita and the Legend of the Sun King | 2000 |
| Doraemon: Obaa-chan no Omoide | 2000 |
| Saving our Fragile Earth: Unico Special Chapter | 2000 |
| Ojarumaru Movie: Yakusoku no Natsu Ojaru to Semira | 2000 |
| Crayon Shin-chan Movie 10: Arashi wo Yobu Appare! Sengoku Daikassen | 2002 |
| Aterui | 2002 |
| The Golden Laws | 2003 |
| The Girl Who Leapt Through Time | 2006 |
| Doraemon: Nobita's Dinosaur (2006) | 2006 |
| Superflat First Love | 2009 |
| The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya | 2010 |
| Naruto Shippuden Movie 4: The Lost Tower | 2010 |
| Crayon Shin-chan Movie 18: Chou Jikuu! Arashi wo Yobu Ora no Hanayome | 2010 |
| Junod | 2010 |
| The Dreams of Jinsha | 2010 |
| Psychic School Wars | 2012 |
| Magic Tree House | 2012 |
| Nijiiro Hotaru: Eien no Natsuyasumi | 2012 |
| Gintama Kanketsu-hen: Yorozuya yo Eien Nare | 2013 |
| Steins;Gate Movie: Load Region of Deja Vu | 2013 |
| Youkai Watch Movie 1: Tanjou no Himitsu da Nyan! | 2014 |
| Meiji Tokyo Renka Movie: Yumihari no Serenade | 2015 |
| Meiji Tokyo Renka Movie 2: Hanakagami no Fantasia | 2016 |
| Doraemon: Nobita at the Birth of Japan (2016) | 2016 |
| Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- Memory Snow | 2018 |
| Mirai | 2018 |
| Batman Ninja | 2018 |
| The Laws of the Universe: Part 1 | 2018 |
| Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl | 2019 |