Time travel is one of my favorite genres, both in anime and movies and series. In this article, we will 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 themed. They are 12 Monkeys and Travelers, I recommend watching both. I also recommend the Dorama Nobunaga Concerto.
Table of Contents
Steins;Gate – The best anime of all time
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 it goes unnoticed by many.
The anime has two seasons and a movie, with one of the seasons being an alternative view of what happens between two timelines. The anime addresses time travel in a funny way with a lot of suspense and psychological horror.
The beginning of the anime and its synopsis is a bit strange, telling the story of a somewhat crazy young man who suffers from chuunibyou crisis. In his delusions of a mad scientist along with his friends, they manage to invent a machine that sends SMS to the past.
The first 13 episodes present a light, funny, and somewhat crazy atmosphere, but then the anime’s setting completely changes to something that affects the psychology of the viewer, making the person very tense and making all the craziness of the previous episodes play an important role in the story.
The anime has a perfect beginning, middle, and end, without leaving any gaps and with complements of the same quality as the original series. The anime is based on a visual novel computer game that allows different choices from the player.
Erased – Boku dake ga inai machi
The hardworking manga author Fujinuma Satoru is plagued by the fear of expressing himself. However, he has the supernatural ability to be forced to prevent deaths and disasters by being sent back in time before the incident occurs, repeating the time until the accident is avoided.
One day, he gets involved in an accident that incriminates him as a murderer. Desperate to save the victim, he goes back in time only to find himself as 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 appreciation for its characters, settings, and story development.
RE:Zero Kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu
Tells the story of Subaru, a normal boy who lives as an Otaku nerd 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 anyone about this power.
Suffering a lot in this world, Subaru falls in love with a girl with white hair who has ice powers and resembles a witch that causes panic among the inhabitants of this world.
Considered one of the best anime of 2016, this anime is undoubtedly a divisive opinion. Some think it did not have a good conclusion and development, while others think it was the perfect anime.
List of time travel anime
| 1 | 2011 |
| 1 | 2016 |
| 1 | 2018 |
| 1 | 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 |
| 1 | 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 mangas
Below we will share a list of mangas that focus on or have some relation to time travel:
| Name of Manga or Novel | Year |
| 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 |
| 1 | 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 Animation Movies about Time Travel
The list below shows some Japanese movies followed by their release year that have some type of time travel or are focused on this genre. I hope you enjoy the small 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 |
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