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Anime timeskips are a trend that has become a classic trope of the medium since the late 80s, with Dragon Ball arguably being the first prominent example of this approach. This makes sense because they give authors the opportunity to develop several characters and plot points, leading to the audience being introduced to a new reality in a series they are familiar with.
While some anime timeskips are better than others and some are downright brilliant. They are often used as a narrative tool to explore several concepts and characterization. This article will look at the ten best-written anime timeskips of all time, in no particular order, and explain why they are a part of this list.
Disclaimer: This article contains a lot of spoilers for the anime timeskips on this list and their respective series. Any opinion expressed here belongs to the author and not Sportskeeda.
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Vinland Saga and the nine other best-written anime timeskips of all time
1) Vinland Saga
Vinland Saga is a very good example of how to use anime timeskips to push certain narrative tools and help with the development of the protagonist. Viewers witness Thorfinn's life since he was a kid and how he grew into a young man who made a lot of good and bad decisions that shaped him into who he is.
Thorfinn's journey is about overcoming resentment and violence to become a much more peaceful and focused individual. It is the greatest strength of Vinland Saga and watching his growth throughout his life is a very significant tool to highlight his character arc.
2) Attack on Titan
Attack on Titan benefits greatly from timeskips because it lets fans watch the growth of characters such as Eren, Mikasa, and Armin over the years. This is something that author Hajime Isayama has expressed through the series' themes of growing up and dealing with the world's darkness.
While anime timeskips are not as prominent in Attack on Titan as compared to other series on this list, they are executed well and show how much the main cast has grown.
3) Bleach
Anime timeskips are often used in shonen to make characters stronger and improve some plot points. However, there are examples when they are used to deconstruct the protagonist. Bleach author Tite Kubo did this to his main character, Ichigo Kurosaki, during the Lost Agent arc, most commonly known as the Fullbringer storyline.
Ichigo lost his Shinigami powers after defeating Aizen in the Arrancar arc and 17 months happened after that, which led to the protagonist having a significant depression. He no longer had any drive or motivation in his life and this lack of power for almost two years helped for the character's deconstruction when Ginjo Kugo and Tsukishima began to manipulate him.
4) One Piece
There are a lot of One Piece fans who would say that the Straw Hats crew got worse after the timeskip. That being said, the reason it features on this list is because author Eiichiro Oda added a lot more to the series' lore. This is something that a lot of readers and viewers have praised over the years.
This is one of those anime timeskips that have improved world-building even more and added a lot more mysteries. These include the Rocks Pirates, Laughtale, Joyboy, the Sun God Nika, and a lot more. Some of these elements have become key points of One Piece lore even to this very day.
5) Berserk
Berserk is a very interesting case because readers and viewers have seen Guts' life from the moment he was born, with constant anime timeskips that push the story forward. This is key because Guts as a character is defined by each arc, with the events he has gone through constantly developing him.
The most popular arc in the series (and the one with the most anime adaptations) is the Golden Age. This arc focuses on Guts' time with the Band of the Hawk, and that storyline has several timeskips. All of that makes the resolution of this arc all the more heartbreaking.
6) Dragon Ball
Dragon Ball is a series that has popularized a lot of classic shonen tropes that are par for the course these days and one that the franchise doesn't get a lot of credit for is the use of anime timeskips. The series shows its characters as ones who are constantly aging, having children, and kids growing older. This is something that wasn't very common back in the late 80s when author Akira Toriyama started to do this.
There are several anime timeskips in Dragon Ball, but there are some favored by most fans. They would point out when Goku trained as a kid with Kami and came back as a taller version of himself. Additionally, they also look at the four years when Gohan was born and Raditz arrived, and the seven years between the Cell and Buu arcs. All of these timeskips have been very prominent and significant to the franchise moving forward, defining several characters in the process.
7) Black Clover
It is fair to say that Black Clover didn't have the most revolutionary of anime timeskips but it got the job when it came to giving the main cast some much-needed power-ups. It was also a great moment for Asta to grow as a Magic Knight and gain a lot more power.
As the Dark Triad was taking the upper hand over several kingdoms, Asta, Mimosa, Noelle, and other members of the main cast were trained to deal with them. This was complemented with new designs and some improved abilities, especially when it came to Asta's skills with his swords.
It is not one of those anime timeskips that reshapes the story but it represents a positive improvement on the manga.
8) JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
The interesting part of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure and anime timeskips is that this is an element that has defined the series over the years. As of this writing, the manga is divided into nine parts, with each storyline taking place a few years after the events of the previous one, thus putting the franchise in constant timeskips.
The most obvious example of anime timeskips in the series would be when Jonathan Joestar died in the first part, Phantom Blood, in the 1800s. Following that, the story changed in the second part, Battle Tendency, in the 1930s with his grandson, Joseph Joestar, taking over the helm of the series. Something similar has happened with each JoJo ever since.
9) Code Geass
Most people wouldn't think of Code Geass when it comes to anime timeskips but there was a bit of a time difference between the first and second seasons of the original series. This difference was a much-needed change to keep the story fresh. It also served as a way to showcase Lelouch's motivations and what he wanted to achieve as a challenger of the Britannian Empire.
Lelouch had lost his memory and was living as a regular teenager in Britannia. However, as the story progresses, he begins to remember who he is and has to come to terms that he was been lied to by his loved ones. It is an interesting use of a timeskip and makes the protagonist's comeback all the more powerful.
10) Death Note
Most people in the anime community agree that Death Note lost a certain degree of quality after L died and that perhaps the story shouldn't have kept going after that. However, considering that the series did continue, executing a timeskip was the right call.
The series' timeskip helped to show how Light had become a lot more arrogant and careless because he didn't think he could be defeated now that L was gone. Furthermore, it also showed how Light's reach as Kira had grown stronger and wider all over the world, thus leading to a different plot and approach.
Final thoughts
There are a lot more anime timeskips out there but these are some of the most prominent and the ones that tended to have a positive impact on their respective stories. They were also quite important in developing some key plot points and raising the stakes in the vast majority of these franchises.
