Warning: The following contains minor spoilers for the series mentioned throughout!!
Summary
- An anime series featuring a time loop presents its protagonist with a unique challenge of attempting to solve a multitude of mysteries ranging from what's causing them to be trapped in an endless loop, and how to stop it.
- Some time loop anime feature "closed loops" or "multiple loops", which require specific conditions to be met in order for the protagonist to progress and discover new clues.
- Despite repeating multiple events over and over, anime that feature time loops have the unique ability to develop their characters through their seeingly endless struggle trying to break the loop.
The best time loop anime send their beleaguered heroes through the same pocket of time to solve some sort of problem. Whether this problem is external, a villain they have to defeat, for instance, or internal, a personal flaw they have to overcome, reminiscent of Groundhog Day, they won't be able to move on until they figure it out. If they're particularly unlucky, this conundrem can take multiple loops before they even begin to understand what's happening to them.
There are many anime that feature unwilling time travelers standouts – including Re:Zero, Erased, and Tokyo Revengers – but only a specific subset either create a single closed loop that can't be changed, or multiple loops that require a condition to finally make time move forward normally again. In these loops, heroes fully realize the power of every decision they make.
10 The Mekakushi-Dan Are Doomed To Die In Every Loop
Mekakucity Actors, produced by Shaft, based on the original series of Vocaloid songs by Jin
All Shintaro Kisaragi wanted was a new keyboard for his beloved computer. Instead, when he steps out of his house for the first time in years, he's caught up in an attack at his local department store – and that's the least stressful part of his day. Escaping draws him into the world of the Mekakushi-Dan, a group of teens with mysterious powers.
Mekakucity Actors more or less follows the plot established by the original Kagerou Project music videos starring the same characters. It also shares the reveal that many of the Mekakushi-Dan, Shintaro included, have been stuck in time loops caused by a mysterious character named Marry, sending them through the same events thousands of times over, trying in vain to keep it from ending in their deaths. Shintaro's dormant ability turns out to be pivotal to saving them all: his Retaining Eyes unlock the memories of every past loop.
9 Yoshikage Kira Covers His Tracks With Time Loops And Explosions
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, produced by David Productions, based on the original manga by Hirohiko Araki
The climax of Part 5, Golden Wind, sees the heroic but ruthless Giorno also utilize a terrifying time loop to dispatch the villain for good.
While Diamond is Unbreakable isn't a time loop anime in a traditional sense, its climax centers around the villain's ability to create individual deadly loops. Serial killer Yoshikage Kira has one of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Killer Queen. Naturally, he uses it to commit grisly murders, and its secondary weapon, Bites the Dust, covers his tracks. It's how Kira has kept his identity secret for so many years.
Bites the Dust is automatically implanted in a host's body when the host, purposefully or accidentally, discovers Kira's identity. If the host spills the beans in any way, Bites the Dust first blows them up, then the people they talked to, and finally time itself. It creates a loop of the previous hour before it went off, with everyone blown up and destined to die again at the end of that hour, with only the original host aware of what's happening, but unable to say anything for fear of setting the Stand off again.
8 Higurashi's Cast Are Stuck In Loop After Deadly Loop
Higurashi: When They Cry, produced by Studio Deen & ione, based on the visual novels by Ryukishi07
Higurashi is one of the most famous horror anime ever made, and not only because of its complex time loop structure. Based on a series of equally popular murder mystery visual novels, it ostensibly centers around Keiichi Maebara, who's just moved to Hinamizawa village. As he gets to know some of the local girls, he discovers bloody, awful surprises around every corner.
It quickly becomes apparent that Keiichi, though unfortunate, is secondary to the girls of Hinamizawa. Trapped in time loops, they struggle to find a way to escape. Rika Furude, Satoko Hojo, and the other kids are driven to murder, torture, and all manner of other horrific things. If they're given a possible hint about a way of ending the loops, they'll jump on it at any cost.
7 Rintarou Okabe Needs One Perfect Loop To Save His Friend
Steins;Gate, produced by White Fox, based on the visual novel by 5pb & Nitroplus
Rintarou Okabe would have been perfectly happy to be left alone in his lab, messing with his gadgets and toying with the fabric of space and time. When he stumbles onto the dead body of a dear friend, they are both saved by a text message from Okabe's future self. Now, Okabe and company must work quickly to figure out all the secrets of time travel before the shadowy organization after his discovery gets to them, too.
It's hard to count all the Steins;Gate. Okabe's journey to master time travel and save his friend's life is, realistically, not straightforward, even if he does start the show with a groundbreaking discovery, reprogramming his microwave to send emails to the past. It takes numerous trial-and-error loops, help from other friends, and other experiments before finally working.
6 Nana Daiba Dreams Of An Eternal Stage
Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight, produced by Kinema Citrus, originally created by Bushiroad
The first step to escaping a time loop is the protagonist realizing they're trapped in one in the first place, which is easier said than done. The seventh episode of Revue Starlight, "Nana Daiba", throws viewers for a loop when it's revealed what's been going on. One would never expect the comic relief character called Banana to have secretly trapped her entire school in a time loop to redo their class performance of Starlight eternally.
Like many theater kids, Nana has fond memories of her high school production. When she wins Top Star, she wishes for the power to keep herself and her class in that happy piece of time forever, protected from the ravages and disappointments of adult life, and she's kept restarting the loop so many times that even the giraffe doesn't know how long it’s been going on. Hikari is a spanner in the works Nana didn’t anticipate, but she's determined not to let her get in the way of her vision — or her own cherished place in her classmates' lives.
5 Haruhi Suzumiya's Powers Extend To Endless Time Loops
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, produced by Kyoto Animation, based on the light novels by Nagaru Tanigawa
One of the biggest anime of the 2000s wasn't a time loop show for most of its runtime. However, late in season 2 of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, one of the most infamous story arcs in anime sparks a big one. The Endless Eight literally lasts near-endlessly in-universe, but it certainly felt endless for viewers in real life as well.
Haruhi never wants her summer with the SOS Brigade to end, so she unconsciously uses her reality-bending powers to trap them in a loop. Many time loop anime don't put a number to their loop cycles, but Yuki can: Haruhi forces everyone to relive the same two weeks 15,532 times. Because this was neither d nor explained while it was first airing, audiences were caught in the loop as well, repeating the same events over and over for eight straight weeks.
4 Kyousuke's Class Is Trapped In Loops Of Regret
Girls Go Around, created by Chido Eita
Kyousuke Sayama was completely cool with having a boring and uneventful high school career. Unfortunately for him, he's the only one: his classmates are so distraught at the idea that they didn't make the most of their teenage years that they form multiple time loops trapping them in their regret. It’s up to Kyousuke to free them and help them all move forward.
Kyousuke works with the creator of the looping phenomenon until he's pinpointed and solved each girl's regret and its cause, similar to the conflict found in Bunny-Girl Senpai and Bakemonogatari. Slowly and steadily, all are determined to finally face life after high school.
3 Time Loops Are Business As Usual For Princess Rishe
7th Time Loop produced by Studio Kai & Hornets, based on the light novels by Touko Amekawa
The first time Rishe was betrayed and exiled by her fiancé, the crown prince, she was heartbroken. The seventh time, she's not only completely unbothered but mashing the A button to speed through his dialogue: she's got big plans for this latest reincarnation and no time to waste. To her surprise, she winds up engaged to the prince the next kingdom over: the man who, in her last life, plunged the world into war and killed Rishe herself.
One of the newest entries in the time loop subgenre, 7th Loop is already gaining popularity halfway through its first season. By the time viewers meet her, Rishe has acquired the skills, knowledge, and experiences of six different lives, which she utilizes every chance she gets. Though the politics and dark sides of her new kingdom are intimidating, Rishe is determined to save not only the world but her enigmatic fiancé, who has much more to him than she expected.
2 The Narrator Loops His College Years Over & Over
The Tatami Galaxy, produced by Madhouse, based on the original novel by Tomihiko Morimi
The Narrator and friends get into more time travel shenanigans in the 2022 sequel, Tatami Time Machine Blues.
Most people have high expectations of their college years, and plenty of people wish they could go back and change things now that they know better. The unreliable narrator of The Tatami Galaxy actually gets the chance, several times over. In the pursuit of a rose-colored college life, he turns back time to try new paths through his youth, determined to find the perfect one.
However, perfection isn't easy, and the narrator is quick to blame everyone around him for his misfortunes. The real purpose of the loop is to force him to take a good, hard look at himself and realize that the one who needs to change the most is him. Attentive viewers will notice that the people close to him change in appearance as the show goes on to reflect his new perspective — one closer to reality.
1 Homura Has Been Forever Changed By Her Endless Loops
Puella Magi Madoka Magica, produced by Studio Shaft
For most of the series, Homura Akemi is hellbent on making sure Madoka absolutely does not make a contract to become a magical girl, and neither Madoka nor the audience has any idea why. At least, not until episode 10, which reveals Homura's backstory and her powers. She can reverse time, which she's been doing to relive the days leading up to Madoka's contract and inevitable doom.
In the first timeline, all the main characters were magical girls, with Homura the odd one out. When all of them were killed, Homura contracted with Kyubey and made her wish to save Madoka's life, only to fail countless times, watching Madoka die or become a world-destroying witch. This reveal recontextualizes Homura's entire character and the show itself, and, most importantly, gives Madoka the key she needs to make a final decision that changes both the past and future.
