8 Time Skips In Anime That Saved Us From Boring Filler

It's a narrative device often used in anime: the time skip, which omits a large portion of events. There are narrative reasons for this that have been in place long before anime existed as a medium. Time skips allow for boring events to be glossed over, which is good for pacing, and they allow for tonal shifts in the story to be more impactful.

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Quite often, time skips are used to show characters growing up or completing their training. Other times, they may simply show that the years in-between have been hard on a character - rather than a gradual change, you're able to directly compare them before and after the shift. Here are the time skips in anime that were the most meaningful.

There may be major spoilers below: please bear that in mind if you have yet to watch these series.

8 Dragon Ball Z

Five Years

Dragon Ball is no stranger to time skips, but the biggest narrative split in this series by Akira Toriyama came after the end of the original anime. Goku finally won the World Martial Arts Tournament, Chi-Chi finally married him, and the original anime ended with the two setting off to live happily ever after.

When Dragon Ball Z starts, five years have passed since we last saw Goku and his friends. The time skip is implied to have been a period of separation for the characters themselves, as they bring each other up to speed on their lives since Goku beat Piccolo Jr. The protagonist now has a son named Gohan, Chi-Chi has become a devoted mother, and Master Roshi is still a pervert.

7 Gurren Lagann

Seven Years

Gurren Lagann is one of the best sci-fi anime series to have graced the 2000s, and its perfectly-paced story is a two-parter. In the first half, despite some sacrifices and heartbreaks, the underground crew is once again able to retake the surface.

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Seven years later, a new enemy appears: this time, it's the Anti-Spirals, who were the true danger to both humanity and Beastmen all along. An older, wiser Simon has to get the gang back together to fight off this galaxy-ending threat.

6 Mnemosyne

65 Years Over Multiple Time Skips

Mnemosyne is only six episodes long, but each one clocks in at over 40 minutes. The show is meant for adults, with dark themes dominating its runtime. The story begins in 1990, extending all the way to the imagined future of 2055.

Because its two protagonists are immortal, Mnemosyne manages to convey a sense of déjà vu in every episode. As the years go by, Rin and Mimi's morning routine remains much the same while the world around them keeps changing.

5 One Piece

Two Years

One Piece's time skip wasn't meant so much for character or story development as to truly get the story going. Luffy and the gang spent those two years getting stronger and adjusting to the effects of the Devil Fruit, allowing them to truly set out as explorers.

Rather than force filler episodes to show the characters' daily lives, One Piece skipped the training arc and picked up when the Straw Hats were finally ready to take on the New World. Yes, we see the irony: one of the longest-running anime made one of the best pacing decisions.

4 Death Note

Six Years

Death Note featured a shock twist in the middle when its heroic lead, the eccentric L, suddenly died. This leaves the villain protagonist, Kira, free to wreak havoc for half a decade while moving up in the world.

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Yet L always had a contingency plan, even for his own death. In the event that he died, he had programmed a digital message informing a few trusted allies. After years with no update, his message from beyond the grave finally reaches two of his proteges. They are the ones to finally take Kira down.

3 Code Geass: Lelouch Of The Rebellion

One Year

When the second season of Code Geass begins, we're given no resolution on the first. In fact, Lelouch and the people around him seem completely different. Lelouch has an unexplained younger brother, and he's back in high school rather than fighting against world powers.

As it turns out, the entire thing was an illusion rendered by his father. Lelouch had been living a confused life for an entire year, forgetting his purpose. He manages to break the illusion eventually.

2 Clannad: After Story

Five Years

Clannad is an achingly sad anime, and its characters aren't perfect. Tomoya got married just out of high school, and he became a widower far too soon. Lacking the maturity an older man might have, he abandons the person who needs him the most: his daughter.

Rather than taking care of his child, Tomoya runs away from his grief. His daughter is raised by her grandparents in a loving but regimented home. Tomoya is eventually forced to reunite with his daughter and be the father he always should have been, but if you're looking for happy endings, you should watch another anime.

1 Attack On Titan

Four Years

The greatest time skip in anime goes to one of the best of the modern age: Attack on Titan. After Season 3 ends on a poignant note, the opening of the fourth season is a shock. You might think it's an entirely different show at first.

Not only do the characters look completely different, but they are completely different. The Marleyans and Eldians are engulfed in all-out war, and characters we once thought heroic are now of an ambiguous morality. Attack on Titan's time skip made an already gloomy show even darker and more tragic, with no redemption in sight for its once-heroic protagonist.

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