Anime Anime Global

October 8 is “the Day of Eternity”.

The anniversary was established as “Eternity” is “Towa” in Japanese, and it has the same sound as “10 (To) 8 (Wa).”

Even though human beings are not able to live forever, many anime works have stories that progress regardless of the flow of time while going back to the past or future, or following the conscious constantly repeating the same space of time. Such stories are depicted in various ways; some character’s future has been changed because of his/her act in the past, the world is gradually changing each time the story travels through time, etc.

Therefore, Anime!Anime! conducted a reader survey titled “What is your favorite ‘time travel’ anime?”. During the survey period from September 23 – 30, a total of 192 responses were received. For the gender ratio, the females were the majority with about 80% while the males were about 20%. For the age distribution, we received the majority of responses from the young readers: about 55% were from teens, and 25% were from those in their 20s.

■The loop stories of restarting the life are popular!

1st Place

1st place went to “Tokyo Revengers”. The support rating was about 25%.

This is a revenge story that follows the protagonist Hanagaki Takemich, who acquired the ability to leap through time and go back to his middle school days to restart his life. Its gripping development attracted a lot of readers, and the received comments include, “Takemich was very coward at the beginning, but he tries his best to protect his beloved ones. That was moving”, and “Every time Takemichi travels back in time to save his girlfriend, he grows up as an individual. I like it”. Some reader seems to look forward to the 2nd season, saying “All the main characters are attractive. The finale of the 1st season was a cliff-hanger ending, so I want to watch the 2nd season!”.

2nd Place

2nd place went to “Steins;Gate”. The support rating was about 12%.

This is an SF anime, where the protagonist, a self-proclaimed mad scientist Okabe Rintaro, happens to develop gadgets with abilities to travel through time and changes his fate. The readers seem to enjoy shocking and exciting depictions, saying “The story becomes more and more serious from the bright and fun beginning. The depiction of the struggles, despair, revival, and wavering feelings of the protagonist, who keeps living in the same time-space over and over again, was amazing. The other members of the Future Gadget Laboratory are also attractive, and I concentrated on following the hectic story”, and “Whatever the protagonist does, nothing changes. The depiction of him being seized by despair was shocking”.

3rd Place

3rd place went to “Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World”. The support rating was about 10%.

The protagonist is Natsuki Subaru, who has acquired an ability called “Return by Death”. The readers seem to have been fascinated by Subaru, who takes steps under desperate situations, saying “I want to cheer up Subaru, who is summoned to another world and tries hard traveling through time over and over again while putting up with pain of death in an unknown world!”, “Even though he travels through time over and over again, the tragic ending is awaiting him anyway. I could not help crying out ‘Why’ with Subaru”, and “I fell in love with the protagonist, who keeps thinking about the best solution for his beloved one”.

■Let’s introduce other comments!!

“The Girl Who Leapt Through Time”
“This introduced me to the genre of time-travel. This work depicts the refreshing and bittersweet youth story, and I like the clumsy protagonist, who cannot fully accept herself loving her best friend.”

“The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya”
“No other episode could be more shocking than Endless Eight. The nuance of the lines and fashion change as the story progresses, and I enjoyed it while looking for my own focus points.”

“Remake Our Life!”
“Even though the protagonist seems to be doing well after going back to the time when he wanted to restart his life, unpredictable troubles occur next. I was moved by him taking steps while swayed by such disconsolate feelings.”

“Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song”
“This is a story of Matsumoto, a high-performance AI that was sent from 100 years into the future to stop conflicts between AI s and humans, working together with an autonomous AI Vivy as his buddy. Every time they succeed in missions, I get curious about how the history has been changed, and it was quite interesting.”
The titles released this year have also been ranked.

In this survey, the titles with loop stories, where the characters restart the life, stand out. A lot of fans seem to be moved by the protagonists attempting to change their fate.

■Ranking Top 10

－What is your favorite “time travel” anime?－
1. “Tokyo Revengers”
2. “Steins;Gate”
3. “Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World”
4. “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time”
4. “Puella Magi Madoka Magica”
6. “The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya”
6. “Doraemon”
8. “Charlotte”
8. “Erased”
10. “Higurashi When They Cry”
10. “Remake Our Life!”

（Survey Period: September 23 – 30, 2021）

*This survey is intended to research the readers’ “interest in anime and characters today”. It is not intended to discuss the relative merits of each character nor work. I would be glad if this article can help you develop an understanding and interest in anime and characters.

■Overall Ranking

－What is your favorite “time travel” anime?－
1. “Tokyo Revengers”
2. “Steins;Gate”
3. “Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World”
4. “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time”
4. “Puella Magi Madoka Magica”
6. “The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya”
6. “Doraemon”
8. “Charlotte”
8. “Erased”
10. “Higurashi When They Cry”
10. “Remake Our Life!”
12. “ReLIFE”
12. “Sagrada Reset”
12. “Generator Gawl”
12. “Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song”

（Survey Period: September 23 – 30, 2021）

*This survey is intended to research the readers’ “interest in anime and characters today”. It is not intended to discuss the relative merits of each character nor work. I would be glad if this article can help you develop an understanding and interest in anime and characters.