Time Skips in anime - bad element?

[roriconfan]

I don't know if you have noticed but many anime use a sort of "fast forward" to the future method. From what I can remember few such attempts came up good. It felt as if the script writter wanted some dead time to excuse drastic changes but from all I see it was rarely done right. From Naruto's "three years of training for nothing" to Gundam 00'S "one year later, a different world but still the same stuff" I always felt it was a poor attempt to insert stuff out of nowhere or just waste time for nothing. I mean, if it was a method of making the story more mysterious, ok, I like it. But just some poor excuse for the characters to return with a new set of clothes or time to build a new mecha? No way.

Want an example of a good time skip? 20th century boys (manga). The story was non-linear and was revealing things that were "skipped" at moments you didn't expect or really cared to find out.

[Kyuu]

You should watch Futurama, about Time Skips. Then let the Globetrotter professors explain them to you.

What's wrong with skipping? It's a valid device to tell a story. It involves less work, and probably skips over anything... "menial". Of course, if you have some kind of fetish over "fillers", well, there's Bleach or Naruto to fill up your appetite.

[yezhanquan]

Time skips are perfect for fan-fiction writers to work their brains on how to fill in the blanks. We know the "before", we know the "after". So, let the imagination flow.

[Haak]

I think it's just another trope really:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TimeSkip

It can be used well and can be used poorly. Naruto is good example of it being used poorly.

[KholdStare]

I know some examples of good time skip:

1) Kimi ga Nozomu Eien
2) Itazura na Kiss (subtle - a few weeks/months sometimes every episode)
3) 5 Centimeters per Second (controversial)
4) Clannad
5) Air (this counts to me)

And here are examples where the actual time skip wasn't bad plot-wise, but it was poorly planned:

1) Naruto (60+ episodes of fillers are enough - I don't want to see 180 episodes of 3 years of training)
2) The Place Promised in Our Early Days (confusing as hell)

I can't recall off the top of my head when a time skip makes no sense. Perhaps someone could enlighten me.

[Cirrostratucat]

Naruto probably one of the most poorly written considering the "time skip" stuff that has been mentioned. But I also find some of the shows actually have a very good time skip story, and these shows actually enjoyable for me. In short, I think time skip element can be good or bad depending on the story script itself.

[james0246]

The time skip in Claymore works quite well, as does the various skips in DB/DBZ. Naruto's time skip will make more sense if the manga actually plans to cover all of Naruto's life (similar to DB/DBZ), so we would only focus on the meaningful segments (technically Kishimoto is already doing this, but it would feel more legitimate if there was at least one more time skip to a point even later in Naruto's life). Macross SDF had a very good time skip near the end (who cares about Earth's recolonization ?), Gurren Lagann and Death Note have similarly relevant time skips (all work thematically and are good for negative/positive character development).

The Code Geass Time Skip is fairly irrelevant, though. And the Nadesico time skip is just bad (admittedly a game is supposed to tie the movie and anime together, but said game was never released in American, and it is hard to find now).

I'm sure there are others that I am forgetting, but, in the end, time skips can be quite good and interesting (though sometimes as simplistic as skipping uninteresting training, or giving sides in a war time to develop the meaningful technology needed to continue fighting (ala Gundam 00)).

[Triple_R]

I liked it in Gurren Lagann and in the Nanoha animes.

I didn't like it in Code Geass.

From what I can tell, time-skips are good when they come after a (seemingly) conclusive ending, and it's largely about seeing many/all of our favorites age and/or mature (it's cool getting to see Fate and Nanoha as young adults, for example). This sort of time-skip adds a touch of realism for me, to; one thing I sometimes found unrealistic about western comic books is how you have this constant, unending barrage of 'world hangs in the balance' situations. After awhile, that sort of situation makes a fictional universe downright hard to swallow. A time-skip kind of implies that "not a lot of violent action took part during the interim, so now after a period of relative calm, a new storm will rise...".

However, based on Code Geass anyway, I don't think that a timeskip works after a cliffhanger ending. For whatever reason, it feels a bit... empty, if not cheap, to me.

[ethereal_sol]

Agree that cliffhangers + time-skips = annoying.
Overall, I don't mind skips in the vein of Claymore or Clannad, but there's a limit how much change I'm fine with. How important the activities are that are being skipped also matters to me when looking at a time-skip.

[Quzor]

I think a big issue with time skips is the way the story portrays the importance of the events during that time skip. Claymore v. Naruto seems to be a good example.

In Claymore, we assumed the characters were getting stronger. However, there wasn't anything really specific about what was going on. The war ended, and then suddenly it was seven years later. We really had no expectations about what had gone on during that time, because we hadn't been presented with that time skip before hand.

In Naruto, we know that Naruto is headed off to train with, perhaps, one of the greatest ninjas on the planet. When the time-skip happens, and everyone comes back, it appears that everything is exactly the same, but we know that it isn't. Our curiosity is piqued, as we begin to wonder what happened in the three years Naruto was training with Jiraiya.

For me, at least, therein lies the problem. If I'm presented with a scenario that I never saw coming in the first place, I don't have any expectations about it when it occurs. On the other hand, if the scenario is presented before it occurs, I have expectations for it's culmination. If those expectations are not met, I feel discouraged, and get curious to know what happened in the time that I missed, so I can get a better understanding of why my expectations may have been out of line with the direction of the story.

[Zu Ra]

Another nice thread from you : )

Timeskips are entirely Dependant on anime . But the changes should be justified more than time-skips I hate constant flashback . I mean constant flashbacks which are central to the plot . The only problem I had with time skips is the story takes a different turn all together , also gets at times really confusing .

Personally feel subjective w.r.p. to the author/writers .

[Spectacular_Insanity]

I think the Gurren Lagann and Claymore time skips (ironically enough, both are 7-year time skips ) are thus far the best time skips I've seen. Both skip over things we don't really need to see. In TTGL, it's the rebuilding of humanity, in Claymore, it's the 7 dark years in the North of training and hiding out from the Organization.

I could even argue that the Naruto timeskip had purpose in cutting out all of the extensive training that probably would have been quite arduous to have to read about. However, my problem with this timeskip is that there wasn't substantial change in some characters (mainly Naruto) that would have merited a 3-year timeskip. Just one year would have been a bit more believable.

[HayashiTakara]

Time skip is fine as long as it's done right.

[KholdStare]

Originally Posted by Spectacular_Insanity

I could even argue that the Naruto timeskip had purpose in cutting out all of the extensive training that probably would have been quite arduous to have to read about. However, my problem with this timeskip is that there wasn't substantial change in some characters (mainly Naruto) that would have merited a 3-year timeskip. Just one year would have been a bit more believable.

Yeah I agree. The concept of time skip in Naruto was fine for the plot, but it was just poorly executed. But I would be fine with it being 3 years. Rather, I wanted more change, aside from physical appearance.

When I see Hinata as the most changed, something is terribly wrong.

[Nosauz]

If you look at Naruto time skips, they work perfectly speaking in a the manga context. You just finished a huge arc where naruto and the gang go through major events

Spoiler:

death of azuma, major confrontation with akatsuki

plus it allowed for naruto to establish what it had lost, geniuses can only improve so much that once at a certain level they only level up in small amounts, where as the timeskip allows for the unpredictability return to the series. Then again it depends on the author and how effectively they use these elements and implement them in a way with a purpose or reason.

[Akira Kogami]

Time Skips never bothered me before and I used to think people over-reacted whenever it was done in popular anime series. It wasn't until Ben 10 did it that I now understand why they were so upset. It sucks mega! >___<

I, personally, find it a bad element.

However, this is only if you know it isn't going to work, events go unexplained aswell as characters suddenly (and totally) changing while you (the viewer) are left in the dark going "wth?". If it works, it works... But Ra help you if it doesn't - it can become such a mess. Dx<

[Nosauz]

Again I want to point out that timeskips are not inherently bad, it depends on if they make sense within the story and if their executed properly, Nodame Contabile does it quite well, I just find these statements of, "Oh i hate so and so technique" to lack any real merit, some authors know how to use them some don't, it just happens. It really depends on whether you think its well employed or not.

[roriconfan]

In shounen series time skips mean only one thing to me: Insert filler ark here
They intentionally leave space to add more (usually useless) material. And if they don't... you get Bleach type of non-linear fillers.

Otherwise they are a good element if there is actually something that happened during that time that the author didn't want to show as means of suspence. For example, in DBZ the series time skips 5 years to fast forward Goku's sex life and Gohan's birth (nasty thoughts) and growth. That is a bad type of time skip. Gimme porn!

There is also those months Gohan trained with Picolo which in the original format took a few chapters / one Kai episode while in the old series it took a dozen episodes that count as fillers. Am I the only one who thinks it happened too fast in manga / Kai to actually credit Gohan's maturity to a warrior? Fillers here filled the skip so it didn't feel empty.

Now those fillers between the two Naruto series, what did they offer besides boredom? And it's not like I liked all the DB fillers but many of those covered dead time and helped to colorize the characters further. The Naruto fillers don't colorize anything. Neither do the Bleach fillers... Ok maybe that story with the captains in the past did.

[synaesthetic]

Like any trope it can be used well or abused.

The time skip between season one and two of Gundam 00 worked fairly well for me, but I've always been annoyed about the (huge) 10 year timeskip between season two and three of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha.

[Nosauz]

Originally Posted by roriconfan

In shounen series time skips mean only one thing to me: Insert filler ark here
They intentionally leave space to add more (usually useless) material. And if they don't... you get Bleach type of non-linear fillers.

Otherwise they are a good element if there is actually something that happened during that time that the author didn't want to show as means of suspence. For example, in DBZ the series time skips 5 years to fast forward Goku's sex life and Gohan's birth (nasty thoughts) and growth. That is a bad type of time skip. Gimme porn!

There is also those months Gohan trained with Picolo which in the original format took a few chapters / one Kai episode while in the old series it took a dozen episodes that count as fillers. Am I the only one who thinks it happened too fast in manga / Kai to actually credit Gohan's maturity to a warrior? Fillers here filled the skip so it didn't feel empty.

Now those fillers between the two Naruto series, what did they offer besides boredom? And it's not like I liked all the DB fillers but many of those covered dead time and helped to colorize the characters further. The Naruto fillers don't colorize anything. Neither do the Bleach fillers... Ok maybe that story with the captains in the past did.

these are animes you talk about, they have to have filler especially if there series they are animating is still being serialized, that is more a downside of the animation, but when you have animation originals with no source material or source material that is complete, the timeskips are usually planned or not used at all.