The recently announced time skip in Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero has taken everyone by surprise, the fans are still guessing about which time frame will the series take place in. Although anime Fans are very familiar with the importance of time skips, some time skips take everyone by surprise, either no one sees it coming or it ends up completely changing the story.
When done properly, time skips can be used as an important storytelling tool, to skim over unimportant details or to hide certain events which might get revealed later on. But some time skips end up surprising the viewers just because of how badly executed they were.
Fairy Tail
Fairy Tail has an extremely poorly executed time skip, used by the creators to freeze the cast in time and let the world pass by for over 7 years. The intent behind the time skips was to decrease the strength of the main cast (who were already overpowered), but in just over one season the cast ended up recovering regardless.
Instead of the time skip progressing the character development of the cast, it ended up having the opposite effect. In the end, this time skip just felt like a convenient plot point rather than genuine character progression. Many viewers were surprised by the direction the show had suddenly taken for no rhyme or reason. Interestingly, the time skip also takes place in the manga, and the creator, Hiro Mashima, is quite well known for including time skips in his works.
Death Note
Death Note is one of the highest-rated anime in the world, coming in MyAnimeList’s Top 100 Anime. The viewers were invested in the characters and the storylines of Shinigami owner, Light Yagami, and the recluse genius detective, L. It was the relationship between these two characters which brought people into the show. The show introduces a jarring 5-year time skip late in the show to introduce two new detectives.
Not only did this surprise the viewers, many even felt it was unnecessary. A lot of viewers still feel that the story should have ended with the two main characters which would have been a good closure to the saga. It feels like the time skip ruins what could have been a much better possible ending. The time skip also felt more like a setup for a possible spin-off rather than an ending that the show deserved.
Evangelion 3.0 + 1.0
Evangelion used time skips to turn into a completely different story altogether. Evangelion started off as a character study, with giant mech power fantasy as a backdrop, with an ending whose meaning is still debated, and most likely will be for decades to come. But the third Evangelion story did a 14 year time jump to turn the story into a war movie. Even veteran Evangelion fans could not see some of the things coming.
This was a time skip that very few people were anticipating. While the intent of this time skip was to have Shinji as confused as the viewer, it just did not work. Evangelion basically completely rebooted the franchise with this time skip. However, the creator of Evangelion, Hideaki Anno, stated that the movie served two purposes simultaneously, to continue the story, as well as to show the same reality through a new perspective.
Tokyo Ghoul
The time skip between seasons 2 and 3 of Tokyo Ghoul left a lot of fans guessing about what happened between the 2–3-year period which the show skipped over. The biggest surprise was when Kaneki returned in season 3 as a CCG amnesic investigator and not as a ghoul. Other characters also went through a lot of changes which left the fans wondering about the missing time frame.
The time skip also changed the tone of the storyline which surprised a lot of fans. Season 3 of Tokyo Ghoul felt more like a soft reboot rather than a continuation of the series. Surprisingly, despite the numerous complaints of the anime and its execution, the manga is critically acclaimed. Where the anime lacks to tell a smooth storyline, the manga is praised for its excellent pacing, amazing storyline, and beautiful art.
Code Geass
Code Geass viewers often rank the characters based on their intelligence and the series is known for its excellent character development. Code Geass ended its first season on a very big cliff-hanger. The viewers were left wondering what happened to Lelouch and Suzaku after the events of the finale. But the second season started off with a time skip to the future, where Lelouch had completely forgotten about his past as Zero.
This took everyone by surprise as the time skip undid most of the character development which took place in the first season. This felt like a huge step back in terms of character development for Lelouch. Even at the end of the second season, while it was revealed that Charles had been responsible for altering Lelouch’s memory, viewers still felt that the ending did not explain things sufficiently, and there was no explanation as to what happened to Lelouch after his memories were wiped.
Attack on Titan
The time skip between the third and fourth seasons of Attack on Titan caused a lot of major changes, such as the transition of Eren Jaegar, into the jaded anti-hero and the change of the setting of the anime from Paradise Island to Marley, and changed the characters in focus to the Eldian Warrior candidates, Gabi and Falco.
This time jump has had a mixed reception. With some people arguing that the time skip was confusing and threw the viewers into a political show they were not prepared for, others argue that the time skip was well executed and the political stage of the fourth season works well since the anime has always had political undertones.
One Piece
The time skip in One Piece took place in 'episode 517' (or chapter 598) when the Straw Hats all decide to go their own ways for 2 years so they can train separately and become stronger. This two-year story gap is ranked pretty highly amongst the most important skimmed over story arcs in anime.
One Piece had a divisive time skip, while some people think the series was better before the time skip, some argue that the time skip was well deserved. After the defeat from Bartholomew Kuma, watching Luffy and the Straw Hats unite and come stronger was a happy surprise for all the viewers. As such, it is also considered a good way to have healthy character progression for the characters.
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is a show that does not have one specific time skip, but instead, the whole show progresses through time skips, with every couple of seasons being told from the perspective of a new character, often a generation or two after the previous character. So much so that different seasons of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure are often compared and ranked as if they were a completely different series altogether.
This keeps the fans guessing about where the story is going to go next. However, each time skip is handled well to make sure that the viewers are not disoriented. Furthermore, the show is mostly episodic in nature, with new mini-villains every one or two episodes, keeping the show fresh as well.
Nanoha Strikers
When the third season of Nanoha Strikers started airing, no one expected that the anime would have skipped ten years into the future, with the main characters all being adults. Nanoha and her friends, who were rookies in junior high, were suddenly managing their own teams.
This was somewhat of a jarring change since the characters being plunged into adulthood totally changed the character dynamics and the storytelling style. However, many fans also argue that the time skip was important for the success of the anime since it prevented the show from becoming monotonous and introduced fresh elements into the story.
UQ Holder
While not strictly a time skip, UQ Holder is a continuation to the story of Negima, except the story continues 80 years in the future with the same protagonist. The focus of the show was the characters trying to figure out how Negi and the rest were able to defeat the Lifemaker.
Many long-time fans of the anime were taken aback by the sudden time skip, and they believe it was unnecessary for the plot to have taken such a direction. It also felt like the creators wanted to cash in on the success of the original show by somehow incorporating the time skip.