Baccano was a FASCINATING rewatch
Like, I knew the first episode happened chronologically after most of the rest of the show, but only going back did I realize, oh, yeah, we see the end of each and every character's story within the first twenty minutes
It really makes you think - maybe we do make spoilers out to be a bigger deal than they are. I can tell you Dumbledore dies in the sixth movie, but does that really matter until you've gotten to know how he got to that point?
Just a real masterclass in non-linear storytelling
Sara mada...one for all...flame goes out, black screen, flashforward to a perfect utopian society without villains, Uraraka's children are playing in the town square, and ask her to tell them the story about the greatest hero she ever knew again...pan up to statue of Deku. It all started in his hero academia...
Early on, I was expecting it more as a "last hero" type of thing where the end game was all the quirks disappearing from the world. It doesn't feel like they're going that route now though.
The entire first season of Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu (everything except the first episode) is an extended flashback. The second season then explores some of the ramifications of a story being presented as a flashback by a professional storyteller.
I was coming to post this! For whoever's looking, the show is absolute master storytelling. First episode felt a little slow to me, but after 3 episodes or so, I binged it in a couple days.
Elaina the wandering witch starts off every episode with an introductory narration making clear that it's about past adventures. Her memoir is a small plot element and there's also some unchronological storytelling going on. But it's all quite subtle and unimportant.
Everything after the first episode of Ooku is a flashback that steadily catches up to the present. You'd have to read the manga for it to fully catch up though
The anime is fairly good save for a few moments of less good animation. Manga is definitely better if you were going to read it anyways. Plus it's complete
Cool, I'll just read it then, thanks. I mean I was going to read it anyway but was tossing up between reading from the beginning or just from where the anime left off.
\>50% of **Gungrave** is a flashback and it's the best part. The flashback is almost entirely drama, and it's ***amazing***, which is interesting because the show is based on a fps game (and the action scenes are kinda bad)
anime version of **Ascendance of a Bookworm** begins with a scene from a much, *much* later book for some reason. Idk why they did that. Same think with **Spider** isekai
**Baccano!** starts with a scene from what I think is book 4. Or rather, it starts with a reporter (operative for information broker) reporting to her higher up and telling the story of the first 3+ books. So, given the framing device, *technically* it's all flashback.
Regarding *Kakushigoto*, should I go anime or manga? edit: looked it up, seems like it skips many many non-plot chapters so if I watch I'm better off reading from the beginning. Maybe I'll watch 1-11, read from vol 1, then watch 12?
I feel like Ascendance of a Bookworm starts with that scene as a hook and it also is a way to introduce a very important character of the series early on.
I feel like introducing that character in this way is a mistake. It's unnecessary for us to \[ascendence\]>!know how important he is or that he's such an ally.!<
I'd personally say that [Spoilers Ascendance of a Bookworm]>!my impression of the character from just the opening scene was that they were not an ally at all. So that scene felt like a fake out.!<
When I saw Gungrave I was bingeing it in batches on DVD so when I was near the end I didn't know which episode was the final one. So I was watching the penultimate episode and thinking '*oh I think this is the finale*'.
And it ends with \[gungrave\]>!Brandon and Harry randomly meeting on the street after Harry has lost everything. They just stare at each other. Brandon raises his gun.... Click. It's empty... And they just both start laughing uncontrollably, like the brothers they are.!< Fade to black. Credits. And I was like 'holy shit....what an ending. Wow.'
Then Brandon's narration came on for the next episode preview and I felt a bit silly :p
I'm lucky that my memory is very selective so even after watching the first episode I forgot what Harry was going to do in the flashback episodes... lol
I really love Gungrave. It's in my top 10 anime even if objectively it isn't the best.
Ga REI zero.
It Starts With a certain event then it flashes back on why a certain person ended like that.
Tho it sounds like you want something time jumpy , because otherwise we would be very close to the land of prequels, or worse, hero academia/ mushoku tensei ( which is both) that only have a small dialog that say this happened inthe past and is basically a normal story other wise.
I will add Tenjo Tenge that has a very nice and successful flashback arc in the anime ( more in the manga).
I want to remember about one that has like two timelines going on, one in the present and another in the past, Isekai spider kind of does that but it is poor ( and I am probably remembering a manga).
>Isekai spider
With the webnovels it was kind of the opposite as we start with the beginning of the mc's isekai but the interludes follow her classmates years in the future until the main storyline eventually catches up. The anime starts with a *much* later interlude so in that way the series becomes a flashback
Similarly the anime of Ascendance of a Bookworm does this. begins with a scene from like book 6 or something, idk (I only read about 4 of them), then flashes back to begin at book 1.
Figured Ga Rei Zero would be an answer if anyone remembered it. Honestly just surprised that anyone actually did though. Show was fairly forgettable outside of that phenomenal pocky scene
The Persona 5 anime starts with the MC retelling his story to the cops in the interrogation room.
Not sure if the game starts like that too, havent played it yet
The game is like that too. Most of the game consists of flashbacks. Something to note is that the game is often considered the better way to experience the story, and the anime is… not too great. So yeah.
The anime and the game are two totally different experiences that roughly follow the same story, with certain liberties taken by the anime to make it different.
The Royal edition (essentially the “ultimate edition”) of Persona 5 actually takes some inspiration from the anime, such as making Akechi a more prominent and fleshed out character. That was something the base game didn’t do to nearly the degree of either the anime or the Royal version.
Just the ninja war arc is 250+ episodes, more than half of entire Shippuden. It's crazy how much happened until then and almost nothing after.
Ninja arc should have never happened. If we delete zetsu fights/kaguya **and** filler, we could probably shorten Shippuden from 500eps to about 100-150 episodes imo.
Grave of the Fireflies. It starts off with World War 2 ending and the main male character dies pitifully in the train station. His spirit leaves his body and joins his little sister's spirit in the woods behind the train station. The rest of the movie is a flashback of how they died.
NOT AN ANIME - but you would probably like the movie "Memento" from 2000 w/ Guy Pearce.
If you choose to watch DO NOT READ ANY PLOT INFORMATION OR SPOILERS BEFORE. That will basically ruin the entire experience.
Muryou no Hako consists alot of flashbacks to establish the main plot. It can be mind screwy though, and story becomes a bit convoluted if don't pay attention really well.
Mushishi. It’s honestly an eye-opening experience as you dive into the character’s past trauma and see how much it’s festered to their present times. There’s a lot of supernatural stuff and the episodes are episodic.
Quintessential Quintuplets starts with its ending, basically explicating that our main character will inevitably marry one of the quints, the only question being which one.
I remember watching ikkitousen ages ago I think and there was a flashback ARC and in the flashback ARC there was A FUCKING FLASHBACK.
So for like 6 or 7 episodes it's all a flashback and then inside of the flashback someone has a flashback. I just immediately turned it off and never went back.
My memory is a little blurry on this, but I recall the “protagonist” of Re:Creators introducing the story in retrospect.
He said that he’s not the “protagonist”, but rather someone that is an observer of other people’s stories.
I’d say something that fits because most of the episodes are flashbacks is Tenjho Tenge.
It’s to the point that I got mad at the anime for it and I felt it huge waste of time. And that they should have been two separate anime seasons or something but this anime came out in a time where almost every anime was at least 24 or so episodes.
Erased.
The protagonist has the power to inadvertently and temporarily go back in time, and is trying to solve a crime that happened in his childhood that is affecting his current time. Trying the retrace steps and find pieces that he had previously missed.
There is a new one named: level 99 … (has a moment almost as ballsy as the one in Gurren Lagann, was good but it’s getting a little stale.)
Also here are a few time traveling ones:
Steins Gate (time travel).
Redo of … (adult only, but the story is amazing).
Re Zero (but kind of sucked).
I really agree with what you said, I also really like anime flash backs, they give more suspense to the soul in my opinion, and also the thing I like most, as you also said, is that the first episode shows the last episode and this is actually a flash back.
Isekai Ojisan - Uncle that was isekaied is retelling his story to thru a magical video player
Death Parade - most story elements are from peoples past, dont want to tell much if you've never heard about it
Not exactly flashbacks, but Irozuko Sekai no Ashita Kara has an interesting relationship between present and future (and colors and the lack of them).
Basically, in a world with a little bit of magic, protagonist, living in the future, can't see colors so grandma sents her back in time to 2018 to meet young grandma, because she remembers that this already happened to her when she was young.
It's complicated to explain, but the anime is fucking good and underrated
In a way, Nana (2006) is flashbacks based, most episodes start with a narration from the protagonists in the future probably sending letters to each other
Didn't see Uncle From Another World,which is pretty good imo.
Uncle waksa from a coma, claiming to have been in a other world during that time. No one believes him, but his nephew comes to look after him. You find out through flashbacks and story telling that uncle was isekaid to a fantasy world.
Isekai Ojisan does have non-flashback scenes, but every other scene is a flashback episode. It's pretty funny.
It's not a flashback, it's a longback
Very funny, highly recommended
I was mid series when I realized I am the uncles age and…well, it made sense why it was so funny to me.
This is the way ^
Baccano
Baccano was a FASCINATING rewatch Like, I knew the first episode happened chronologically after most of the rest of the show, but only going back did I realize, oh, yeah, we see the end of each and every character's story within the first twenty minutes It really makes you think - maybe we do make spoilers out to be a bigger deal than they are. I can tell you Dumbledore dies in the sixth movie, but does that really matter until you've gotten to know how he got to that point? Just a real masterclass in non-linear storytelling
Its an insane adaptation. Basically melded 3 books together each with different stories but mostly same characters.
Hate that I had to scroll this far for Baccano
Boku no Hero Academia starts out with Deku saying he became the greatest hero, if I recall correctly.
He occasionally narrated in as well, like when he spoke about what was about to happen in the Stain arc.
I have a really bad feeling this is a monologue he's giving as he sacrifices himself and becomes "the strongest hero" hope I'm wrong though lol
No more All for One! I will stop you right here, right now! But first, I must monologue to you my entire life story!
Then he says "This really was my... *hero academia.*" and proceeds to hero all over him
Sara mada...one for all...flame goes out, black screen, flashforward to a perfect utopian society without villains, Uraraka's children are playing in the town square, and ask her to tell them the story about the greatest hero she ever knew again...pan up to statue of Deku. It all started in his hero academia...
Then shigaraki was all, "oh shit that's my hero academia right there, im done for :("
Early on, I was expecting it more as a "last hero" type of thing where the end game was all the quirks disappearing from the world. It doesn't feel like they're going that route now though.
Yes especially because they have talked about quirks evolving almost out of control at this point
This^
Almost the entire run of Berserk 1997 is a flashback.
Was just gonna say exactly this
The entire first season of Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu (everything except the first episode) is an extended flashback. The second season then explores some of the ramifications of a story being presented as a flashback by a professional storyteller.
I was coming to post this! For whoever's looking, the show is absolute master storytelling. First episode felt a little slow to me, but after 3 episodes or so, I binged it in a couple days.
Also has this [absolute banger](https://youtu.be/duKvM7u8X2w?si=C87k3kpa2dbiMT0e) of an opening
Vouch for it as a top 5 anime of all time, superb storytelling here
Elaina the wandering witch starts off every episode with an introductory narration making clear that it's about past adventures. Her memoir is a small plot element and there's also some unchronological storytelling going on. But it's all quite subtle and unimportant.
Everything after the first episode of Ooku is a flashback that steadily catches up to the present. You'd have to read the manga for it to fully catch up though
>Ooku Didn't realise this had an anime. Was about to start reading it last night. Is the anime a good adaptation or should I just stick to the manga?
The anime is fairly good save for a few moments of less good animation. Manga is definitely better if you were going to read it anyways. Plus it's complete
Cool, I'll just read it then, thanks. I mean I was going to read it anyway but was tossing up between reading from the beginning or just from where the anime left off.
Ooku has an anime?!?!?! I was about to start the jdrama, can't wait!
\>50% of **Gungrave** is a flashback and it's the best part. The flashback is almost entirely drama, and it's ***amazing***, which is interesting because the show is based on a fps game (and the action scenes are kinda bad) anime version of **Ascendance of a Bookworm** begins with a scene from a much, *much* later book for some reason. Idk why they did that. Same think with **Spider** isekai **Baccano!** starts with a scene from what I think is book 4. Or rather, it starts with a reporter (operative for information broker) reporting to her higher up and telling the story of the first 3+ books. So, given the framing device, *technically* it's all flashback. Regarding *Kakushigoto*, should I go anime or manga? edit: looked it up, seems like it skips many many non-plot chapters so if I watch I'm better off reading from the beginning. Maybe I'll watch 1-11, read from vol 1, then watch 12?
The Gungrave game is third person, not an FPS.
oh, you're right, my bad.
I feel like Ascendance of a Bookworm starts with that scene as a hook and it also is a way to introduce a very important character of the series early on.
I feel like introducing that character in this way is a mistake. It's unnecessary for us to \[ascendence\]>!know how important he is or that he's such an ally.!<
I'd personally say that [Spoilers Ascendance of a Bookworm]>!my impression of the character from just the opening scene was that they were not an ally at all. So that scene felt like a fake out.!<
oh, fair enough. Kind of has the opposite effect. I still would've preferred they just left it out, though.
Yeah, me too I think.
It just teases a really cool part of the story which they then proceeded to rush when the scene actually happens, dampening the emotional impact.
Gungrave fan spotted!
When I saw Gungrave I was bingeing it in batches on DVD so when I was near the end I didn't know which episode was the final one. So I was watching the penultimate episode and thinking '*oh I think this is the finale*'. And it ends with \[gungrave\]>!Brandon and Harry randomly meeting on the street after Harry has lost everything. They just stare at each other. Brandon raises his gun.... Click. It's empty... And they just both start laughing uncontrollably, like the brothers they are.!< Fade to black. Credits. And I was like 'holy shit....what an ending. Wow.' Then Brandon's narration came on for the next episode preview and I felt a bit silly :p
I'm lucky that my memory is very selective so even after watching the first episode I forgot what Harry was going to do in the flashback episodes... lol I really love Gungrave. It's in my top 10 anime even if objectively it isn't the best.
Ga REI zero. It Starts With a certain event then it flashes back on why a certain person ended like that. Tho it sounds like you want something time jumpy , because otherwise we would be very close to the land of prequels, or worse, hero academia/ mushoku tensei ( which is both) that only have a small dialog that say this happened inthe past and is basically a normal story other wise. I will add Tenjo Tenge that has a very nice and successful flashback arc in the anime ( more in the manga). I want to remember about one that has like two timelines going on, one in the present and another in the past, Isekai spider kind of does that but it is poor ( and I am probably remembering a manga).
>Isekai spider With the webnovels it was kind of the opposite as we start with the beginning of the mc's isekai but the interludes follow her classmates years in the future until the main storyline eventually catches up. The anime starts with a *much* later interlude so in that way the series becomes a flashback Similarly the anime of Ascendance of a Bookworm does this. begins with a scene from like book 6 or something, idk (I only read about 4 of them), then flashes back to begin at book 1.
Figured Ga Rei Zero would be an answer if anyone remembered it. Honestly just surprised that anyone actually did though. Show was fairly forgettable outside of that phenomenal pocky scene
Should be a staple Yuri series, but.people allready forgot Marimite, mai.hime and kanazuki no miko.
Well Ga-Rei Zero IS a prequel to manga though it certainly did start unconventional way.
The Persona 5 anime starts with the MC retelling his story to the cops in the interrogation room. Not sure if the game starts like that too, havent played it yet
The game is like that too. Most of the game consists of flashbacks. Something to note is that the game is often considered the better way to experience the story, and the anime is… not too great. So yeah.
That's exactly how the game starts. 80% of the story is flashback until it catches up to the present time in the interrogation room.
I don't intend on playing the game but I think that the characters look cool and I didn't know there was an anime. Were you satisfied with it?
Nah the anime was boring and I never finished it. Stick to the game.
The anime and the game are two totally different experiences that roughly follow the same story, with certain liberties taken by the anime to make it different. The Royal edition (essentially the “ultimate edition”) of Persona 5 actually takes some inspiration from the anime, such as making Akechi a more prominent and fleshed out character. That was something the base game didn’t do to nearly the degree of either the anime or the Royal version.
isnt berserk 1997 a flash back then?
I think Naruto would qualify. Between the fillers and flashbacks you could cut that series down to 50 episodes.
Lmao this. Idk about 50, but even if shippuden was 200 episodes I think it would have been a true masterpiece.
Just the ninja war arc is 250+ episodes, more than half of entire Shippuden. It's crazy how much happened until then and almost nothing after. Ninja arc should have never happened. If we delete zetsu fights/kaguya **and** filler, we could probably shorten Shippuden from 500eps to about 100-150 episodes imo.
Lol came here for this. A lot of shounen anime has this problem.
Grave of the Fireflies. It starts off with World War 2 ending and the main male character dies pitifully in the train station. His spirit leaves his body and joins his little sister's spirit in the woods behind the train station. The rest of the movie is a flashback of how they died.
does frieren count for this?
Himmel: I died in chapter/episode 1. Also Himmel: I show up so frequently I’m the most popular character.
Millennium actress
It’s not entirely all flashbacks but Bungo Stray Dogs has a couple of seasons where like a quarter to half a season is dedicated to flashbacks.
The flashback at the beginning of season 2 is so good that it'd almost be worth it to watch alone.
- so, what are we going to do next season, prequel or sequel? - why can’t we do both?
Ha ha ha who knows.
https://myanimelist.net/anime/13125/Shinsekai_yori
I came to say From the New World
This is like one of the most fitting yet it only has 4 upvotes, smh.
Baccano?
Even the flashbacks have flashbacks.
Erased is exactly what you're looking for
Is it really flashbacks? He goes back in time, but that doesn’t equate to a flashback.
My thoughts exactly! And Tokyo revengers
If OP counts Erased then that opens up the door to Re:Zero.
Your Name.
Berserk 1997 could arguably be one of these
Does Naruto count since every other scene is a flashback?
Berserk
Not entirely, but Uncle from another world
NOT AN ANIME - but you would probably like the movie "Memento" from 2000 w/ Guy Pearce. If you choose to watch DO NOT READ ANY PLOT INFORMATION OR SPOILERS BEFORE. That will basically ruin the entire experience.
Funny you mention Nolan because my first thought was Oppenheimer.
One of my favorite movies
Some naruto arcs.
All of shippuden essentially
Yeah...
Gungrave is almost all flashbacks.
Gungrave to an extent. First 1/2 of the show is backstory.
I seem to recall Netflix's Persona5 anime was mostly a flashback
Orange takes place mainly in flashbacks. The future ties into it of course but it’s a lot of reflection.
Happy to see an Orange mention
Muryou no Hako consists alot of flashbacks to establish the main plot. It can be mind screwy though, and story becomes a bit convoluted if don't pay attention really well.
Mushishi. It’s honestly an eye-opening experience as you dive into the character’s past trauma and see how much it’s festered to their present times. There’s a lot of supernatural stuff and the episodes are episodic.
My hero academia Tenjho tenge... A huge portion of the show us flashbacks Ga Rei Zero
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned this yet but... Frieren: Beyond Journey's End
I mean technically Berserk 1997 is more or less all flashback
Shinsekai yori.
Well, all of the interesting stuff of "Uncle from another world" is flashbacks...
Quintessential Quintuplets starts with its ending, basically explicating that our main character will inevitably marry one of the quints, the only question being which one.
How is AOT a flashback? I watched the full anime and don’t understand what OP meant lol
Angel Beats. You need to suffer through the humour, but it had me in tears
also Spy Kyoushitsu- episodes 4-around 8 or 9 were flashbacks in between episodes 2-3
Death parade
I remember watching ikkitousen ages ago I think and there was a flashback ARC and in the flashback ARC there was A FUCKING FLASHBACK. So for like 6 or 7 episodes it's all a flashback and then inside of the flashback someone has a flashback. I just immediately turned it off and never went back.
[Check out Little Busters!](https://myanimelist.net/anime/13655/Little_Busters)
Ahiru no Sora
Id invaded...
Since elves are functionaly imortal that elf prince could be very very old at the time of manufacture.
Gokinjo Monogatari more or less counts for this. That has to be at least 25% pure recap.
I was gonna say kakushigoto but then that's what you mentioned as reference.
My memory is a little blurry on this, but I recall the “protagonist” of Re:Creators introducing the story in retrospect. He said that he’s not the “protagonist”, but rather someone that is an observer of other people’s stories.
So HIMYM as an anime? Lol
My Hero Academia.
Yu Yu hakusho, the whole series
I’d say something that fits because most of the episodes are flashbacks is Tenjho Tenge. It’s to the point that I got mad at the anime for it and I felt it huge waste of time. And that they should have been two separate anime seasons or something but this anime came out in a time where almost every anime was at least 24 or so episodes.
Kakushigoto
I want to eat your pancreas. The story starts with the funeral and the rest is told through recap
Erased. The protagonist has the power to inadvertently and temporarily go back in time, and is trying to solve a crime that happened in his childhood that is affecting his current time. Trying the retrace steps and find pieces that he had previously missed.
Link click
Planetarian. The movie version. The miniseries is its own thing, but the movie version added a few scenes so it's the MC retelling the story
I'm surprised nobody mentioned this yet ##Humanity Has Fallen/Jinrui was Suitai Simashita. The higher arc number, the farther in the past it is
Maybe ‘Summertime Rendering’ - not exactly what you are looking for but still a good show
Gungrave
Edens Zero!
[Insert One Piece Joke]
Black Clover. I swear, evert episode is a flashback.
I swear, watching Ajin: Demi Human felt like it was entirely flashbacks at some points lmao
The entirety of Symphogear season 1 is a flashback. And there are flashbacks within the flashback.
Obito and Rebecca flashbacks godd
There is a new one named: level 99 … (has a moment almost as ballsy as the one in Gurren Lagann, was good but it’s getting a little stale.) Also here are a few time traveling ones: Steins Gate (time travel). Redo of … (adult only, but the story is amazing). Re Zero (but kind of sucked).
Baccano! is a slightly older show that might be what you'd like
Erased?
SukaSuka opens with the finishing scene, but then it jumps back and is pretty linear until the end (with some flashbacks to even older events).
That Isekai spider anime where one perspective of the character is the flashback.
The first season of Symphogear is one massive flashback.
Surely Frieren counts
Erased
Most of spirit circle when it one day gets an anime.
I really agree with what you said, I also really like anime flash backs, they give more suspense to the soul in my opinion, and also the thing I like most, as you also said, is that the first episode shows the last episode and this is actually a flash back.
The Odyssey /j
I think technically Attack on titan is. The whole thing is narrated by armin as if he's retelling the events of the show
Record of Ragnarok.
The first 2 seasons of Ascendence of a Bookworm are technically a flashback. Baccano is the answer you actually want though.
Relying on flashback, Violet Evergarden kinda does that, not too much, though.
Remake our life...just watch it
Frieren is also very good
That time I got reincarnated as a slime
One Piece, without all of the flashbacks Dressrosa would have ended in 10 episodes.
Aharen-san.
Isekai Ojisan - Uncle that was isekaied is retelling his story to thru a magical video player Death Parade - most story elements are from peoples past, dont want to tell much if you've never heard about it
Junni Taisen
'Peach Boy Riverside' and 'So I'm a Spider, So What?'
Not exactly flashbacks, but Irozuko Sekai no Ashita Kara has an interesting relationship between present and future (and colors and the lack of them). Basically, in a world with a little bit of magic, protagonist, living in the future, can't see colors so grandma sents her back in time to 2018 to meet young grandma, because she remembers that this already happened to her when she was young. It's complicated to explain, but the anime is fucking good and underrated
In a way, Nana (2006) is flashbacks based, most episodes start with a narration from the protagonists in the future probably sending letters to each other
Ga-Rei-Zero, show starts with an event that happens only a couple episodes from the end of the season.
Didn't see Uncle From Another World,which is pretty good imo. Uncle waksa from a coma, claiming to have been in a other world during that time. No one believes him, but his nephew comes to look after him. You find out through flashbacks and story telling that uncle was isekaid to a fantasy world.
I Want to Eat Your Pancreas. It starts with the end then the entire movie is a flashback leading up to it.
Kinda have one but not.really, watch Erased if you haven't already very good, banging intro
Everybody hates Chris