Every anime fan has seen it before: a thrilling battle where people are injured, bleeding, possibly even missing limbs, when suddenly, the flow of the episode is interrupted by a flashback. Sometimes this is a scene only a few seconds long of a moment that's already been shown in the anime previously, while other times, this sequence can go on for half the episode to reveal a completely new backstory for that character.
Regardless of the many different ways it can be used, the flashback is a staple storytelling device in anime, and it's particularly common in shonen titles. While flashbacks can serve to establish character motives or provide backstories to underdeveloped characters, they can also be intrusive and prevent viewers from becoming fully invested in the show they're watching. Given the latter, just why are flashbacks employed so often throughout anime, and what unique purposes do they serve for titles to justify the extent to which they appear?
Flashbacks Are Commonly Used as Anime Filler
The most typical and sometimes most irritating use of flashbacks in anime is when they depict an event that the audience has previously seen. This is seen in almost every anime of any genre or demographic, most frequently occurring when a character hears or sees something that triggers them to remember a scene from a past episode, or sometimes even a scene from earlier in the current episode. While these flashbacks are usually quick flashes of dialogue, they can sometimes stretch out for longer depending on why the character is remembering their past.
These kinds of flashbacks can be useful if what the character is recalling is something that the audience has also forgotten, but more often than not, they can feel like filler that's used to pad out an episode's runtime rather than a narrative tool that actively improves the flow of a scene. At its worst, an anime flashback feels like it's included because the writer doesn't trust in the audience's intelligence and ability to connect any emotional dots that aren't immediately displayed in front of them.
To an extent, this is a genuine reason for filler flashbacks to be used. Most anime, particularly shonen action ones, are targeted toward an audience of children, and flashbacking to previous episodes is a guaranteed method of making sure the audience understands what's going on. Filler flashbacks are also useful for budget reasons. They're already animated and voiced, so if an episode is ever short of its expected runtime, flashbacks are an inexpensive way to resolve the issue.
Of course, even when these flashbacks don't contain new material, they can still help improve the emotional tension of a scene. Few things get the viewer's blood pumping more than when they see the protagonist on the verge of losing get a sudden flashback to their dying mentor's final words, which suddenly enables them to power up to meet the challenge after all. However, these flashbacks must be well-placed, and the pacing of a scene must be built around them to feel non-intrusive and actively raise the emotional stakes.
Are Anime Flashbacks Overused for Backstory?
Another way flashbacks are used in anime is to reveal the backstories of characters who have either been shrouded in mystery or underdeveloped up to that point. Good examples include Jiren in Dragon Ball Super and Tengen Uzui in Demon Slayer. These flashbacks tend to be multiple minutes long, and in some cases can even take up most of the episode. Whenever a character is about to have a big moment for themselves in the story, a flashback that shows how they got to where they are now is an easy method to make the viewer's investment in the character grow.
Whether this usage of the flashback is overdone depends once again on how effectively it's woven into the pacing of the episode, as well as how common this style is to the anime in question. My Hero Academia, for example, makes the backstory exposition flashback a major feature of its storytelling format. Whenever a new character is introduced who is given significant screen time, there's a good chance they'll receive their own flashback sequence at some point in the near future.
When a flashback is too predictable, it loses some of the emotional resonance it's meant to create and instead simply feels like a lazy way to flesh out a character. However, when used sparingly and especially for a character whose past may be completely different from what the audience expected, a good anime flashback can still hit the right beats and suck the viewer into the scene. Like any narrative device, how effective any anime flashback is depends on the way it's utilized above anything else.
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