Every now and then, certain anime will do something called a "time skip", where months or years pass and the characters go through some changes. These changes can include developing new powers, growing older, and most notably, getting a much-needed design tune-up.
Time skips is an easy excuse to tinker around with the appearance of certain characters, refining their appearance where needed. Though in some cases, these redesigns can add too much or take away a character's charm, resulting in more of a downgrade than an upgrade. As the old adage goes, if ain't broken, don't fix it.
10 Ash used Redesign, It Wasn't Very Effective... (Pokemon The Series: Sun & Moon)
While the passage of time in the Pokémon anime is very questionable at times, what is certain is that Ash's journey has been going on for a while. For the bulk of the series, Ash's character design has gone through only minimal changes, but in his Alola Region adventures, Ash got his most drastic redesign yet.
Taking on a softer, rounder appearance, this design lent itself well to the latest Sun & Moon season's slightly more comedic edge. Regardless, it took away Pokémon's more classic aesthetic and rubbed fans the wrong way. Later on in Journeys, Ash would be redesigned again to closer resemble his more recognizable look.
9 Kanji Gets De-Punkified (Persona 4 The Golden Animation)
Time passes after the defeat of Izanami and Yu returns to Inaba to see his friends from the investigation team. Of course, the gang has changed a bit since last Yu saw them, but as for Kanji, that's another story. Trading out his punk-like style for a more casual and laid-back look, Kanji's undyed hair and glasses almost make it hard to even recognize him.
With such a noticeable change, it seems like a lot happened between Yu's departure and his visit. Sadly, what led him to ditch his old look is mostly glossed over. He even considers dying his hair blonde again after everyone makes fun of his new look.
8 Kaneki's Roots Are Showing (Tokyo Ghoul:re)
Kaneki changes in more ways than one during Tokyo Ghoul:re. After being defeated by Arima and losing his memory, Kaneki starts going by the name Haise Sasaki. In the span of this two-year time skip, not much has actually changed about Kaneki physically, aside from a messier head of white hair showing some dark roots.
This really only serves as one phase of Kaneki's evolution since becoming a ghoul. Though, with the time skip, it seems like more could've been done with his design here. It mostly just looks like he forgot to re-dye his hair.
7 Kirito Sticks With The Black Swordsman Look (Sword Art Online)
Believe it or not, but Sword Art Online has a time skip of several months within the first couple of episodes. In fact, the first arc ends up constantly skips forwards over long stretches of time to cover the two years players were trapped inside SAO.
The most notable redesign Kirito receives during this arc is getting his famous black coat. Other than that, Kirito's look barely changes all the way until the final battle in Aincrad. This ends up being a missed opportunity as being trapped in a videogame would lend itself to having tons of options for costume changes.
6 Rock Lee Slaps on a Vest and Calls It A Day (Naruto Shippuden)
Two and half years pass between the original Naruto and Shippuden and just about everyone in Konoha gets something of a glow-up in this time skip by the time Naruto comes home. Everyone except for Rock Lee it seems, who pretty much just looks the same but with an added vest to make himself look even more like a mini version Might Guy.
While it's not the worst look in the world for him, it doesn't add much and makes Lee look less unique when compared to his fellow ninjas. Fortunately, by the time Boruto starts, Lee gets another redesign that makes him stand out more.
5 Krillin Grows Out His Hair And Becomes Unrecognizable (Dragon Ball Z)
Ever since the original series, the Dragon Ball franchise has made time skips something of a pastime. In Krillin's case, Dragon Ball time skips didn't change too much about him, keeping him looking roughly the same until seven years after the Cell Saga. After Cell's defeat, Krillin settled down with Android 18, had a daughter, and got himself a new look.
Growing out his hair and wearing a rather plain outfit, Krillin's look during the Buu Saga isn't one of his best and almost makes him look like a completely different character. During Super, Krillin got an improved redesign and during the Tournament of Power, going back to his old look.
4 Asuka Doesn't Change After 14 Years, Neither Does Her Outfit (Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo)
The Rebuild of Evangelion movies may have started as a touched-up version of the original series, but by the end of the second film, they start treading new ground. By the time 3.0 came around, fourteen years had passed, which could have lead to some interesting reinterpretations of the Eva pilots, but due to some plot contrivances, none of them aged.
To make matters worse, the most change some of these characters got is a differently colored plugsuit. Depressingly, Asuka's eyepatch ends up being the only notable feature of her redesign, making her the only one to really stand out.
3 Jotaro, That is Not What a Marine Biologist Wears (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable)
Jotaro ends up having the most redesigns across JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, and each of them is striking. During Diamond is Unbreakable, he actually gets three different costume changes and the second one is definitely the strangest out of the bunch.
While still wearing his white hat and jacket, Jotaro goes over the top with his pins with one giant one that looks impractical to the point where it could be a weapon and tons of dolphins to drive home to the audience that he's now a marine biologist. If this outfit proves anything, it's that sometimes, less is more.
2 Ichigo Might Need To Bleach That Outfit (Bleach)
Bleach has one of the more pointless time skips in anime as it really didn't do a whole lot for the story or the characters. This is most evident in the lack of character redesigns for the majority of its cast. Six months after Aizen's defeat, most of the characters look pretty much the same, aside from maybe a haircut or two. This is especially strange as the non-combative side characters had quite a fair few touchups to their designs.
1 Vegeta's Super Saiyan Stache Looks Painted On... Literally (Dragon Ball GT)
So much for Saiyan's hair never changing. The Dragon Ball cast has had their character designs tweaked every so often. Sometimes it's an improvement, sometimes it isn't. The GT redesigns definitely feel like the latter, especially Vegeta's.
Doing away with his iconic Saiyan armor, Vegeta in GT ends up growing a mustache and cutting his hair to the point of it becoming a flattop. He looks less like the boisterous "Prince of all Saiyans" and more like a depressing joke. This is one of many parts of GT that fans feel is better left forgotten.
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