Despite existing in both film and television,animeis kind of its own thing. There’s a tacit contract between audiences and the creators of anime, agreed upon before watching. Fans accept some of the worst impulses commonly found in anime — the suspension of logic and disbelief, the tendency to sexualize or infantilize women, the melodramatic or over-the-top voice acting — in favor of what the medium can actually provide. That’s because at its best, anime brilliantly utilizes the imaginative possibilities of animation to explore existential, societal, and technological issues with a depth of maturity rarely found in animation.
Unfortunately, some anime can be daunting to approach. For example,Dragon Ballhas more than 800 episodes, andOne Piecehas over one thousand episodes. Sometimes it’s just easier to get into a film rather than navigate the massive anime franchises out there. A stand-alone film may be the best way to get into anime in general. So if you’re looking for the absolute greatest anime movies of all time, you’ve come to the right place.
This list will omit films that are essentially anthologies, even if they are great (Robot Carnival, Genius Party). It will also stay away from titles that are less than 60 minutes (such as the brilliantLife After BOB: The Chalice StudyorVoices of a Distant Star), which are hard to justify as feature films. We’ll avoid films that are connected to larger franchises (like the astoundingEvangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time); we’re only including movies that anyone can turn on without needing to have watched a TV series to appreciate it. Finally, we’ll also try to avoid listing too many titles from the same filmmaker; after all, Hayao Miyazaki films could take up a lot of this list, so we’ve mentioned him sparingly.
That being said, these are the 20 best anime movies ever made.
20Darkside Blues (1994)
An abstract, mysterious, and romantic gothic thriller,Darkside Bluesis an immensely atmospheric film that doesn’t offer many answers but poses some fascinating questions and distinct animation for the time.
A sci-fi film with ominous undertones,Darkside Bluesis set in a dystopic future where a resistance faction fights against an awful corporation. Their secret weapon? A mysterious stranger recetly emerged from another dimension. While it may be confusing or incomprehensible at times, the overall mood and feel ofDarkside Bluesis downright ineffable.
19The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006)
Controversial author Yasutaka Tsutsui has inspired a few incredible animes over the years, andThe Girl Who Leapt Through Timeis based on his 1966time travel story. In many ways, the time loop story about a young girl reliving the same day could be seen as a precursor to hit films likeGroundhog DayandEdge of Tomorrow.
The great Mamoru Hosoda (Belle, Mirai, Wolf Children) brings his usual emotional acuity to this gorgeously animated story of a time-traveling girl who runs into the usual problems of causality when trying to fix problems of the past.
18Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (2000)
Vampire Hunter Dhas a lengthy pedigree, from 40 novels to audio dramas, video games, and a 1985 anime film. While that’s a very good film, it’s actually the loose sequel,Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, that stands above all the rest, and offers a very inviting self-contained world for audiences to lose themselves in.
With incredible gothic animation and a cool horror narrative, the 2000 movie finds the titular character, half-human and half-vampire D, involved in a complicated plot to rescue a woman taken by a wealthy vampire count.
17Barefoot Gen (1983)
Before there wasGrave of the Fireflies, there wasBarefoot Gen, a powerful study of Japan and its children around the time the nuclear bombs dropped. Written by Keiji Nakazawa, who was actually in Hiroshima (at the age of six) when the bomb fell, the film follows the Nakaoka family from the period the bomb drops on Hiroshima through the Nagasaki bomb dropping and after, as Japan surrendersin World War II. It’s of course an emotionally devastating film, but less mired in misery as the laterGrave of Fireflies, but also less visually interesting.
16On-Gaku: Our Song (2019)
A delightful and hilarious little film with punk rock energy that came out of nowhere,On-Gaku: Our Songis relatively new but has quickly become a cult classic and one of the few animes to be added tothe lauded Criterion Channel. The film follows a group of delinquent friends who steal different instruments to start a rock band despite not having any idea what they’re doing. With a minimalist approach and a whole lot of dry humor,On-Gaku: Our Songis ultimately a surprisingly sweet look at finding fulfillment and meaning amid the temptations of nihilism.
15Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise (1987)
It may not be remembered well today, but at the time,Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamisewas a massive endeavor. The most expensive anime film of all time upon its release, there could be a whole documentary made aboutRoyal Space Forceand it would be fascinating.
The film was a collaborative experiment constructed by a variety of skilled people with little experience, and the result was somehow a cohesive sci-fi epic with wonderful characters and incredible music directed by Ryuichi Sakamoto. Though the film was a bomb at the time, it succeeded on home media, and deserves to be revisited.
14Metropolis (2001)
There should be more anime remakes ofclassic sci-fi films. The medium is capable of taking the ideas of science-fiction and manifesting them in ways that technology wouldn’t allow decades ago. Such is the case with the amazing anime filmMetropolis, a loose remake of the silent Fritz Lang classic, which remains one of thebest sci-fi movies of all time.
Like the original, it studies the divisions between a proletariat class and their bourgeois overlords, with robots taking center stage here as a discriminated class. With a heavier emphasis on romance than the original film,Metropolisis the epic anime swan song of the famed director Rintaro (Galaxy Express 999), and a brilliant study of technology and dehumanization. It also has one of the best endings in any anime film.
13Belladonna of Sadness (1973)
The trailblazing anime filmBelladonna of Sadnesshas unfortunately been remembered mainly for its adult content, but the film is so much more than a hentai. Part of an adult trilogy of films (withCleopatraandA Thousand and One Nights),Belladonna of Sadnesstranscends just about any other hentai thanks to its phenomenal animation and deconstruction of misogyny.
The psychedelic film was a box office disaster, an indication that it addressed ideas far beyond the traditional confines of pornography.Belladonna of Sadnesschronicles the sad life of a woman in medieval France whose dignity, strength, and genius survives endless torment. It’s a very dark, disturbing film, but a surprisingly empowering one.
12Millennium Actress (2001)
Like Hayao Miyazaki, Satoshi Kon is one of the best filmmakers of all time, even outside the world of anime. Kon, however, died at the young age of 46, and wasn’t able to create as impressive a filmography as some other directors. However, every single Kon title is masterful in its own way.
Millennium Actressis one of his most subdued films, a beautiful, subtle, and melancholic study of a great actress' life. An ode to cinema and acting itself,Millennium Actressis a gorgeous character study that defies the traditions of anime and becomes entirely its own thing.
11Weathering with You (2019)
Has there ever been a better film about rain?Weathering with Youis a downright gorgeous romance about people actively fighting against fate to find something beautiful and true. The fantasy film follows a 16-year-old who runs away from home and into Tokyo, where he stumbles across a ‘Sunshine Girl,’ who can supposedly part the rain clouds and bring rays of sunlight at any time.
Astounding animation and sound design create one of the most textural animes ever made, as Makoto Shinkai (Voices of a Distant Star, Your Name) directs a quiet story of loss, grief, and loneliness that manages to find some beautiful sunshine amid all the rain.Weathering with Youwas seen in 4DXwhen it was released, and was one of the most amazing cinematic experiences an anime fan could have at the time, but is still incredible in any regular home media viewing.
