100 Best Anime Movies of All Time

The phenomenon of anime is mostly known for its animated series, which are also responsible for the genre’s popularity overall. But, alongside the series, there are also numerous anime movies, some of which are considered to be true classics and absolute works of art. They might not be as famous as their televised counterparts, but they still deserve our attention and are part of animation history. Here is a list of the 100 best anime films of all time; since it is impossible to rank such shows properly, we are just going to list them and you can create your own rankings based on that.
1. Spirited Away
Original Release: July 20, 2001
Running Time: 125 minutes
Chihiro and her parents are forced to move to another city. During the move, his father decides to take a shortcut to save time, however, they get lost and arrive at a building with a strange tunnel in the center. Even though Chihiro refuses to enter, his parents insist on following the tunnel.
On the other side, they discover an apparently abandoned village; the family chooses to explore the place and end up finding a restaurant where they decide to stop and eat. Chihiro leaves them to continue investigating. As night falls a mysterious young man named Haku appears and orders Chihiro to leave the place before it completely gets dark.
2. Grave of the Fireflies
Number of Episodes: April 16, 1988
Running Time: 89 minutes
The story is told in the summer of 1945, in World War II Japan. Seita is a fourteen-year-old teenager. His younger sister Setsuko has four. Their father is a senior Imperial Japanese Navy officer enlisted in the naval forces for several years, so they live with their mother in the city of Kobe.
However, the American armed forces carried out at the time a heavy bombardment with the incendiary bomb of this port city. The mother could not escape in time from the gigantic fire that will occur in the city. She was very badly burned and then died of her injuries.
3. My Neighbor Totoro
Original Release: April 16, 1988
Running Time: 86 minutes
The story is set in the Tokyo hinterland of the 1950s. Little sisters Satsuki and Mei are moving with their father to Tokorozawa, a small country village. The move is to move closer to their mom who is hospitalized.
Mei, exploring her new home and following traces of acorns, encounters two creatures with long ears, one very small with white fur and one larger and blue: following them into the large camphor tree that dominates the area, she meets Totoro, a good spirit with a somewhat picturesque appearance: a cross between a mole, a bear and a raccoon.
4. Akira
Original Release: July 16, 1988
Running Time: 124 minutes
Tokyo was destroyed by a mysterious explosion on December 6, 1982, and this triggered World War III, with many cities destroyed by nuclear weapons. In 2019, Neo-Tokyo is a corrupt megalopolis crisscrossed by gangs of idle and drug-addicted young bikers. One night, one of them, Tetsuo, has a motorcycle accident while trying to avoid a strange boy who is in his way.
Wounded, Tetsuo is captured by the Japanese army. He is the subject of numerous tests as part of an ultra-secret military project aimed at identifying and training beings with predispositions to psychic powers (telepathy, teleportation, telekinesis, etc.).
Tetsuo’s friends, including their leader Kaneda, want to know what happened to him because when he escapes and finds himself free, he is no longer the same. Tetsuo tests his new powers and wants to establish himself as a leader among junkies, which doesn’t sit well with everyone, especially Kaneda.
5. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
Original Release: March 11, 1984
Running Time: 117 minutes
A thousand years have passed since the fall of industrial civilization during the “seven days of fire”, a planetary war of immeasurable violence. Humanity is surviving as best they can in a few enclaves threatened by the fukai, a gigantic forest that is constantly gaining ground and whose spores are fatal for the majority of living beings.
This thick jungle is protected by giant insects which have adapted to this environment. The “ômus” are its main representatives, by their size and their sensitivity. The Valley of the Wind is a small agricultural kingdom, protected from spores and fukai by sea winds.
His peace of mind is disturbed by the sinking of a huge ship of the Tolmec Empire, which has been targeted by insects from an unfortunate stopover in the poisonous forest. In order to recover the cargo of this vessel, the Tolmec troops invaded the valley; they assassinate old King Jill and take his daughter Nausicaä prisoner.
6. Your Name
Original Release: July 3, 2016
Running Time: 107 minutes
The film is about Mitsuha and Taki who undergo a transformation at night. They live two completely different lives. Mitsuha is a high school girl in a rural mountain village where her father is the mayor. Mitsuha finds the countryside boring, her biggest dream is a life in the big city. Taki, also a high school student, lives in central Tokyo and is deeply involved in architecture.
One day, the two find out that a metamorphosis took place overnight, and they are now in another body. Taki and Mitsuha communicate with each other through notes and notes in their cell phones, helping each other with relationships and popularity at school. After Taki is back in his own body, he decides to visit Mitsuha.
A restaurant owner recognizes Taki’s sketch of the village of Itomori, and says it was destroyed by a comet impact. Taki learns that Mitsuha’s life happened three years ago, and she didn’t survive. Taki tries to contact Mitsuha to warn her of the comet impact. This succeeds and she tries to evacuate the village with her friends Tessie and Sayaka.
Eventually the comet hits, and destroys the entire village. Taki wakes up the next morning, remembering nothing of the events. Five years later, Taki learns that the people of Itomori survived the disaster thanks to the mayor. One day, Taki and Mitsuha recognize each other when their trains pass. They both get off at the next stop and ask for each other’s names.
7. Princess Mononoke
Original Run: July 12, 1997
Running Time: 133 minutes
The story takes place in medieval Japan (Muromachi era). Ashitaka, the prince of the tribe of the Emishis, a reclusive people north of Honshū, is cursed after killing Naggo, a boar god turned demon: his arm is animated with a supernatural force, but is eaten away by the demonic entity.
The shaman of the village says he is doomed to die and advises him to leave the village in order to seek in the west the cause of nature’s anger and the hope of finding the reason for his curse.
8. Ghost in the Shell
Original Release: November 18, 1995
Running Time: 82 minutes
The story takes place in the year 2029 in a futuristic and dystopian cyberpunk-like world. Major Motoko Kusanagi and her colleague Batou, two cyborgs, work in the government’s special anti-terrorist unit (Section 9) in New Port City, Japan. During one of their investigations, they are tasked with capturing a fearsome, elusive hacker known only by his alias “Puppet Master”.
The hunt takes place against the backdrop of Section 9’s “service war” against Section 6, a rival unit, the latter also interested in the Puppet Master as part of a mysterious project, “Project 2501”.
9. Porco Rosso
Original Release: July 18, 1992
Running Time: 94 minutes
Born in 1893, Marco Pagot is an ace of the Regia Aeronautica who has a near-death experience during a fight during the First World War. Miraculously survived, he came out with a disfigured face, which took on the appearance of a pig’s snout.
Abandoning the aeronautics and social life (including love for Gina, a childhood friend who became the owner of a hotel set up on a small island in the Adriatic and frequented by smugglers enchanted by her singing skills and her beauty), he retires to the Dalmatian coast, earning a living with the bounties placed on the pirates of the air fighting with his Savoia S.21 monoplane seaplane (or S.21 “Folgore”, after having mounted the engine of the same name), painted red, hence the nickname “Porco Rosso”.
10. Howl’s Moving Castle
Original Release: September 5, 2004
Running Time: 119 minutes
An eighteen-year-old girl, Sophie, who works in her late father’s store, accidentally meets a mysterious wizard named Hauru, during a chase. The latter then takes her in sympathy.
However, the witch of the Landes, who is in love with Hauru, becomes jealous of the attention paid to Sophie by the latter. To get revenge, she decides to transform the young girl into a ninety-year-old lady. Unable to reveal this transformation to her family, she locks herself in her home, then runs away.
In the mountains, she meets an enchanted scarecrow whom she affectionately calls Turnip. This leads her to the Howl’s Moving Castle. Once inside, and after having noticed a total insalubrity, she meets the fire demon, Calcifer.
He moves the castle and guesses that Sophie has been the victim of a spell. He then offers to break the spell but Sophie will have to help him in turn in order to break the pact that unites him with Hauru.
11. The Tale of The Princess Kaguya
Original Release: November 23, 2013
Running Time: 137 minutes
The story begins when an elderly peasant couple finds a tiny girl inside a bamboo plant and decides to adopt her as their daughter. Quickly turned into a beautiful woman, she is sought after by many men, including the emperor.
However, her initial joy is reduced to sadness, as she assures her that the people from the Moon will come for her, the place from which she is originally from.
The promotional poster announces “The crime of a princess and her punishment” and starts from the premise of a beautiful woman who was born from a bamboo whose cutter welcomes her into her home where she will be raised, along with the cutter’s wife, as a daughter.
12. 5 Centimeters per Second
Original Release: March 3, 2007
Running Time: 65 minutes
A tale of two people, Tono Takaki and Shinohara Akari, who were close friends but gradually grow farther and farther apart as time moves on. They become separated because of their families yet continue to exchange contact in the form of letters. Yet as time continues to trudge on, their contact with one another begins to cease. Years pass and the rift between them grows ever larger.
However, Takaki remembers the times they have shared together, but as life continues to unfold for him, he wonders if he would be given the chance to meet Akari again as the tale embarks on Takaki’s realization of the world and people around him.
13. Perfect Blue
Original Release: August 5, 1997
Running Time: 81 minutes
J-pop singer and idol Mima is leaving her already popular group, the Cham, to pursue an acting career. She then accepts a small role in a television series. She remains surrounded by her two agents Tadokoro and Rumi, a former singer. While Tadokoro is convinced by this new direction, Rumi is more reluctant. Then a fax arrives from someone calling her a “traitor”, and a series of murders targeting people related to her occur.
14. The Red Turtle
Original Release: May 18, 2016
Running Time: 80 minutes
A shipwrecked man finds himself on a desert island populated by abundant flora and fauna. However, he decides to leave the place, but is prevented from doing so by a large sea turtle with a red shell. After trying to kill her, the castaway has a wonderful adventure and stays to live on the island.
15. Digimon Adventure
Original Release: March 6, 1999
Running Time: 20 minutes
One day before the anime was released, Toei Animation released a 20-minute short anime film detailing the first encounter of the DigiDestined with Digimon. The film was set four years after the anime’s first episode and tells about the incident when a wild Parrotmon came to the Real World, where it fought Tai’s and Kari’s Agumon (who Digivolved into Greymon). The rest of the DigiDestined witnessed this fight, as well as the DigiDestined from 02, and that was used to explain why they were chosen for the task of saving the Digital World. This is the earliest event in the official Adventure continuity and you should watch it before the anime.
16. Ponyo
Original Release: July 19, 2008
Running Time: 101 minutes
Fujimoto, a wizard who abandoned the human world to live on the ocean floor, experiments with “water of life,” a liquid that strengthens marine life; He thus hopes one day to upset the ecological balance and see the sea, mistreated by men, regain its preeminence.
The eldest of her daughters, Brunehilde, a five-year-old goldfish with a human face, takes advantage of her father’s moment of inattention to slip through a window of the submarine and reach the surface, under the parasol protector of a jellyfish.
As she marveled at terrestrial nature, she sees in the distance Sôsuké, a little boy of her age living in a house on a cliff, descend into the cave with his toy boat. Suddenly, she is surprised by a trawler, whose net carries a large amount of garbage, and finds herself stuck in a glass jar.
17. The Wind Rises
Original Release: July 20, 2013
Running Time: 126 minutes
The film chronicles the life of Jirō Horikoshi, the man who designed the Zero fighter plane, which was used in the attack on Pearl Harbor during the Pacific War of World War II. Horikoshi was an aeronautical engineer who developed several military aircraft.
He also designed the Mitsubishi J2M3 Raiden (Lightning) fighter and the first Japanese civil aircraft after World War II, the NAMC YS 11 regional turboprop, with two Rolls Royce Dart 542-10K engines. The film starts from his childhood, his youth in the interwar period and a social and political context of a troubled country, at his maturity, which was the zenith in the world of aeronautics.
18. Mirai
Original Release: May 16, 2018
Running Time: 98 minutes
A child’s life is turned upside down by the arrival of his little sister, Mirai. He is then confronted with the spirit of his sister who has come from the future to help him accept her presence as well as those of the other members of his family at different periods of their lives.
19. Jujutsu Kaisen 0
Original Release: December 24, 2021
Running Time: 105 minutes
Yuta Okkutsu is haunted by the spirit of Rika, his childhood friend who died 6 years earlier and is now cursed because they both vowed to get married when they grow up. He meets Satoru Gojo, a sorcerer under whose leadership he joins the Tokyo institute of occult arts, so that he can learn to control Rika and fight evil beings at the same time.
20. Castle in the Sky
Original Release: August 2, 1986
Running Time: 124 minutes
Sky pirates, the “Dora Band”, attack a flying fortress; they are looking for a “flying stone” belonging to a young girl, Sheeta, held prisoner. The latter manages to escape to land at Pazu, a boy of her age. The two discover that they have one thing in common: Laputa, a legendary island floating in the sky. Pazu’s father had seen it with his own eyes but no one had believed it, leaving him to die of grief; but Sheeta has this “flying stone” that leads to the island.
Pursued by the pirates and by Muska, a secret service agent supported by the army fleet, the two children help each other to get there before them. Muska wants to use the young girl to succeed in reigning over these lands.
21. A Letter to Momo
Original Release: September 10, 2011
Running Time: 120 minutes
The story takes place in contemporary Japan. Momo is a young girl who lives with her mother. From her deceased father, she has kept a last letter, barely begun, in which are written only the words: “Dear Momo…”.
Momo and her mother have just left Tokyo to settle on the shores of the inland sea of Japan, in a city surrounded by sumptuous natural landscapes. But Momo can’t help but wonder what her father wanted to tell her in that last letter. One day, she discovers by chance, in the attic of the house, a strange old manuscript. This discovery triggers a series of supernatural events.
22. Penguin Highway
Original Release: July 29, 2018
Running Time: 118 minutes
One fine day, a strange group of penguins began to appear in the young schoolboy Aoyama’s small town. He then takes it into his head to discover the true nature of these creatures and their objectives by launching the “Penguin Highway Research”, and attends the appearance of a penguin when he is in a dental clinic.
This surprises the young woman who works there as an assistant who does not understand how a penguin can appear out of nowhere. Thus, with the help of his best friend Uchida, his classmate Hamamoto and the young woman, Aoyama will conduct his little investigation around the mysterious arrival of these little marine beings.
23. Kiki’s Delivery Service
Original Release: July 29, 1989
Running Time: 103 minutes
According to the tradition of the witches, when they turn thirteen they must leave their parents’ house and look for a city where their services are required, and stay there for a year. In this way, Kiki will begin the path that will lead her to become a witch for good.
She makes this trip with her friend Jiji, a very nice black cat, and rides her flying broom. Her initial journey will take her to settle in a maritime city where she will begin to know the world and to know herself. During her trip, she will meet great friends, such as Tombo or Osono.
24. Hotarubi no Mori e
Original Release: September 17, 2011
Running Time: 44 minutes
The original Hotarubi no Mori e shōjo manga and subsequent film tell the story of a six-year-old girl named Hotaru Takegawa, who gets lost in a forest inhabited by a mountain spirit, as well as yōkai (strange apparitions from Japanese folklore). She is found by a mask-wearing, human-like entity named Gin, who informs Hotaru that he will disappear forever if he is touched by a human.
Gin then leads Hotaru out of the forest. Hotaru returns to visit Gin in the forest over the next few days and they become friends despite the limitations on their interactions. Although at summer’s end she must leave Gin to return to the city and her studies, Hotaru promises to return to visit him every summer holiday.
25. Psycho-Pass: The Movie
Original Release: January 9, 2015
Running Time: 113 minutes
In the year 2116 the Japanese government begins to export the drones of the “Sybil System” to countries in difficulty and the system spreads all over the world. A state in the middle of a civil war, SEAUn (the Union of South East Asia, pronounced “shian”), agrees to introduce the “Sybil System” as an experiment.
Under the system, the coastal town of Shambala Float achieves internal security and temporary peace. But then the SEAUn government sends a group of terrorists to Japan, who infiltrate the system to attack it from the inside. The shadow of a certain man falls on the accident. As police chief, Tsunemori decides to go to Shambala Float to investigate. The truth behind justice in this new country will soon become clear to her.
26. Weathering with You
Original Release: July 19, 2019
Running Time: 112 minutes
Young high school student Hodaka Morishima leaves his home on an isolated island to settle in Tokyo, but he quickly runs out of money. He lives in seclusion but eventually finds a job as a writer for a sleazy occult magazine.
After Hodaka starts working, the weather remains rainy day after day. One day, in a busy corner of town, he meets a young girl named Hina Amano. Hina and her younger brother live together but lead a happy and stable life. This playful and determined girl has a strange and wonderful power: the power to stop the rain and clear the sky.
27. Cowboy Bebop: The Movie
Original Release: September 1, 2001
Running Time: 115 minutes
It all begins, in 2071, in the crater of Alba City on Mars with the explosion of a tanker truck by terrorists. The government suspects a bioterrorist attack, and puts many people under medical surveillance. But no trace of virus is found, although people are sick. A huge reward is promised for the capture of the evildoers.
The Bebop‘s bounty hunting team takes the opportunity to bail out their finances. They identify the author of the attack: Vincent Volaju, a former soldier who belonged to a special section. The section members had been the subject of a scientific experiment involving nanorobots. Vincent was the only survivor, thanks to anti-nanobots present in his blood.
His memory had been erased as a result of this experience, and he was considered dead. He launches a massive attack on Halloween day, along a parade, by blowing up giant pumpkins filled with nanobots. Having guessed their intentions, the Bebop team drops anti-nanorobots from planes.
28. Tokyo Godfathers
Original Release: August 30, 2003
Running Time: 92 minutes
Three homeless people accidentally find a little girl on Christmas Eve, abandoned in the garbage. While Hana, an impoverished trans woman after quitting her drag job, wants to keep her as she deems it a divine gift, Gin, a wandering alcoholic, and Miyuki, a runaway girl, want to take the baby to the police right away.
Eventually, they convince Hana to keep her only for that night, but when she awakens the next day, they discover that she has left their makeshift refuge. After finding her, together they try to bring the child directly to her parents, following tracks that often lead them astray.
During the week between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, the three will have various adventures, coming into contact with the variegated humanity of the Tokyo metropolis on the trail of their past and their respective personal stories.
29. The Garden of Sinners: Paradox Spiral
Original Release: August 16, 2008
Running Time: 114 minutes
One night, high school dropout Tomoe Enjō gets caught up in a fight with his former classmates when Shiki shows up and knocks out the attackers. He is invited by Shiki to spend the night with her. In his dreams he repeatedly witnesses how his mother kills his father first, then him and then herself. He stays with Shiki for several weeks as Mikiya is on a further education trip.
Tomoe notices that Shiki seems to be being followed, but she doesn’t care. When Tomoe Shiki confesses his love, she simply asks him if she can kill him, and he agrees. After Tomoe leaves the house and Mikiya returns, Shiki and Mikiya’s sister Azaka meet again. But even after being asked again, Mikiya doesn’t want to leave Shiki and Azaka leaves her again after studying the magician’s writings to become one herself.
30. When Marnie Was There
Original Release: July 19, 2014
Running Time: 103 minutes
Anna is a shy and introverted 12-year-old orphan girl who lives in Sapporo with her adoptive mother Yoriko with whom she has a difficult relationship, also heightened by the latter’s guilt, who keeps her from receiving a public subsidy for the adoption of Anna.
Since she suffers from asthma, on the advice of her doctor, she is sent for the summer holidays to Kiyomasa and Setsu Ōiwa, a couple of relatives who live in the small seaside village of Kissakibetsu, in eastern Hokkaidō, where Anna will be able to breathe the air good of the sea.
Despite the warm welcome of the two spouses, Anna is still unable to relate to the local peers and she prefers to spend days wandering alone around the village drawing landscapes.
One of her many destinations is a large uninhabited villa on the other side of the marsh, but one day it seems to Anna that the house lights come on and she seems to catch a glimpse of a blonde girl behind one of the windows, who reveals her name is Marnie.
31. Ride Your Wave
Original Release: June 10, 2019
Running Time: 96 minutes
Hinako is an enthusiastic and energetic young student who has just moved to a coastal town for her studies, but above all in order to be able to practice her passion, surfing. One evening, illegal fireworks set off a fire in the apartment building where she lives.
Hinako is saved by Minato, a dedicated firefighter, and the two quickly fall in love and become a couple. They have happy days and have plans for the future, but the young man suddenly loses his life trying to save a drowning person. Collapsed, Hinako takes the disappearance of her love hard until Minato’s spirit reappears.
32. Arrietty
Original Release: July 17, 2010
Running Time: 95 minutes
The story takes place in Japan, in 2010. The Pilferers are little men about ten centimeters tall who live under the floors trying never to be seen by humans. As their name suggests, they live on pilferage, but only borrow what is strictly necessary. The film relates the adventures of the young Arrietty, 14, and her family living in a doll’s house, in a universe full of dangers.
The arrival of a young boy in this country house will completely transform the existence of our heroine. The film focuses on the meeting of a young boy and a young girl, here Arrietty the pilferer, and Shô, a young suffering child who has come to rest for a week in this old family home. Their meeting is the key to the story.
33. Pompo: The Cinéphile
Original Release: June 4, 2021
Running Time: 90 minutes
Operating from the movie capital of NYALLYWOOD, Pompo has made one Class B entertainment movie after another that everyone would enjoy. One day, Pompo’s “cinephile” assistant, Gene, discovers a new screenplay written by Pompo and is moved by its exquisite story.
However, Pompo urges him to realize it. This is Gene’s first directorial work. Meanwhile, Natalie, an ordinary girl who has just come to town with dreams of becoming a movie star, has been spotted by Pompo.
34. Ocean Waves
Original Release: May 5, 1993
Running Time: 72 minutes
Rikako Mutō is a student from Tokyo who has just been transferred to one of the institutes in Kōchi, a coastal city far from the capital, after her parents’ divorce. Rikako is a beautiful, intelligent young woman, good at studies and sports. However, she is unable to adapt to the social life of the school. Taku Morisaki and Yutaka Matsuno, two great friends from high school, attend the same high school, the former of whom begins to notice the young newcomer visibly.
35. Okko’s Inn
Original Release: June 11, 2018
Running Time: 94 minutes
After her parents die in a car accident and lose their memory, Oriko “Okko” Seki moves to the “Spring Inn”, a Ryokan where her grandmother works. There, Okko befriends the ghost of a child Makoto “Uribo” Tachiuri, Mineko’s deceased childhood friend. He goads Okko into being the future owner of the inn.
36. Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna
Original Release: February 21, 2020
Running Time: 94 minutes
Announced as the last installment in the saga of the original DigiDestined, Kizuna was a feature-length anime movie that delivered an emotional farewell to the series that inspired generations. With improved animation, a remixed soundtrack, and a strong, emotional story, Kizuna was a heartbreaking, yet fitting end to a 20-year-long saga. The DigiDestined had to unite with their partners once more to stop the mysterious Eosmon, a Digimon who seemed to kidnap the souls of DigiDestined around the world, only to discover that their time with their partner Digimon is coming to an end due to their growing up.
37. Napping Princess
Original Release: March 18, 2017
Running Time: 111 minutes
Morikawa, a teenager who lives with her father in Okayama, is bored at school and spends her time dreaming. In particular from Heartland, a world that is both futuristic and medieval, where she is a princess imprisoned for witchcraft. Ancient, the name of his dream character, has the power to give life to objects thanks to a magic tablet.
In the real world, Morikawa has lost her mom and is raised by her father Momotaro, a mute man who spends most of his time in his garage fixing and modifying cars. Morikawa’s life changes when he is arrested by the police. With her friend Morio, she will try to free him and unravel the mystery of his strange dreams.
38. Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
Original Release: March 6, 2004
Running Time: 98 minutes
Batou is a cyborg: a human enhanced with mechanical and electronic prostheses, he belongs to the elite unit of section 9 (anti-terrorism) working for the government. He cannot shake the memory of a cyborg woman he once loved, Major Motoko Kusanagi, who disappeared into the matrix, the network of networks.
Supported by his human partner Togusa, he will have to thwart a cybernetic plot. Gynoids (humanoid robots of feminine appearance), used to satisfy human sexual desires, massacre their buyers before destroying themselves.
39. The Boy and the Beast
Original Release: July 11, 2015
Running Time: 120 minutes
Kyuta, a boy lost in Tokyo, finds himself in a parallel universe, where he grows up with Kumatetsu, a bear-like creature that struggles to live. Kumatetsu trains Kyuta in the art of combat for several years. Kyuta embarks on an adventure that affects both worlds.
40. Pokémon: The First Movie
Original Release: July 18, 1998
Running Time: 75 minutes
The story takes up the original characters with a new plot, set between episodes 63 and 64 of season 1 of the television series. On a mysterious island, archaeologists have discovered a fossilized eyelash of Mew, the rarest Pokémon in the world. The researchers decide to create a clone of Mew, Mewtwo, using this sample, with the aim of offering it to Giovanni, the Leader of Team Rocket.
Unfortunately for them, it turns out that the clone has no desire to become their guinea pig. He destroys the lab and kills everyone in it with his incredible power. Following these events, he decides to organize a big tournament to bring together the best trainers, including Ash, Misty and Brock, with the aim of seizing their Pokémon, cloning them and becoming the master of the world.
41. The Last: Naruto the Movie
Original Release: December 6, 2014
Running Time: 112 minutes
Two years after the end of the Fourth Great Ninja War, the moon is getting closer and closer to earth for unknown reasons. Meanwhile, Naruto Uzumaki, thanks to the valor shown in the war, has become famous and admired by numerous girls and ninja of Konoha and around the world. Hinata Hyuga, who has always been in love with him, tries to declare herself about her by giving him a red scarf sewn by herself, but will be thwarted in the enterprise by the shyness and popularity that Naruto enjoys among her girls.
After yet another attempt by her, Hinata is kidnapped by the mysterious and powerful Toneri Otsutsuki, descendant of Hamura Otsutsuki, who came to Konoha only to kidnap her. Thwarted in the enterprise by Naruto, Toneri kidnaps Hinata’s younger sister, Hanabi, disappearing soon after.
42. Miss Hokusai
Original Release: May 9, 2015
Running Time: 90 minutes
The film begins in Edo in 1814, during the Edo Episode. Ō-Ei is one of four daughters of the painter Tetsuzo, later known as Hokusai. The film is set at the time when Ō-Ei is just coming of age, while her father (in his fifties) is already a recognized artist in the country. The studio where they both work is ramshackle.
She goes to her mother’s for dinner, but sleeps in the studio. Tetsuzo is known for his painterly skills, such as painting the Great Bodhidharma or two sparrows on a grain of rice. Ō-Ei has her father’s talent and stamina. She often paints at her table without signing her works in order to be able to complete the commissions. She gets no recognition for her work.
The film alternates between the life of Ō-Ei and her father and the visiting artists. Especially Zenjirō Ikeda (Keisai Eisen), who later became known for Bijin-ga and Kuninao Utagawa. Several scenes deal with Japanese mythology and Buddhism in Japan.
43. In This Corner of the World
Original Release: October 28, 2016
Running Time: 168 minutes
A young woman named Suzu, who is innocent and likes to draw, lives in a seaside town called Eba in the city of Hiroshima. In 1944, 18-year-old Suzu was working for her grandmother’s small family business, which harvests edible seaweed. One day, Suzu learns from her parents that an unknown young man is proposing marriage to her.
The man, Shūsaku, lives in Kure, the largest military port of the Japanese Navy, which is a major naval port city, located about twenty kilometers from the city of Hiroshima, as a civilian of the navy. Suzu agrees to marry him and moves to join Shūsaku’s family in Kure. As Suzu adjusts to her new life in Kure, the threat of Pacific War permeates Japanese daily life.
44. Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko
Original Release: June 11, 2021
Running Time: 120 minutes
Light-hearted, cheerful, passionate and always ready to eat something tasty, mother Nikuko falls in love with bad boys. His cheerful motto: “Being ordinary is better.” Of course, Nikuko’s loud and brave spirit embarrasses Kikuko, her 11-year-old daughter. Having nothing in common except living together on a boat in the harbor, a miracle happens when their secret is revealed.
45. Promare
Original Release: May 15, 2019
Running Time: 112 minutes
A huge firestorm devastated half the cities of the world, weakening men and giving birth to mutants able to wield fire, the Burnish. 30 years later, a group of terrorist mutants, called the Mad Burnish, threaten to destroy the Earth again. The only bulwark of humanity? The Burning Rescue, a team of firefighters of a new kind who will collide with the Mad Burnish. The film follows the adventures of Galo, the new recruit of a team of firefighters who uses mechas, nicknamed Matoi-Tech, during his missions.
46. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train
Original Release: October 16, 2020
Running Time: 119 minutes
After completing their rehabilitation and training at the Butterfly Domain, Tanjirō, Nezuko, Zenitsu, and Inosuke board the Infinity Train to meet the Pillar of Flame, Kyōjurō Rengoku, and assist him in his mission to eliminate a demon having made more than 40 victims.
47. One Piece Film: Z
Original Release: December 15, 2012
Running Time: 107 minutes
In this film, Luffy and his crew will have to face a former Navy admiral called Z who wants to eliminate all the pirates of the New World thanks to stones, the Dyna Rocks, whose destructive power equals those of the Ancient Weapons.
48. Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa
Original Release: July 23, 2005
Running Time: 105 minutes
The Elric brothers find themselves in two different worlds, separated by “the door”: Edward finds himself in a world where technology replaces alchemy (a world supposed to be ours, and featuring Hitler’s failed putsch in 1923, then that Alphonse is still in the world where they were born, ruled by alchemy.
Having been able, thanks to research carried out by an occult group close to the Führer called the Thule Society, to get in touch, the two brothers will do everything to find each other. Unfortunately, the powers of alchemy fascinate, and Edward is not the only one who wants to cross “the door”.
This episode is deeply rooted in the German interwar period and the historical references evoked are numerous and often correct, with the presence of various well-known characters from this period.
Thus Hitler or Fritz Lang play their own role, as well as Karl Haushofer, a Munich geopolitical scientist whose theories were taken over by Nazism, while Dietrich Eckart, one of the founders of the German Workers’ Party, finds himself in the female version in the character of Dietlinde Eckart.
49. Psycho-Pass 3: First Inspector
Original Release: March 27, 2020
Running Time: 137 minutes
Koichi Azusawa of the mysterious Bifrost criminal group plans an assault on the Public Security Bureau, using Chiyo Obata along with a pair of Pathfinders, Jackdaw and Vixen. Meanwhile, Shirogane returns to Bifrost where he prepares to bet against Shizuka Homura on the outcome of the raid. Azusawa locks down the bureau headquarters and with Obata frees the criminals in the cells and arms them to attack the detectives as a distraction.
Following the initial attack, Unit One is left without its inspectors, Unit Two is destroyed by the Pathfinders, and Unit Three is locked outside the building. Azusawa also takes Unit One inspector Arata Shindo hostage. Outside, Inspector Kei Milhail Ignatov is contacted by Shirogane, who promises to tell him the truth about his brother’s death in exchange for his loyalty.
Shugo follows Ignatov to the rendezvous point, where they are both ambushed by a sniper turret. Shinya Kogami and Nobuchika Ginoza, from the Law Enforcement Department of the Department of Foreign Affairs Operations, arrive and collaborate with Ignatov to foil the ambush and head to Public Safety. Azusawa demands that Governor Karina Komiya resign or everyone present in the building will be killed.
The Pathfinders capture the bureau chief, Harumi Hosorogi, to force the issue, but she jumps from the top of the building and dies rather than become Azusawa’s pawn. Meanwhile, Shion Karanomori and Karina Komiya find and free Arata.
50. Bleach: Memories of Nobody
Original Release: December 16, 2006
Running Time: 93 minutes
After returning from Soul Society and being in the human world, specifically, Karakura Town, Ichigo Kurosaki, and Rukia Kuchiki are attacked by a large number of unknown souls. While Ichigo and Rukia were surrounded by these spirits, a shinigami named Senna appears, a girl with purple hair and orange eyes, who easily destroys the spirits with her shikai.
As Senna denies answering any questions from Ichigo, the latter is forced to follow her. Meanwhile, in Soul Society a mysterious incident occurs: the stage of the human world will be projected in the sky of Soul Society. An official first-class readiness alert is sent to Gotei 13. Tōshirō Hitsugaya, captain of the 10th Division, and Rangiku Matsumoto, Lieutenant of the 10th Division, arrive in the human world to investigate the matter and meet Ichigo.
51. The Garden of Sinners: A Study in Murder – Part 1
Original Release: December 29, 2007
Running Time: 59 minutes
During a walk, the student Mikiya Kokutō meets the strange Shiki Ryōgi, standing in the snow and only wearing a kimono. During his enrollment at school, Mikiya meets her again. She does not make friends, but the talkative and friendly Mikiya manages to develop a friendly relationship with the girl, who is from the Ryōgi family.
This family has been trying for generations to create a human being who surpasses all other human beings. Thus, not only the children were pushed to learn different kinds of martial arts, but also to develop a split personality. This should serve the purpose of making different individuals specialize in different things. She was therefore given two names, Shiki and Shiki.
52. The Garden of Sinners: A Study in Murder – Part 2
Original Release: August 8, 2009
Running Time: 121 minutes
Although Shiki almost killed him two years ago, Mikiya still believes that she is not responsible for the murders from back then. However, the murderer who was up to mischief two years ago is back and suicides occur frequently when Shiki is once again out and about alone at night. Meanwhile, Mikiya meets the real killer, Lio Shirazumi, a former high school student at Mikiya’s school.
He has medium-length blond hair and wears a red jacket with a black skirt. Due to the resemblance of his clothes to Shiki’s, she was also mistaken for the killer. When Mikiya asks him why he did it, Lio replies that since Sōren awakened his true nature in him, an inner voice asked him to do it. He declines the offer of help and runs off.
53. The Transformers: The Movie
Original Release: August 8, 1986
Running Time: 85 minutes
It’s the year 2005. Unicron, a giant planet robot, is attacking Lithone, a planet located on the way to Cybertron. It devours the planet and sucks up the rubble, eradicating nearly all of its inhabitants. Only Kranix and Arblus escape it. The Decepticons have conquered the planet Cybertron, but the Autobots on Cybertron’s two moons are mounting a covert offensive to reclaim their world.
To do this, they planned to go to Earth to collect Energon. Laserbeak spies on the Autobots and reports the information to Megatron who then boards the shuttle and assassinates the crew (Brawn, Prowl, Ratchet, and Ironhide) in order to infiltrate Autobot Ville undetected and then storm it. Daniel, Spike’s son, is unhappy because he misses his father.
He picks up the signal from the shuttle and, accompanied by Hot Rod, he goes to see the panorama to witness the landing of the latter. Seeing that it is damaged, Hot Rod zooms in on the shuttle and discovers that it has been hijacked by the Decepticons.
A large battle between the two clans ensues, resulting in the deaths of several Autobots including Windcharger and Wheeljack. Ultra Magnus mounts a counteroffensive, tasking Springer and Arcee with turning the city into an armed fortress as well as Perceptor ordering Blaster to radio Optimus Prime for help.
54. The Cat Returns
Original Release: July 20, 2002
Running Time: 75 minutes
Haru is a 17-year-old high school girl full of doubts who does not find her place among the others. Her life changes the day when, on her way home from high school with her best friend Hiromi, she saves the life of a cat that is nearly run over by a truck. But it’s not just any cat, because this one speaks and introduces himself as Loon, the prince of the kingdom of cats.
The cats now owe Haru a debt. During the night, they shower her with gifts and the King of the Cats himself invites her to his kingdom where she will have to marry Prince Loon. The film is an initiatory tale of the passage from adolescence to adulthood.
55. Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone
Original Release: September 1, 2007
Running Time: 101 minutes
The 14-year-old student Shinji Ikari comes to Neo Tokyo-3 at the request of his father Gendō. On the way there, he finds himself in the middle of the battle of the military against a gigantic creature known as the “fourth angel”.
Shinji is taken to the headquarters of the secret UN organization NERV, which is run by his father. He is intended as a pilot for the Evangelion unit 01, a humanoid universal combat machine that was specially developed and built for the fight against the angels.
56. Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance
Original Release: June 27, 2009
Running Time: 112 minutes
At NERV’s Bethania base in the Arctic, Mari Illustrious Makinami is fighting the third angel with the makeshift Evangelion unit 05. She can finally defeat her opponent, however, EVA-05 is destroyed by an explosion triggered immediately after the fall of the third angel. Mari herself can get herself to safety with the Evangelion’s pilot capsule.
In Japan, Shinji Ikari and his father Gendō visit the grave of Shinji’s mother Yui together. When Shinji and Misato Katsuragi, who accompanied him to the meeting, are on their way back to Neo Tokyo-3, they find themselves in the middle of the fight against the seventh angel, who approaches the city.
57. Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo
Original Release: November 17, 2012
Running Time: 96 minutes
Fourteen years have passed since the Third Impact, but humanity is still under attack by the angels. Rescued from Evangelion Unit-01, Shinji Ikari realizes that things have changed, but not for the better: the world has been devastated and his former NERV allies have become hostile to him and Rei Ayanami. The new organization WILLE, led by Misato Katsuragi, exists solely to destroy the last remaining EVAs of NERV.
Although Shinji had risked everything for Rei, she has not yet been found in EVA unit 01. His former girlfriend Asuka is more hostile to him than ever, but reveals to him that none of the EVA pilots have aged in the past 14 years. During the first official meeting with Misato and Asuka, an attack by the EVA unit 09 sent by NERV, which is controlled by Rei, takes place.
58. Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time
Original Release: March 8, 2021
Running Time: 155 minutes
In Paris, a team from the WILLE organization, led by Maya Ibuki, is working on a system designed to restore the city to its previous state. When attacked by the forces of Nerv, they are defended by the Wunder fleet and Mari Illustrious Makinami in Unit-08. Mari defeats the attackers and WILLE’s team restores Paris.
Meanwhile, Asuka Shikinami Langley, Rei Ayanami, and Shinji Ikari, still dejected, walk on the outskirts of Tokyo-3. They finally arrive at a settlement made up of survivors and meet Toji Suzuhara, Hikari Horaki, and Kensuke Aida, now adults. Touji is a doctor and has a son with Hikari, while Kensuke is a technician and they are all friends with Shinji. Asuka expresses frustration with Shinji, force-feeding him.
59. Flavors of Youth
Original Release: July 6, 2018
Running Time: 75 minutes
Flavors of Youth is made up of three stories set in a different city:
- The Rice Noodles: A young employee working in Beijing remembers his childhood, his grandmother in his hometown, and the taste of rice noodles.
- A Little Fashion Show: Orphan sisters live in Canton; the eldest earns her living as a model to enable her sister to study.
- Love in Shanghai: In Shanghai, a young man finds a K7 recorded in 1999 by the girl he was in love with.
60. Whisper of the Heart
Original Release: July 15, 1995
Running Time: 111 minutes
The action takes place in the 1990s, in the new town of Tama, in the suburbs of Tokyo. The main theme revolves around the budding relationship between the two main protagonists as well as Shizuku’s search for his path. We note, as a secondary theme, a love game between young teenagers. As often in the films of Hayao Miyazaki (who is not the director, but was very involved in the project), the theme of manual work and craftsmanship is also in the background.
61. My Neighbors the Yamadas
Original Release: July 17, 1999
Running Time: 104 minutes
In 1999, Studio Ghibli — with Isao Takahata — produced My Neighbors the Yamadas as an animated film. With a simple and light drawing, and a series of independent scenes rather than a “one-thread” story, My Neighbors the Yamadas is a cartoon that manages to be both funny, and very poetic at times. But this animated film was a relative failure after the great success of previous films by Studio Ghibli and the director.
62. Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop
Original Release: July 25, 2020
Running Time: 87 minutes
Yui Sakura, known to her friends as Cherry, a shy young man fond of writing haikus, who replaces her mother at her job in a senior citizens’ club during their summer vacations and uses headphones to prevent people from talking to her on the street. , accidentally meets Yuki, an influencer known under the pseudonym Smile, who wears a Surgical Mask to hide her large incisors, the two develop a friendship while searching for a lost vinyl record.
63. BURN ☩HE WITCH
Original Release: October 2, 2020
Running Time: 63 minutes
The story takes place in “Reverse London”, a city hidden in the shadow of London, scarred by the damage caused by dragons, creatures invisible to most humans and causing enormous problems in a world which nevertheless has them. seen living together.
A third community is linked to the first two: the wizards, forming a group called Wing Bind, with among them Noel Niihashi and Ninny Spangcole whose main objective is to protect the inhabitants of the city from the sudden threat that are these dragons and to find a common understanding between them.
64. The Garden of Sinners: Remaining Sense of Pain
Original Release: February 9, 2008
Running Time: 57 minutes
Schoolgirl Fujino Asagami is sexually abused by several teenagers every week in an underground and run-down bar. She seems to be the perfect victim as she is very beautiful and unable to feel pain. One day she uses her dormant abilities and kills them all except Keita Minato, one of the rapists, who escapes.
Fujino is seen sitting in the rain on the street by Mikiya and since Mikiya can’t leave a girl out in the rain, he offers her to spend the night with him. Fujino, still in her school uniform, gratefully follows him. The next morning at breakfast, the dead boys are reported and it is explained that they deserved to die.
65. The Empire of Corpses
Original Release: October 2, 2015
Running Time: 126 minutes
The plot takes place during the industrial revolution. A brilliant scientist, Frankenstein, invented the first necromate, “The Creature”, a sentient being made from pieces of corpses. From then on, necromates become a major economic stake for nations, tireless and servile workers, they are used in the army as well as in civil society. John H. Watson, a young and brilliant necromatician, uses the body of his faithful friend Friday to create an illegal necromate. Discovered, he is forced to go in search of a mysterious newspaper that unleashes covetousness.
66. Digimon Adventure: Our War Game!
Original Release: March 4, 2000
Running Time: 40 minutes
The second movie of the franchise was still relatively short (40 minutes), but it was longer than the initial one. Our War Game! is set after the events of episode 54 and is centered around a corrupted Digimon that is devouring the data on the Internet. The Digimon grows and becomes stronger, as the DigiDestined reunite with their partner Digimon for the first time to defeat it.
Once their enemy reaches its final form – Diaboromon – the fight doesn’t just become a fight for the Internet, but also for the Real World. This film is set between Adventure and 02 and is referenced during the second season of the anime, and it served as a setup for one of the protagonists of 02 as well.
67. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
Original Release: July 15, 2006
Running Time: 98 minutes
It all starts in Japan with the adventure of Makoto Konno, a 17-year-old high school girl like the others. She befriends Chiaki and Kôsuke, two different students. Everything goes well, until the day she discovers that she can go back in time at will following a train accident that should have happened. She is helped by her witch aunt who mysteriously seems to know a lot about the subject.
Makoto uses her power to fix the mistakes she caused, but each time something else is taken away. Once, Kōsuke and Chiaki each fall in love with a girl they don’t know in high school. At the same time, Makoto does not hesitate to come to the aid of his friends for the love of girls. As Makoto used all of his power, Kōsuke was about to have the train wreck for him. But someone stopped time at that moment. This is Chiaki.
He tells her that he is from the future and that he was the one who gave power to Makoto. Moreover, he arrived here to see a painting that disappeared from his time. This is the one that Makoto’s aunt restored in her workshop. After that, Chiaki disappeared from the face of the earth. In the evening, she realizes that the last charge of her power has returned as a result of Chiaki’s time travel and uses it to bring him back, allowing her to return to her own time. The story always takes place on July 13.
68. Wolf Children
Original Release: June 25, 2012
Running Time: 117 minutes
Hana is a nineteen-year-old student who meets a boy she falls in love with at university. He reveals to her that he is a wolfwere, the last descendant of the now-extinct Japanese wolf. Nonetheless, the two get together, and when she finds out she is pregnant, she does not visit for fear of the baby being born a wolf.
Nine months later Yuki (“snow”) is born on a snowy day, and a year later her little brother Ame (“rain”) is born on a rainy day. Shortly after the birth of her son, the father disappears: in search of her, Hana discovers her accidental death during a hunt to procure prey for the young. Despite her pain, the girl decides to raise the children alone, a task that is far from easy for a single woman, especially considering that these children can turn into wolves.
After the owner of the condominium where they live threatens to evict them because she suspects the presence of animals (prohibited by the condominium regulations) and that social workers come to ask questions about the children who have not been subjected to scheduled vaccinations, Hana decides to move to the countryside to allow children to grow up without problems and to decide whether to live as humans or as wolves.
69. Summer Wars
Original Release: August 1, 2009
Running Time: 114 minutes
In 2010, Kenji Koiso is a young high school student with a passion for mathematics. He works in the summer at the IT department of Oz, an online social network that is a gigantic global virtual community in which companies and administrations have interactive facades. It is then that Natsuki asks him to accompany her to Nagano to help her out.
He then finds himself in the middle of preparation for the birthday party of the clan leader Jinnouchi while Natsuki asks him to play the role of boyfriend with his family. Meanwhile, Love Machine, an artificial intelligence, hacks Oz’s security system and attacks users and then administrative systems, causing global chaos.
70. Paprika
Original Release: September 2, 2006
Running Time: 90 minutes
In the near future, psychiatrist Atsuko Chiba uses a revolutionary therapy method, thanks to a corporate project of which she is a part, in which a group of researchers develops a device to consciously navigate through dreams and improve detection, analysis, and the solution of psychological traumas. With the knowledge of the team leader (Dr. Osanai), Dr. Chiba, through her alter-ego (named Paprika), begins working with the device to test it and, in the process, help psychiatric patients outside of the hospital research Center.
The therapy method consists of entering the mind of patients to treat their anxieties, seeing the details of dreams, avoiding the need for them to be narrated, and with the possibility of recording them. Three experimental prototypes are stolen, developed by the main researcher and creator, Dr. Tokita, to which security restrictions have not yet been added, allowing the user to see dreams and explore the unconscious thoughts of people connected to the machine from anywhere.
The thieves begin to use it to invade the minds of those in charge of development, affecting them during the day due to the excessive contact they have with the Mini DC, making Dr. Chiba the most susceptible to being affected. Turned into Paprika, Dr. Atsuka Chiba will carry out an investigation to find the cause of the robbery and discover his true intentions, going through several assumptions that lead to an unexpected culprit in the middle of the plot, but trigger a series of events designed to correct the damage caused.
71. The Garden of Sinners: Overlooking View (2007)
Original Release: December 1, 2007
Running Time: 49 minutes
In the summer of 1998, a mysterious series of incidents caused a stir, with schoolgirls throwing themselves off the Fujyō Building for no apparent reason. Rumor has it that ghosts are circling the skyscraper. Although Shiki and Tōko don’t think much of the case, Shiki enters the building after watching another fall and Mikiya falling into a deep sleep.
Inside, she encounters the responsible spirit, the soul of Kirie Fujō, which she just manages to escape. In the process, she was forced to sever her prosthetic arm and return to her apartment alone while Tōko works on a better arm. Convinced that the ghost is also responsible for Mikiya’s deep sleep, she enters the skyscraper again and climbs onto the roof.
72. The Castle of Cagliostro
Original Release: December 15, 1979
Running Time: 100 minutes
The action takes place in the fictional Duchy of Cagliostro, a small country that appears to be a conglomeration of various regions of Europe. The duchy is a land of mountains and lakes, with a city with a castle and a Roman aqueduct still in use. The protector of the dukedom is the police, who also have military qualities, and a group of assassins called “shadows”.
At the beginning of the movie, Lupine and Jigen are on the run after robbing Monaco’s national casino, only to discover that the money is counterfeit. The banknotes are of a very high quality and could be legendary perfect forgeries that have rocked the economies of nations since the invention of paper money. Just as Lupine was beginning his career as a professional thief, he was nearly murdered while searching for the source of the forgeries. He decides that it is time to resume the search in the dukedom of Cagliostro.
As soon as he arrives, he will run into a mysterious young woman dressed as a bride, who is desperately fleeing by car from a group of men who are chasing her. Without hesitation Lupine runs to help her, only to let her be captured again when Lupine is knocked unconscious and falls off a cliff. They find out later that she is Clarice, daughter of the deceased grand duke, and is betrothed to be married by a powerful earl.
The eccentricity, the persecutions, and the intrigue continue. Lupine meets an old acquaintance Fujiko, with whom he has a love-hate relationship, who introduces herself as an employee at the castle, and the swordsman Goemon is called in to help the gang in their final attack on the castle, Inspector Zenigata. from Interpol is on the side of Lupine and company with the order to clear things up.
73. Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’
Original Release: April 18, 2015
Running Time: 94 minutes
Two soldiers, Sorbet and Tagoma, from the army of Frieza, the former tyrant having been defeated by Son Goku on Namek, set out in search of the Dragon Balls on Earth, in order to resuscitate him. Once resuscitated, Frieza’s only goal is to get revenge on Son Goku.
He is informed that Goku has greatly gained in power and managed to defeat Boo. Frieza decides to train for four months, claiming to be able to surpass him in this period of time.
74. Belle
Original Release: July 15, 2021
Running Time: 124 minutes
The story follows that of a teenager, Suzu Naito, who lives between modern Japan and a virtual world called “U”. In this world, Suzu becomes Belle, a musical icon followed by more than 5 billion followers. This difficult double life for shy Suzu takes an unexpected turn when she meets the Beast. She then decides to unmask this fascinating and frightening creature.
75. A Silent Voice
Original Release: September 17, 2016
Running Time: 130 minutes
Nishimiya is a sweet and caring student. Every day, however, she is harassed by Ishida because she is hard of hearing. Denounced for his behavior, the boy is in turn ostracized and finds himself alone. Five years later, he learns sign language and goes in search of the young girl.
76. Memories
Original Release: December 23, 1995
Running Time: 113 minutes
- Magnetic Rose: The first episode, directed by Koji Morimoto, is based on Katsuhiro Ōtomo’s short story “Kanojo no omoide” and tells of two astronauts on a mission who set out in search of the origin of an emergency signal picked up by their spaceship, only to find themselves in a magnificent and hallucinating world, created from the memories of a mysterious woman.
- Stink Bomb: The second episode, directed by Tensai Okamura, is the story of a young chemist who, by a tragic mistake, accidentally turns into a deadly bioweapon headed for the city of Tokyo. The story is partly inspired by the story of Gloria Ramirez.
- Cannon Fodder: The third and final episode, directed by Katsuhiro Ōtomo, describes the day of a town strewn with cannons whose only activity is to open fire toward a distant and invisible enemy.
77. Stand by Me Doraemon
Original Release: August 8, 2014
Running Time: 95 minutes
Nobita Nobi, a 10-year-old Japanese boy, is a rather lazy child, very clumsy and above all extremely unlucky, he accumulates poor school results both in the main subjects and in physical education and maintains fragile relations with his friends. However , one night, Doraemon, a mysterious robot in the shape of a blue cat arrives in his room accompanied by another child who is none other than Nobita’s great-grandson.
They both come from the 22nd century where Nobita’s descendants still have to pay the debts he has accrued through incompetence. Doraemon’s mission is to help Nobita avoid a dire future full of failures and blunders as well as a regrettable marriage.
To make the task easier, Doraemon brought with him an array of futuristic gadgets stored in his four-dimensional pocket for Nobita to use in case of force majeure. But Doraemon is still unaware that the work that awaits him is not easy, indeed, Nobita is very stubborn and often abuses the gadgets that are at his disposal.
78. Her Blue Sky
Original Release: October 11, 2019
Running Time: 108 minutes
In the town of Chichibu (Saitama Prefecture), Akane, after the death of her parents, begins to take care of her younger sister Aoi, who from that moment begins to feel a deep debt of gratitude. In order to stay with her Aoi, she Akane had in fact given up moving to Tokyo with her boyfriend Shinnosuke, with whom she then she had no longer kept in touch. Thirteen years after their last meeting, Shinnosuke returns to the city of the two girls, under mysterious circumstances.
79. Harmony
Original Release: November 13, 2015
Running Time: 119 minutes
In a futuristic world that has survived a nuclear cataclysm called “Maelstrom” and the various civil wars that followed, humanity has founded a utopian society where everyone’s well-being has become the top priority. Indeed, the company is controlled by the “Administration” and its medical nanotechnology called “WatchMe”, used to protect and extend life expectancy.
In Japan, three young women, Cian Reikado, Miach Mihie and Tuan Kirie, the main character, reject this supposed “utopia” devoid of any real personal autonomy and attempt to commit suicide together, thus committing the crime of rejecting life itself. . While Miach succeeds in his attempt, Tuan and Cian will escape it.
80. The Anthem of the Heart
Original Release: September 19, 2015
Running Time: 119 minutes
As a young girl, Jun Naruse is horny and talkative. One day, she sees her father leaving a love hotel accompanied by another woman. Without understanding the situation, she tells her mother, resulting in the divorce of her parents who make her bear the responsibility. As she cries, she imagines a fairy egg cursing her by sealing her words so she won’t hurt people anymore. Due to his “curse”, Jun is unable to speak. She suffers from stomach aches every time she tries to speak.
Years later, when Jun was in high school, his homeroom teacher, Kazuki Jōshima, enrolled him as a member of the charity committee along with three other classmates: Takumi Sakagami, Natsuki Nitō, and Daiki Tasaki. When she goes to the Committee room to refuse the proposal, Jun hears Takumi singing and is captivated. She then tells Takumi about her past over text and asks him to turn her lyrics into a song, believing the “curse” will end if she sings instead of talking.
81. Pom Poko
Original Release: July 16, 1994
Running Time: 119 minutes
In the late 1960s, excessive urban development in Japan caused by the Tama New Town project is leading to intensive logging of Tama Hill near Tokyo, putting tanuki lands at risk. In the early 1990s, at the beginning of the Heisei era, the tanuki of all the hills of Tama, spurred on by the matriarch Oroku (called “fireball”) decide to work to stop the urban development led by humans.
The patriarchal council decides to study the nature of humans and to teach the young tanuki the art of “transformism”, a magical art lost in time that allows the tanuki to change their appearance while leading the resistance are the aggressive Gonta, the old Seizaemon, the wise Oroku, and the young Shoukichi.
The group of tanuki then exploits their illusory abilities to sabotage the jobs of humans, injuring and even causing the (involuntary) death of some of them, and forcing some frightened workers to leave their jobs. However, the urban planning of the humans does not stop, and the desperate tanuki send messengers on expeditions to ask for help from the patriarchs of other regions.
82. Bubble
Original Release: February 10, 2022
Running Time: 100 minutes
The story takes place in a city of Tokyo invaded by strange bubbles floating in the air. One day, Hibiki, a young parkour daredevil in the bubbles and Uta, a mysterious girl, hear a sound that they are the only ones to perceive.
83. The Garden of Sinners: The Hollow Shrine
Original Release: May 24, 2008
Running Time: 45 minutes
Before she can kill Mikiya, Shiki, emotionally depleted, is tricked into throwing herself in front of a car by the magician Sōren Araya. Driven by the goal of using Shiki’s body to reach the root of all things, which the magicians are searching for in vain, he conducts various experiments on Shiki and the town’s people.
Cared for by Mikiya, Shiki was in a coma for two years. When she wakes up in the hospital in June 1998, she sees the world superimposed with the “interfaces” of death. Overwhelmed by this horrible sight, she tries to gouge her eyes out. Classified as mentally unstable, the doctors forbid Mikiya to visit Shiki, who has just woken up and is lying aimlessly in bed.
84. Ninja Scroll
Original Release: June 5, 1993
Running Time: 94 minutes
A village is ravaged by a plague epidemic. The kunoichi Kagero accompanies a troop of ninjas sent on the spot to investigate but quickly exterminated by Tessai, one of the eight demons of Kimon. Kagero is saved in extremis from death by the intervention of Jubei Kibagami. The latter, a solitary ronin, is forced by Dakuan, a government agent, to fight each of Kimon’s eight demons with the help of Kagero. Jubei gradually realizes that their leader is none other than his worst enemy, Himuro Genma, who plans to seize power in Japan.
85. Batman Ninja
Release Date: April 24, 2018
Running Time: 85 minutes
While battling Gorilla Grodd, Batman is caught in his time machine and sent to feudal Japan. He is hunted there by samurai in the service of the Joker. While escaping, he encounters Catwoman, also time-bound for two years, who tells him that Gotham’s criminals are all there and have become feudal lords after abusing the daimyō.
Batman and Catwoman must therefore intervene to prevent the villains from re-writing history. To achieve this, Batman and his allies will have to learn the arts of ninjutsu to defeat their enemies led by Lord Joker who seeks the total domination of the feudal state and the final destruction of the dark knight.
86. The Garden of Sinners: Oblivion Recording
Original Release: December 20, 2008
Running Time: 58 minutes
Azaka is asked by Tōko to investigate an incident at her school where two girls attacked each other with knives while the teacher who was there seemed to forget everything immediately. Since strangers are not allowed to enter the premises of the renowned private school, Azaka starts the investigation.
Although she still harbors grudges against Shiki, she asks her for help tracking down fairies since she can see them. At school, they meet their class teacher Satsuki Kurogiri and shortly thereafter Misaya Ōji. The next day, Azaka learns from school documents that a class teacher disappeared after a fire at the school without giving notice.
87. Puella Magi Madoka Magica: The Movie – Beginnings
Original Release: October 6, 2012
Running Time: 130 minutes
In the city of Mitakihara, a girl named Madoka Kaname and her friend Sayaka Miki, encounter a creature named Kyubey, and are saved from the witches, by a magical girl named Mami Tomoe. Kyubey offers Madoka and Sayaka a chance to have any wish granted, but in exchange they must become magical girls and fight witches, however Homura Akemi, another magical girl who recently transferred to Madoka’s class, is against Madoka if she become a magical girl.
Before Madoka can make a decision, Mami is killed by a witch, leaving Madoka terrified, who is undecided about becoming a magical girl. However, Sayaka decides to become a magical girl, to heal the hand of her childhood friend, Kyosuke Kamijo.
And so Sayaka soon comes into conflict with another magical girl named Kyoko Sakura, who with Madoka, learn the shocking truth behind Soul Gems, the source of their magical powers, where literally their souls are stored. After learning that her classmate Hitomi Shizuki plans to confess to Kyosuke, Sayaka falls deeply into despair and her Soul Gem ends up darkening, which transforms into a Grief Seed, turning Sayaka into a witch.
88. Puella Magi Madoka Magica: The Movie – Eternal
Original Release: October 13, 2012
Running Time: 110 minutes
Madoka learns from Kyubey, whose real identity is the “Incubator”, that his species makes contracts with girls to become magical girls in order to use the energy generated from their transformations into witches to combat the entropy of the universe. Kyoko longs for a possibility, so that Sayaka can be human again, taking Madoka with her, to try to reach her humanity.
But they end up failing and Kyoko chooses to sacrifice herself to destroy Sayaka, but the two end up being destroyed. Meanwhile, Homura reveals that she came from another timeline, reliving the same month multiple times, in hopes of saving Madoka from a dark fate at the hands of the ultimate witch, Walpurgisnacht. Homura decides to face the Walpurgisnacht witch alone, but she always ends up being defeated, and she ends up almost going into despair, feeling that her efforts have become useless.
And then, Madoka appears and uses the energy built up from various timelines, to become a powerful magical girl, able to eliminate witches before they are born. This ends up changing the law of the universe and Madoka becomes a Goddess and Homura ends up being the only one who remembers her.
89. Puella Magi Madoka Magica: The Movie – Rebellion
Original Release: October 26, 2013
Running Time: 116 minutes
Madoka and the other magical girls reappear in Mitakihara and begin fighting new creatures born from the negative feelings of humans, known as “Nightmares”, but they have no recollection about what happened earlier. However, Homura realizes that something is wrong and after some investigation, she ends up recovering her lost memories and realizes that she, Madoka and the other girls are trapped in an alternate world, inside a witch’s barrier.
Homura realizes that the witch could be another person or creature, or else herself, Kyubey appears and reveals that she had fallen into despair and when she was about to become a witch, he and the other incubators isolated her Soul Gem to create one. trap to lure Madoka and take control of the Law of Cycles.
However, when Madoka appears, she forgets her duty, such as her immense power of the Law of Cycles, and so Kyubey starts watching over her. Homura with her memory recovered, forces herself to complete her transformation into a witch to have her soul destroyed, to protect Madoka from the incubators. At this moment Sayaka and a new girl named Nagisa Momoe, who came with Madoka to help Homura, take Madoka and the others to fight, to break the barrier and reach Homura’s real body.
Madoka regains her memories and her power from the Law of Cycles and hits Homura, but the last few casts of the curse on her Soul Gem, reveals that it’s not despair, but love. With this power, Homura suppresses Madoka’s powers and becomes a much more powerful existence than a magical girl or witch and refers to herself as a demon and a being that could exterminate a God.
So Homura captures Kyubey and rewrites the laws of the universe, to create a new world where Madoka can live in peace. In the end, she realizes that Madoka will eventually remember the truth and possibly become enemies.
90. Genocidal Organ
Original Release: February 3, 2017
Running Time: 114 minutes
Following the attack of September 11, 2001, security pressure was further increased and mass surveillance was seen as a solution. In 2015, after the explosion of a homemade nuclear weapon of terrorist origin which devastated the city of Sarajevo, conflicts and genocides broke out in all four corners of the world. In the United States, all actions are now monitored under a complete crackdown on individual freedoms. Clavis Shepherd, a captain of the special forces investigates the origin of these genocides. In 2020, he is suing a man named John Paul, who is said to be the trigger for all genocides.
91. Vampire Hunter D
Original Release: December 21, 1985
Running Time: 80 minutes
The action takes place in 12090. As a result of the last war, which ended 10 thousand years earlier, humanity was on the verge of death. Power over the world was seized by vampires who terrorized humanity. Due to the generous bounty on their heads, a special class of mercenaries, vampire hunters, appeared, greatly reducing their numbers.
The surviving vampires hid in inaccessible shelters, from where they continued to make bloody raids. Doris Lang, the daughter of a werewolf hunter, follows in her dead father’s footsteps by slaying werewolves. One day, while hunting, she is attacked by the head of the local vampire clan, Count Magnus Lee. He bit her, but left her alive, and Doris, realizing that the count will return for her, hires a mysterious vampire hunter known as Dee, not yet knowing that he is a dhampir (half-human and half-vampire), an outcast both for people and for vampires.
92. Roujin Z
Original Release: September 14, 1991
Running Time: 84 minutes
It tells the story of Haruko, a nursing student, and Mr. Takazawa, an old man whom he takes care of in his spare time. In Japan, the Ministry of Health must take care of a large number of elderly people, so it develops a cyborg assistant, a kind of automatic stretcher, to take care of them, and Mr. Takasawa is the first to try it. Haruko becomes restless and begins to investigate.
Actually, the designer of Project Z, the name of the automaton, works for the security departments and agencies of the United States, and develops this device as a military prototype. The bed, which contains Mr. Takazawa, manages to connect with Haruko and takes on the personality of the old man’s deceased wife.
93. Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise
Original Release: February 19, 1987
Running Time: 119 minutes
The film takes place in the fictional kingdom of Honneamise, in an alternate world and humanity, resembling the real world and humanity. The army saw the birth within it of an aerospace section with the avowed aim of sending men into space, an undertaking never before carried out and regularly reduced to failure.
While the authorities are thinking of stopping the financing of the Royal Space Force, the incredulous Shiro volunteers for a new mission, freshly convinced of the merits of such a trip by his meeting with the pious Riquinni. But the trouble begins with the training and the construction of a rocket, because the kingdom is going through an economic and military crisis that is pushing its inhabitants to expect more social measures from the authorities.
94. Metropolis
Original Release: May 26, 2001
Running Time: 113 minutes
In Metropolis, a futuristic city, humans, and robots coexist, but live in well-defined spaces. In an atmosphere bathed in jazz music, this city is the scene of a police investigation led by a Japanese inspector and his young nephew, Kenichi, about a scientist accused of organ trafficking, Doctor Laughton, who serves the most powerful man in town.
This uses the services of the scientist to create an ultra-modern robot, having the appearance of his late daughter, Tima. This robot is the key to a secret weapon destined to ensure world domination, the Ziggurat, a high tower like the Tower of Babel, designed to equal God.
Following the assassination of Dr. Laughton, Tima finds herself for a time lost in the gigantic city, and meets Kenichi, with whom she escapes many dangers, and from whom she suffers cruelly from being separated, to fulfill her destiny of domination. Kenichi doesn’t want to let Tima turn into a cold, overbearing robot trying to destroy the human species.
95. Tekkonkinkreet
Original Release: December 22, 2006
Running Time: 110 minutes
Set in the fictional town of Takara-machi, the story of two street kids: the cunning and badass Kuro and little Shiro. These two orphans have made it their mission to protect their neighborhood. Nicknamed the “Cats”, Neko, their reputation has crossed the city. This is why when the yakuza undertake to make the neighborhood a place for their business, the two protagonists decide to declare war on them. The “Serpent”, Hebi, charged by the yakuza with carrying out the project, has decided to begin by eliminating the two orphans.
96. Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters
Original Release: November 17, 2017
Running Time: 88 minutes
In the last summer of the 20th century, giant monsters began to plague the Earth and humanity was almost endangered by a monster that wiped out the others: Godzilla. It was at this time that two ulterior motive extraterrestrial races, the religious Exif and the technologically advanced Bilusaludo, arrived on Earth to offer their aid against Godzilla. But after the Bilusaludo’s Mechagodzilla-based tactic failed before it was activated, both the aliens and humanity were forced to leave Earth and migrate to Tau-e via the Aratrum.
97. Patlabor: The Movie
Original Release: July 15, 1989
Running Time: 98 minutes
In 1999, the city of Tokyo initiated a large-scale policy of redevelopment of the territory by authorizing the construction of a monumental polder extending over Tokyo Bay to fill the gaps in livable space. The so-called “Babylon” project is assisted by the “Labors”, human-operated handling robots which are used for the main part of the project and handled in “the Ark”, an artificial island specially created nearby.
During the same period, a high number of strange cases multiply: unmanned Labors act independently and indiscriminately and jeopardize the security of the Bay. Squadron 2 of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police, a specialist in the handling and piloting of highly sophisticated Labors fitted out for civil protection, is called upon to conduct the investigation.
98. Redline
Original Release: August 14, 2009
Running Time: 102 minutes
In the distant future, “Sweet JP” and other car racers compete to win the underground race that takes place once every 5 years somewhere in the universe: Redline. In this race, everything is allowed and the vehicles are all modified to annihilate the opponents and exceed the speed limits.
99. The Garden of Sinners: Future Gospel
Original Release: September 28, 2013
Running Time: 88 minutes
A bomber shakes the city with his commissioned explosions. His skills in evaluating the future allow him to be infallible until his fate crosses that of Shiki. In the meantime, Mikiya meets a girl capable of predicting the future.
100. Boruto: Naruto the Movie
Original Release: August 7, 2015
Running Time: 96 minutes
As Sasuke confronts Kinshiki and Momoshiki Ōtsutsuki, who seem affiliated with Kaguya, Konohamaru’s genin team of Boruto, Sarada, and Mitsuki are tasked with capturing a bear that resembles a panda; having succeeded in their mission, they return their report to Naruto. Boruto, Naruto’s son who became the 7th Hokage, criticizes his father for always putting his duty before his family.
Even on his daughter’s birthday, Naruto, too busy to go, sends a clone there to celebrate, but disappears due to the original running out. The young ninja meets Sasuke, who has returned from a mission, and asks him to take him on as a student; the latter accepts only if he masters the “Whirling Orb”.
Asking Konohamaru to introduce him to this technique, Boruto manages to master it, but without realizing it, in a different form, invisible and projectable. Sasuke realizes this, and eventually agrees to take him on as a disciple, though Boruto tries to trick him into creating a classic “Whirling Orb”, through an artifact called “ninja gun”, capable of summoning any ninja technique with mini-scrolls.