Anime is a brilliant medium of cinema that continues to evolve and is constantly getting more and more popular worldwide with the arrival of streaming services like Crunchyroll and Funimation and Netflix’s ever growing library of anime. Anime in general spans over countless titles, genres and rich art styles. As many of us know, a lot of 90’s anime inspired a lot of iconic films worldwide. Here are our picks for nine iconic anime movies that we think every anime fan or moviegoer should watch right now.
Spirited Away
Spirited Away is an undisputable iconic hit, one that continues to enthral and charm audiences across generations. This film introduced the global audience to the many incredible works of Studio Ghibli.
“Ten-year-old Chihiro Ogino and her parents are traveling to their new home when her father decides to take a shortcut. The family’s car stops in front of a tunnel leading to what appears to be an abandoned amusement park, which Chihiro’s father insists on exploring, despite his daughter’s protest. They find a seemingly empty restaurant still stocked with food, which Chihiro’s parents immediately begin to eat. While exploring further, Chihiro reaches an enormous bathhouse and meets a boy named Haku, who warns her to return across the riverbed before sunset. However, Chihiro discovers that her parents have been transformed into pigs, and she is unable to cross the now-flooded river.”
This absolutely surreal, magical tale has thematic depth,creativity and fills the audience with nostalgia even when watching for the first time.
Akira
This one is hailed a masterpiece for its epic narrative,creativity,incredible artstyle,stunning visuals and heavy atmospheric soundtrack.
“Akira follows Shōtarō Kaneda and Tetsuo Shima, two teenage biker gang members with no stake in Neo-Tokyo’s post-nuclear apocalypse society. Their Clockwork Orange-esque disregard for life is thrown into flux when Tetsuo attains immense telekinetic abilities, drawing the attention of Colonel Shikishima and his government-backed secret organisation. ”
Akira is a global phenomenon and is recognised as a very inspiration piece in sci-fi genre.
Ghost In The Shell
Ghost In The Shell is so monolithic not just in anime, but sci-fi as a whole with a philosophically-charged screenplay and iconic visuals. This film is one of the many anime movies that inspired so many modern Hollywood film themes.
“Set in New Port City, 2029, it follows augmented police agent Major Motoko Kusanagi as she hunts down the Puppet Master, a ghost-hacking terrorist who has been taking over the tech-infused minds of powerful and valuable people”
Perfect Blue
Satoshi Kon’s psychological thriller Perfect Blue is an accomplished and unsettling exploration of obsession, celebrity, and reality.
“A pop singer gives up her career to become an actress, but she slowly goes insane when she starts being stalked by an obsessed fan and what seems to be a ghost of her past.”
This film is genuinely unsettling. The line between what is real and what is not slowly begins to fade as the plot progresses. This film is genuinely one of the greatest psychological thrillers ever made in any language.
Grave Of The Fireflies
This is one of the movies that everyone should watch once but its too hard to go for a rewatch. Grave Of the Fireflies is set during World war II and follows two orphan siblings as they struggle to survive after death of their mother. This is one of the darkest animated movies ever created and it just goes downhill with the emotions. But its very well made and is a must watch for everyone.
Tokyo Godfathers
Tokyo Godfathers is a heart-warming and bittersweet anime holiday movie that’ll raise a laugh as quickly as draw a tear. In a sentimental turn by Perfect Blue‘s Satoshi Kon, the movie follows three homeless individuals (a drunk, a drag queen, and a runaway) who find an abandoned newborn on Christmas Eve. The trio decides to reacquaint the child with its mother, and travel the streets of Tokyo on Christmas Day, encountering various individuals who slowly reveal the sad and dark truth behind the child’s lineage.
Princess Mononoke
Another Miyazaki masterpiece, Princess Mononoke is decidedly darker than the usual Studio Ghibli fare. This historical fantasy tells the story of Ashitaka, a prince corrupted by a deadly curse. Leaving his home in search of a cure, he soon finds himself caught in the middle of a war between gods of the forest and an industrious human mining colony. The movie is clear in its overarching themes of environmentalism and mortality, more nuanced than the typical good-bad binary. A thoroughly gorgeous, imaginative work of epic fantasy fiction.
Weathering With You
This is the latest film by the director of another very iconic anime movie, YOUR NAME. Sixteen-year-old runaway Hodaka tries to eke out a living on the streets of Tokyo during a torrentially rainy summer. A wonderfully realised fantasy about people who can control the weather, it tackles social issues and personal problems alike while still being a fun story.
A Silent Voice
“A young man is ostracized by his classmates after he bullies a deaf girl to the point where she moves away. Years later, he sets off on a path for redemption.”
Now this might sound a bit cliche to some but this right here is a the realest and the most devastating High School film ever and it yet manages to be very hopeful. It tackles issues like suicide,bullying and social anxiety in such an perfect way. This is just one of those movies that everyone must watch. Its genuinely heartbreaking and will probably show you important new perspectives.
So this is it for now. Anime does have a little bad reputation because of the fanbase but anime is a stellar medium of art and creativity that just never fails to impress. Yes a lot of anime are not for everyone but some of these movies are just so important that everyone should watch these.
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