Six Iconic Anime Films You Should Watch
Anime is an umbrella term that encompasses a wide variety of media in terms of its genre, tone, and visual style. The rich mythology and medieval history of Japan is often use as inspiration. Studio Ghibli employed Shinto legend to produce Spirited Away, a touching coming-of-age movie, and the early Western success Ninja Scroll used shogunate myth to create a brutal and grim fantasy adventure.
Popular anime like Akira and Ghost in the Shell takes their cues from prophecy in exploring the future and the fusion of humans and technology. Also lauded is the medium’s exploration of Japan’s conventional and nuclear conflict past.
If you want to see everything anime offers, we’ve listed the best anime movies for you to watch. It only takes a click to access manga and download your favorite anime movie.
1. Arrietty
In Tokyo, Sho’s parents are ignoring his heart condition. Awaiting heart surgery, he has moved in with his Aunt Sadako and her maid Haru, but he still misses his mom.
Sadako’s basement is home to Arrietty, 14, her father, Pad, and her mother, Homily. They are like little Borrowers. Only they borrow things for the home. After seeing Arrietty working in the garden, Sho offers to assist her father harvest that evening. Arrietty leaves Sho a sugar cube in his room, but Sho leaves it via a basement window the next day. After Arrietty’s flatmate discovers her parents, they uproot and move. Haru plans to abduct the dwarf people.
Sadness permeates the story of friendship in “Kari-Higurashi no Arietti.” Arrietty is so endearing it’s nearly impossible to keep from loving her. Despite the upbeat tone, Sho, Arrietty, and her family still don’t know what lies ahead. With any luck, the child will fully recover from heart surgery, and Arriety will find a loving forever home.
2. Howl’s Moving Castle
This beautiful film is Ghibli’s interpretation of the novel of the same name by Dianne Wynne Jones.The novel’s strong characters and extraneous story elements were deleted to compress the film’s narrative. Despite this modification, the tale is skilfully recreated and stays loyal to Hayao Miyazaki in the finest way, captivating us with a fascinating storyline and showing us another gorgeous, lovely universe.
The combination of stunning animation and a soothing score achieves a magical and ethereal atmosphere. Sophie, Howl, and the Witch of the West’s redemption are brilliantly depicted. The film introduced her as the villain.
They did spend time exploring the concept of war’s repercussions, which they could have expanded upon if they hadn’t resolved the issue with a convenient storyline at the film’s conclusion. Except for a coming-of-age story read into Sophie’s character growth, it lacks the moral complexity and difficulties of many other well-known Ghibli films. The plot also has a little tempo problem, dragging at several parts before speeding up for the last act. Apart from that, it’s an excellent film for the whole family to enjoy.
3. Only Yesterday
Taeko Okajima (Miki Imai) is a successful single woman who takes her first extended trip outside of Tokyo to visit her sister’s family in rural Yamagata during the annual safflower harvest. When Taeko is on the train, she often thinks back to her younger self. The adult Taeko often wonders if the younger Taeko would have enjoyed her demanding life.
4. Kiki’s Delivery Service
Studio Ghibli Forever is an adorable animation series by acclaimed Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki. Like his classic, My Neighbor Totoro, this novel for young readers serves as a lesson for women while incorporating fantasy and minor catastrophes into a story about ordinary youngsters. Kiki is a witch from an early age, a profession with nothing to do with wickedness. When she turns 13, she’s expecting to take a “gap year” to practice witchcraft. She stays with a talented baker, for whom she launches a broomstick delivery business staffed by herself and her sardonic cat, Jiji.
5. Violet Evergarden
The production values are superb. The story is beautiful because of the genuineness and accuracy of the series’ depiction of human feeling. The ups and downs that Violet goes through emotionally are heartfelt and genuine, as if someone were sitting next to her, feeling her pain.
Many of us have lost the aptitude to feel deeply because of our culture’s long neglect of work. Despite her tragic history and quirks, she had a lot of great friends and individuals who helped her out when she needed it. Storylines in the show touch on a wide range of topics, from melancholy to the importance of self-expression to the power of dialogue and love (of course). Given each story’s emotional weight and effective delivery, I feel compelled to observe the following aesthetic.
6. Ponyo
The newest animated film from Hayao Miyazaki, Ponyo on the Seaside, is endearing in its customary softness. The trailer’s music was so gently hypnotic that I didn’t need to be convinced to watch the movie next week before it officially opens.
Nara Yuria provides the voice for Ponyo, a magical goldfish with an insatiable curiosity about the world above water. Her humanoid father, Fujimoto (Tokoro Joji), is displeased by her wishes. He despises humans for polluting the planet and occasionally brings up environmental conservation and Mother Nature’s vengeance. Sosuke (Doi Hiroki) lives on a cliff with his mom Lisa (Yamaguchi Tomoko), and dad Koichi (a sailor). Sosuke and his mom found Ponyo washed up on the beach, and Sosuke took him in (Nagashima Kazushige). We may assume some references to The Little Mermaid or a more family-friendly take on Splash. Adding more would be a spoiler.
There is a lot of focus on the mother-son relationship between Sosuke (Koichi) and Lisa (Lisa). Ponyo is far cuter than Bolt, WallE, or Eve.
Classic Anime Accessibility
The high number of Western fans has hurt the availability of anime. Despite the best efforts of current streaming platforms, it can be challenging to discover many notable anime films due to their original limited release. Due to this, obscure anime movies like Patlabor: The Movie and Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise have developed a dedicated fanbase.
