Welcome to AnimeKing and today we're counting down our picks for the top 10 anime films. For this list we're looking at a mix of anime feature films that have garnered considerable critical acclaim from audiences worldwide these are movies that can be enjoyed by casual moviegoers outside of the core anime community and are well worth the watch.
10) Millennium Actress(2001)
Millennium Actress is a 2001 Japanese anime by director Satoshi Kon and animated by the Studio Madhouse. It tells the story of a documentary filmmaker investigating the life of an elderly actress in which reality and cinema become blurred. It is based on the life of Setsuko Hara.Chiyoko Fujiwara was a top-star actress, who suddenly quit at the height of her career. Genya Tachibana is a director who is seeking her out in order to produce a documentary on her life. This film serves as a "play within a play". Chiyoko's life spans the tumultuous period surrounding World War II, while her characters in movies span a time period from the Sengoku period to a futuristic space age.
9) Wolf Children(2012)
Hana, a hard-working college
student, falls in love with a mysterious man who attends one of her classes
though he is not an actual student. As it turns out, he is not truly human
either. On a full moon night, he transforms, revealing that he is the last
werewolf alive. Despite this, Hana's love remains strong, and the two
ultimately decide to start a family.Hana gives birth to two healthy
children—Ame, born during rainfall, and Yuki, born during snowfall—both
possessing the ability to turn into wolves, a trait inherited from their
father. All too soon, however, the sudden death of her lover devastates Hana's
life, leaving her to raise a peculiar family completely on her own. The stress
of raising her wild-natured children in a densely populated city, all while
keeping their identity a secret, culminates in a decision to move to the
countryside, where she hopes Ame and Yuki can live a life free from the
judgments of society. Wolf Children is the heartwarming story about the
challenges of being a single mother in an unforgiving modern world.
8) Redline(2009)
Every five years, an exhilarating
race called Redline is held, and the universe's most anticipated competition
has only one rule: that there are none. Racers are pushed to their absolute
limit—a feeling that daredevil driver JP knows all too well. Having just
qualified to participate in Redline, he is eager to battle against the other
highly skilled drivers, particularly the beautiful rising star and the only
other human that qualified, Sonoshee McLaren.But this year's Redline may
be far more dangerous than usual—it has been announced to take place on the
planet Roboworld with its trigger-happy military and criminals who look to turn
the race to their own advantage. However, the potential danger doesn't stop the
racers; in fact, it only adds to the thrill. Relying solely on his vehicle's
speed, JP prepares for the event to come, aiming to take first place in the
biggest race of his life.
7) Ghost in the Shell(1995)
In this post-cyberpunk iteration of a possible
future, computer technology has advanced to the point that many members of the
public possess cyberbrains, technology that allows them to interface their
biological brain with various networks. The level of cyberization varies from
simple minimal interfaces to almost complete replacement of the brain with
cybernetic parts, in cases of severe trauma. This can also be combined with
various levels of prostheses, with a fully prosthetic body enabling a
person to become a cyborg. The main character of Ghost in the Shell,
Major Motoko Kusanagi, is such a cyborg, having had a terrible accident
befall her as a child that ultimately required her to use a full-body prosthesis
to house her cyberbrain. This high level of cyberization, however, opens the
brain up to attacks from highly skilled hackers, with the most dangerous being
those who will hack a person to bend to their whims.
6) Howl's Moving Castle
That jumbled piece of
architecture, that cacophony of hissing steam and creaking joints, with smoke
billowing from it as it moves on its own... That castle is home to the
magnificent wizard Howl, infamous for both his magical prowess and for being a
womanizer—or so the rumor goes in Sophie Hatter's small town. Sophie, as the
plain daughter of a hatmaker, does not expect much from her future and is
content with working hard in the shop.However, Sophie's simple life
takes a turn for the exciting when she is ensnared in a disturbing situation,
and the mysterious wizard appears to rescue her. Unfortunately, this encounter,
brief as it may be, spurs the vain and vengeful Witch of the Waste—in a fit of
jealousy caused by a past discord with Howl—to put a curse on the maiden,
turning her into an old woman.
In an endeavor to return to normal, Sophie must
accompany Howl and a myriad of eccentric companions—ranging from a powerful
fire demon to a hopping scarecrow—in his living castle, on a dangerous
adventure as a raging war tears their kingdom apart.
5) The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya(2010)
On a cold December day, Kyon arrives at school prepared
for another outing with his fellow SOS Brigade members. However, much to his
surprise, he discovers that almost everything has changed completely: Haruhi
Suzumiya and Itsuki Koizumi are nowhere to be found; Mikuru Asahina does not
recognize him at all; Yuki Nagato is a regular human; and Ryouko Asakura has
mysteriously returned. Although he is no stranger to the supernatural, Kyon is
disturbed by this odd turn of events and decides to investigate on his own.Finding
himself to be the only person that is aware of the previous reality, Kyon is
now faced with a difficult choice: to finally live the normal life he has
always wanted, or uncover a way to turn back the hands of time and restore his
chaotic yet familiar world.
4) Princess Mononoke(1997)
When an Emishi village is attacked by a fierce demon
boar, the young prince Ashitaka puts his life at stake to defend his tribe.
With its dying breath, the beast curses the prince's arm, granting him demonic
powers while gradually siphoning his life away. Instructed by the village
elders to travel westward for a cure, Ashitaka arrives at Tatara, the Iron
Town, where he finds himself embroiled in a fierce conflict: Lady Eboshi of
Tatara, promoting constant deforestation, stands against Princess San and the sacred
spirits of the forest, who are furious at the destruction brought by the
humans. As the opposing forces of nature and mankind begin to clash in a
desperate struggle for survival, Ashitaka attempts to seek harmony between the
two, all the while battling the latent demon inside of him. Princess
Mononoke is a tale depicting the connection of technology and nature,
while showing the path to harmony that could be achieved by mutual acceptance.
3)Your Name(2016)
Mitsuha Miyamizu is a high school girl living in the
countryside town of Itomori. She yearns for a life in Tokyo as she is sick of
living in the countryside. At the same time, Taki Tachibana, a high school
student, lives in Tokyo and has a great interest in architecture, aiming to
become an urban planner in the near future.One day, Mitsuha dreams of herself
as a boy living a life in the dense capital, while Taki dreams of living as a
girl in the rural town of Itomori. As time passes by, the two discover that
these are not just dreams, but that they actually swap bodies upon falling
asleep! Kimi no Na wa. revolves around Mitsuha and Taki as they
experience the supernatural. With both of them working together to deal with
the strange phenomenon, how will this impact their everyday life?
2)Akira(1988)
Japan, 1988. An explosion caused by a young boy with
psychic powers tears through the city of Tokyo and ignites the fuse that leads
to World War III. In order to prevent any further destruction, he is captured
and taken into custody, never to be heard from again. Now, in the year 2019, a
restored version of the city known as Neo-Tokyo—an area rife with gang violence
and terrorism against the current government—stands in its place. Here,
Shoutarou Kaneda leads "the Capsules," a group of misfits known for
riding large, custom motorcycles and being in constant conflict with their
rivals "the Clowns."During one of these battles, Shoutarou's best
friend Tetsuo Shima is caught up in an accident with an esper who finds himself
in the streets of Tokyo after escaping confinement from a government
institution. Through this encounter, Tetsuo begins to develop his own
mysterious abilities, as the government seeks to quarantine this latest psychic
in a desperate attempt to prevent him from unleashing the destructive power
that could once again bring the city to its knees.
1)Spirited Away(2003)
Stubborn, spoiled, and naïve, 10-year-old Chihiro Ogino
is less than pleased when she and her parents discover an abandoned amusement
park on the way to their new house. Cautiously venturing inside, she realizes
that there is more to this place than meets the eye, as strange things begin to
happen once dusk falls. Ghostly apparitions and food that turns her parents
into pigs are just the start—Chihiro has unwittingly crossed over into the
spirit world. Now trapped, she must summon the courage to live and work amongst
spirits, with the help of the enigmatic Haku and the cast of unique characters
she meets along the way.Vivid and intriguing, Sen to Chihiro no
Kamikakushi tells the story of Chihiro's journey through an unfamiliar world
as she strives to save her parents and return home.
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