Top 10 Best Anime Movies of All Time

Most anime movies were created with the young ones in mind, but the genre is full of masterpieces that remain equally enthralling as decades go by. Many of these hidden jewels remained under the radar until just a few years ago, as locating VHS tapes or DVDs required knowing someone who was part of this devoted fandom.

1. Spirited Away

A 10-year-old girl Chihiro wanders into a weird and strange world with her parents, and her parents are transformed into pigs due to the witchy curse. She decides to work hard in the bathhouse under the rule of the witch named Yubaba to help them, losing her real name and changed to Sen.

Release: 2001
Genre: Fantasy, Drama
Director: Hayao Miyazaki (宮崎駿)

2. Your Name

The story proceeds with two main characters: Taki Tachibana living in the metropolitan Tokyo and Mitsuha Miyamizu living in the countryside. One day, they notice that their bodies are switched with each other, and that is intermittently repeated. Taki and Mitsuha are getting more and more about each other while being puzzled under the strange condition.

Release: 2016

Genre: Fantasy

Director: Makoto Shinkai (新海誠)

3. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

The setting of the anime is 20 years after the world in the novel. There are three main characters who are high schoolers in The Girl Who Leapt Through Time: Makoto, Kosuke and Chiaki. They live in the ordinary high school life, where there are general adolescent interests such as love, study and career choice in this anime. However, Makoto notices she becomes able to transport herself to the past.

Release: 2006
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Director: Mamoru Hosoda (細田守)

4. Akira

The setting is Neo Tokyo in 2019, where Tokyo is destroyed due to the outbreak of WWIII. There are two main characters in Akira: a leader of the Bosozoku group (Japanese biker gang) named Shotaro Kaneda and his childhood friend Tetsuo Shima. The story unfolds first when Tetsuo gains a supernatural power after a motorcycle accident.

Release: 1988
Genre: Cyberpunk, Science Fiction
Director: Katsuhiro Otomo (大友克洋)

5. A Silent Voice

A Silent Voice (聲の形) was produced by Kyoto Animation as the anime movie adaption of the 7-volume manga published in 2013-2014. The moving anime has sensitive social themes such as teens bullying, suicide, disabilities, parental divorce and so on. This anime movie focuses on two main characters: a deaf girl Shoko Nishimiya and Shoya Ishida who bullied her in elementary school.

Release: 2016
Genre: Drama
Director: Naoko Yamada (山田尚子)

6. Grave of the Fireflies

Taking place toward the end of World War II in Japan, Grave of the Fireflies is the poignant tale of the relationship between two orphaned children, Seita and his younger sister Setsuko.

 (火垂るの墓, Hotaru no Haka) is a 1988 anime movie written and directed by Isao Takahata

7. My Neighbor Totoro

A family moves to a rural village, consisting of an elementary schooler Satsuki, her young sister Mei and their father Tatsuo. Her mother stays in the hospital located near the village. One day, the kids meet mystic creatures names Totoro. If you have not watched any Studio Ghibli films, it’s recommended to start with this.

Release: 1988
Genre: Fantasy
Director: Hayao Miyazaki (宮崎駿)

8. Weathering with You

A high school boy Hodaka gets away from home in a remote island to Tokyo. A young girl Hina survives without parents in the busy city. They meet each other and come to help many people who hope good weather for their important days such as wedding and festivals, using her supernatural ability to change the weather. Weathering with You includes a lot of themes you need to consider such as unusual meteorological phenomena, child rearing, poverty and so on.

Release: 2019
Genre: Fantasy, Slice of life
Director: Makoto Shinkai (新海誠)

 9. Wolf Children

Wolf Children (おおかみこどもの雨と雪), known as one of the masterpieces of Mamoru Hosoda, was produced in 2012 by Studio Chizu which is the animation studio founded by the director. The main character Hana meets a man in the university in Tokyo, who can transform into a wolf. Then, they have two kids Yuki and Ame who can also change their forms into wolf and get back into human. As they grow up, their inner conflicts are increasing: they should live as a human or a wolf.

Release: 2012
Genre: Fantasy, Drama
Director: Mamoru Hosoda (細田守)

10.Stand by Me Doraemon

Doraemon is one of the most famous and popular anime worldwide, and the first 3D computer anime of the series was released as Stand by Me Doraemon (STAND BY ME ドラえもん) in 2014. Only 7 episodes are picked for the anime movie, and the beginning and the end of Doraemon are presented. Both adults and children can enjoy the story laughing and crying.

Release: 2014
Genre: Science Fiction, Drama
Director: Takashi Yamazaki (山崎貴)/Ryuichi Yagi (八木竜一)