However, his first directorial outing in 1979 is an under-appreciated gem. The Castle of Cagliostro (1979)Ĭhances are you don’t need anyone to espouse the virtues of director Hayao Miyazaki. Sitting in the middle is the titular alter-ego of doctor Atsuko Chiba, one of the creators of said dream exploration tech. More thrills: The best horror movies on NetflixĪ very literal parade of reality-questioning concepts, every time you think you’ve got it all figured out, another set-piece blossoms forth and changes everything. Experimental devices designed for therapy through a person’s dreams become a gateway for people to invade each other’s psyches, completely shattering what it means for anything to be “real”. Paprika (2006)ĭirector Satoshi Kon’s last feature film before his passing is a powerhouse in psychological storytelling that uses animation to capture people’s innermost thoughts. Strange, mesmerising, and worth your time if you’ve never explored Oshii’s other work. Moving from street to street, she avoids roving biomechanical forces, and increasingly dreamlike sequences provide a loose recollection of what has led up to now. Largely a tone piece, it follows a young woman who cares for an oversized egg in a derelict building in a rundown city under military lockdown. Angel’s Egg (1985)Ī decade prior to Ghost in the Shell, Mamoru Oshii wrote and directed this piece of gothic dystopian surrealism. She uses their powers to fulfil her deepest desires, with predictably troubling consequences Ash, Pikachu, and the usual gaggle of regulars get stuck in the middle of.
When professor Spencer Hale disappears while investigating the elusive Unown, his daughter, Molly, deciphers a code to summon them. Not fantastic enough? The best fantasy movies
Pokémon 3: The Movie eschews this barrier to entry by delving headfirst into the mythical side of the franchise, involving alternate places of reality, dimension-altering monsters, and the legendary Entei. Most require some knowledge of the Pokémon games, or anime series, to fully understand. There have been nearly two dozen animated Pokémon movies since the first in 1999. Despite some length, it always feels disappointing when the credits roll and you’ve to return to the real world.
The art-style gives everything a relaxed sense of wonder, like hearing it from a beloved grandparent, all kept swaying by Ghibli regular Joe Hisaishi’s score. Using beautiful watercolour paintings, Takahata retells The Tale of Bamboo Cutter, a tenth-century Japanese story about a magical young girl from the moon who’s raised by a bamboo cutter and his wife. Yet, it’s this late-career fairytale made with Studio Ghibli that gets him on our list.
Working in animation since 1961, Isao Takahata has an extensive filmography full of highlights.
The flow is exhilarating, and the technological landscape is recreated in striking detail such that you’ll be rewatching just to visit. What happens next is best left for you to witness for yourself, but it’s dazzling, if more than a little disturbing. During one clash, Tetsuo Shida rides straight into an esper that gives him strange powers. In a dystopian, er, 2019, biker gangs rule the streets of Neo-Tokyo. Starting with an obvious one, Katsuhiro Otomo’s futuristic cyberpunk science fiction movie is a standard-bearer for the marriage of technique and storytelling.
You’re likely to recognise a few – it’s hard to avoid Studio Ghibli, and anime series like Pokémon have made their contributions – but there’s a few rarities here that, frankly, deserve to be seen by more people. In order to help you discover more of this incredible avenue of filmmaking, we’ve collected what we believe are the absolute must-sees. Often, if a translation happens, it’s part of a quiet home media or streaming service launch, leaving the film to be discovered amid a sea of other options. Sadly, only a small portion of the many great works produced in this style have gotten any kind of wide release or publicity in English-speaking countries, and rarely anything close to the scale of Disney movies or Pixar movies. Across anime and manga, visionary creators have been cultivating memorable characters, heart wrenching stories, and the most whimsical of whimsical settings for decades. What are the best anime movies of all time? Japan has produced many of the best animated movies of all time.