Yeah, these weird Japanese ones for kids. I'm still shocked by the amount of people who still just ignore the medium. There is a huge variety of genres to choose from for all ages and it's not just like school girls, tentacle rape, or Dragonball. If you like film I urge you to give these a go!
I deceided against a "Top 10" and limited the choices to one movie per director. Most of these guys have a rich body of work worth checking out.
(And no, these are not obscure, it just takes a lot more to make an animated film than some indie movie..)
-The End of Evangelion – dir. Hideaki Anno:
He is not only a great anime director but has also made some great live-action ones aswell. To enjoy the despair ahead you'll have to watch the TV series though. No worries, not only is it great but you will be rewarded with one of the most striking animated films to date. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCLoNOYcVQU
-Princess Mononoke – dir. Hayao Miyazaki:
Having seen most of his films, Mononoke was the first for me and it stuck with me the most. I guess it is a bit different than his usual works given the setting. The struggle between living with nature in harmony or taking control over it is a lot more than just good versus evil. A beautiful epic for sure. Luckily the now retired master has made some other great films aswell so there is one for everyone.
Grave of the Fireflies – dir. Isao Takahata:
Except for this Takahata doesn't seem to enjoy the same fame or popularity as his Studio Ghibli Co-Funder friend Miyazaki which is a shame really. His movies are a lot more grounded and you know what you're at. I thought about including the terribly underwatched Gauche the Cellist but this sucker is just such a tear jerker that it should depress about everyone (and it's based on a true story).
Millennium Actress – dir. Satoshi Kon:
I'm still saddened by Kon's death. Not one of his works isn't exceptional. Just watch them all! MA was his love letter to the actress Setsuko Hara which I'm sure you recognize if you saw her on screen once, such a captivating presence (best known for Tokyo Story).
Ghost in the Shell – dir. Mamoru Oshii:
I'm still amazed by how many people love The Matrix but have not seen Oshii's manga adaptation despite the Wachowski being quite open about it's influence. The second movie is great aswell and so is Stand Alone Complex. The score from Kenji Kawai makes it even so much better. The man also directed the first OVA series ever and some other good ones like Angel's Egg and Patlabor 2. When it comes to live action, Avalon is not bad either but he can sometimes be a hack and make something like Assault Girls... Try to find the basset hounds.
Summer Wars – dir. Mamoru Hosoda:
The director started out with some credits on Digimon before he found success in 2006 with The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. The virtual world found in Summer Wars is very much an extension of a movie he did for the show. While it's though for me to pick between this and Wolf Children I found the story here quite touching in regards of multiple generations in the family coming together where as the other is more about the mother.
Akira – dir. Katsuhiro Ohtomo:
Akira was one of the first anime movies I saw when I was younger. If you like scifi and action there is no reason for you not to see it. The maniac Kaneda became with his powers is still referenced (intentional or not) in other movies today. A balanat rip-off of the exploding Tokyo is also shown in Resident Evil Afterlife. It just became 25 years old this year and predicted the 2020 Olympic's in Tokyo ;). It was also the reason for a (short-termed) hype for anime in the US. Just go and watch it ffs!
As for other works by Ohtmo I would say watch Steamboy if you want some steampunk (and pretty animated ice) or Rojin Z for a more slice of life scifi.
A Letter to Momo - dir. Hiroyuki Okiura:
A suprisingly overlooked movie. It took Okiura over seven years to create together with (mainly) Production I.G. doing the hand-drawn art. It features a loveley color palette and has a story similar to what you find over at Ghibli. While it drags a bit early on it works as a whole (and is yet another touching story). The other movie credit the director has is the more well known Jin-Roh (created by the guy abit further above, Oshii) where I can see why people enjoy it a lot (a darker red riding hood) it isn't one of my favorites and is an extreme opposite to Momo.
Ninja Scroll - dir. Yoshiaki Kawajiri:
It's basicly the Sex, Drugs & Rock 'n' roll of chanbara cinema and for exactly that reason it was quite popular not too long ago at least among teens. My opinion might be still based from when I was younger but it's a fun and stylish action flick with lots of ultra violence. Kawajiri contributed a short to Animatrix so you might have seen something of his. Wicked City is also one of the more well known oldschool anime movies where you will see a "human" venus trap in action ;P.
Time of Eve: The Movie - dir. Yasuhiro Yoshiura:
Science-fiction authors (and the Japanese) have always been interested in relations between humans and androids. This movie looks at this in a great setup: Having a café with one simple rule; No discrimination between humans and robots. Inside, human looking androids are indistinguishable by appearance (they are forced to have indicators on their heads outside) and can act independently from their owners. Since I'm a sucker for the kinds of stories where the line between man and machine is blurred I enjoyed this a lot and I think it's a strong sci-fi movie even outside the medium of anime (if you're not just an action guy).
(FYI: The movie is an extended version of an OVA series by the same name)
As for other works by Yoshiura: I'm not really a fan of the other short ones, Patema Inverted however looks pretty great.
This is my own ranked and ordered list of the best/dankest anime that I've watched so far in my illustrious Chinese-cartoons-watching-career. If it's in the Top 50 (make it even Top 100), you better watch it ASAP because well... I do have phenomenal taste ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
More in-depth list is over at MAL http://myanimelist.net/profile/dankzel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cult_films
Celebrating the cinematically surreal, bizarre, cult, oddball, fantastique, strange, psychedelic, and the just plain WEIRD!
Source: http://366weirdmovies.com/category/weird-movies/
/u/StopReadinMyUsername on reddit created a list called "1001 'GREATEST' MOVIES OF ALL TIME" in 2015.
Since this list is still very popular, he posted an updated list on reddit in April 2020.
For this list he combined the average scores from IMDb, Letterboxd, Rotten Tomatoes & Metacritic, and tweaked the results with data from Letterboxd, iCheckMovies, TSPDT?, TMDb and IMDb.
source: https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/fswg60/by_combining_the_average_scores_from_imdb/
A personal list with animes I consider newcomer friendly
If you've decided to start watching some anime shows and don't want to get a complete culture shock, this list is for you.
Feel free to leave a comment if i missed something essential and have fun watching
Best Anime of the 90's according to ANN's Theron Martin, Hope Chapman, Justin Sevakis, Zac Bertschy. Ten titles each. Sorted from 1 to 10.
Available as a two part Podcast:
Part 1: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/anncast/2012-12-20
Part 2: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/anncast/2012-12-28
Honorable Mentions:
Zac Bertschy; Redline, Princess Tutu, Mind Game, Victorian Romance Emma
Justin Sevakis; Kino's Journey, Gankutsuou, Story of Saiunkoku, Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Eden of the East, Paprika
Hope Chapman; (comedy) School Rumble, Azumanga Daioh, (animation for the sake of animation) Redline, FLCL, (new media / moe / dependence upon fans) Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, ef: a tale of memories, (pure entertainment) Samurai Champloo, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, (slice of life) Honey and Clover, Genshiken, Beck, Paradise Kiss, (Best children's anime) Dennou Coil, Spirited Away, (Feels cinematic / feels like one continuous experience) RahXephon, Death Note, (Taking a uniform vision but episodes look at separate themes) Haibane Renmei, Kino's Journey
Theron Martin; My-Hime, My-Otome, Baccano!, Metropolis, Saikano, Scrapped Princess, Twelve Kingdoms, Paprika, Boogiepop Phantom, Living for the Day After Tomorrow, Eden of the East, Gankutsuou, Haibane Renmei, Redline
As for Genious Party: The short mentioned was "Baby Blue" by Shinichiro Watanabe.
The 21st Century’s Most Acclaimed Films (including films from 2000!)
9th edition (March 2016)
List curated by Bill Georgaris on They Shoot Pictures, Don't They?
Source: https://www.theyshootpictures.com/21stcentury.htm
The greatest films ever made, as voted by MUBI’s global community of film lovers.
https://mubi.com/lists/the-top-1000
Thanks to all who’ve made this a very popular list, in spite of glitches causing dozens of fans to suddenly disappear :(
A big welcome to the land of cinematic wonders!
I’ve aimed for a rounded overview to include not only personal favourites but popular hits and international award winners, animé landmarks, avant-
garde films, the New Wave, erotic “pink films” and the great classics that are still the glory of world cinema.Much of silent cinema before the 1930s has been lost, its Benshi narrators displaced but good finally to have the landmark film Souls on the Road on Mubi. In the 20s directors were able to learn their trade through prolific practice, aware of and encorporating developments in both the Soviet Union and the West… and then, what a wealth of wonders! Older masters: the unequalled aesthetic refinement of Mizoguchi, the charm of Shimizu, the quiet observational wisdom of Ozu, the tragically curtailed promise of Yamanaka, the balanced restraint of Naruse, the muscular humanism of Kurosawa… Then, a new generation from the late 50s, in full swing in the sexually freer 60s: the idealism of Kobayashi, the political bite of Oshima, the earthy subversion of Imamura, the cool of Suzuki and Masumura. the avant-garde Terayama.. So many to explore: Yoshida, Ichikawa Kon, Teshigahara, Shinoda, Wakamatsu, Kumai, the documentaries of Ogawa and Hara, the stop motion master Kawamoto, the blood soaked Fukasaku.. the rise of animé, with the international success of Studio Ghibli and Miyazaki’s beautiful flights of fancy, the spiky Tsukamoto, the popular appeal of Kitano, the prolific shocker Miike.. up to the present with Koreeda, Naomi Kawase, Sono, Kurosawa Kiyoshi… oh and i almost went without mentioning Samurai and Godzilla.
Source: http://mubi.com/lists/kenjis-japanese-canon
Missing on TMDB as of now:
ID: tt0242845, Title: Narita: The Peasants of the Second Fortress, Year: -
A list of little over 100 Japanese, Chinese and Korean animated movies
Movies covered by Scott Tobias for the AV Club's New Cult Canon (2008-2013).
The introduction can be read at http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-new-cult-canon-an-introduction,9808/.
From the revered classics of Akira Kurosawa, to the modern marvels of Takeshi Kitano, the films that have emerged from Japan represent a national cinema that has gained worldwide admiration and appreciation. The Directory of World Cinema: Japan provides an insight into the cinema of Japan through reviews of significant titles and case studies of leading directors, alongside explorations of the cultural and industrial origins of key genres. The directory aims to play a part in the distribution of academic output by building a forum for the study of film from a disciplined theoretical base.
This is in the form of an A-Z of reviews, longer essays and research resources. The cinematic lineage of samurai warriors, yakuza enforcers and atomic monsters are discussed in addition to the politically charged works of the Japanese New Wave, making this a truly comprehensive volume.
The list is based on the contents of the Book, sorted by chapters:
More information on this is also aviable on http://worldcinemadirectory.co.uk/!
List for the 2nd edition: http://trakt.tv/users/sp1ti/lists/directory-of-world-cinema-japan-2
Establishing the best anime movies can be tricky. After all, despite now being one of the most ubiquitous cultural properties of the 21st century, anime, thanks to over a century’s worth of the medium’s evolution and reinvention, is especially difficult to define. From the five-minute shorts of Oten Shimokawa in 1917, to the feature-length animations produced during World War II, to the pioneering production cycles of Tezuka in the ’60s and the auteurist innovations of the likes of Miyazaki and many others towards the latter half of the last century, anime has morphed through countless phases. Amateur efforts, nationalist propaganda fodder, niche cultural export turned eventual global phenomenon: Each iteration conforms to the shape of the times in which it was produced. Television expanded the medium during the 1960s, birthing many of the essential genres and subgenres that we know today and forming the impetus for the anime industry’s inextricable relationship to advertising and merchandising from the 1970s onward. The arrival of home video catapulted anime to its commercial and aesthetic apex, fanning outward from island nation of Nippon to the far shores of North America and back, before again being revolutionized by the unprecedented accessibility of the world wide web throughout the ’90s and early aughts. Anime film owes much to the evolving means of production and distribution throughout the late 20th century, the breadth and audacity of the medium’s content widening and contracting along with its running time to cater to the emerging palettes of audiences both new and old, at home and abroad. But where does one begin to tackle the aesthetic and historical precedent that anime film has left on pop culture and global entertainment in the last century?
This list is an attempt to do just that: to create a primer of 100 of the most influential and essential films that Japanese animation has produced, and to offer a thorough aesthetic, technical and historical breakdown of why these film matter. With that aim in mind, Paste is proud to enlist the curatorial talents of Jason DeMarco, on-air creative director of Adult Swim and co-creator of Toonami, whose unique role in anime’s emerging popularity in the West has helped to hone this list. Given the shared evolution between anime film and television and the aforementioned significance of the home video revolution, this list includes not only traditional features but also original video animations made for home video (OVAs) and anthology films— with the stipulation of each entry having at some point premiered in theaters. It is our hope that in creating this list we have created an entry point for both the expert and the layperson to trace the rich history of anime’s legacy on both film and popular culture, and to offer newcomers a comprehensive guide through to learn, rediscover, and explore the fullness that the genre of Japanese animation has to offer now and into the future.
Source: https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/01/the-100-best-anime-movies-of-all-time.html?a=1
There isn't a more beautiful list than this one tbh:heart:
Asian Cinema: A Field Guide (2007) by Tom Vick is a book about the history of cinema in various regions throughout Asia. This is a list of films mentioned in the book.
Part One: The Old Guard
China: Tradition and Resistance (#1-76)
Japan: Cinema of Extremes (77-266)
India: All That and then Some (267-355)
Part Two: Postwar Booms
Hong Kong: The Fine Art of Popular Cinema (356-459)
Korea: Rising from the Ashes of History (460-573)
Part Three: Recent Arrivals
Iran: A Continuing Conversation (574-632)
Taiwan: The Little Island that Could (633-675)
Part Four: New Players
South and Southeast Asia: Coming Into Focus
Bangladesh (676 & 677), Bhutan (678 & 679), Cambodia (680-682), Indonesia (683-689), Malaysia and Singapore (690-704), Nepal (705 & 706), Pakistan (707), The Philippines (708-732), Sri Lanka (733-737), Thailand (738-766), Tibet (767-772), Vietnam (773-784)
Central Asia and the Middle East: Global Intersections
The Former Soviet Republics, Afghanistan, and Mongolia (785-800), The Middle East (801–832), Turkey (833-843)
Part Five: Where to Go from Here
(List of websites and books)
Source: https://www.amazon.com/Asian-Cinema-A-Field-Guide/dp/0061145858/
Items to be updated. Please don't like the list. It's just for use with a script as I'm still too lazy to implement the auth just for this. Thank you.
The ultimate collection of anime movies!
I don't update this often so if you want something added please leave a comment.
For use in Plex-Meta-Manager:
https://pastebin.com/raw/kEuid8Kn
World-famous animators pick the best animated movies, including Disney and Pixar movies, cult movies, anime and more
Timeout's list of 100 greatest animated movies. Available at: http://timeout.com/newyork/film/the-100-best-animated-movies'
The newest and dopest animated movies that catch my eye
The idea behind The New Cult Canon is to take a fresh look at the new generation of cult movies that have sprung up in the last two decades, although some older movies are also included into the list. The list is authored by Scott Tobias.
Source: https://www.avclub.com/tag/the-new-cult-canon
https://thereveal.substack.com/archive?sort=search&search=new%20cult%20canon
List created and maintained by https://listrr.pro
Only Japanese Anime Movies from 19xx to 20xx (Non Japanese Anime Movies is not included JUST Japanese Anime Movies)
Ten Great Anime Feature-Films
by sp1tiVIP OG 13