Ranking Non-Ghibli Anime Movies List
Films attached to a series not included. So no Ghost in the Shell films or Cowboy Bebop Movie for instance.
Rewatching many of these, list changing.
Last Seen: Jin-Rou - 3/10, Tunnel to Summer - 7/10
To Rewatch:
Perfect Blue
I Want to Eat Your Pancreas
Rewatching many of these, list changing.
Last Seen: Jin-Rou - 3/10, Tunnel to Summer - 7/10
To Rewatch:
Perfect Blue
I Want to Eat Your Pancreas
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- DirectorMakoto ShinkaiStarsRyunosuke KamikiMone KamishiraishiRyo NaritaTwo teenagers share a profound, magical connection upon discovering they are swapping bodies. Things manage to become even more complicated when the boy and girl decide to meet in person.9/10, my favorite of these films. Never would think a body swap romance would get such praise but the story is simply fantastic.
- DirectorMamoru HosodaStarsRiisa NakaTakuya IshidaMitsutaka ItakuraA high-school girl named Makoto acquires the power to travel back in time, and decides to use it for her own personal benefits. Little does she know that she is affecting the lives of others just as much as she is her own.9/10, Learning to time travel certainly has its dangers as Marty McFly proved. This film takes the concept and gives a new flavor to it, love it. Fun and emotional both.
- DirectorTakeshi KoikeStarsTakuya KimuraYû AoiTadanobu AsanoA story about the most popular racing event in the galaxy, the Redline, and the various racers who compete in it.9/10, A badass racing film with great stylistic animation. Lots of fun to be had here with characters if on the simple side, the rule of cool applies and carries them.
- DirectorJun'ichi FujiseTomoyuki ItamuraMasaharu TomodaStarsMahiro TakasugiLynnYukiyo FujiiA high school student discovers one of his classmates, Sakura Yamauchi, is suffering from a terminal illness. This secret brings the two together, as she lives out her final moments.9/10, Well if you feel like a good cry this is one for you.
- DirectorShôgo FuruyaSatoshi KonStarsTôru EmoriYoshiaki UmegakiAya OkamotoOn Christmas Eve, three homeless people living on the streets of Tokyo discover a newborn baby among the trash and set out to find its parents.9/10, This trio could have their own sitcom I think. Fun and heartwarming filled with happenstance (from Christmas magic I suppose), this film made me smile.
- DirectorKôtarô TamuraStarsKaya KiyoharaTaishi NakagawaMatsutera ChiemiAfter befriending a marine biology student, a sarcastic artist living with paraplegia begins to experience the world beyond her home.9.0/10, A sweet film that reminds me of A Silent Voice. If you like one, will like the other I believe.
- DirectorTaichi IshidateNaoko YamadaStarsMiyu IrinoSaori HayamiAoi YûkiA young man is ostracized by his classmates after he bullies a deaf girl to the point where she moves away. Years later, he sets off on a path for redemption.8/10, A boy looking for redemption to the cruelty he did to a girl in his past. Getting that and well as forgiving himself is an emotional journey to watch.
- DirectorKatsuhiro ÔtomoStarsMitsuo IwataNozomu SasakiMami KoyamaA secret military project endangers Neo-Tokyo when it turns a biker gang member into a rampaging psychic psychopath who can only be stopped by a teenager, his gang of biker friends and a group of psychics.8/10, I understand why this film has its place in anime history, its animation for the time certainly pleases the eye with the suspense and body transformations engaging. Don't really find the characters engaging though and the story is simple and leaves too much open ended to praise too high though. Solid if overrated imo.
- DirectorHiroyuki ImaishiStarsKappei YamaguchiTakako HondaYûko MizutaniTwo aliens awaken on Earth with no recollection of their past and embark on a devastating crime spree but are sent to an infamous lunar penitentiary named Dead Leaves.8/10, Hard to rank this precisely. It is a crazy watch, basically one long plotless action sequence and insane animation and characters. Not what can really be called a "good" film but was entertaining. Similar to FLCL and Gurren Laggen only more wild.
- DirectorSatoshi KonStarsMegumi HayashibaraTôru EmoriKatsunosuke HoriWhen a machine that allows therapists to enter their patients' dreams is stolen, all hell breaks loose. Only a young female therapist, Paprika, can stop it.8/10, Can see inspiration to Inception here certainly. Entering the dreams of someone certainly leads to some dangerous and zany moments.
- DirectorMasahiro AndôStarsTomoya NagaseYuri ChinenKôichi YamaderaA swordsman from a strange land is caught in a struggle between morality, righteousness, and devotion as he reluctantly agrees to take a raggedy boy and his dog to a remote, Buddhist temple.8/10, some of the best looking animated sword fighting to be found here. Simple story of wandering samurai protecting a boy and dog from mysterious group but works.
- DirectorMamoru HosodaStarsKoji YakushoAoi MiyazakiShôta SometaniWhen a young orphaned boy living on the streets of Shibuya stumbles upon a fantastic world of beasts, he's taken in by a gruff warrior beast looking for an apprentice.8/10, Found the time spent outside the beast world to be more interesting than inside, character of Kumatetsu was too loud and straightforward to really engage me like the human boy he adopted. So the teenage boy returning and catching up on his schoolwork interested me more than Beast swordmaster shenanigans. Climax at the end was fun to watch even if events leading up to it not so much.
- DirectorMakoto ShinkaiStarsKotaro DaigoNana MoriTsubasa HondaSet during a period of exceptionally rainy weather, high-school boy Hodaka Morishima runs away from his troubled rural home to Tokyo and befriends an orphan girl who can manipulate the weather.8/10, Not as strong as "Your Name" that came before this but still a beautiful watch with an interesting premise. Third act goes a bit too far with the drama but not enough to hurt the rating too much.
- DirectorSatoshi KonStarsJunko IwaoRica MatsumotoShinpachi TsujiA pop singer gives up her career to become an actress, but she slowly goes insane when she starts being stalked by an obsessed fan and what seems to be a ghost of her past.8/10, To Rewatch
- DirectorShinji AramakiStarsAi KobayashiJûrôta KosugiYuki MatsuokaIn a utopian society created at the end of the third world war, a female warrior who has been plucked from the badlands begins to see cracks in this new facade. And what does this community have planned for the rest of humankind?8.0/10, CGI might not be the best and the dialogue can be a bit cheesy but this was one of my first anime movies I watched in the mid 2000s and I guess nostalgia makes me keep this rated around a flat 8.
- DirectorMakoto ShinkaiStarsKenji MizuhashiYoshimi KondouSatomi HanamuraTold in three interconnected segments, Takaki tells the story of his life as cruel winters, cold technology, and finally, adult obligations and responsibility converge to test the delicate petals of love.8/10, Well this certainly leaves me feeling dead emotionally. Getting stuck in the past can destroy opportunities in front of you and leave one unable to move forward.
- DirectorMamoru HosodaStarsAoi MiyazakiTakao OsawaHaru KurokiAfter her werewolf lover unexpectedly dies in an accident while hunting for food for their children, a young woman must find ways to raise the werewolf son and daughter that she had with him while keeping their trait hidden from society.7/10, "Ma'am where is your son?". Suppose I shouldn't think this question, though I find this a big plot hole. Good film even with this problem.
- DirectorTomohisa TaguchiStarsOji SuzukaMarie IitoyoTasuku HatanakaIn a sleepy country town, a traumatized boy and a transfer student from Tokyo stumble upon a time-bending tunnel that may grant them their every wish.7/10, I found the movie to be beautiful to look at, had a good soundtrack and had a great concept that I feel was fumbled in making the film so short. There wasn't enough time to get me to care about this couple. I also find it doubtful that a grown woman would still be so attached to a month long teenage romance but it being fiction I can give this more of a pass.
This film could have been a masterpiece if it was longer to give more time to these characters but as it is the film is merely "good". - DirectorYoshiaki KawajiriStarsAndrew PhilpotJohn Rafter LeePamela AdlonA legendary dhampir competes with a motley family of bounty hunters to return a young woman, who has been seemingly abducted by a vampire, to her family.7/10, Wish Leila was more useful in the film but I suppose she was mainly there to learn a lesson and give up hunting vampires and make a life of her own. Still didn't like her needing to be saved by D though, be nice to of been able to accomplish more in her final "mission".
The characters down to "D" himself weren't anything special though the fights were entertaining enough. Even if it felt like Character A battling Character B. Only basic information given on the world this takes place in but was enough to get invested in. Mid 7 score I think fits. Good if nothing special. - DirectorMamoru HosodaStarsRyunosuke KamikiNanami SakurabaMitsuki TanimuraA student tries to fix a problem he accidentally caused in OZ, a digital world, while pretending to be the fiancé of his friend at her grandmother's 90th birthday.7/10, Think I'll have to drop from 8 to 7, the characters really aren't strong enough to care about and beating a villain in a card game doesn't really have the oomph from when I first watched. Decent watch but not an "8" decent.
- DirectorMasakazu HashimotoJong HeoTadashi HiramatsuStarsManaka IwamiMiyu IrinoYôko HikasaEscaping war, an immortal girl blessed with Eternal Youth finds a lone surviving infant and decides to raise him as her son.7/10, Can't help but feel the film tries too hard to get the tears going, can predict when swelling music is going to appear. Decent story though I felt a hard time caring about anything outside the main duo and even with them there wasn't the needed emotional connection to cry when the movie wanted me to. Decent, not great.
- DirectorMamoru HosodaStarsRebecca HallDaniel Dae KimJohn ChoA young boy encounters a magical garden which enables him to travel through time and meet his relatives from different eras, with guidance by his younger sister from the future.7.0/10, Can give a flat 7 I think. Cute little movie, seems to be something that would be more attractive to young parents or pre teens or so with little siblings to relate more. Still, brings a smile regardless.
- DirectorHiroyasu IshidaStarsKana KitaYû AoiRie KugimiyaA fourth-grader, Aoyama-kun, investigates the mysterious reason behind the sudden appearance of penguins in his village, which is somehow related to a power from a young woman working at a dental clinic.6/10, Felt more for kids with the poor simplistic dialogue and fantastic elements that aren't ever really explained, just throwing water and penguins and mystery around to really wow younger viewers. For me was a passable watch in a lighthearted wistful way.
- DirectorMakoto ShinkaiStarsMiyu IrinoKana HanazawaFumi HiranoOn a rainy morning in Tokyo, 15-year-old Takao, an aspiring shoemaker, decides to skip class to sketch designs in a beautiful garden. This is where he meets Yukari, a beautiful yet mysterious woman. They strike an unlikely friendship.6/10, Could have been something great I think but got muffled in the script somewhere and didn't do what was trying to. Swing and miss.
- DirectorSatoshi KonKô MatsuoStarsMiyoko ShôjiShôzô ÎzukaMami KoyamaA TV interviewer and his cameraman meet a former actress and travel through her memories and career.6/10, Interconnecting the various film roles the actress had with her search for her "lost love" was an interesting tactic but my main issue was that this guy was someone she met for a short time and kept obsessing over for decades, was pitiful and unrealistic.
- DirectorMakoto ShinkaiStarsNanoka HaraHokuto MatsumuraEri FukatsuA modern action adventure road story where a 17-year-old girl named Suzume helps a mysterious young man close doors from the other side that are releasing disasters all over in Japan.6/10, Just to start off the animation of this film is truly spectacular. The best part of it for sure. The landscapes and the action sequences were entertaining (some of the action anyway). Makes sense from same director as Your Name and Weathering With You. Past that though I was quite let down. I found Suzume herself to be quite a brat whenever she receives pushback from her aunt but is supposed to be sympathetic given her backstory but it simply didn't fly with me. Her relationship with her adult co-star (22, 23?) was also more creepy to me than anything that would make me smile. Felt very shallow as well. The guy himself turns into a chair at the beginning as well and I felt the rest of the film involving him moving around as a childrens chair to be more stupid than funny.
There is complete trickery as well with one of the characters to make you think one thing about them than to throw down a reverse uno card and say "sucker!" Not a twist to mislead your audience like that, I simply felt nothing when the "twist" came regarding them. Other characters simply felt superfluous. The antagonistic force Suzume and Chair-Kun are up against also felt quite unclear to me, the rules seems wishy-washy. Movie was a miss for me. - DirectorHiromasa YonebayashiStarsHana SugisakiRyunosuke KamikiYûki AmamiBased on "The Little Broomstick" by Mary Stewart, a strange flower grants a girl magic powers.6/10, Alright story that doesn't really land with me.
- DirectorYoshiaki KawajiriStarsKôichi YamaderaEmi ShinoharaTakeshi AonoA vagabond swordsman is aided by a kunoichi and a spy in battling a demonic clan of killers - led by a ghost from his past - who are bent on overthrowing the Tokugawa Shogunate.6/10, rewatched this after 15 yrs or so and it was a letdown. Film expected the violence to carry it I suppose and it doesn't. Plot almost nonexistant, bad ninja want to overthrow the government, a few ninja try to stop him. Nothing is worth remembering, the blood is the brightest color and plenty of sexual violence that was most unappealing. The character Kagero was the only one with any kind of personality at all and it was mostly spent weeping. A female ninja who helps a couple of times but spends most of the film getting captured. Released in '93 but is an 80s film really, the violence and big muscled men looking "cool" dominating. Meh.
- DirectorHironobu SakaguchiMotonori SakakibaraStarsAlec BaldwinSteve BuscemiMing-Na WenA scientist makes a last stand on Earth with the help of a ragtag team of soldiers against an invasion of alien phantoms.6/10, How much money did this cost? Something that looked so good (for the time) but was so forgettable in story and characters? Such a disappointment.
- DirectorTatsuya IshiharaYasuhiro TakemotoNaoko YamadaStarsAtsumi TanezakiNao TôyamaMiyu HondaBest friends in their last year of high school realise there is no such thing as being together forever.6/10, Won't bother with films below here, boring would be easiest way to describe most. Bad enough from here on down to not bother ever rewatching and adding any comments.
- DirectorShinji AramakiStarsAi KobayashiKôichi YamaderaYûji KishiWith Brialeos convalescing after a mission, Deunan is assigned a new and remarkably familiar partner as a strange wave of terrorist attacks plague Olympus.6/10
- DirectorShunji IwaiStarsYû AoiAnne SuzukiShôko AidaAlice transfers to a new school, where students believe that one student per school year is cursed, whom they call Judas Iscariot. Alice is deemed the new Judas, but what happened to the former Judas?5/10
- DirectorSunao KatabuchiStarsNonAva PickardKenna PickardA spirited 18-year-old woman is married off to a man she barely knows as she combats the daily struggles of living in Hiroshima during World War II.5/10
- DirectorEiichi YamamotoStarsAiko NagayamaChinatsu NakayamaMasaya TakahashiAfter being raped by an evil feudal lord and subsequently getting banished from her village, a peasant girl makes a pact with the Devil to gain magical powers and take her revenge.5/10
- DirectorTetsuya NomuraTakeshi NozueStarsTakahiro SakuraiAyumi ItoShôtarô MorikuboAn ex-mercenary is forced out of isolation when three mysterious men kidnap and brainwash the city's children afflicted with the Geostigma disease.4/10
- DirectorMamoru OshiiStarsMako HyôdôJinpachi NezuKeiichi NodaA mysterious young girl wanders a desolate, otherworldly landscape, carrying a large egg.4/10, Boring film for those who like arthouse and who sniff their own farts
- DirectorHiroyuki ImaishiStarsJohn Eric BentleySteve BlumJohnny Yong BoschA futuristic firefighting mecha service is created to protect the world.3/10
- DirectorKenji KamiyamaHiroyuki OkiuraStarsMichael DobsonYoshikazu FujikiSumi MutohA traumatized member of an elite para-military police force falls for the sister of a female terrorist courier who died in front of him on duty.3/10, Clearly wants to be deep but feels so superficial and stupid. Dumb twists and dumb people in a "dark" plot. Stupid Red Riding Hood references. Inconstant MC who has PTSD symptoms until... he doesn't. Now he's cold blooded. Whatever.
- DirectorTakeo TakahashiNaoyuki TatsuwaStarsMao IchimichiRika TachibanaMomo AsakuraStudents from Hosho Academy High School were aboard a plane when it crash lands under mysterious circumstances. The heroine, Oribe Mutsumi and her classmates wash ashore on an island. The surviving passengers decide to wait for help to come, but the island turns out to be inhabited by giant insects. Mutsumi wakes up on a beach and finds her classmate Matsuo Ayumi. They use their wits to procure food. Believing that help will come in three days, they decide to endure until then.2/10, worst I've seen