The film is a mixture of comedy, drama, and action espionage that is quite different from most anime films. The story takes place in an alternate universe and follows a slacker who ends up joining a ragtag outfit seeking to send the first astronaut into space.
Relatively well known within hardcore anime circles, The Wings of Honnêamise falls off the radar of casual fans far too frequently, which is a shame. 19 Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise (1987) Be it drama, sci-fi action epic, or comedy, there's a diverse array of stories to enjoy from all the films on this list. Many of the mentions on this list were responsible for bringing anime into the North American mainstream consciousness, thereby paving the way for more cross-border success. Updated on August 26th, 2020 by Derek Draven: As mentioned in our updated intro, we've added 5 more entries to our list of the best Japanese anime films ever created. Here's a list of the best anime films ever to have come out of Japan, and we've added a few more that deserve equal praise. For both the Miyazaki-buffs and foreign film illiterate, the stylized and often traditionally hand-drawn animations continue to captivate people young and old.
Today, “anime” is more popular than ever, with television series and films reaching wider audiences and receiving high levels of acclaim. RELATED: 10 Classic Anime Movies Whose Art Holds Up Against CGI His work was incredibly influential on artists both in manga and Japanese animation. In 1960, Tezuka transitioned to film with The Journey to the West, which he followed with over 60 different films and shows. Before moving to the big screen, he created Astro Boy, contributing over 150,000 pages of work to Japanese comics, or manga. (and he is), Tezuka is his counterpart in Japan. It’s a great introductory list for those who are just to getting into the whole thing but also includes some lesser known entries for those looking for something new to sink their teeth into.If Walt Disney is the godfather of animation in the U.S. In fact, we’ve kept that in mind when compiling this list: Below is what we believe is a wide selection of different genres within the anime medium. Often, anime will start to veer into science-fiction territory, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t less out-there options to choose from if that genre is not your cup of tea. Additionally, the freedom of animation means lower budgets and less egos to please, variables that easily translate into fantastical, complex, and entirely original plots and settings. In fact, the best anime series deal with themes and characters that are intricate enough for any adult to chew on for several hours. Although the animated nature of anime might lead one to assume that the medium is mainly targeted towards children, this is definitely not the case. It’s hard to pinpoint just where this stereotype comes from, but honestly, when the stories are this good, who really cares what everyone else says? Now that Hulu has such a healthy selection of anime episodes and movies ready to stream anywhere, anytime, it’s hard to come up with a reason why you wouldn’t want to try something new.Īnime movies and series are usually long, expansive series or movies that tend to be more creative and ambitious than the type of Western television or Hollywood fare you may be used to watching.
Plenty of animes-especially the ones on this list-are more imaginative, more daring, and overall just better pieces of entertainment than what Western production companies churn out on a daily basis.Īnd yet anime still gets a bad rap, mostly for being a nerdy thing to watch. But in essence, anime is a unique and diverse form of art with as much potential to create meaningful storylines as live-action television or film. In the most basic sense, anime is merely the Japanese word for “animation,” whether it’s hand-drawn or computer generated.