100 Best Anime Movies Of All Time That You Should Watch

Keep your tissues on your side as you might need them as the movie reaches the later half. The story revolves around Chirro, a young girl and her parents moving to the countryside, making their home in a small town in Japan.

On their way to their new abode, Chirro’s father day takes a wrong turn on the road, and then things take turn for the worst when her parents are not the same anymore, owing to some mystical powers. Overall, get ready for a powerful movie experience, straight from the Ghibli studios.

A schoolgirl, Shôka Nishimiya, transfers to a new school where she is being bullied, ostracised by her classmates for her hearing impairment. The situation hits the ceiling where she has to switch schools again because of a boy named Shôya Ishida, who made her life is a living hell at the school.

The saga of bullying continues at the new school as Nishimiya spends the rest of her school life in agony with no ambitions for the future.

Years later, Shoya sets on a redemption journey after realizing the sins he had committed in his teenage years.

Set in the Japan of World War II, Grave of the Fireflies takes you through the thin and haunting reality of what war from the purview of a typical Japanese family.
Seita and Setsuko, young siblings from a typical Japanese household, led to the war’s prime.
Bombing by the American forces separates the siblings, and the rest of the story revolves around Setsuko, finding his way back to Seito while relishing old memories.

When connections between two strangers form in a stranger way, things fall into place.

The movie focuses on a high school boy Taki, who aspires to be an architect, artist, or anything in the creative domain. After school time, horks in an Italian themed restaurant to support his education and to earn something extra for his pocket money.

Every night in his dream, he becomes a girl who, in reality, is a daughter of the city’s political bigwig.

A love story is wretched when an old witched curses the 18-year old Sophie to turn into an old woman’s body.
To lift the curse, Sophie embarks on a journey towards finding her fortune in Howl’s moving castle, where she finds Howl’s demon, Karishifâ. The fire demon places his demands for freeing the girl from the curse.

Titled Kokoro Ga Saabitagatterunda in Japanese, the anime movie revolves around an outspoken, arrogant girl. Her voice is magically taken away from her so that she could not hurt others with her words.

This change in her life helps her have retrospection on her present outlook when she creates new friendships and finds peace in music.

Another piece of work from the legend Mamoru Hosoda. Mirai is about siblings, a young boy, and an elder sister.

The boy finds a gateway in his backyard garden, which allows him to time-travel to the past. They can meet relatives of different eras and develop a perspective about different things in life.

Siblings aged 4 and 10 moves to the countryside to be with their ailing mother and support their father in managing care for their mother.

Satsuki and Mei find a mythical creature in their neighborhood named Totoro, with whom the girls have many magical adventures.

A woman becomes widowed when her werewolf husband dies in an accident while hunting for food to feed their children.

Now she must raise her werewolf children alone as a widow facing the society while keeping their trait behind the shelves.

In the pursuit of a legendary floating castle, Sheeta, a mysterious girl floating down from the sky, is chased by government agents and pirates. She meets a young boy named Pazu, and they embark on a journey to find her lost civilization in a floating castle.

A compelling story of a boy whose life is affected by the atomic bombing on the country.

Barefoot Gen is loosely based on a true story of the aftermaths of the Atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on a family. It depicts the struggles they bear through, shunned by the local authorities, society for their liberal, unfiltered views on the war.

Goku and Vegeta come across a nemesis they had never encountered before in their life, named Broly.

The story is beautifully built all the way up with Saiyans’ origin and how Broly was connected to them in an unfathomable way.

An old bamboo seller finds a princess named Kayuga in bamboo who is only the size of a finger.
As Kayuga reaches matrimonial age, prestigious families line up with marriage proposals. The princess demands a memorable wedding gift from each man to decide on the groom.

The equation of wedding proposals changes when the Emperor of Japan proposes her.

One Piece needs no introduction when it comes to animes. It is considered one of the best anime series of all time currently airing on TV.

The movie’s plot is about a commander in the Marines named Zephyr(nicknamed Z), infiltrating a marine base with his team and trying to steal the Dyna Stones, which is when Kizaru, a military general on the base ambushes them. Z then does the unexplainable and changes the dynamics of the movie.

Almost 3 decades after World War II, the city Tokyo(now named Neo-Tokyo) has been rebuilt from the ashes to become a metropolis.
While on a robbery from the top-government facility, a member from the biker gang is injured and develops telekinetic powers. He uses them for more evil than good.

On the eve of December 18, many school kids from the high school club disappear after an Xmas party. Kyon receives mystical signals from the disappeared people’s alien counterpart about helping them find their way back to reality.

It is the year 2029, and human brains can connect to the Internet directly. Cyborgs have become a regular thing.

Ghost in the Shell is a thriller anime movie about a hacker known as the Puppet Master who hacks into the cyborgs’ brains and commit crimes with the obtained information.

Agent Motoko and her partner pursue the trail to catch the puppet master before and put an end to the law’s mockery.

After defeating the final angel, Nerv has one last enemy to fight. The entire human race under the command of Seele. The Evangelion franchise has been amongst the best live action anime movies to be ever produced.

It provides an alternative ending to the finale of the TV series, Neon Genesis Evangelion.

The 7th Hokage of Konohagakure of the hidden leaf village, Naruto Uzumaki, has been become a legend after the end of the Shinobi war.

Naruto’s son, Boruto, is in the spotlight of the movie. He wishes to fill his father’s big shoes by being trained by his old man’s friend, Sasuke Uchiha.

Nerv is in a constant battle with the angels. The elite organization inducts two pilots to the fleet – Makinami and Asuka Langley Shikinami.
The newly introduced pilots possess exceptional skills and traits to protect the Nerv from the angels’ attack.
The movie should be seen before the Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion, to maintain continuity in the story.

In November of 1988, a young man has confessed to the authorities that he has committed the heinous crime of murder. Nobody believes him, so he goes to the news. Police finally takes cognizance of the issue and performs an inquiry.

In the conclusion of the inquiry, the man believed to be murdered is found alive and unharmed. The crime mystery anime movie leaves you the mental shambles of infinite possibilities.

The movie is a sequel to the original Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Without giving out any spoiler, there is an individual contract revealed between the protagonist and the nemesis.
Madoka has to make a tough decision that may decide the fate of her loved ones.

The third part of the series of Berserk movie series, Gut has moved onto a different journey to discover himself. Horror anime movies aficionados will get hooked to this great piece of work from Toshiyuki Kubooka.

Band of Hawks plot a mission to rescue a beloved member of the team from the prison.

Set in the thousand years ahead in future, Earth is gasping for its last breath, marred by pollution and war. Nausicaä, the people’s princess of in the valley of the Wind fights toxic jungles, filled with poisonous juggernaut sized insects.

The neighboring nations are engaged in a war as the valley of the wind is stuck in the middle.

An all-American basketball team named Jabberwock visits Japan to play a friendly game of basketball tournament.

After crushing the host, members from the visiting team mock the team members of the losing team. This results in a plot for revenge from the Japanese team.

A love story that many first time couples would find adorable. There is a girl who loves to read, so she often visits the library. Co-incidentally every book checked out from the library by the boy is being read by the girl. When the girl and boy come across each other, love blooms. This is amongst the best anime romance movies with a simple love story without the drenching drama.

An American return student comes back to Akihabara and reunites with the protagonist Rintarou Okabe.
Okabe suffers from the recurring flashes of other parallel timelines as a result of his trait of time travelling.

Hotaru is saved from the savages of the jungle by a kind spirit when she was a child. They form a bond friendship over time and become inseparable.
However, there is a catch. The spirit reveals that she will disappear if a human ever touches her.

A young lad, Nishi, who has a crush on his childhood friend. He has a brief encounter with the Japanese mafia, which sends him on a journey to heaven and back.

The mind-bending story is full of twists and turns as they find their way out of the unfavorable place.

An anime movie with hope, makes the audience rooting for a character. On Christmas in the city of Tokyo, three bum friends of the street find a baby while going through the trash.

They set on the journey to find the parents with several adventures along the way.

Daft punk fans would absolutely adore this movie. It is in continuation of the story narrated in a Daft Punk music videos videos “One More Time,” “Aerodynamic,” “Digital Love,” and “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.”
Basically, the story is about a blue Alien from another plant kidnapped by a music industry executive for making profits.

This Anime movie is a part of the series of Cardcaptor Sakura based on a popular manga series.
Spoiler alert, all the cards have been successfully captured and transformed into their final form. Sakura and the friends are trying to settle back into their normal life, but a wild reappearance happens that changes the dynamics of everything.

A TV presenter named Genya Tachibana is in the twilight of his entertainment career, as his studio is being torn down.

Tachibana decides to go down the memory lane with its most famous star to appear on the show, Chiyoko Fujiwara, who has left acting a couple of decades back. With her, we travel down the memory lane and the illuminating career she once had.

A group of terrorist has caused an explosion which has released deadly gas to the populace.

The bounty-hunting Bebop crew enters the picture and pursue the nefarious gang amongst various twists and turns. They start to question the reality in front of them as they go deeper into the case.

Mima, a singer in the prime of her career, leaves her music band to pursue acting, her true calling, so as she believes.

As she climbs the ladder of success, she faces many hurdles along the way and the haunted by an obsessed fan, who just can let her singing phase go. This mystery anime movie will churn your mind as we look further into her past.

A history flick anime movie on Netflix. The story is set in the early years of eighteen century of 1814, where a daughter of the famed artist, Miss Hokusai, embarks on the journey of self-discovery and meaning in life.

An average joe in sports, Jubei comes across an evil clan of demons named plague, consisting of an eye-candy ninja girl, and a craft spy who are hell-bent on overthrowing Tokugawa Shogunate.

Kiki, a 13-year-old who is a sharp, creative, and hardworking girl. Along with her cat, Jiji, she is ready to take on the challenges that the world throws at them.

The cute duo travel to the east side of the European river where they make their new home.

Set in the century of the future, a controllable robotic ship known as Macross is carrying over fifty thousand refugees to a safe haven on Earth, which was attacked by juggernaut humanoid warriors.

Talking about stories, there are multiple stories involving different characters that have several layers to it for the audience to enjoy.

The majority of humans have developed a superpower known as the “Quirks.” Others, without it, are often discriminated against.

The villains of the world have other plans, and they want to take control of the world. The Hero Academy must fight them with all their might to save the masses.

A young girl is gradually dying from a fatal illness as her pancreas is giving up on her. Her fellow classmate, a young man, falls in love with her. This sad anime movie will stir up your soul as you explore the film further.

They embark on a journey to live life to the fullest within the limited time they have. Gives us the Faults in our Stars vibes.

Naruto and Sakura are in captivity of Madara, far away in a parallel world. Madar’s only aim is to steal jinchuuriki from Naruto to gain the mighty superiority over the others.

The story is set in the World War II world era of Hiroshima, Japan. A teenage girl, Suzu, who has just turned eighteen, has been married off by her parents.

Without the knowledge of running a household, she manages to get by while trying to find a will to live.

In the second year of high-school, the young Koyomi Araragi meets a beautiful kiss-shot as she saves her from a terrible tragedy.

On the advice of the expert Meme Oshino, Koyomi embarks on a journey to save Kiss-shot from becoming a minion.

The sequel to the Berserk horror anime movie series, whose third part is mentioned in our list above. Gut is on a mission to unite with Griffith on an equality level.

The unification comes at a cost that may be difficult for Griffith to consider.

Inspired by the famous Italian aeronautical designer, Jio, a young man dreams of designing and flying planes. He joins a Japanese engineering company to set on a path to fulfill his dream.
The movie follows his journey through different stages of his incredible life during the early 19th century.

Brothers in arm, Simon, and Kamina decide to venture onto the world beyond borders, reality, and imagination. The aim is simple, to seek the truth from the innermost sanctums of the reality.
The truth that has the potential to free humanity from the shackles of uncertainty.

Ni No Kuni, a parallel world similar to the real world but with the mysteries of the dozen worlds. Two high-school pals come across their childhood friend, Kotona, whose life is in danger.

They must shuffle between the two distinct worlds to save their old friend.

A young boy and his dog find themselves at the center of the savage forces who are out to conquer and destroy everything on its path.
The olive branch is offered to the duo by a warrior with whom they cross paths along the way.

We all want a time-machine that can take us back in time to fix the mistakes. A high-school girl named Makoto has just the superpower you have always wanted.

She uses it for her own personal benefits, without realizing that her actions are affecting others around her as well.

Conan and friends are looking forward to playing a puzzle and riddle Virtual Reality game, titled Noah’s Ark.

Their fun tirade is cut short when a man is murdered, and the clues to solving the mysterious death are hidden in the game.

Mysterious music of love is radiated by a crystal radio, left by the Asuna’s father as a piece of memento.

The music sucks Asuna into the world of imagination, where she never had been before. She is pulled back by a boy who saves her from turning the melodic life into an intricate requiem.

The third part in the series of InuYasha movies, the mighty and fervent sword So’unga, which belonged to the Great Dog Demon, has been unleashed.

Inuyasha puts the past behind him and joins forces with the brother he hates, Sesshoumaru stops the sword and destroys it, which once belonged to their father.

Amongst the few Anime movies on Netflix, Blame! doesn’t disappoint. Set in the distant technologically advanced future, the civilization has gone digital with everything on the
network, including lifeforms.

A virus of sorts causes disruption in the automated network. Amidst all the chaos, a girl named Zuru must find a wanderer for her survival.

An aspiring musician in high school, Aoi Aoi is struggling to make a name for herself. She relies on her elder sister as their parents passed away a long time back. Another strong contended for the best anime movie of 2020.
When she finally lands a good gig at an auditorium, someone from the past comes back to unite with her.

Sailor Scout is going on and about is when a ferocious snowstorm hits the town. The sailor discovers an evil snow queen, Kayuga, whose only ambition is to freeze the Earth.

The sailor scouts come together as a team to defeat the evil queen and return everything back to normalcy.

Part of the same Sailor Moon series, this anime movie, has a different story and plot.
Fiore returns to Earth after a long hiatus to meet Mamoru, with the flowers promised by him.
Like any other romantic anime movie, there is a villain on his/her own evil mission, which hinders the reunion.

Everything is silk and sunshine for the World War I veteran in Italy, now working menial jobs like repairmen, busmen, and more. One day on his way to repair a faulty engine, Donald Curtis, a notorious pirate, shoots him down.

Rosso escapes the murder attempt and takes a safe haven at an airbase where he plans his future actions.

The celebrated DigiDestined come together after decades of hiatus to save the world once again from the evil Kuwagamon crosses into the real world.

Anna, a 12-year-old girl, is suffering from Asthma, which makes her daily life difficult in the city. As a result, she is sent to the countryside to live her relatives as guardians. A rather unconventional entrant to the library of gay anime movies made in Japan.

There she meets another girl, Marnie, with whom she grew closer than they both had unexpected.

The award-winning director Mamoru Hosoda returns with a story about a young orphan, Kyuta, living on the streets of Shibuya as a bum.

While on a usual stroll on the footpath, it comes across a world of beasts. He is taken in by Kumatetsu, with whom they train together to become excellent warriors.

Hanabi, the younger sister of Hinata, has been kidnapped by Toneri Ootsutsuki. Naruto is put to the test when he has to use all his powers to save the sister of his love.

The Hokage lands himself in trouble when he loses his Sage of Six Paths cloak.

The third part of the series of Puella Magi Madoka Magica series, Madoka sacrifices herself to save the other girls of the magic fraternity from the evil fate that awaited them.

Part of the Berserk Trilogy, Gut trusts none but his sword. The Black Swordsman’s story from his nascent days of a young warrior are depicted in the story as he enrolled in the Bands of hawks.

Luffy decides to help out East blue as they are being attacked. As they prepare to leave for the support mission, Nami is kidnapped by the passing by ship’s captain.
They have to make a choice between rescuing Nami or joining the group in the support mission.

A ravishing love story that is looking to stand the test of time. The story is divided into multiple segues that converge into a single plot after going through different phases of life.

Part of the Evangelion series, this anime movie series, is about the initial building days of the Nerv as an organization and the Angels.

Ponyo, a young golden fish, develops a nurturing relationship with a five-year-boy. Together they go on various adventures that make the fish fall in love with the boy. Further, the golden fish wishes to turn into a human as well.

A thief steals a machine that enters the minds of patients as a part of the therapeutic process. He uses it to steal information from the minds of the patients for personal gains.

A therapist goes by the name of Paprika, who is capable of finding the machine, along with the trio Chiba, Tokita, and Shima, assisted by police.

An anime movie for kids, Moomin and his friends take on a journey to find what is coming to their ways, as a philosopher has predicted black rain, disaster, and a rumor of threat from the space.

A girl with her gothic appearance protects a large and precious egg. She comes across a mysterious appearing man with whom they converse on a variety of topics such as philosophy, theology, etc. On his departure, he leaves with many unanswered questions.

A girl with her gothic appearance protects a large and precious egg. She comes across a mysterious appearing man with whom they converse on a variety of topics such as philosophy, theology, etc. On his departure, he leaves with many unanswered questions.

An office worker in her late twenties travels to the countryside for a 10-day trip while reminiscing about her childhood and the surrounding nostalgia that comes along with it.

While on the train journey to her home, a fruit cart reminds her of the childhood crush, remembering the old youth romance.

One of those old veteran Anime movies with a modern touch in the plot is the signature 19th century.
A group of bandits kidnaps a princess while the police force struggles to rescue her. The evil group has learned about the trove of a treasure whose part key is held by the princess.

A somewhat modern take on the standard Anime graphics, this anime movie is here to take you on a nostalgic ride like never before.

Based on the world-famous Doraemon, where Nobita lives in the suburbs of Tokyo. Doraemon, a robot, comes to form the future to help him change his savage future.

What happens after Doraemon leaves Nobita? This is what the movie is about.

First, in the Kizumonogatari series, the movie revolves around Koyomi narrative his story about his meetup with the Kiss-Shot-Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade, when he met her during the break between the second and third year of senior school.

Kenji Koisa, a math genius in high school who is trying to solve a complex mathematical equation. As a result, it causes a glitch in the digital world, OZ, which he must fix to avoid any kind of ramifications transcending into the real world.

In the undertone plot, he pretends to be a fiance of his friend’s grandmother, who is celebrating her 90th birthday.

A college student is pursuing a girl with long dark hair for years, relying on small tactics like bumping into each other every day. There has been no progression over the years in the pursual.

Meanwhile, the girl believes in leaving everything to fate and experiences. They may or may not be together, it all comes down to the power of fate, as she affirms.

Based on the adaptation of the Sixth Light Novel series, it follows the lives of young warriors Riku and Shwi, followed by the events surrounding it. The story is happening the period before the 10 pledges.

In the pursuit of understanding the human heart, Riku and Shiwi unite to understand the emotions that support Earth.

A teenage boy and woman in mid-twenties form an unlikely friendship, meeting only on rainy days for some unknown reason.

They meet as Takao, the boy, whose goal is to become a shoemaker, is sketching shoes in a garden near the school.

The four-clock families, along with Arrietty, live in peaceful anonymity away from the typical human habitat and establishment.

The world gets shattered when a human boy discovers their existence in the seclusion.

Detective Conan is back in a new avatar. Several murders have been committed in the new towers, with the prominent victim being one of the owners.

Conan and friends have taken a tour of the newly built towers earlier. Now they go back to in search of the killers and bring them to justice.

Three different detective cops have been killed in separate incidents. Rami Mouri, a talented detective, survives the wrath of the murderers.

The detective boys regroup to solve this trail of murders of the men in uniform.

Black and White, two blue-eyed kids with aspirations about the urban city. The Treasure town sees occasional flair of evil above in the daylight through the members of Yakuza.

The duo tries their might to stop Yakuza and the team from destroying the history and memories of a part of town to establish new development.

While trying to escape a war that has reached the city of Iolph, Maquia becomes a wanderer of the wild. On her quest to liberation and freedom, she comes across an infant yet boy named Erial.

Their relationship grows with time as Erial grows up while Maquia does not, according to the lineage of her town where people live for hundreds of years.

The war with Tokugawa Shogunate ended a long time ago. However, some are not happy with the outcome. Takimi Shigure, in particular, wants to settle one final score whose family and friends were martyred in the battle for the namesake freedom and prosperity, as he believes.

Weather with You is the latest Anime movie to watch this year. The story revolves around a high school boy who decides to pursue a girl by running away from home.

The girl possesses a whimsical yet powerful trait of controlling the weather.

A terrorist attack has happened in Japan. The prime suspects are the nation’s Air Force, as they were helping the military in battling the Labors(juggernaut anthropomorphic robots).

A specialized team is formed to find the real culprits of the attack, with all of the Government’s resources at their disposal.

Memories is like three separate science-fiction anime movies converged into one. It has three stories running plots on different platitudes.

The first is “Magnetic Rose” involving four space travelers, second is “Stink Bomb” with a lab assistant who accidentally transforms himself into biological weapons. The third is “Canon Fodder” where the only purpose of a city is to canon fire onto invisible enemies.

A man is stranded on an island from a shipwreck. While on the island scavenging for survival, he encounters a red turtle who completely changes his life.

This movie is in continuation of the K-On anime. As only a few weeks are left in their school life, the girls from the band “After School Tea Time” go to London and perform for the English crowd. It is a life-changing experience for teenage girls with ambitions.

Ichigo’s sister is kidnapped by Karakura, an escaped Shinigami from the prison vault into the real world.

To get his sister back, Ichigo is asked to do something that goes against his principles and the moral compass. With the help of  Rukia, Uryuu, and Renji, Ichigo makes way to Hell one more time after the first-time defeat to save the world and her sister.

A story of a bunch of school friends from Yokohoma who try to save their school’s clubhouse from being torn down in the wake of the preparation for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

Colourful is one of those dark anime movies that you will watch a number of times. It is a mind-bending mystery, dealing with death and a second chance at life.

A train station is on the other side of death. The unready souls will be put to the test through a body of a 14-year old girl who recently committed suicide. They will be asked to perform two tasks to be considered worthy of being reborn. What about the one who fails? Destiny awaits them.

Best Sci Fi Anime Movies

Gasback is heading towards the Macca City, 20 years after interfering with a high-level bank heist.

Several bounties are being put on his head according to the rumors flying in Macca city. The highest being the $300,000,000 prize for his prized head.

Redline is the most popular racing event in the entire galaxy that is held every 5 years. Many racers compete in it for supremacy and fame.

JP, an underdog with the talent, is working hard to prove himself. This year’s Redline will be tougher with the competition happening on the planet Roboworld. JP has the chance to prove himself once for all.

Dragon Ball Z never fails to live upto expectations when it comes to top-rated Sci-Fi anime action in movies.
An alien named Hoy flies down to Earth from another world and asks for help from the Z warriors to help him save the Tapion.

It is the year 2032 in the future, where cyborgs have become a norm for maintaining security and peace.

Batô, a cyborg from the unit 9, has been assigned the case of a female robot, developed for the sole purpose of sexual pleasures, who murders her owner.

The Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn is a part of a series that is counted amongst the best Sci-Fi anime movies and TV series.

The universe is in chaos as a worker has transformed into a monstrous enemy of humanity, known as Janemba, by accident. He is on his mission to destroy the lines between the real and other worlds.

Goku, Pikkon, and Vegeta, the three saviors of the real world, have been bestowed upon the task of stopping Janemba from wreaking havoc.

The Space Opera movie fans will like this movie by Madhouse studio. It is amongst the best Sci-Fi anime movies of the last 2 decades.
A deep space corporate freighter receives a called to investigate a distress signal from several galaxies away. The officers incharge of the inquiry consider it as a signal from a space station in distress.
The space odyssey turns an interesting event when the supposed space station is found to be controlled by AI, who is a jaded opera diva.

Over to You

These were the 100 Top anime movies of all time that you cannot miss for any reason. The list can never be complete as newer anime movies come out with an uncharted path of creativity.