Japanese anime movies to watch at home
Anime is one of the most popular genres in the world, and it’s easy to see why. The medium allows creators to present complex ideas and visuals that may not be possible otherwise, and it’s mind blowing that some of the most iconic scenes in cinematic history were born with just pens and papers.
If you’ve never watched anime in your life, or you’re a seasoned fan looking for a taste-breaker, consider this your gateway to the world of Japanese anime movies.
1. Belle (2021)
Image credit: Wikipedia
A modern retelling of the classic fairy tale, Beauty and the Beast, Belle follows Suzu, a shy high school student who is coping with the death of her mother. Traumatised by the loss, the protagonist stops singing, something that was encouraged by her mother.
That is, until she finds her voice again in a virtual environment called “U”, and gains huge popularity for her singing and song-writing abilities.
One day, the titular Beast crashes into one of Belle’s concerts while fleeing from a vigilante group, and Belle slowly becomes involved with him.
Genre: Drama, fantasy
Available on: Hulu, Amazon Prime, Netflix
![BELLE (2021) - 70 Second Trailer [HQ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Iqt8tzH4c6Y/sddefault.jpg)
Video credit: STUDIO CHIZU
2. A Whisker Away (2020)
Image credit: IMDb
There are many ways to get your crush to like you, but transforming into a cat and spending time with them is certainly peculiar, to say the least.
In A Whisker Away, Miyo, a middle school girl who has trouble getting along with her stepmother, longs to escape from reality. She obtains a magical mask which allows her to transform into a white cat, and manages to gain the affection of her crush, Hinode. As time goes by, the line between her cat and human form becomes blurred.
Genre: Comedy, romance, supernatural
Available on: Netflix
Video credit: Netflix Asia
3. Drifting Home (2022)
Image credit: Drifting Home Official Website
Though they used to be as close as a pair of siblings, childhood friends Kosuke and Natsume drifted apart ever since the former’s grandfather passed away.
One summer day, Kosuke and his friends sneak into an abandoned housing complex where they used to live. There, the group encounters Natsume by chance. A strange phenomenon ensues, and the children suddenly find themselves stuck in the old apartment block, drifting in the vast ocean.
With just a sprinkle of magical realism, Drifting Home is a coming-of-age story about reconciliation with one’s past and embracing the changes that come with adolescence.
Genre: Fantasy, coming of age, drama
Available on: Netflix
Video credit: Netflix
4. Suzume no Tojimari (2022)
Image credit: Suzume no Tojimari Official Website
Suzume no Tojimari follows the titular Suzume, a 17-year-old girl who has a chance encounter with a mysterious young man who is looking for a door. Intrigued, she follows him, and finds a dilapidated door amidst ruins deep within the mountains.
Instinctively, she reaches out to open the door, which leads to other similar doors popping up in random places, releasing calamity across the country. Going on a journey to explore urban areas of Japan for the first time, Suzume must locate and lock these doors before it’s too late.
The film premiered domestically on 11th November 2022, and you can still catch it at cinemas in Japan. It’s slated to hit international theatres on 12th April 2023, starting with France and Malta.
Genre: Fantasy
Video credit: TOHO Movie Channel
5. Fortune Favours Lady Nikuko (2021)
Image credit: Wikipedia
Nikuko and Kikuko, a mother-daughter duo, are nothing alike. While the former lives her life boldly, passionately, and just a tad clumsily, her 11-year-old daughter prefers to lay low and keep to herself. Nikuko’s brash and jolly demeanour has earned herself quite a reputation in the small seaside town they live in, much to the chagrin of Kikuko.
Fortune Favours Lady Nikuko is a slice–of–life film which centres on the familial dynamic of the unlikely pair, while following Kikuko’s life as she navigates middle school.
Genre: Comedy, slice of life
Available on: Netflix
Video credit: Yoshimoto Kogyo Channel
6. Bubble (2022)
Image credit: @NetflixJP_Anime
Inspired by The Little Mermaid, Bubble is set in an alternate-Tokyo where gravity is non-existent. As a result, the once bustling metropolis is now an urban playground frequented by traceurs for parkour activities.
Hibiki, the fearless ace of a parkour team, manoeuvres skyscrapers and performs dangerous stunts. One bad move lands him in the sea where gravity is distorted, and he is saved by Uta, an enigmatic girl who possesses mysterious powers.
Long-time anime fans will be thrilled to know that the Netflix original film is directed by Tetsuro Araki, who is most famously known for his work on Death Note and the first 3 seasons of Attack On Titan.
Genre: Action, sci-fi
Available on: Netflix
Video credit: Netflix
7. Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop (2021)
Image credit: IMDb
Introverted and reserved, Cherry is the film’s male protagonist who has trouble communicating with people, opting instead to pen his thoughts using haiku. Like Cherry, budding influencer Smile lacks self-confidence, and is self-conscious about her buck teeth, which she deems an unattractive physical flaw.
The 2 insecure teens meet at a local mall where they work part-time, and as they bond over their complexes, sparks fly over the course of summer.
Genre: Romance, slice of life, music
Available on: Netflix
Video credit: Netflix Asia
8. Spirited Away (2001)
Image credits: IMDb
Chihiro, a 10-year-old girl, finds herself trapped in an underworld of sorts, where she encounters strange spirits and flying witches. After her parents are turned into pigs, she must undertake a journey to free her family and return to the human world.
Image credits: IMDb
Spirited Away has won many awards, including being the first anime film to win an Academy Award. And since it’s one of the most iconic Japanese anime movies, most of us have watched it at least once. But it’s great to rewatch it and get onboard the feels train. And the train ferrying the spirits too, of course.
Genre: Fantasy, adventure, family, mystery
Available on: Netflix, Amazon Prime
Video credit: YouTube Movies & Shows
9. Weathering With You (2019)
Image credits: IMDb
Hodaka is a high school student who runs away from his island home to Tokyo, but goes broke almost immediately. After days of living alone, he is offered a job at a dodgy occult magazine. Along the way, he befriends a girl with a mysterious and incredible power – she can clear the skies and stop the endless raining in Tokyo. Together, they strive to change the lives that fate had in store for them.
Image credits: IMDb
Weathering With You showcases beautiful life-like animation and a great soundtrack. It’s no wonder it won the Animation of the Year and Outstanding Achievement in Music in the 43rd Japan Academy Prize.
Genre: Fantasy, adventure
Available on: Netflix
![Weathering With You [Official Subtitled Trailer, GKIDS]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Q6iK6DjV_iE/sddefault.jpg)
Video credit: GKIDS Films
10. Princess Mononoke (1997)
Image credits: IMDb
Princess Mononoke is set in the 14th century, when gods, nature, and humans lived together in harmony.
Cursed by a boar god, Ashitaka – a young prince – embarks on a journey to the West to seek a cure. Along the way, he encounters humans encroaching on a forest as their civilisation grows, as well as San, a young wolf-girl who fights to protect the forest. Ashitaka tries to negotiate for peace between both sides.
An interesting thing to note is that like other films from Studio Ghibli, there are no truly evil characters in Princess Mononoke. Instead, the struggle between environmentalism and social progress is highlighted.
Genre: Fantasy, adventure
Available on: Netflix, Amazon Prime
Video credit: YouTube Movies & Shows
11. Ghost in the Shell (1995)
Image credits: IMDb
No, we aren’t talking about the one with Scarlett Johansson in it.
The year is 2029, and humans have advanced to the stage of improving their bodies with cybernetics. Counter-cyber terrorist organisation Public Security Sector 9, led by Major Motoko Kusanagi, is tasked to stop a brain hacker, known as the ‘Puppet Master’, as he commits a series of crimes with unwitting pawns.
Image credits: IMDb
Ghost in the Shell is a cornerstone film of the cyberpunk genre and has heavily influenced the Wachowski siblings in their work, The Matrix.
Genre: Action, sci-fi, psychological
Available on: Amazon Prime
Video credit: LoveExposure
12. My Neighbour Totoro (1988)
Image credits: IMDb
Set in 1958, My Neighbour Totoro follows a university professor and his daughters, Satsuki and Mei, as they move to the countryside to be closer to their ill mother, who has been hospitalised. They befriend the spirits that inhabit the surrounding forest and go on adventures together.
What makes this movie so memorable is the way the world is portrayed through the eyes of the girls, with their childish wonder and curiosity. Along with Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke, My Neighbour Totoro is probably one of Hayao Miyazaki’s most iconic films.
The film won multiple awards, including the Animage Anime Awards Grand Prix Prize, Blue Ribbon Awards Special Award, and the Kinema Junpo Awards Best Film, just to name a few.
Genre: Fantasy, adventure, family
Available on: Netflix, Amazon Prime
Video credit: Crunchyroll Store Australia
13. Wolf Children (2012)
Image credits: IMDb
Hana is a young mother left to raise her son and daughter after her werewolf husband dies unexpectedly. The film follows the trio as the half-wolf children attend school in the countryside.
This heartwarming tale of a mother and her family snagged the 2013 Japan Academy Prize Animation of the Year, and Audience Award at the 2013 New York International Children’s Film Festival.
Genre: Fantasy, drama, family
Available on: Amazon Prime
![REEL ANIME 2012: WOLF CHILDREN TRAILER (English Subtitles) [HD]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/8xLji7WsW0w/sddefault.jpg)
Video credit: Crunchyroll Store Australia
14. Your Name (2016)
Image credits: IMDb
Two high school students, Mitsuha and Taki, live completely different lives in separate parts of Japan. However, they suddenly switched bodies while they were asleep. This continues to occur randomly, and the two start to form a peculiar bond.
Image credits: IMDb
Like Makoto Shinkai’s other works, the film features real-life locations and an award-winning soundtrack list. It was awarded Best Screenplay at the 11th Asian Film Awards, and the Animation of the Year at the 40th Japan Academy Prize.
Prepare a box of tissues for this one – it’s a real tearjerker.
Genre: Drama, romance
Available on: Amazon Prime, Google Play Movies & TV, iTunes
![Your Name - Trailer [English Subtitled]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/xU47nhruN-Q/sddefault.jpg)
Video credit: All the Anime
15. Ponyo (2008)
Image credits: IMDb
Ponyo, a goldfish-like creature, dreams of becoming a girl. Using magic, she becomes a real girl and visits the dry land before falling in love with a young boy, Sosuke.
However, Ponyo is actually the daughter of a powerful sea wizard and an enchanting sea goddess. The wizard sends huge waves to the land in hopes of finding his daughter, but the tidal waves threaten to sink the coastal town Sosuke lives on.
Image credits: IMDb
Ponyo is Hayao Miyazaki’s even more fantastical take on The Little Mermaid. The movie is a real visual feast, with an award-winning soundtrack to boot.
Genre: Fantasy, family, adventure
Available on: Amazon Prime
Video credit: YouTube Movies & Shows
16. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)
Image credits: IMDb
In a post-apocalyptic future, the Valley of the Wind is one of the few hospitable environments left on Earth. The young and courageous Princess Nausicaä leads giant insects to protect the Valley from the toxic and dangerous jungle. Princess Nausicaä also hopes to reconcile humanity and nature together.
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind has been cited as an inspiration for other creators, such as Final Fantasy’s creator Hironobu Sakaguchi.
Genre: Adventure, fantasy
Available on: Netflix, Amazon Prime
Video credit: Crunchyroll Store Australia
17. Akira (1988)
Image credits: IMDb
In a dystopian future, Shotaro Kaneda is a leader of a biker gang in Neo-Tokyo. When his childhood friend develops telekinetic powers after an accident, Kaneda finds himself in a secret military plot that threatens the peace of Neo-Tokyo.
Considered one of the greatest anime movies of all time, Akira has influenced other anime, such as Ghost in the Shell and Cowboy Bebop, as well as Hollywood films such as The Matrix and The Dark Knight.
Interestingly, the film was set in 2019.
Genre: Sci-fi, action
Available on: Amazon Prime
Video credit: Akira 2019
18. Castle In The Sky (1986)
Image credits: IMDb
A young orphan, Sheeta, escapes from imprisonment with the help of a magic crystal. Together with a fellow orphan, a young boy named Pazu, the duo race against pirates in search of the mystical floating city, Laputa.
While not as well-known as Spirited Away or Princess Mononoke, Castle in the Sky is another fantastical movie straight from Hayao Miyazaki’s illustrious imagination.
Genre: Fantasy, family, adventure
Available on: Netflix, Amazon Prime
Video credit: Crunchyroll Store Australia
19. The Garden of Words (2013)
Image credits: IMDb
Takao is an aspiring 15-year old shoemaker who one day decides to skip school to sketch at a garden. He meets a 27-year old woman, Yukino, and opens up to her. The duo begin to meet more frequently, but only by chance and on rainy days. As their relationship deepens, they begin to discover shared feelings of alienation from society, as well as romantic feelings for each other.
Once again, Makoto Shinkai boasts life-like visuals and a great soundtrack; the storyline also has the recurring theme of loneliness and star-crossed lovers.
The Garden of Words is set in Shinjuku Gyoen, a real-life park in Shinjuku.
Genre: Drama, romance
Available on: Amazon Prime
Video credit: cwfilms
20. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006)
Image credits: IMDb
17-year old Makoto Konno was an average high school student, until she discovered that she has the ability to literally ‘leap’ backwards in time. Using her newfound ability to travel through time, she sets out to solve her problems – often quite flippantly. Soon, more problems arise and she realises that time travel isn’t the easy way out of her problems.
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is a coming-of-age film, and also a loose sequel to the 1967 novel of the same name. It won the 2006 Sitges Film Festival Best Animated Film, and the 2007 Japan Academy Prize Animation of the Year.
Genre: Sci-fi, drama, fantasy
Available on: Amazon Prime
Video credit: Murat Akdeniz
21. 5 Centimeters per Second (2007)
Image credits: IMDb
Chronicled over three parts, 5 Centimeters per Second documents Takaki Tono’s unrealised relationship with his childhood friend, Akari, and a lonely life in a big city as he comes of age.
5 Centimeters per Second won the Lancia Platinum Grand Prize at the Future Film Festival, and the Best Animated Feature Film at the 2007 Asia Pacific Screen Awards.
Genre: Drama, romance
Available on: Amazon Prime
Video credit: onikinou
22. Paprika (2006)
Image credits: IMDb
Paprika, a therapist, uses machines to record and enter the dreams of her patients. When one of the machines is stolen, havoc is unleashed upon the waking world, and it is up to Paprika to recover it.
See familiar scenes in the movie? That’s no coincidence – Paprika was also an inspiration for Inception (2010). The movie also bagged the Golden Lion (Best Film) at the 63rd Venice International Film Festival.
Genre: Mystery, thriller, drama, sci-fi
Available on: Amazon Prime, Google Play, iTunes
Video credit: Yomaru San
23. Summer Wars (2009)
Image credits: IMDb
Kenji is a young math genius who’s asked by a schoolmate to act as a fake fiancé at her family reunion. Things take a strange turn when he solves a complex mathematical equation from a rogue email, and accidentally unleashes a virtual world’s artificial intelligence that’s bent on destroying the real world.
Genre: Action, adventure
Available on: Amazon Prime
24. Perfect Blue (1997)
Image credits: IMDb
Mima Kirigoe is a retired member of a Japanese pop-idol group, and has been pursuing a career in acting. Mima then finds herself a target of stalking by an obsessive fan. As the divide between her public and private life begins to blur, her sense of reality starts to slip past her fingers.
Perfect Blue is a true cult-classic and has influenced many other psychological thrillers, such as Inception (2010), in Hollywood. For example, Requiem for a Dream (2000) features a shot-for-shot remake of a scene in Perfect Blue.
Genre: Thriller, psychological, horror
Available on: Amazon Prime
Video credit: YouTube Movies & Shows
25. Redline (2009)
Image credits: IMDb
Daredevil racer, JP, is ready to compete in the most popular and dangerous race in the entire galaxy. The race is only held once every five years, and the racers will stop at nothing to win.
To win the race, however, JP must outsmart the mafia, the authorities, and the other racers, who are more than willing to kill to win.
An exhilarating movie like no other, Redline is the one for cyberpunk and racing fans.
Genre: Action, sci-fi
Available on: Amazon Prime
Video credit: Crunchyroll Store Australia
26. Ocean Waves (1993)
Image credits: IMDb
A love triangle unfolds between two friends and a transfer student from Tokyo, which tests their friendship. This is an underrated film made by the younger staff of Studio Ghibli.
Image credits: IMDb
Genre: Drama, romance
Available on: Netflix, Amazon Prime
27. Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)
Image credits: IMDb
A young woman, Sophie, is cursed with the body of an old woman by a witch. Her only hope lies with a young wizard, Howl, who lives in a walking castle. She then finds herself caught up in a war, and Howl’s reluctance to fight for the King.
Howl’s Moving Castle is Hayao Miyazaki’s commentary on the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, and his negative thoughts towards it.
Genre: Fantasy, adventure
Available on: Amazon Prime
Video credit: YouTube Movies & Shows
Top Japanese anime movies
The world of Japanese visual storytelling is fascinating. Whichever movie you start on, we guarantee this – you’ll be introduced to a world of amazing visuals, characters, and plot.
For more, check out:
- New Japanese dramas to watch in 2023
- Best Japanese romance dramas to watch
- Romance anime series to look out for in 2023
- Award-winning Japanese animated films
- Food anime to binge on
Cover image adapted from: Suzume no Tojimari Official Website, Drifting Home Official Website, @NetflixJP_Anime
This article was originally written by Ryan Chiong on 27th March 2020, and updated by Xiu Ting Wong on 24th February 2023.
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