Anime I've Watched and More I'm Open To Trying (As a Mostly Non-Fan)
by Chelouha | created - 2 weeks ago | updated - 1 week ago | PublicI'm not an anime fan and tend to avoid it, as I don't even prefer to watch Western cartoons, even ones targeted at adults. I'm apprehensive of it, but I've enjoyed some older anime films: the famous ones, like Princess Mononoke, Howl's Moving Castle, Arrietty, Spirited Away, Tales from Earthsea, but also Vampire Hunter D, Blood: The Last Vampire, and Laputa: Castle in the Sky. I also somewhat enjoyed a couple popular series: Aeon Flux and Death Note. I'm open to trying more, those which are included in my list.
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1. Ghost in the Shell (1995)
TV-MA | 83 min | Animation, Action, Crime
A cyborg policewoman and her partner hunt a mysterious and powerful hacker called the Puppet Master.
Directors: Mizuho Nishikubo, Mamoru Oshii | Stars: Atsuko Tanaka, Iemasa Kayumi, Akio Ôtsuka, Kôichi Yamadera
Votes: 156,994 | Gross: $0.52M
2. Howl's Moving Castle (2004)
PG | 119 min | Animation, Adventure, Family
When an unconfident young woman is cursed with an old body by a spiteful witch, her only chance of breaking the spell lies with a self-indulgent yet insecure young wizard and his companions in his legged, walking castle.
Director: Hayao Miyazaki | Stars: Chieko Baishô, Takuya Kimura, Tatsuya Gashûin, Akihiro Miwa
Votes: 449,792 | Gross: $4.71M
3. The Secret World of Arrietty (2010)
G | 94 min | Animation, Adventure, Drama
The Clock family are four-inch-tall people who live anonymously in another family's residence, borrowing simple items to make their home. Life changes for the Clocks when their teenage daughter Arrietty is discovered.
Director: Hiromasa Yonebayashi | Stars: Bridgit Mendler, Amy Poehler, Will Arnett, Mirai Shida
Votes: 104,466 | Gross: $19.20M
4. Castle in the Sky (1986)
PG | 125 min | Animation, Adventure, Family
A young boy and a girl with a magic crystal must race against pirates and foreign agents in a search for a legendary floating castle.
Director: Hayao Miyazaki | Stars: Mayumi Tanaka, Keiko Yokozawa, Kotoe Hatsui, Minori Terada
Votes: 182,462
5. The Boy and the Heron (2023)
PG-13 | 124 min | Animation, Adventure, Drama
In the wake of his mother's death and his father's remarriage, a headstrong boy named Mahito ventures into a dreamlike world shared by both the living and the dead.
Director: Hayao Miyazaki | Stars: Soma Santoki, Masaki Suda, Kô Shibasaki, Aimyon
Votes: 51,153
6. Spirited Away (2001)
PG | 125 min | Animation, Adventure, Family
During her family's move to the suburbs, a sullen 10-year-old girl wanders into a world ruled by gods, witches and spirits, and where humans are changed into beasts.
Director: Hayao Miyazaki | Stars: Daveigh Chase, Suzanne Pleshette, Miyu Irino, Rumi Hiiragi
Votes: 850,087 | Gross: $10.06M
7. My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
G | 86 min | Animation, Comedy, Family
When two girls move to the country to be near their ailing mother, they have adventures with the wondrous forest spirits who live nearby.
Director: Hayao Miyazaki | Stars: Hitoshi Takagi, Noriko Hidaka, Chika Sakamoto, Shigesato Itoi
Votes: 380,565 | Gross: $1.11M
8. Ponyo (2008)
G | 101 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
A five-year-old boy develops a relationship with Ponyo, a young goldfish princess who longs to become a human after falling in love with him.
Director: Hayao Miyazaki | Stars: Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Liam Neeson, Tomoko Yamaguchi
Votes: 163,643 | Gross: $15.09M
9. Kiki's Delivery Service (1989)
G | 103 min | Animation, Family, Fantasy
A young witch, on her mandatory year of independent life, finds fitting into a new community difficult while she supports herself by running an air courier service.
Director: Hayao Miyazaki | Stars: Kirsten Dunst, Minami Takayama, Rei Sakuma, Kappei Yamaguchi
Votes: 165,672
10. Blood: The Last Vampire (2000)
Not Rated | 48 min | Animation, Action, Horror
Saya is a Japanese vampire slayer whose next mission is in a high school on a US military base in 1960s Japan, where she poses as a student. She uses a katana/samurai sword to kill vampires.
Director: Hiroyuki Kitakubo | Stars: Yûki Kudô, Saemi Nakamura, Joe Romersa, Stuart Robinson
Votes: 13,310
11. Vampire Hunter D (1985)
Not Rated | 80 min | Animation, Action, Fantasy
When Doris Lang is chosen as the next bride for the vampire Count Magnus Lee, she will hire a mysterious vampire hunter known only as D in an attempt to escape her ill-gotten fate.
Director: Toyoo Ashida | Stars: Kaneto Shiozawa, Michie Tomizawa, Seizô Katô, Satoko Kifuji
Votes: 17,531
12. Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (2000)
R | 103 min | Animation, Action, Drama
A 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.
Director: Yoshiaki Kawajiri | Stars: Andrew Philpot, John Rafter Lee, Pamela Adlon, Wendee Lee
Votes: 35,833 | Gross: $0.15M
13. Princess Mononoke (1997)
PG-13 | 134 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
On a journey to find the cure for a Tatarigami's curse, Ashitaka finds himself in the middle of a war between the forest gods and Tatara, a mining colony. In this quest he also meets San, the Mononoke Hime.
Director: Hayao Miyazaki | Stars: Yôji Matsuda, Yuriko Ishida, Yûko Tanaka, Billy Crudup
Votes: 434,005 | Gross: $2.38M
14. Tales from Earthsea (2006)
PG-13 | 115 min | Animation, Adventure, Fantasy
In a mythical land, a man and a young boy investigate a series of unusual occurrences.
Director: Gorô Miyazaki | Stars: Timothy Dalton, Willem Dafoe, Mariska Hargitay, Jun'ichi Okada
Votes: 44,236 | Gross: $0.05M
15. Death Note (2006–2007)
TV-14 | 24 min | Animation, Crime, Drama
An intelligent high school student goes on a secret crusade to eliminate criminals from the world after discovering a notebook capable of killing anyone whose name is written into it.
Stars: Mamoru Miyano, Brad Swaile, Vincent Tong, Ryô Naitô
Votes: 378,903
16. The Eminence in Shadow (2022–2023)
TV-14 | 24 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
When Cid is isekai'd to another world, he creates an underground organization to live out a fight against a made-up cult. Little does he know the cult is real, and they're not happy his power fantasy just impeded their plans.
Stars: Seiichiro Yamashita, Haruka Shiraishi, Inori Minase, Asami Seto
Votes: 6,412
17. The Wind Rises (2013)
PG-13 | 126 min | Animation, Biography, Drama
Jiro Horikoshi studies assiduously to fulfill his aim of becoming an aeronautical engineer. As WWII begins, fighter aircraft designed by him end up getting used by the Japanese Empire against its foes.
Director: Hayao Miyazaki | Stars: Hideaki Anno, Hidetoshi Nishijima, Miori Takimoto, Masahiko Nishimura
Votes: 98,868 | Gross: $5.21M
18. Erased (2016)
TV-14 | 22 min | Animation, Crime, Drama
29-year-old Satoru Fujinuma is sent back in time 18 years to prevent the events leading to his mother's death, which began with a series of kidnappings while he was in 5th grade.
Stars: Shinnosuke Mitsushima, Tao Tsuchiya, Minami Takayama, Ben Diskin
Votes: 58,297
19. The Tale of The Princess Kaguya (2013)
PG | 137 min | Animation, Drama, Family
Kaguya is a beautiful young woman coveted by five nobles. To try to avoid marrying a stranger she doesn't love, she sends her suitors on seemingly impossible tasks. But she will have to face her fate and punishment for her choices.
Director: Isao Takahata | Stars: Chloë Grace Moretz, James Caan, Mary Steenburgen, James Marsden
Votes: 54,055 | Gross: $1.51M
20. Attack on Titan (2013–2023)
TV-MA | 24 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
After his hometown is destroyed and is traumatized, young Eren Jaeger vows to cleanse the earth of the giant humanoid Titans that have brought humanity to the brink of extinction.
Stars: Jessie James Grelle, Bryce Papenbrook, Trina Nishimura, Yûki Kaji
Votes: 512,246
21. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)
PG | 117 min | Animation, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Warrior and pacifist Princess Nausicaä desperately struggles to prevent two warring nations from destroying themselves and their dying planet.
Director: Hayao Miyazaki | Stars: Sumi Shimamoto, Mahito Tsujimura, Hisako Kyôda, Gorô Naya
Votes: 182,635 | Gross: $0.50M
22. Weathering with You (2019)
PG-13 | 112 min | Animation, Drama, Fantasy
Set 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.
Director: Makoto Shinkai | Stars: Kotaro Daigo, Nana Mori, Tsubasa Honda, Sakura Kiryu
Votes: 55,686 | Gross: $7.80M
23. 5 Centimeters per Second (2007)
TV-PG | 63 min | Animation, Drama, Family
Told 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.
Director: Makoto Shinkai | Stars: Kenji Mizuhashi, Yoshimi Kondou, Satomi Hanamura, Ayaka Onoue
Votes: 63,808
24. Onimusha (2023)
TV-MA | 30 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
With the heart of a warrior, a legendary swordsman wields an ancient, demonic weapon. But with every soul he takes, the more darkness consumes him.
Stars: Urs Rechn, Robbie Daymond, Greg Chun, Akio Ôtsuka
Votes: 2,918
25. Barefoot Gen (1983)
TV-PG | 83 min | Animation, Biography, Drama
A powerful statement against war, Barefoot Gen is a disturbing story about the effect of the atomic bomb on a boy's life and the lives of the Japanese people.
Director: Mori Masaki | Stars: Issei Miyazaki, Catherine Battistone, Yoshie Shimamura, Iona Morris
Votes: 9,213
26. Your Name. (2016)
PG | 106 min | Animation, Drama, Fantasy
Two 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.
Director: Makoto Shinkai | Stars: Ryunosuke Kamiki, Mone Kamishiraishi, Ryo Narita, Aoi Yûki
Votes: 320,734 | Gross: $5.02M
27. Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
Not Rated | 89 min | Animation, Drama, War
A young boy and his little sister struggle to survive in Japan during World War II.
Director: Isao Takahata | Stars: Tsutomu Tatsumi, Ayano Shiraishi, Akemi Yamaguchi, Yoshiko Shinohara
Votes: 310,685
28. Castlevania (2017–2021)
TV-MA | 23 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
A vampire hunter fights to save a besieged city from an army of otherworldly creatures controlled by Dracula.
Stars: Richard Armitage, James Callis, Alejandra Reynoso, Theo James
Votes: 80,516
29. Blood of Zeus (2020– )
TV-MA | 30 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
A commoner living in ancient Greece, Heron discovers his true heritage as a son of Zeus, and his purpose: to save the world from a demonic army.
Stars: Derek Phillips, Jessica Henwick, Elias Toufexis, Jason O'Mara
Votes: 21,438
30. Blue Eye Samurai (2023)
TV-MA | 45 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
Driven by a dream of revenge against those who made her an outcast in Edo-period Japan, a young warrior cuts a bloody path toward her destiny.
Stars: Maya Erskine, George Takei, Masi Oka, Brenda Song
Votes: 66,368
31. Vinland Saga (2019–2023)
TV-MA | 24 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
Following a tragedy, Thorfinn embarks on a journey with the man responsible for it to take his life in a duel as a true and honorable warrior to pay homage.
Stars: Yûto Uemura, Mike Haimoto, Shin'ya Takahashi, Alejandro Saab
Votes: 71,926
32. Arcane (2021– )
TV-14 | 40 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
Set in Utopian Piltover and the oppressed underground of Zaun, the story follows the origins of two iconic League Of Legends champions and the power that will tear them apart.
Stars: Hailee Steinfeld, Kevin Alejandro, Jason Spisak, Terri Douglas
Votes: 271,038
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