Some classic anime films had more of a slow-burn journey toward recognition. As is often the case with experimental stories and art ahead of its time, viewers don't always know what to make of a film that pushes boundaries. If a movie doesn't make a huge splash at the box office, sometimes it gains a second chance through television airings and DVD releases as it reaches new audiences.
Many films gained a new appreciation when their creators achieved success and critical acclaim later on, spurring fans to see their creative journey through their backlist of projects. These movies may have been less celebrated than others in their initial release, but they had a ripple effect that influenced anime aesthetics and genre over time.
10 Dallos Is A Space Opera About The Repercussions Of Governmental Exploitation & Rebellion
Dallos is the directorial debut of Mamoru Oshii, who is best known for directing Ghost in the Shell. The animation style is typical for the 1980s and is now often regarded as the first Original Video Animation.
Dallos' visuals of the moon are beautiful with the use of a muted color palette and looming architecture. Dallos' plot involves lunar colonists terrorized by government maltreatment and responding rebel attacks, which ensnares the idealistic protagonist Shun Nonomura. The strange appearance of an enormous metal structure called Dallos incites colonists to believe there is a god in their midst.
9 Robot Carnival Is A Collection Of Short Stories Centering Around A Robot Theme
Each short film in Robot Carnival ties in with robots as a unifying theme. The animated anthology became an anime classic despite lackluster releases in Japan and North America. Sci-fi television channels gave this film new life, and it gathered a viewership years after its release.
Robot Carnival explores the theme of robots and what they mean for humanity in a riot of color and eerily breathtaking imagery depicting alien planets, circuses, and laboratories. Some Robot Carnival shorts have straightforward storylines, while others have more cerebral, enigmatic tones with layers that viewers slowly peel back upon rewatching.
8 Little Nemo Explores Childhood Lands of Dreams & Nightmares
Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland is as fantastical as it is sweet. It has a soundtrack featuring several original songs which add to the film's visual delights. Nemo is a little boy whose dreams draw him into a different reality where he befriends Morpheus, the king of Slumberland.
Nemo's adventures go awry when he accidentally unleashes the ruler of Nightmare Land, who imprisons Morpheus. It's then up to Nemo and a magic royal scepter to set things right. What follows is delightful, dreamy chaos the likes of which Lewis Carroll would enjoy.
7 Vampire Hunter D Is the First Animated Horror Film
Vampires are a brutal gentry that rule the post-apocalyptic setting of Vampire Hunter D. D is a traditional lone ranger-type hero. He reluctantly accepts a young woman's commission to kill the vampire lord that lurks over her town before she's compelled to join the monster for eternity.
Vampire Hunter D has strong European folklore influences, giving creative new takes on creatures like werewolves and figures like Dracula. Vampire Hunter D set a definitive tone for horror and sci-fi genres in anime. However, the animation may not be as elegant as its sequel and some of its other contemporaries.
6 Radio City Fantasy Is A Phantasmagoric Masterpiece About The Relationship Between An Artist & His Muse
The romance Radio City Fantasy has a simple premise, with characters designed by the artist Yoshitaka Amano. The film combines several genres such as romance, comedy, fantasy, and jukebox musicals. The story's set against a psychedelic visual backdrop laden with symbolism.
Radio City Fantasy shows an exchange of fantasy and imagination between an aspiring artist and the young lady he regards as his muse. The tone of the main characters' relationship, the J-POP concept album that serves as the film's soundtrack, and the visuals all combine to make the story feel fleeting and ephemeral, leaving the viewer with a sense of emotional overwhelm.
5 A Wind Named Amnesia Shows The Resilience In Humanity Amid A Caustic & Apocalyptic Landscape
A Wind Named Amnesia is a cerebral, post-apocalyptic gem based on a novel by Hideyuki Kikuchi and Yoshitaka Amano, the same author and artist team behind the Vampire Hunter D novels. The film took some time to find its audience, gaining recognition years after its release.
The story takes place in the late 1990s when a great windstorm erased all memory, speech, and structures of civility from humanity. The main characters go on a hero's journey where they encounter many people and try to assist them in their troubles, all as they're chased relentlessly by government agents. Despite humanity displaying the worst of itself, A Wind Named Amnesia's cast of characters makes this story a message of hope.
4 Grave of the Fireflies Recounts The Devastating Repercussions Of War For Civilians
Audiences didn't know what to make of Studio Ghibli's Grave of the Fireflies when it was theatrically released alongside the whimsical children's movie My Neighbor Totoro. Grave of the Fireflies follows two young Japanese siblings as they struggle to survive the last throes of World War 2.
Grave of the Fireflies is an incredibly important piece that shows the merciless nature of war and its fallout for everyday people. Grave of the Fireflies is tragic and casts no illusions about how doomed the children are from the beginning. Though difficult to watch, it is a film that everyone should see at least once in their life.
3 Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer Bends Genre As It Tells A Story About Dreams, Time & The Fabric Of Reality
Fans were not pleased with Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer during its initial release, expecting more hilarity and less philosophy in the movie. The story is still a comedic fantasy at its root, but it also steers more toward deeper topics like shifting realities, time loops, and possible apocalypses.
The story takes place both in the void of space and on an earth that's lost its hold on time and absolute reality. Urusei Yatsura 2's protagonist, Ataru, stares into the abyss in his dreams and nightmares and wakes up only to be dogged by dream demons and their counterpart dream eaters. It's a strange movie that doesn't do much to wrap up the ending in a neat bow for the audience.
2 Panda And The Magic Serpent Is A Romantic Fairy Tale Delight
Also called The White Snake Enchantress, Panda and the Magic Serpent premiered in the early 1960s as the first full-color anime film. The color palette is lush and perfectly fitting for the adaptation of the Chinese folktale, Legend of the White Snake.
Panda and the Magic Serpent follows a young boy and a snake who transforms into a princess. The pacing is romantic and languorous with charming character design and adorable animal side characters. The boy and princess fall in love, but their happily ever after is waylaid by someone who believes the snake-turned-princess is a malevolent spirit.
1 Venus Wars Follows A Cast Of Futuristic Motorcyclists In An Intergalactic Dystopian Setting
The movie Venus Wars takes place on the terraformed planet Venus, which is divided into two continents with rising tensions. Military conflict merges the paths of Earthen reporter Susan Sommers and Hiro Seno, a talented racer whose gang of motorcycle racers is compelled to join a conflict between continents.
Venus Wars keeps to traditional character types, depicted in a charming animation style. Venus is a compelling landscape for the film, and the explanation for how the planet's atmosphere was rendered livable for humans is creative and believable for a science fiction setting.