Anime is a magical medium that has no limits when it comes to quality and imagination. In fact, many artists from all over the world link their interest in art to seeing an anime when they were younger. While not every anime has dazzling animation, the ones that do can leave fans in awe.
This is especially the case with the masterful Ghibli films, which have long been know for their beautiful settings and uplifting stories. There are several other anime with eye-catching beautiful animation, though, and the list below goes over just a handful that takes the medium to a new level.
10 Puella Magi Madoka Magica Focuses in on Abstract Visuals
Madoka Magica is an anime produced by Studio Shaft that caught the world off guard when it first premiered. The show features strange abstract visuals that appear when the girls enter a witch's labyrinth, and it can be pretty surreal. The imagery borders between sugary sweet visuals and disturbing imagery that emphasize the other-worldly feel of the witches and unsettle viewers.
9 Bakemonogatari Is As Gorgeous As Its Word Play
Bakemonogatari is another anime done by Studio Shaft adapting a light novel series of the same name. Like Madoka, the strange visuals help to pull the story along by setting up a world that feels strange to viewers while still being visually appealing. This is a series that heavily relies on a marriage of visual imagery and world play to etch out the weird and wonderful events occurring around Araragi.
8 Wonder Egg Priority Is A Dark Piece of Eye Candy
Wonder Egg Priority is a new anime that is created by CloverWorks. The anime is filled with bright colors that contrast the dark themes that it deals with, like the suicide of the main character Ai's best friend, that occurs before the show starts. The girls in the show are portrayed through their various amounts of trauma, and the scenes look like something that would pop out of a blockbuster anime film due to their quality animation.
7 Ancient Magus Bride Is A Magical Take on Anime
Wit Studio is behind the fantasy romance adventure Ancient Magus Bride. The anime is based on a manga of the same name and focuses on Chise and Elias as they begin their journey living together and slowly fall in love.
The anime is heavily fantasy-themed, with detailed creatures roaming around that look like they came from Spirited Away.
6 Garden Of Words Is A Picturesque Tale of Love
Garden of Words is a short anime that focuses on young love in the rainy season. The anime is done by CoMix Wave, a studio that is known for its high grossing movies and gorgeous animation that have taken over that Japanese film industry. This anime does focus on adult characters and is a great choice for anime fans who want to take a short trip away from the high-school focus that many anime have.
5 Violet Evergarden Is A Heartbreakinghgly Beautiful Anime
Kyoto Animation adapted Violet Evergraden and ensured that the art for the show was just a gorgeous as its story. The story follows Violet, a girl sent to live a peaceful civilian life despite having known nothing but war. She finds a job working as a letter writer and begins getting deeply involved with the lives of others while hoping to once again hear from the man she loves.
4 Land of The Lustrous Is A Literal Gem of a Show
Land of The Lustrous is a show animated by Studio Orange. The show is based on a manga of the same name and was popular with anime fans due to the fact that it masterfully used 3D animation to its advantage to create a beautiful world.
The show centers around Phos, a weak gem who desires nothing more than to help their friends fight in the ongoing war.
3 Demon Slayer Slashes With Style
Demon Slayer is one of the best-animated Shonen Jump anime in recent memory. The studio that animated it is ufotable, a studio famed for its high-energy fight sequences. The story follows Tanjiro, a boy who learns to slay demons after his sister is transformed into one and he tasks himself with finding a way to change her back.
2 A Silent Voice Is A Treat For The Eyes and Heart
A Silent Voice is another anime that is animated by CoMix Wave and is based on a manga of the same name. The story revolves around a young girl with a hearing impairment and a boy who used to bully her when she was young. The two grow close after a chance meeting brings them back together years later, and love starts to bloom between them.
1 Made in Abyss Digs Deep Into A Gorgeous World
Made in Abyss is a web novel series that was adapted into an anime by Kinema Citrus. This is another series that has a fantasy setting created through a gorgeous amount of detail that really brings the artist's passion to the forefront. The story focuses on the Abyss, a large hole that the main characters end up venturing into in the hopes of further unlocking its secrets.