The Ultimate Anime Movies List : Weebs and Otakus Favorites

Best Anime Movies in the World. A Beginner Friendly Anime Watch List that Every Japanese and Non Japanese Anime Lover Die For!

O hisashiburi desu. O genki desu ka? Annyeong Chingudeul, today ‘the korean hanami’ wants to shift their gaze to capture the epic cinematic journey that Japan has gifted to the whole world; ANIMES. 

While TV and web series often steal the spotlight, Anime has been a category of entertainment which has stayed unshook for decades. Be it whisking us away to the enchanting world of ‘Susuwatari’ or ‘Soot Sprites’ or stirring the deepest emotions by exploring the space between realism and fiction through the twisted plots of the New Miyazaki. Anime characters have a bewitching ability to tell captivating stories that resonate with people of all ages making us laugh, cry, and understand our life on a deeper level.

The Japanese creators have also made sure to categorize each anime into 40 different genres and subgenres to make the life of weebs and otakus a little bit easy but surprisingly choosing the perfect anime movie or anime series, finding a genuine anime downloading website or accessing a spam free online anime watching site is a skill very few can master. 

So, I decided to take full responsibility today and curated a list of Top 11 evergreen animes, not to forget personal favorites that made my journey into the world of anime an unforgettable one. Happy Hunting!

‘Your Name’ is a breathtaking masterpiece crafted by ‘Makoto Shinkai’ or as the anime advocates call him ‘The New Miyazaki’. The plot of this anime movie explores themes of love, destiny and the life of two teenagers who mysteriously swap bodies.

Being dissatisfied, growing up in the mountainous rural town of Itomori and following the strict rituals of being a maiden of their family shrine Mitshua Miyamuzi desperately wishes to have a better life in Tokyo than struggling through the unavoidable stares of her ignorant father who did not seem to care about anything but politics after her mother died. 

In the small town of Gifu Prefecture, Mitshua played the role of a 17 year old high school teenager who lived with her younger sister ‘Yotshua’ and maternal grandmother ‘Hitoha.’ Given the responsibility to maintain the image of a shrine maiden (miko). All the three female characters; Mitshua, Yotshua, and Granny Hitoha needed to perform a mandatory evening ritual in front of the whole crowd of Itomori to make ‘Kuchikamizake’, an ancient traditional Japanese drink. 

The steps needed to follow in making the sake attracted Mitshua mockery and disdain from her classmates. Frustrated by the peculiar stares of her town people and desperate to be reborn again, she mysteriously found herself  inside the body of a same aged boy ‘Taki Tachibana’ who lives in Tokyo. 

Taki is a third year Tokyo Metropolitan High School teenager who has a talent for sketching and aspires to become an architect in the future. After their body swaps, what follows  is a hilarious, heart touching tale of two teenagers unveiling the chaos of each other life, communicating through letters, digital notepads and scribbling their thoughts on each other skin while Mitshua being fed up by Taki who seems to have a hard time stopping himself from fondling Mitshua’s breasts.

Other than the plot, what makes ‘Your Name’ #Rank1 in the ‘must watch anime movies list’ is the way Shinkai’s brilliant mind introduced the impact of natural disasters on Japan through a sci-fi perspective.

Seeing the innocence of the little girl, Gin convinces the forest spirits to not harm her and rescues her back to her grandma’s home but Hotaru gets enchanted with the fox shaped mask that Gin wore on his face which he refused to take off when asked by Hotaru. 

After that chance encounter, throughout her vacation Hotaru started visiting Gin everyday to get a glimpse of Gin’s true face. The amusing attempts of  Hotaru getting rid of the mask eventually transformed into a strong friendship between a teenage boy and a six year old girl who developed a crush on the forest spirit.

As the summer break ended, Hotaru promised Gin that she will visit her on every summer break and kept her promise by returning to see Gin and confess her love towards him. When they met again, Hotaru learned that Gin seemed to not age at all. Being brought up by the forest spirits, Gin has certain limitations that will make the teenage couple bestow an ill fate for each other if they follow their heart. Will Gin be able to find a way to win over the forest spirits first or will Hotaru get a chance to confess her love for him first is a question that will keep you hooked till climax.

The reason for Hotarubi no Mori e to rank on the 2nd place is hidden in the soundtrack and alluring shots of the forest portraying the delightful summer weather.  In addition the refreshing and unique take of expressing the ‘want’ to hold your lover in your arms makes it an all time comfort anime to watch.

When he won the oscar for his anime movie ‘Spirited Away’ Hayao Miyazaki expressed his rage for the 2003 Iraq War. He decided to channel his rage and make a movie on the eve of war that will portray his pacifist  emotions about the unjustifiable wars that nations broke into. Miyazaki’s creation ‘Howl Moving Castle’ received heavy criticism from the United Nations for following strong anti war themes but it does not stop him from setting the standards of cinematic vision to a meteoric height. 

Howl’s Moving Castle has been a worldwide success which tells the story of a young prince transforming himself into a big monstrous bird to fight for both the nations while shuffling between a castle that walks, a young cursed hatmaker girl and a talking fire who held Howl’s heart since he was a child. Hayao Miyazaki wanted to create a character who will fight for both evil and the good equally to showcase to the world that nobody becomes superior or veracious by supporting a specific country in war.

Throughout the movie, he crafted themes and complicated characters that pointed out WAR IS BAD while sketching the image of each character being affected by the meaningless war. Not only the people, kingdoms and the spirited characters but Howl himself was shown to be tormented from supporting both the kingdoms. In one of the scenes he asks the cursed hatmaker girl ‘Sophie’ to act as his mother and sends her to the king to inform that he is too much of  a coward and will not fight in the war. 

Even though the plot of Howl’s Moving castle revolves around trying to put an end to the war without having any specific villain or heroes yet the chemistry and understanding between Howl and Sophie makes it a romance anime that will make your toes curl and before some of my avid readers kill me to make this masterpiece rank 3rd on the list of best anime movies to watch, let me warn you to watch ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’  at your own risk because Prince Howl will definitely set your standards of romance to an unachievable height.

It follows the life of Shōya Ishida, an elementary school bully who turns into a social outcast by the time he reaches high school. Being unable to shake off his image as a former bully, Shōya shuts himself up viewing the people around him with no definite faces and a world filled with ear-splitting noise. He decided to end his life and free himself from the routined mental fracas until he crosses paths with the deaf girl ‘Shōko Nishimiya’ whom he used to bully in elementary school. Shōya decided to ask for her forgiveness before suiciding which eventually leads to dark secrets, betrayal, pure friendship and understanding the complexity of human psychology while dealing with the capricious society.

A Silent Voice is an anime that will not only capture your heart with Yamada’s unique way of using flower language to reflect upon feelings and personality of each character but will also make you cry your eyes out with the intricately crafted plot that challenges humans to connect with each other and find acceptance in the twisted world. This film received tremendous positive reviews from the critics and profited over 31.6 million dollars worldwide bagging several prestigious awards.

This anime movie narrates the tale of a 10 year old girl Chihiro Ogino and her parents who while moving to their new house finds an abandoned tunnel which leads them to an enchanted amusement park. Despite Chihiro’s protest, the parents began to explore the park and indulged themselves in the delicious cuisine of an empty restaurant. Meanwhile Chihiro started exploring the place when suddenly she met with a boy named Haku. Haku tells Chihiro that they have mistakenly entered the spirit world and they must leave at the earliest to not get trapped forever.

When Chihiro runs to her parents in order to return back to her world, she finds her parents are captured and will be slaughtered soon. Witnessing Chihiro’s despair Haku offers his help and takes Chihiro to the Witch Yubaba who promises to help Chihiro but starts controlling her mind and makes Chihiro her pawn. Meanwhile, ‘NO FACE: KAONASHI’ ( a masked spirit) sneaks inside the workplace and starts eating the other spirits and workers bestowing a doomed fate upon the spirit world. Will Chihiro find a way to defeat the evil spirits or will she need to lose both of her parents in order to find her way back to her world is a dilemma that will keep you confused till the very end.

Spirited Away held the record of highest grossing film in Japanese History for 19 years. Hayao Miyazaki wrote this animated wonder based on his friend Seiji Okuda’s ten year old daughter.

Being demented to decide his next move, he witnessed two men troubling a young teenage girl ‘Hina Amano’. Hodaka panicked seeing Hina getting dragged by them and shot the two men with the handgun which eventually lead both the teenagers getting more terrified as they ran away to a nearby shrine where Hina revealed about her uncanny powers and they both decide to help the people in need in order to earn a living. Hina’s supernatural powers made her a legend but people soon started to misuse her ability making the teenage couple suffer through inescapable situations that demanded sacrificing one of the teenagers life in order to survive.

Other than the budding romance of Hodaka and Hina, what makes ‘Weathering with You’ a must watch anime is the thrill of chasing your dreams, adjusting to unseen conditions that life throws at our way and the power of the human connections that help us to fight back with inevitable consequences that choices bring.

Makoto Shinkai wrote this animatic treat to convey his emotions towards the unstable weather of Japan and since he wrote this piece right after the skyrocketing success of ‘Your Name’, he kept a small surprise for every ‘Your Name’ movie lover in this film.

Despite having differences in the way they lead their life, both of the young adults could not resist themselves from being attracted to each other and eventually Hana gives birth to two children who happen to be half wolf and half human. Being torn apart with the societal pressure of raising both the child. Hana moves to an abandoned house near the forest where she learns about life from the perspective of being a mother.

When the interference of the villagers and the problems of living in a new place started subsiding Hana learns that her son ‘Ame’ drowned in the river and her daughter ‘Yuki’ was caught in trouble at her elementary school when she accidentally transformed into a wolf.

The unpredictable plot of Wolf Children is crafted in such a way that it captures the viewers attention right from the start depicting the bittersweet symphonies of parenthood while taking you on an emotional rollercoaster ride.

It dwells around the life of the Emishi village’s last prince Ashitaka who saves his village from a hideous demon. During the battle before Ashitaka manages to kill the demon, it grabs Ashitaka’s arm and infests it, leaving a deep scar on his arm. The wise women of the village ask Ashitaka to leave the village and search for a cure on the western lands from where the demon came as the scar will eventually kill him if not treated early.

When Ashitaka set out for his journey to reverse his ill fate he meets an opportunistic monk who informs Ashitaka that he must ask help from the Forest god and later understands that he has developed superhuman strength from the curse.

His search eventually leads him to a chase of wolves where he witnessed a human girl named San riding a white wolf fiercely. At their first meeting San and the wolf rebuffed Ashitaka’s help but later San agrees and tells Ashitaka that she has been raised by the wolf goddess Moro and hates human kind. Ashitaka learns that a new outcast group at the Iron Town wants to wipe off the whole forest and kill all the forest spirits in order to expand their industrialization. He decided to help San in her battle but San being dilemmatic to trust Ashitaka completely plans to kill him in disguise.

The way Hayao Miyazaki narrated the epic conflict and coexistence of the urban legends in the advancement of human society makes ‘Princess Mononoke’ a visually stunning and thought provoking anime piece of all time.

Writer Hayao Miyazaki and his team were greatly affected by the director’s death as everybody believed  Kondō will become the successor of Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, another screenplay jewel of the animatic world.

The story of this anime unfolds the life of a 14 year old Mukaihara Junior High School girl Shizuku Tsukishima who lives with her parents in Tokyo and is fond of books and creative writing. One fine day Shizuku sees an eccentric cat riding a train. She felt intrigued by the cat’s behavior and decided to follow him which led her to an antique shop where she met an old man named Shirō Nishi who happens to be the owner of the shop.

While exploring the shop her sight caught a cat statue dressed in a white suit as it sparked her curiosity and she began questioning the old man about the eccentric cat and the statue. Nishi tells Shizuku that the eccentric cat’s name is Muta or Moon and it lives around the neighborhood.

He also revealed that the cat statue has a chief significance and has a nickname Baron. Shizuku learned more about the cat statue and felt euphoric to find the place where stories are born until she encountered the boy Seiji who teases and annoys her at class.

At first Shizuku retreats but later she gets to know that Seiji is the grandson of Nishi and has a raw talent for violin. Seiji also revealed that he adores Shizuku creative talent and was trying to get her attention by completing every book that Shizuku prefers reading in order to understand her better.

The two teenagers bonded together through John Denver’s song Country Road which played an integral part in advancing the plot of the anime. What unveils after their union is the struggle of finding your own path, the determination of young love and the sinuous trail that every dreamer needs to pave before becoming an adult,

Whisper of the Heart is a must watch relatable anime movie for writers, romance readers and people who are on a journey to self explore themselves. A spin off film titled ‘The Cat Returns’ was released 7 years later which focuses on the life of the cat statue Baron.

Totoro unfolds the story of two young sisters who befriends a friendly forest spirit when their father moves to a new home near the countryside to take care and stay close to his sick wife. This anime movie beautifully portrays the day to day life of a  10 year old girl Satsuki and her 4 year old sister Mei who encounter dust like house spirits ‘Susuwatari’ in their new house. Mei becomes intrigued by them and starts following the spirits until she finds a magical gateway to a large camphor tree where Totoro seems to be sound asleep.

Despite Satsuki several attempts Totoro never appears in front of her until one fine day after Mei falls asleep Totoro appears and takes Satsuki and Mei away in his mysterious bus.

Since its release this animated movie has become a cultural significance in Japan as the spirited creatures can be seen in Japan’s quotidian life attracting over a million tourists throughout the year.

It showcases the life of a young teenage witch Kiki and her talking cat Jiji who flies away from her home to find her place in the outside world. Trying to adjust in the new city Kiki befriends a boy named Tombo who invites him to a party but later found out that Tombo’s friends made fun of her gothic appearance which eventually lead to misunderstandings and fights until she realized that she lost her magical powers completely and Jiji is not talking anymore.

Hayao Miyazaki directed this heartwarming plot to display the hardships young teenage girls go through before entering the adulting stage.

When Marnie was there is a psychological drama which deals with the life of a 14 year old girl Anna Sasaki who shifts to the rural seaside after being diagnosed with asthma. Being an orphan, Anna was brought up by her foster parents and seems to have a hard time accepting them completely until she finds a mysterious girl locked in an abandoned mansion.

The reason for this emotionally resonant film to earn a bonus spot in our must watch anime list is concealed in the climax scene of this movie which makes ‘When Marnie was There’ a hidden gem in the Studio Ghibli Treasure Chest.

NOTE : Before you embark on your journey into the magnificent 2D world here are some tips that will come handy in accessing online anime downloading websites. Use the anime movies Japanese name for quick and accurate results on websites like gogoanimehd.io (Example : Instead of typing ‘Your Name’ in the search bar type ‘Kimi no Nawa’).

It is always advisable to use a spare gmail while creating accounts in anime watching websites to stay protected from unwanted spams and malwares. Also, you can always treat yourself by streaming the anime movies online without creating any account or use a reputed paid subscriptions website like Crunchyroll. For a few years over the top services (OTT) platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime and YouTube are also turning into an anime hub slowly.