Disclaimer: In this list, we’ll avoid mentioning any of the famous anime that are already part of the collective imagination, like any of the productions made by Ghibli Studios nor cult films like Grave of the Fireflies or Perfect Blue.
This list contains films that, regardless of when they were made, broke with conventional film standards and that connected in a special way to the audience, not only to the entertainment industry. These films provide something that the great Hollywood and European films sometimes forget.
Belladonna of Sadness (1973)
Dir. Eiichi Yamamoto
This anime from the 70s has a feminist and protestant theme that should be highlighted. It is well known that Easterners have no qualms when talking about sexuality, as culturally, they did not develop with the idea of the “original sin.” So, this film is interesting in many ways. A naïve and virginal peasant girl is raped by an authority figure in her village. Thereafter she makes a pact with the devil that no one will ever abuse her again, and she becomes the predator.
Sword of the Stranger (2007)
Dir. Masahiro Ando
The movie is set in the feudal Japan era when the system relied on the service given by the samurai. The story stars a ronin (a samurai without a master to serve) who saves a little boy and his dog. However, this is the first of many barriers that the ronin, the boy, and the dog will encounter along the way as they will be pursued by a powerful Chinese mafia. Beyond the adventures and fights, this film has an important moral and philosophical lesson as it is a transitional film.
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013)
Dir. Isao Takahata
This film is based on the Japanese legend of the Moon. Like everything in oriental culture and cosmogony, the gods and all creations on Earth have their origin in a remote and quiet forest or some natural and sublime place. The legend of Princess Kaguya is narrated in this film from the moment she appeared in a bamboo sprout, to her upbringing as a human, and her ascent to heaven as Princess Moon. The whole production has a quirky animation that engages audiences of all ages (although it is not very suitable for infants due to its few dialogues). Not to mention that it also contains among the story several vital lessons. You will inevitably cry at the end.
Let Me Eat Your Pancreas (2018)
Dir. Shin’ichirô Ushijima
Perhaps the story is a bit dramatic, but it is just the formula Hollywood has used for so many years. The protagonists are a pair of high school teenagers. He is an introverted bookworm, and she is the most popular in the class. However, despite her joyful personality, he discovers that she is sentenced to death by a terminal disease in the pancreas. They spend one last summer together before death catches up with them. It’s another film that will make you cry even if you’re not the sentimental type.
First Squad: The Moment of the Truth (2009)
Dir. Yoshiharu Ashino, Aljoscha Klimov & Misha Shprits
The film focuses on World War II and Russia’s fight against Germany under Stalin’s regime. According to the plot, the president orders the creation of a special group of soldiers with occult powers. It is not an ordinary platoon, but they will fight with other types of weapons. What this special squad will have to face is an equally magical group that has a necromancy plan to resurrect Baron Wolff and an army of crusade-era soldiers. The film is full of social and historical context and is one of many glimpses into all that was brewing during World War II.
Patema Inverted (2013)
Dir. Yasuhiro Yoshiura
It is a post-apocalyptic world in which people have to move to underground tunnels. Patema is a restless girl eager to know life beyond what she has seen all her life. In the explorations she makes to venture into the unknown, she suffers an accident that takes her to a strange place. Everything there is upside down. It is then that she meets a teenager who is just as restless as she is, and who sees her in the same way, inverted. It is a film with many teachings and with a philosophical sense that escapes conventional explanations. It speaks of the maturing process, freedom, and even a vision of the possible futures facing humanity.
The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya (2010)
Dir. Tatsuya Ishihara & Yasuhiro Takemoto
Time jumps, reality shifts, parallel universes, and mysterious disappearances: this is what a young high school student has to solve when she attends school one day and realizes that everything has moved out of space and some of her classmates have disappeared. She will have to restore the realities and put everything back in its place before the world remains permanently in the wrong state. If sci-fi productions involving time and space seem complicated, this feature-length film will seem even more so.
A Silent Voice (2016)
Dir. Naoko Yamada
It is a unique reflection on bullying without being melodramatic. A school bully abuses the helpless and the marginalized to be popular among his friends until circumstances change and he becomes part of the bullied. Being in the midst of this “other world,” he discovers that the suffering he inflicted deserves redemption. So he approaches a deaf-mute girl whom he tormented for a long time. Seeking her forgiveness, he falls in love with her, and his outlook on life changes drastically. However, that doesn’t eliminate the other stalkers.
Neo Tokyo (1987)
Dir. Katsuhiro Ôtomo, Yoshiaki Kawajiri & Rintaro
Because it is a cinematographic and argumentative innovation, this film is one of the most expensive in Japanese animation. Nevertheless, the investment and effort were worth it. It set the guidelines for future Japanese productions and opened doors for Western audiences. The story is a futuristic plot in which society is beset by technological discoveries and advances. The plot weaves together many stories, all with a sense of loss, anger, frustration, and grief at the catastrophe of the world. Of course, love is the last thing that matters.
Seoul Station (2016)
Dir. Yeon Sang-ho
In this Korean animated film, the director gave unpleasant and despicable characteristics to the living. The dead, in the film, are creatures condemned to wander with no purpose other than hunger; on the other hand, it is the thinking society that has the change of destiny in its hands and always chooses the worst path: destruction. It is an exercise in morality and integrity and shows the vilest side of the human condition.
Comparisons, in general, are bad. However, artistic manifestations carry their dose of criticism and comparison when exposed to public judgment. For years we have consumed what the big industries offer us, and we have ended up accepting it. However, on the other side of the world, there are great productions that are not taken seriously because they come in an animated format. These films prove that “cartoons” are only one resource among all creations.
Translated by María Isabel Carrasco Cara Chards
