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Curated category

Japanese animated fantasy films

  • Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (film)Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind arrived in Japanese cinemas on the 11th of March 1984, carrying a story set one thousand years after an apocalyptic war…
  • Castle in the SkyCastle in the Sky opened in 103 Japanese theaters on the 2nd of August 1986, carrying on its shoulders the future of a brand-new animation studio that had…
  • My Neighbor TotoroMy Neighbor Totoro, a 1988 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, opens on a family driving to an old house in the…
  • Kiki's Delivery ServiceKiki's Delivery Service opens with a rule every witch must follow. On turning thirteen, she leaves home alone for a year, taking only a cat and a broomstick.
  • Tales from Earthsea (film)Tales from Earthsea arrived in Japanese cinemas on the 29th of July 2006, carrying more weight than most debut films. Its director, Gorō Miyazaki, was making…
  • Spirited AwaySpirited Away opens on a ten-year-old girl named Chihiro Ogino riding in her parents' imported Audi, sulking about moving to a new neighborhood.
  • The Cat ReturnsIn 1995, Studio Ghibli released a film titled Whisper of the Heart. That project introduced Baron, a cat figurine who came to life within a fantasy sequence.
  • The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (film)The Tale of the Princess Kaguya arrived in Japanese cinemas on the 23rd of November 2013 as the most expensive Japanese film ever made, carrying a budget of…
  • Princess MononokePrincess Mononoke arrived in Japanese cinemas on the 12th of July, 1997, and within days the newspapers had a name for what was happening: the "Mononoke…
  • PonyoPonyo begins with a goldfish-like creature trapped inside a glass jar, drifting toward shore on the back of a jellyfish.
  • ArriettyArrietty is a 2010 Japanese animated fantasy film from Studio Ghibli, and it carries with it a question that has haunted filmmakers for decades: how do you…
  • Earwig and the WitchEarwig and the Witch drew positive notices from just 28 of every 100 critics who reviewed it. That figure, compiled by the Rotten Tomatoes aggregator from 68…
  • Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train"Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba , The Movie: Mugen Train" became the highest-grossing film of 2020. That year, COVID-19 had shuttered or reduced theaters…
  • Mary and the Witch's FlowerIn front of the press on the 15th of December 2016, director Hiromasa Yonebayashi introduced Mary and the Witch's Flower with a single line.
  • Porco RossoPorco Rosso is a 1992 Japanese animated film by Hayao Miyazaki about a man who has become a pig. Not metaphorically. Marco Pagot, an Italian ace from the…
  • The Boy and the HeronThe Boy and the Heron, a 2023 fantasy film from Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli, reached Japanese theaters behind a single poster and nothing else.
  • The Great Adventure of Horus, Prince of the SunThe Great Adventure of Horus, Prince of the Sun arrived in Japanese cinemas in 1968, carrying ambitions that no anime film had openly declared before it.
  • The Red TurtleThe Red Turtle opens on a man clinging to wreckage in the open sea. A storm has just swept over him, and next he wakes alone on a beach.
  • Final Fantasy VII: Advent ChildrenFinal Fantasy VII: Advent Children opened in Japanese theaters on the 14th of September 2005 to an audience that had to earn their seat.
  • The Lord of the Rings: The War of the RohirrimIn June 2021, New Line Cinema announced a fast-tracked anime film to secure the rights to J. R. R. Tolkien's novels before they expired.
  • Pokémon: The First MoviePokémon: The First Movie opened on a Wednesday in November 1999, and so many children skipped school to see it that the day earned its own nickname: the…
  • Your NameYour Name began, in a sense, on the ruined streets of a fishing village called Yuriage. Its director, Makoto Shinkai, visited the town in July 2011, months…
  • Howl's Moving Castle (film)Howl's Moving Castle arrived in Japanese cinemas on the 20th of November 2004, carrying more emotional weight than most animated films dare to attempt.
  • Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XVKingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV opened in Japanese cinemas on the 9th of July 2016 to a striking piece of promotional theater: day-one fans received exclusive…