its like how people say the gateway anime is cowboy bebop for people who dont like anime and think anime is cringe, when in truth the cowboy bebo episodes work cause you embraced anime already. A nonfan will watch it and get bored by the slow pace and out there premise of futuristic tech.
It's funny you say that because CB WAS my gateway and still remains one of my favorites. People recommend it because it draws really explicitly from Western film and music culture - there's a lot for people who've never experienced the genre to enjoy.
Perfect Blue is definitely one of my faves, but I also think it's shitty when people don't give a heads up on that. Really messed up movie.
Other than that, my answer's Nausicaa. Early Miyazaki films are really adventurous and I love that about them.
The only truly serious answer I can offer is Grave of the Fireflies. To this day, it is the only film to ever instill within me a sincere and lingering feeling of grief long after I was done with it. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to watch it again.
Non-serious answer is Dragon Ball Super: Broly. Perfect anime-wrestling crossover.
Kiki's Delivery Service is probably my overall favorite, but I also have a weird soft spot for Penguin's Memory: Shiawase Monogatari. It's a promotional film paid for by Suntori Whiskey Company in the 80s, about their blue penguin mascot getting traumatized by war and starting a new life away from anyone who knew him before. Conceptually, it's ridiculous and shouldn't work, but there's an incredibly slow, quiet pace to most of the movie, and a surprising (for a film from 1983, at least) grounded attitude with which the protagonist's PTSD is handled that makes it honestly kind of work, at least for most of the movie. Movies like Akira and GitS are great too, but there's an unexpected quality to Penguin's Memory which elevates it, in a way.
@habster3: Its really good but cowboy bebop also has some serious introspective parts with alot of drawn-out scenes that work in the past but general audiences these days, not in the past, are super into fast-paced, in your face, go go go, stories. Any bit of not "hype" moments as the kids say, makes them call the show trash. Sad but people have this whole solid take that if it doesn't hook em in 3 or fewer eps then they drop it. No matter how good the ratings are. Many did this to classics like avatar the Airbender and called it child garbage, yu yu Hakusho and called it slow-paced and stupid, the list goes on. Cowboy Bebop is a great gateway anime but only if you're kinda ok with the idea of watching a show about the subject. I think a good gateway for people who really don't give 2 craps is something with like 10 episodes and something that moves at a lightning pace. Those aren't my jam but I kinda became jaded by the amount of discourse on everything popular becoming trash by newcomers this year.
When I was like 11 or something that First Pokemon movie was everything to me. Watched it non-stop. Nothing else ever came close, so I’m going to go with that.
@topcyclist: Ah, that's fair. I was always into more deliberately paced films, so I guess that was never an issue for me. Still, I think a lot of people are open to that style of filmmaking (can't count the number of times I've argued with Dad over whether a movie like The Godfather could be made today), and people trashing Avatar is news to me. Either way, definitely agree people might be better off starting with a faster paced miniseries - it's asking a lot less for someone who's never explored the genre.
Redline is stunning, just on so many levels, as mentioned already.
Satoshi Kon's Millenium Actress is a personal favorite of mine, just so good on musical, story, and animation aspects.
But I'd actually go with Steins;Gate: The Movie for me, but that is a hard sell in general because you can't really get it without having watched all the series first.
It's Akira for me. I don't care much for the dumb anime story but it's so well-drawn. You see the crunch on screen paying off. Marraiges were ruined, birthdays were missed to make that look as cool as possible.
Akira is definitely my top spot, but I have to mention Princess Mononoke in the number 2 spot, because it's such a close 2nd. There's just so much about Akira that makes it stand out though. Even if it wasn't an Anime film, it's just good craft and the stuff they do in there applies to all of film.
One anime movie that I love but almost never see people talking about outside of certain circles is Windaria which is a fantastically tragic fantasy film. It also has a really great soundtrack and a very 80s anime aesthetic with character designs by Mutsumi Inomata.
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Yup, Windaria is very cool as well. Project A-Ko is good fun as well, sort of a "spoof" if 1980s anime tropes. Things like Black Magic M-66 were in my wheelhouse too - I like the full manga of AppleSeed better, but the OVA of Black magic is better told to show off Shirow Masamune (Masanori Ota) art work.
Ghost in the Shell, Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, Millennium Actress, The Sky Crawlers, (the short film)Garden of Words, Your Name, Howl's Moving Castle. A Cat in Paris, The Place Promised in Our Early Days, Steamboy, Porco Rosso, Memories, Princess Mononoke; Cowboy Bebop, Knockin' on Heaven's Door; A Silent Voice, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Solid State Society, Spirited Away, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Paprika, Tekkonkinkreet, Patema InvertedandThe Wind Rises.
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