Anime/Manga Movies

Obviously we all watch our fair share of anime here, but it seems for the most part people favour tv series over movies. Do you guys watch many anime movies? Why/why not? Are there any that you particularly like or dislike?

I like watching anime movies...as long as they're actual movies. I DESPISE clip shows with small added scenes that make things blend together a little better than they otherwise would. That's not a proper movie and I don't care how they advertise it. For crying out loud, just...make a movie. Or don't make a movie. If I want to watch the anime, I'll watch the anime.

That said, I am in two minds about the TTGL clip shows, Lagann-hen especially. That extended final battle was something else.

Also I REALLY hated Digimon Adventure Tri. They ballsed that up spectacularly. God, all they needed to do was bring Myotismon back for a third time. Or better yet, focus on the Royal Knights. The first movie started off really strongly and they just kinda...got worse, from there. I've also seen bits of Last Evolution Kizuna and I am not impressed. Can we please just...stop ruining Adventure, guys. Please. Make another Tamers or Savers movie, those are already ruined, so it's not going to make a difference.

ANYWHO. Stuff I've really liked includes...

- Princess Mononoke, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Howl's Moving Castle, and The Cat Returns. None of the other Ghibli movies have really stuck with me tbh, and some - The Wind Rises and Porco Rosso being the chief offenders here - have outright bored me.
- A Whisker Away. Best villain ever. I'm sorry, but any movie that has a fat cat squeezing out of impossibly tight spaces and doing backflips whilst cackling like a lunatic is a winner in my books. I can't even remember what the movie was really about; I just remember that cat. I had no expectations at all from that movie and it turned out to be the second best thing I've seen this year.
- Anything by Mamoru Hosoda, I've been a fan of his since the first Digimon movie, haha. The Boy and The Beast and Summer Wars are two of my all-time favourites.
- Ghost in the Shell, Ghost in the Shell: Innocence, and Solid State Society. Good in conjunction with the TV series.
- Code Geass: Lelouch of the Re;surrection. I'd wanted more Code Geass for goddamn ages, and this didn't disappoint. It was a tad predictable, but I still really enjoyed it. More Jeremiah would have been nice, but hearing him scream "LOYAAAALTY!" at the top of his lungs was good enough. I got my fix. xD
- Adolescence of Utena. This is better than the TV series. I mean, I miss the duels and the secondary character development, but this told a proper love story, had some fantastic imagery and really nice visuals for its time - it still holds up pretty well! - and an amazing soundtrack. It's a big mistake to think you're the only one that can turn into a car.
- A Silent Voice. This was just a really good movie, tbh. I don't have any particular praise for it, but it was the first movie I watched with my partner, which might partly be why I'm so fond of it.
- Some of the Pokemon movies are pretty great! The first three, six, and ten through to twelve, specifically. The less said about eight the better. Who the hell decided Lucario should get a movie?
- Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack is a movie I both love and hate. I love it because Char comes back and I love all things Char Aznable, but I hate it because of how it ends, and because Char's relationship with Quess is just...why. Goddamn it.

Also I am guilty of *slightly* enjoying Rebellion, if only because I knew just how much it infuriated the majority of the fans and I took delight in watching their precious rubbish show get "destroyed" by something that actually made more sense than the TV series did. Ahahahaha.

I also generally make a point of avoiding movies that are just episodes from the series jammed together. I actually haven't seen that many anime movies myself, but the ones I have seen have largely been a positive experience and I've been gradually adding more to the list. Just recently I watched A Whisker Away, which has stunning animation and a fantastic villain. It was a cute movie. Last night I also watched Anthem of the Heart which really surprised me. I'm not usually a huge fan of musicals, although this was more about a musical than a true musical itself but it was honestly a really beautiful film and ended up being one of my favourite anime, period. As far as movies go, that puts it right up there with Your Name, which is also extremely good and one of my favourite anime.

I really enjoyed A Silent Voice also. It's an emotional rollercoaster for sure and while it doesn't quite compete with Anthem or Your Name, it's definitely had a really positive impact on me. Tamako Love Story was really sweet and was such a well told narrative I didn't even realise it was actually a sequel to a random SoL show until after I finished it lol. End of Evangelion was also really good and a much better end to its franchise than the last few episodes it replaced.

The two Ghibli movies I've seen so far, Spirited Away and When Marnie Was There were both really good, but that's not a surprise given Ghibli's reputation.

Honestly the anime movies I've seen that ended up really disappointing me were 5 Centimetres per Second and Flavour of Youth. I'd always heard the former was a really good movie but it was... not. The animation was lovely and the story had potential, but I think it gets too many bonus points just for being kinda sad/bittersweet. The actual writing is too disjointed and overall really not that great. The latter had the same issue but for different reasons - it's actually three totally distinct stories all jammed together and that means none of them had the focus they needed to live up to their potential.

I've watched my fair share of movies. For me it's just as easy to sit through a couple of movies as it is to binge through a single season anime. They both bring something different to the table and offer a different experience. Some plots are better suited to a movie or series of movies than they are to an anime adaptation. I don't however like films that summarize the plots of the anime they're based on and don't really add much. It's a shame when you already know the first thirty minutes of a feature that's a little over an hour long.

Most of the Hayao Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli movies are good recommendations for entry level anime fans (Rec.: Spirited Away, How's Moving Castle, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind) . Satoshi Kon is inspiring and you've most likely seen references to his works in a lot of different mediums (Rec.: Paprika, Perfect Blue, Tokyo Godfathers). The kizumonogatari series was as well executed as the rest of the series. Your Name was really close to being a 10/10 for me. Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms, I want to eat your pancreas, and Flavors of Youth were all highly rated for me as well and brought out a variety of emotions within me.

A lot of the movies I didn't care for are anime tie-ins. A lot of the Bleach, Naruto, dbz, and Inuyasha movies were really just garbage with only one or two rising out of the 4-6 range to become decent enough features. There's also a few standalone films that either had interesting ideas that brought up and did nothing with or plots that just weren't properly ended that irritated me such as A Wind Named Amnesia. Others were just middling and boring, not really doing anything of note such as Only Yesterday, Porco Rosso, and Expelled from Paradise.

For every great anime or anime film, there's at least a dozen others that simply exist, and that's about the best I can say for most of those titles.

I've watched some! The last anime movie I watched, if I recall, was In This Corner of the World. I only /really/ watch anime movies for franchises I actually care about, otherwise, I normally don't bother? But, I'll watch Studio Ghibli Films every now and again. The next anime movie I plan to watch is the Given movie because I'm a fan of that franchise. But, other than that? Nah. Not gonna watch any others. I don't have the time or attention span to really watch that many.

I do still want to watch the BNHA movie, though. I'm just lazy... The last anime movie I actually loved was Promare, btw.

My favorite of the moment is: your name

PinkDaisy said:

My favorite of the moment is: your name

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Good choice!

I don't watch many anime films, but I've tried to branch out in the last couple of years and I've seen Your Name, Weathering With You, and Garden of Words after seeing so many recommendations for them. They were all gorgeous and very well done. I've seen Your Name like three times, and I'm tempted to watch Garden of Words again just for the beautiful scenery -- the story is cute, also, but damn that team of artists for that movie. Amazing.

A lot of the anime films I've watched are from Studio Ghibli but have also seen a few others! I grew up watching Studio Ghibli and Spirited Away was one of the first films I ever watched. I've been trying to get around to seeing every Studio Ghibli movie - so far I've seen Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, My Neighbour Totoro, Grave of the Fireflies (emotionally ruined forever by this film), Kiki's Delivery Service, Castle in the Sky, Porco Russo, The Secret World of Arietty, Ponyo, From Up On Poppy Hill, Whisper of the Heart... all of these were good and I've also seen Ocean Waves, The Cat Returns and Pom Poko which were OK but not my favourite! I definitely need to get around to Princess Mononoke and Nausicaa one day as I've only heard good reviews for both.

Outside of Studio Ghibli I remember really enjoying Your Name when it came out! I also liked the Violet Evergarden movie for this year and I remember watching The Girl Who Leapt Through Time ages ago. I think I next want to get around to A Silent Voice, Colourful or Ghost in the Shell after I finish up Studio Ghibli. :D

Aside from Ghibli's masterpieces, Your Name was one of the most beautiful anime movies I've watched. I cried a few times. <3