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.