Although there have been many blockbusters born from the American film industry that can be named Hollywood, Warner Brothers, or Disney, Japan also owns an equal number of films. A masterpiece that movie lovers cannot miss. Over the past decades, anime has proven its powerful influence on people's lives. Japanese animation works are not only for children but also for all ages in society with noble humanistic meanings. Let's review the best Japanese Anime masterpieces of all time
1 Grave of the Fireflies
Grave of the Fireflies is a film based on the novel of the same name by Nosaka Akiyuki, which the author wrote in a semi-autobiographical form as an apology to the author's own sister. Like other Ghibli works, the film is noted for its high artistic and visual quality. Set in the final stages of World War II in Japan, the film tells the poignant yet touching story of the brotherhood of two orphans, an older brother named Seita and his younger sister. It's Setsuko. Two brothers lost their mother after a fierce bombing by the US Air Force on the city of Kobe while their father was fighting for the Imperial Japanese Navy. Seita and Setsuko struggle to survive amid starvation and the callous indifference of those around them, including the two children's relatives.
2 My Neighbor Totoro
My Neighbor Totoro is written and directed by Japan's animation king Miyazaki Hayao. My Neighbor Totoro can be considered as one of the first major cartoons of Hayao Miyazaki, this work is playful, pure, suitable for all ages. The film tells the story of Mr. Kusakabe's family moving to the countryside to live, where the mother of two girls, Satsuki (11 years old) and Mei (4 years old), is located near the hospital. Once playing in the forest near her house, Mei followed a Totoro and discovered the whereabouts of Totoro's three - the gods of the forest with very cute big bellies. However, no one believed in Totoro's appearance when Mei told me, until one day when the sisters went to pick up their father at the bus stop, Satsuki saw Totoro with her own eyes. From there, two sisters' lives begin to change and their amazing adventure begins...
3 Tenkuu no Shiro Laputa
Tenkuu no Shiro Laputa is a 1986 film, written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. This is the first film that Studio Ghibli produced and released. The film revolves around the search for Laputa - an island or rather a castle floating in the sky of two friends Pazu and Sheeta. The necklace encrusted with Levistone is the heirloom of the Laputa family, a mysterious and ancient royal family. The stone is the key and final artifact that proves Laputa's existence. As the last remaining heir to this dynasty, Sheeta is pursued by an army of secret agents led by Mushka and the Dola bandits, in order to take Levistone's artifact, in search of the secret of Laputa. Protecting Sheeta on this journey is the generosity of Pazu, an orphan boy from the same situation, working in a small mining town. His mother died early, his father passed away in boredom, his burning dream is to prove the existence of Laputa, the legendary castle that his father saw once in his life. Pazu believes in the only photo of Laputa his father has taken, the one that people mocked as fake, causing him to die in bitterness...
4 Spirited Away
Spirited Away was released theatrically in Japan by Toho on July 20, 2001 and became the most successful animated feature film in the country's history, grossing over $331 million worldwide. The film surpassed Titanic (at that time the highest-grossing film in the world) at the Japanese box office to take the position of the highest-grossing film in the country's history with a total of 30, 4 billion yen. Spirited Away received mostly positive reviews and is often ranked among the greatest animated films ever made. The work won the Oscar for best animated feature at the 75th awards ceremony. The film also won other prestigious awards. The film tells the story of Ogino Chihiro, a bored 10-year-old girl who is trapped in a world of spirits and demons after her parents are turned into pigs on their way to a new home. She is forced to take a job at Yubaba's public bath to find a way to free her parents and herself and return to the human world.
5 Howl's Moving Castle
The film begins with the character Sophie, a shy 18-year-old girl who works at her father's hat shop under the direction of her stepmother and two half-sisters. She has the opportunity to meet the handsome witch named Howl - who saved Sophie from the threat of some guards. Howl immediately fell in love with Sophie, however, because of this, Howl brought Sophie to the attention of the Garbage Witch. She visits Sophie and casts a curse, turning her into a 90-year-old old woman. I can't tell anyone I'm cursed. Sophie must go to the Garbage Witch's residence to find Howl, begging Howl to break the curse. On the way Sophie meets a magician named "Radish Head". They begin to travel together to find Howl's flying castle.
6 The Wolf Children Ame And Yuki
The film is a beautiful fairy tale love story between a werewolf father and a human mother. The film tells the story of Hana, a 19-year-old college girl who falls in love with a man with a hidden secret, because he is one of the last werewolves. The result of their love is 2 children - Yuki (snow), born on a snowy day, and Ame (rain), born on a rainy day, both werewolves. When the werewolf father died, Hana had to take care of her children alone. Hana must face the challenges of a single mother raising two wolves as well as the evolution of Yuki and Ame as well as her quest to find her place in the world.
7 The Wind Rises
Is a fictional biography of Horikoshi Jirō, the designer of the Mitsubishi A5M (featured in the film) and its famous juniors, the Mitsubishi A6M Zero. Both were fighters that the Empire of Japan used during World War II. And Ghibli added another tearful yet romantic love story of Jiro and Naoko. The film is also honored to be nominated for an Oscar and is expected to do a miracle like Spirited Away every year, but the audience has to regret when that year's award belongs to Frozen.
8 Children Who Chase Lost Voices
Asuna is a high school student, her father died early, she lives with her mother who is a nurse who is always busy and not at home. As a good girl, but always lonely, her only hobby is listening to mysterious sounds from the radio made from the stone her father left on the hill behind the house. One day she accidentally found someone. friend, but that friend suddenly disappeared. Worried and scared, the girl begins her journey to find her other friend. It is during this strange and terrifying journey that she comes to understand the cruel yet beautiful side of life, as well as the true meaning of goodbyes.
9 Byousoku 5 Centimeter
The film consists of 3 small chapters combined with a length of 62 minutes: 1. Oukashou (The Chosen Cherry Blossoms), 2. Cosmonaut and 3. Byousoku 5 Centimeter (5 Centimeters per Second). Chapter one opens the story with a childish promise that leads the viewer through three important periods in Takaki Tohno's life in turn, all of which are related to his love for a girl.. .
10 Your Name
Your Name is the new Japanese anime phenomenon, a blockbuster that caused storms and was named the Asian box office dominator in 2016. This mystical and imaginative story beats the classic. Spirited Away of Studio Ghibli to honor the top of the box office in terms of revenue. So what makes Your Name so attractive? When people live in a modern society full of worries and fatigue, perhaps everyone wants to be once immersed in colorful dreams like what happened in Your Name. Shinkai Makoto captured this aspiration to portray an emotional Your Name that permeates Radwimps' music. The film is the body swap story of two boys and girls Mitsuha - a high school girl living in a small town in the Itomori region, and Taki - a male student in the vibrant capital Tokyo. Mitsuha is always bored with her boring life and dreams of being a handsome guy living in the capital. Meanwhile, every night, Taki sees herself in the form of a country girl. Both of their dreams came true when a thousand-year-old comet appeared on the earth and then every other day they swap bodies.
