Anime has never been better and more mainstream than it has been in the past decade; whether by coincidence or by design, the visual and narrative quality of anime has reached heights many people likely thought would be impossible, and with streaming, simulcasting, and companies generally being better at bringing anime to the West in a reasonable timeframe, it’s easier than ever for fans worldwide to experience new shows and make them worldwide phenomena overnight.
The past decade has been nothing short of amazing for anime, and that’s especially true for anime films. Not only is it easier than ever for people to watch anime movies almost as soon as they come out, but their overall quality has arguably gone up even more than the TV shows, and even the most obscure movies are bound to be a masterpiece from start to finish. That’s especially true of a few movies in particular, and each one is, without question, bound to go down as one of the best anime movies of the decade.
Yu-Gi-Oh! The Dark Side Of Dimensions
Studio Gallop’s Yu-Gi-Oh! The Dark Side of Dimensions marked the first new anime project featuring the original Yu-Gi-Oh! anime in six years, and it more than lived up to the hype. Not only did it boast some of the franchise’s best visuals to date, but the writing did a great job of fleshing out the cast and creating a flawless epilogue for the series as well, especially when it came to Kaiba’s arc.
With The Dark Side of Dimensions being based on the manga and not the anime, some of the context might be lost on viewers, but fortunately, it’s easy enough to follow the story. The film is easily the best anime project in the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, and with it being Kazuki Takahashi’s swan song, that makes it even better.
Fate/Stay Night: Heaven’s Feel III. Spring Song
Ufotable’s Fate/stay night: Heaven’s Feel trilogy was their biggest Fate project to date, and it was perfectly capped off by the final film, Heaven’s Feel III. spring song. Not only was the action and animation some of the best put out by Ufotable, but moments like Shirou and Kirei’s fight and the conclusion of Sakura’s arc gave way to phenomenally emotional catharsis, resulting in a finale that succeeded in every regard.
On a meta level, Heaven’s Feel is the grand finale to the entire original Fate/stay night narrative, and very fittingly, it’s also the last Fate project that Ufotable made after making a name for themselves with Fate/Zero. That likely wasn’t intentional, but with just how great the action and writing are in spring song, there’s no better story to bring Ufotable’s time with Fate to a close.
Weathering With You
Makoto Shinkai might be famous for the groundbreaking film Your Name, but his follow-up film with CoMix Wave Film, Weathering with You, is arguably even better. While Weathering with You might hit some of the same emotional beats as Your Name on a surface level, it refines everything from Your Name to build a much smoother story with an even stronger emotional core, all with the same gorgeous artwork and animation as what came before it.
For years, Makoto Shinkai has been famous for his emotional, fantastical storytelling, and with the sheer depth of its cast and narrative, Weathering with You is easily his strongest work to date. There’s never been a film quite like Weathering with You, and even with Makoto Shinkai working on a new project, it’s hard to imagine him ever surpassing it.
Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon A Time
The grand finale to Studio Khara’s Rebuild of Evangelion tetralogy, Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time, was infamously delayed for over a decade, but the final product was well worth the wait. The amazing and creative visuals and direction were one thing, but the writing also did wonders to close out Shinji’s arc of learning to love himself and get close to others, making for a finale that was more than satisfying for fans old and new.
In many ways, Thrice Upon a Time is a finale not just for the Rebuild of Evangelion tetralogy, but the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise as a whole; granted, Yoko Taro’s Evangelion anime muddies that point, but if the film exists to end the original narrative on a meta level, then it more than succeeded, and that makes it even more of a marvel of a film.
The Boy And The Heron
A decade after his initially planned retirement in The Wind Rises, Hayao Miyazaki returned to Studio Ghibli with his latest film, The Boy and the Heron, marketed on nothing other than the prestige of Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. Sure enough, that was more than enough of a draw for people, and the result was a beautiful story about overcoming loss paired with some of the greatest animation in the history of Studio Ghibli.
With its perfect combination of gorgeous animation and emotional storytelling, The Boy and the Heron was an instant classic for Studio Ghibli, and it even netted them their first Academy Award win since Spirited Away in 2001. Studio Ghibli is more alive than ever thanks to The Boy and the Heron, and with Hayao Miyazaki already working on another movie, that won’t end anytime soon.
One Piece Film: Red
Toei Animation’s One Piece Film: Red is the latest One Piece film, and it’s the biggest in every regard. In addition to having the best animation and artwork of any One Piece film, One Piece Film: Red also easily has the best story; the film’s character-driven narrative made way for some of the most emotional writing in the franchise, and the film’s star, Uta, is given such incredible depth that it would be a travesty for her to never appear in the manga.
Ever since One Piece Film: Strong World, every new One Piece movie has been an event, and with its massive visual spectacle and emotional depth, One Piece Film: Red is easily the best One Piece movie. It’s easy to see why the film is one of the highest-grossing Japanese films in history, and even with a new One Piece movie in development, it’s hard to imagine Red being surpassed in any regard.
Persona 3 The Movie: #4 Winter Of Rebirth
The Persona 3 movies made for a surprisingly solid adaptation of the iconic game, and that was especially true for the finale, A-1 Pictures’ Persona 3 The Movie: #4 Winter of Rebirth. Just like the previous films, Winter of Rebirth does a lot to expand on the emotional depth of the cast’s character arcs, with the resolution of Makoto’s arc being especially cathartic, and with some truly phenomenal animation and direction running alongside it, every scene is a sight to behold.
Video game adaptations are contentious in any medium, but the Persona 3 films always bucked that trend with how much they respected the source material while also effortlessly expanding on it, and Winter of Rebirth was the perfect example of that. The films might not be the best substitute for the game, but even then, it’s hard not to see them as incredible, especially the grand finale.
The First Slam Dunk
Despite what the name would imply, Toei Animation’s The First Slam Dunk isn’t a reboot of the classic Slam Dunk anime, but the grand finale to the story after it ended on a cliffhanger almost 30 years prior. That meant there would be a lot of context missing from the story, and with it also including a new subplot centered around Miyagi, it was hard to know what to expect from the film.
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Fortunately, those fears were completely unfounded; not only was the story surprisingly easy to follow and as emotional as the original manga, with Miyagi’s new story perfectly complementing everything, but despite being CGI, the film boasted some of the most gorgeous animation and creative direction of any recent anime film. Slam Dunk is nothing short of a masterpiece, and The First Slam Dunk was the perfect way to bring it to a close.
100 Meters
Rock ‘n’ Roll Mountain’s 100 Meters was thrown onto Netflix at the end of 2025 with little fanfare, but that doesn’t make it any less amazing a film. As is common with sports anime, 100 Meters tells a thoughtful and engaging story about the struggles of being an athlete and the highs and lows of pushing yourself to your limits, and it’s all rendered through gorgeous animation and surprisingly artful rotoscoping.
100 Meters was the first manga by Uoto of Orb: On the Movements of the Earth fame, and sure enough, it has just as much success as a thoughtful and grounded story portrayed through jaw-dropping visuals. It’s a sports story unlike any other, and anyone who hasn’t seen it would be remiss to continue ignoring it.
Belle
Academy Award-nominated director Mamoru Hosoda is an absolute legend in animation, and his biggest film to date is easily Studio Chizu’s Belle. The film uses Disney’s Beauty and the Beast as a stepping stone for a heartwarming story about finding self-worth and learning to care for others, and with the stunning 3D visuals and gorgeous music accompanying it at every turn, there’s never a moment when it isn’t a masterpiece.
Ever since his days with Digimon, Mamoru Hosoda has always tried to find new ways to tell human stories through fantastical settings, and the heartfelt, gorgeous quality of Belle’s story is the perfect encapsulation of that. Belle is everything great about Hosoda’s work, and unsurprisingly, it’s easily the greatest anime film of the decade.
- Release Date
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July 16, 2021
- Runtime
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121 minutes
- Director
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Mamoru Hosoda
- Writers
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Mamoru Hosoda
- Producers
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Nozomu Takahashi, Genki Kawamura, Yuichiro Saito, Yuka Saito, Hibiki Itou, Takeshi Kikuchi, Toshimi Tanio
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Kaho Nakamura
Suzu Naito / Belle (voice)
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Ryo Narita
Shinobu Hisatake (voice)
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Shota Sometani
Shinjiro ‘Kamishin’ Chikami (voice)
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Tina Tamashiro
Ruka Watanabe (voice)