The 31 Best Anime Films of the 2000s

Ghibli's hand-drawn peak shares this decade with mind-bending psychological thrillers, cult action spectacles and a few quiet films that only found their audience years later.

1. 1
   Spirited Away

   Hayao Miyazaki's 2001 Studio Ghibli fantasy about a girl trapped in a spirit bathhouse, winner of the Oscar for Best Animated Feature.
   1000pts
2. 2
   Howl's Moving Castle

   Miyazaki's 2004 Ghibli adaptation of Diana Wynne Jones' novel about a cursed young woman and a vain wizard's walking castle.
   897pts
3. 3
   Summer Days with Coo

   Keiichi Hara's 2007 film about a boy who befriends a kappa revived from centuries of sleep.
   822pts
4. 4
   Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone

   The 2007 first Rebuild of Evangelion film, retelling the opening of the series with new animation.
   795pts
5. 5
   5 Centimeters per Second

   Makoto Shinkai's 2007 three-part story of two childhood friends drifting apart over the years.
   708pts
6. 6
   Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust

   Yoshiaki Kawajiri's 2000 gothic action film following the dhampir hunter D on the trail of a kidnapped woman.
   708pts
7. 7
   The Sky Crawlers

   Mamoru Oshii's 2008 film about eternally young fighter pilots in a staged corporate war.
   658pts
8. 8
   Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence

   Mamoru Oshii's 2004 sequel in which Batou investigates gynoids that murder their owners; it competed at Cannes.
   610pts
9. 9
   Summer Wars

   Mamoru Hosoda's 2009 film in which a math prodigy and a sprawling family fight a rogue AI in a virtual world.
   602pts
10. 10
    The Cat Returns

    Studio Ghibli's 2002 fantasy about a schoolgirl whisked away to the Kingdom of Cats after saving a cat prince.
    601pts
11. 11
    Conqueror of Shamballa

    The 2005 Fullmetal Alchemist film that concludes the 2003 series, with Edward Elric stranded in 1920s Germany.
    601pts
12. 12
    Millennium Actress

    Satoshi Kon's 2001 film that follows a retired actress whose memories blur with the roles she played across Japanese cinema history.
    538pts
13. 13
    Piano Forest

    Madhouse's 2007 film about a boy who grows up playing an abandoned piano in a forest and a rival from a family of pianists.
    538pts
14. 14
    Tales from Earthsea

    Goro Miyazaki's 2006 Ghibli debut, loosely based on Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea books.
    538pts
15. 15
    Metropolis

    Rintaro's 2001 adaptation of Osamu Tezuka's manga, scripted by Katsuhiro Otomo, about a robot girl in a towering city.
    466pts
16. 16
    Mind Game

    Masaaki Yuasa's 2004 feature debut, a wildly inventive story about a loser who gets a second chance at life.
    466pts
17. 17
    The Adult Empire Strikes Back

    Keiichi Hara's 2001 Crayon Shin-chan film about a nostalgia-obsessed cult, often called the franchise's masterpiece.
    466pts
18. 18
    Paprika

    Satoshi Kon's 2006 psychedelic thriller about a device that lets therapists enter patients' dreams.
    466pts
19. 19
    The Place Promised in Our Early Days

    Makoto Shinkai's 2004 feature debut about two boys, a girl and a mysterious tower in an alternate divided Japan.
    466pts
20. 20
    Cowboy Bebop: The Movie

    Shinichiro Watanabe's 2001 film in which the Bebop crew hunts a bioterrorist on Mars.
    466pts
21. 21
    Mai Mai Miracle

    Sunao Katabuchi's 2009 film about a girl in 1950s rural Yamaguchi who imagines the town's thousand-year-old past.
    466pts
22. 22
    The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

    Mamoru Hosoda's 2006 film about a high schooler who discovers she can leap backward in time.
    466pts
23. 23
    Blood: The Last Vampire

    Production I.G's 2000 short feature about a vampire hunter at a US air base in Japan during the Vietnam War.
    384pts
24. 24
    Sword of the Stranger

    Bones' 2007 samurai film about a nameless ronin protecting a boy from Ming dynasty warriors.
    384pts
25. 25
    Tekkonkinkreet

    Michael Arias' 2006 Studio 4°C film about two street orphans, Black and White, defending their city from yakuza.
    290pts
26. 26
    Ponyo

    Miyazaki's 2008 hand-drawn tale of a goldfish princess who wants to become a human girl.
    290pts
27. 27
    Steamboy

    Katsuhiro Otomo's 2004 steampunk adventure about a young inventor caught up in a fight over a powerful steam ball in Victorian Britain.
    290pts
28. 28
    Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance

    The 2009 second Rebuild film, which breaks away from the original series with new pilots and set pieces.
    179pts
29. 29
    Redline

    Takeshi Koike's hand-drawn racing film, seven years in the making, which premiered at Locarno in 2009.
    179pts
30. 30
    Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children

    Square Enix's 2005 CG-animated sequel to Final Fantasy VII, following Cloud Strife two years after the game.
    179pts
31. 31
    Tokyo Godfathers

    Satoshi Kon's 2003 Christmas story about three homeless people in Tokyo who find an abandoned baby.
    0pts

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