From philosophical cyberpunk landmarks to dreamlike experiments and live-action detours, this is one visionary director's singular body of work. Which is his best?
1Ghost in the ShellOshii's landmark 1995 cyberpunk masterpiece about a cyborg policewoman hunting a mysterious hacker.1000pts
2Angel's EggThe hauntingly abstract 1985 film about a girl protecting a mysterious egg in a desolate world.800pts
3The Sky CrawlersThe melancholic 2008 film about ageless fighter pilots locked in an endless corporate-staged war.709pts
4AvalonOshii's 2001 Polish-language live-action film about a gamer immersed in an illegal virtual reality war game.692pts
5Patlabor: The MovieThe 1989 mecha thriller about a computer virus that threatens to send giant work robots berserk.491pts
6Urusei Yatsura: Only YouOshii's 1983 debut feature in the franchise, a comedy about an alien forcing a marriage on Ataru.491pts
7Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful DreamerOshii's surreal 1984 feature trapping a town in an endless recurring day before a school festival.491pts
8Ghost in the Shell 2: InnocenceThe visually opulent 2004 sequel exploring artificial humanity through a case involving murderous gynoids.0pts
9Patlabor 2: The MovieThe acclaimed 1993 political thriller in which a coup threatens Tokyo and the Labor patrol police respond.0pts
10The Red SpectaclesOshii's 1987 live-action debut, a surreal noir about a returning Kerberos commando, the first film in his Kerberos Saga.
11MarokoOshii's 1990 theatrical feature reworking his Gosenzo-sama Banbanzai! series, about a girl who claims to be a family's granddaughter from the future.
12StrayDog: Kerberos Panzer CopsThe 1991 live-action Kerberos sequel following a former armored cop who searches Taiwan for his missing commander, shot in a hushed, dreamlike style.
13Talking HeadOshii's 1992 live-action metafictional mystery about a director hired to finish an anime film while its staff are murdered one by one.
14Tachiguishi-RetsudenThe 2006 paper-puppet 'superlivemation' film, also known as The Amazing Lives of the Fast Food Grifters, retelling postwar Japan through legendary food-stand freeloaders.
15Assault GirlsOshii's 2009 live-action spin-off of Avalon, in which lone players team up to hunt giant sand whales inside a virtual combat game.
16Garm Wars: The Last DruidThe 2014 English-language Japanese-Canadian fantasy about cloned warriors on a dying world, starring Lance Henriksen and blending live action with digital effects.
17The Next Generation Patlabor: Tokyo WarThe 2015 live-action Patlabor feature in which a stolen stealth helicopter terrorizes Tokyo, revisiting the political themes of Patlabor 2.
18Nowhere GirlOshii's 2015 psychological thriller starring Nana Seino as a traumatized art-school student whose quiet days end in an explosive battle finale.
