(Photo by Warner Bros. THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE WAR OF THE ROHIRRIM.)

100 Best Anime Movies of All Time, Ranked by Tomatometer

Most recently: The epic curio Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim (reviews aren’t enthusiastic so it’s going on the second page). The fourth My Hero Academia film, You’re Next, has arrived. Look Back, the tear-jerking ode to art and creation based on the manga from Chainsaw Man’s tatsuki Fujimoto.

The Tomatometer takes on the best anime movies of all time! That means we’re ranking everything from the feverishly dark 1980s/1990s films (Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Ninja Scroll), to the Studio Ghibli golden era (Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Grave of the Fireflies), and into today’s mainstream renaissance (Your Name, Demon Slayer, Jujutsu Kaisen 0).

The list begins with Certified Fresh films first: Movies with at least 75% on the Tomatometer after enough critics reviews (40 or 80 reviews, depending on the type of release). These are movies seen by a wide swath of critics for potential wide audiences, including most films by Hayao Miyazaki (Kiki’s Delivery Service, The Wind Rises), Isao Takahata (The Tale of Princess Kaguya, Only Yesterday), Satoshi Kon (Tokyo Godfathers, Paprika), Mamoru Hosoda (Belle, The Boy and the Beast, Mirai), and Makoto Shinkai (Weathering With You).

After those are the Fresh movies, and a definitely rewarding dive for fans. Though anime has bubbled up in pop culture over the last two decades, many of these Fresh-rated films still need reviews to cross the Certified Fresh threshold. Though what reviews are there are pretty good! These Fresh movies include classics like The Castle of Cagliostro, Perfect Blue, and Vampire Hunter D, along with newer favorites Promare, Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms, and A Silent Voice.

On the second page, you’ll find even more Fresh movies hovering on the fringe like the Cowboy Bebop movie, along with Rotten-rated anime, including from Studio Ghibli (Tales From Earthsea), Pokemon, and Final Fantasy.

We defined anime at its most fundamental — simply, movies that were drawn and animated in Japan. This includes earlier efforts like 1973’s Belladonna of Sadness, movies directed by non-Japanese folks (Tekkonkinkreet, The Red Turtle), anthologies (The Animatrix, Gotham Knight), and even for-hire international productions, like Topcraft (whose core members would go on to found Studio Ghibli) animating The Last Unicorn and J.R.R. Tolkien adaptations for Rankin/Bass.

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Page 1: Movies #1-#100 | Page 2: Movies #101+