Looking for the best anime movies available on streaming? Here’s our list of what to watch on Netflix and more, from Akira to The Deer King.
There’s no such thing as too much anime.
At Polygon, we cover the latest and greatest Japanese animation has to offer, like the coolest upcoming premieres each season and the year’s best anime. With so many streaming services to choose from, you can’t throw a rock without hitting a new series or movie to watch. But how do you cut through the noise in order to get at the best anime movies available on Netflix, Hulu, Max, and more? That’s where we come in.
We’ve combed through the libraries of the most popular streaming services to bring you a list of best anime feature films currently streaming. From bona fide classics like Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira and Hideaki Anno’s End of Evangelion to newer contemporary favorites from directors like Masaaki Yuasa, Hiroyuki Imaishi, and more, there’s an anime for everyone.Akira
Genre: Cyberpunk action
Run time: 2h 4m
Director: Katsuhiro Otomo
Cast: Mitsuo Iwata, Nozomu Sasaki, Mami Koyama
Where to watch: Hulu
There’s anime before Akira, and then there’s anime after Akira. Katsuhiro Otomo’s post-apocalyptic epic about a futuristic Tokyo teetering on the brink of annihilation represented such a pure distillation of talent and artistry when it was released that neither the industry of Japanese animation nor the medium itself was ever the same after.
The story of Kaneda, the leader of a brash motorcycle gang, and his clash against his friend turned nemesis, Tetsuo, an angry youth gifted with immense latent psychic abilities, is one of the most titanic and heartbreaking feuds seen in anime. The opening 13 minutes of the film is one of the greatest sequences in animation history, while the world-building and the noh-inspired score by Geinoh Yamashirogumi continue to exert their respective influences on the world of cyberpunk media (and beyond). If you’ve never seen it, you need to see it. And if you find yourself yearning for more, I highly recommend reading the original manga series; you won’t regret it.The End of Evangelion
Genre: Post-apocalyptic sci-fi
Run time: 1h 27m
Directors: Hideaki Anno, Kazuya Tsurumaki
Cast: Megumi Ogata, Megumi Hayashibara, Yūko Miyamura
Where to watch: Netflix
If you’ve never seen Neon Genesis Evangelion before, this movie should absolutely not be your first impression of the series. It’s right there in the name: This is the end of one of the most psychologically bracing and artistically transcendent anime of the ’90s.
Hideaki Anno’s apocalyptic mecha series centers on the members of NERV, a clandestine government organization that battles against a mysterious race of otherworldly creatures known as “Angels” who threaten to exterminate all of humanity. In its battle for survival, NERV deploys the “Evangelions,” biomechanical humanoid weapons that can only be piloted by teenagers like Shinji Ikari, the series’ protagonist. What starts out as a fairly boilerplate mecha premise slowly morphs into a intense psychological drama that probes at dark and unseemly questions hiding in plain sight. To reiterate, do not watch this movie if you haven’t already seen Neon Genesis Evangelion, as End of Evangelion picks up immediately after the events of the series. If you have seen the anime, prepare yourself for one of the most intense, heartbreaking, and cathartic anime finales ever conceived. You have been warned.Memories
Genre: Sci-fi anthology
Run time: 1h 53m
Directors: Kōji Morimoto, Tensai Okamura, Katsuhiro Otomo
Cast: Tsutomu Isobe, Shouzou Iizuka, Kouichi Yamadera
Where to watch: Prime Video
Anime anthologies rock, and this one ranks as one of the best. After the release of Akira in 1988 and Roujin Z in 1991, Katsuhiro Otomo executive produced Memories, an anthology based on three of his manga short stories, directed by Kōji Morimoto (who would go on to direct Noiseman Sound Insect), Tensai Okamura (who worked as a key animator on 1995’s Ghost in the Shell), and Otomo himself.
