10 Best Anime Movies of the 2010s and 2020s

By Vlad Zakh · November 10, 2025

Anime movies stopped being a niche import somewhere in the last decade, and Demon Slayer: Mugen Train briefly became the highest-grossing film in Japanese history. Ride Your Wave has a surfer’s drowned boyfriend appearing in water whenever she sings, Belle makes a shy teenager a virtual pop star, and Josee, the Tiger and the Fish is a tender romance with a wheelchair-using woman. 5 Centimeters per Second, The Garden of Words, Maquia, Suzume, Jujutsu Kaisen 0 and In This Corner of the World round out the list.

Ride Your Wave (2019)

TMDB ★ 7.3

A surfer's drowned boyfriend keeps appearing in any body of water she sings near.

Directed by Masaaki Yuasa · 1h 35m

Where to watch

Stream: HBO Max Amazon Channel, HBO Max · Rent: Google Play Movies, YouTube · Buy: Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

5 Centimeters per Second (2007)

TMDB ★ 7.5

Three vignettes about a childhood connection slowly drifting out of reach.

Directed by Makoto Shinkai · 1h 03m · Rated PG

Where to watch

Stream: HBO Max Amazon Channel, HBO Max · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Belle (2021)

TMDB ★ 7.4

A shy teenager becomes a virtual pop star, and the story gets stranger than the premise suggests.

Directed by Mamoru Hosoda · 2h 01m · Rated PG

Where to watch

Stream: HBO Max Amazon Channel, Philo, HBO Max · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Josee, the Tiger and the Fish (2020)

TMDB ★ 7.8

A woman in a wheelchair and the student who starts looking after her, tender without being sentimental.

Directed by Kotaro Tamura · 1h 38m

Where to watch

Stream: Crunchyroll, Crunchyroll Amazon Channel · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

The Garden of Words (2013)

TMDB ★ 7.7

A rain-soaked, almost wordless romance between a shoemaking student and an older woman.

Directed by Makoto Shinkai · 0h 46m · Rated PG-13

Where to watch

Stream: HiDive

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms (2018)

TMDB ★ 7.8

An ageless woman raises a human child, and the years pass unevenly for each of them.

Directed by Mari Okada · 1h 55m · Rated PG-13

Where to watch

Stream: Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Shout! Factory Amazon Channel · Rent or buy: Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Suzume (2022)

TMDB ★ 7.8

A teenage girl embarks on a journey to close mysterious doors unleashing disasters across Japan.

Directed by Makoto Shinkai · 2h 02m · Rated PG

Where to watch

Stream: Netflix, Hulu, Crunchyroll, Crunchyroll Amazon Channel, Netflix Standard with Ads · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Jujutsu Kaisen 0 (2021)

TMDB ★ 8.0

A prequel following a cursed teenager, tighter and more focused than most franchise tie-ins.

Directed by Sunghoo Park · 1h 45m · Rated PG-13

Where to watch

Stream: Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Crunchyroll, Crunchyroll Amazon Channel, Netflix Standard with Ads · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

In This Corner of the World (2016)

TMDB ★ 7.9

A quiet domestic drama set in Hiroshima right up to the day the bomb fell.

Directed by Sunao Katabuchi · 2h 10m · Rated PG-13

Where to watch

Stream: Amazon Prime Video, Crunchyroll, Crunchyroll Amazon Channel, Amazon Prime Video with Ads · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Demon Slayer: Mugen Train (2020)

TMDB ★ 8.2

A single train-set arc expanded into a feature, and it still escalates constantly.

Directed by Haruo Sotozaki · 1h 57m · Rated R

Where to watch

Stream: Crunchyroll Amazon Channel · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Streaming availability data from JustWatch, via TMDB. Availability changes often, so check the service before you plan a movie night.

Vlad Zakh

Founder, Movieix

Founder of Movieix. He started the site because most recommendation pages felt like noise. Here, lists are sorted by who's in the film, where it's from and what mood you're in tonight.

10 Best Anime Movies of the 2010s and 2020s

Ride Your Wave (2019)

5 Centimeters per Second (2007)

Belle (2021)

Josee, the Tiger and the Fish (2020)

The Garden of Words (2013)

Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms (2018)

Suzume (2022)

Jujutsu Kaisen 0 (2021)

In This Corner of the World (2016)

Demon Slayer: Mugen Train (2020)

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