There’s a particularly limitless nature to anime where it often feels like truly anything is possible. There are stories told in anime that feel like they would be impossible to explore in any other medium. This gives anime an even greater freedom when it comes to the projects that are brought to life, especially for feature films that don’t have to worry about weekly ratings or other broadcast standards. Anime is a medium that’s not afraid to take big swings, and there is no shortage of projects that operate like surreal experiments that play by their own rules.
The ordinary rules don’t need to apply in animation, and it’s glorious to see certain anime movies take advantage of this and not be restricted by common norms and expectations. It’s always worthwhile to watch something that goes against the grain and does something different, even if it’s not a complete success. Anyone who is looking for something more outside the box with their anime has some deep, diverse options to explore.
Promare Is Set In A Universe Where Pyrokinesis & Spontaneous Combustion Are Par For The Course
Studio TRIGGER are known for their creative work on Kill la Kill, Little Witch Academia, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, Inferno Cop, and so many more great anime; however, Promare was TRIGGER’s first feature-length film. TRIGGER absolutely goes all out and makes sure not to squander this opportunity. In doing so, Promare becomes the perfect showpiece from TRIGGER that is likely to draw in curious audiences to explore more of its work.
Promare is set in a heightened world where fierce spontaneous combustion has filled the world with pyrokinetic mutants. This dangerous world is protected by hyperbolized firefighters who are ostensibly superheroes. Promare fights fire with fire in a surreal world that goes on vibes and asks the audience to just enjoy the ride instead of asking questions.
Beyond Promare‘s chaotic visuals and frenetic camerawork, the movie is also a kaleidoscopic delight for the eyes. The fire in Promare adopts a rainbow palette that turns this into an even stranger surrealist experience. Studio TRIGGER are rarely concerned about grounded characters and storytelling, but they really let loose in Promare and take advantage of a movie’s set framework.
Hells Mixes High School Drama With A Revolution To Reshape The Afterlife’s Underworld
Lots of anime offer unique takes on the afterlife where silly or scary subversions of Hell fuel supernatural storytelling. Hells is a three-volume manga that was turned into a 2008 movie by Madhouse that combines typical high school slice-of-life drama with a fantastical rebellion to take over Hell. Rinne dies in a freak accident and decides to not let the fact that she’s in Hell ruin her high school experience.
Rinne slowly dominates Hell’s top educational institution as a grander conspiracy about Rinne’s connection to mankind’s original humans begins to unfurl. Over time, the series puts together a lot of disparate ideas and tones that somehow still work together and form something special.
Hells‘ radical reimagining of the afterlife is given a punk rock aesthetic by Madhouse, which adds a whole other layer to the film. On top of everything else, Discotek Media’s decision to enlist the TeamFourStar crew to work on Hells‘ dub — their first official dub — is an experimental masterstroke that captured the right energy for such a heightened project.
Ghost Cat Anzu Celebrates The Bizarre In A Sardonic Coming-Of-Age Fantasy
Ghost Cat Anzu is such a bewildering anime adventure that almost operates like an anti-Studio Ghibli film. It’s hard not to initially draw parallels between Anzu, a giant anthropomorphic ghost cat, and any of Ghibli’s adorable mascots like Totoro. That being said, Ghost Cat Anzu seems to intentionally conjure familiar iconography and themes, only to subvert these expectations with a more melancholy story about grief and abandonment.
Anzu helps open the eyes of a sad, lonely young girl, but she prompts much of her own growth amidst the chaos that Anzu causes. Ghost Cat Anzu unleashes unexpected supernatural players, including the God of Poverty and a trip to the Land of the Dead, that’s hard to forget. It’s not a perfect movie, but it’s one that confidently embraces its oddness instead of conforming into something more mainstream.
Ghost Cat Anzu is a co-production between Shin-Ei Animation and Miyu Productions who turn to a very creative visual style. Ghost Cat Anzu achieves a surreal look that’s the result of a unique process of rotoscoping animation over live-action footage, which gives these fantastical characters a grounded, realistic look that makes them even stranger. It’s the perfect approach for a movie like Ghost Cat Anzu that permanently blurs the lines between fantasy and reality and then finds delight in this mayhem.
Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer Indulges In Trippy Time Loops
Urusei Yatsura is a playful gag comedy shonen series about a juvenile delinquent who finds himself suddenly betrothed to an electrifying alien. Urusei Yatsura was created by Rumiko Takahashi, but Mamoru Oshii of Ghost in the Shell fame took some surprising ownership over the series’ anime adaptation, particularly regarding its first two movies, Only You and Beautiful Dreamer.
Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer is often cited as being too chaotic and confusing, but there’s absolutely a rhyme and reason for everything that happens for those who look hard enough. Oshii often deals with heady ideas, some of which are too esoteric for their own good. Beautiful Dreamer throws its characters into time loops and false realities that disorient the viewer and leave them unsure of what’s real.
It’s almost like anime’s version of Memento, or even Mulholland Drive, in terms of how it structures its storytelling and the level of trust that it puts in the audience without holding their hand. Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer is absolutely weird, but there’s still a method to this madness.
Paprika Is A Brave Descent Into The Subconscious That Unleashes A Daring Dream Heist
Satoshi Kon was a true anime visionary who passed away far too young. Kon’s projects fluctuate between gripping psychological horror stories and beautiful, human character studies. Paprika is reminiscent of Kon’s unnerving and psyche-shattering work on Perfect Blue, but it’s not quite as dark.
Paprika is all about the power of the subconscious and dreams, as well as the dangers of weaponizing that power and using it to corrupt minds. In the film, a “dream detective” must recover pivotal technology that’s used to enter someone’s dream when these two worlds begin to melt together.
Paprika is full of unbelievable visuals that tap into hallucinogenic properties that break reality. However, Paprika has so much to say about the human mind and its relationship with technology and identity. There’s something new to discover in Paprika every time that it’s watched, even if it’s just meticulous animation details that were never noticed before.
The Night Is Short, Walk On Girl Is A Delirious Descent Into The Endless Possibilities Of Life
Masaaki Yuasa is one of the best in the business and an innovative storyteller who knows how to push boundaries and redefine how audiences look at certain constants. Yuasa’s works dip into deeply hyperbolized and supernatural extremes, many of which could likely be viewed as “weird.” However, one of his oddest stories is one that tries the hardest to be grounded.
The Night is Short, Walk on Girl is meant to celebrate the beauty of youth and the unlimited possibilities that can come from just grabbing one more drink or staying out just a little later. The film’s characters are meant to be relatable audience surrogates, right down to how they don’t have proper names. A cute, clumsy love story plays out in the margins of this wild night.
The Night is Short, Walk on Girl covers ordinary material in an extraordinary manner. Endless visual tricks are on display and the film’s climax suddenly transforms into an operatic musical. It’s impossible to predict what’s next in The Night is Short, Walk on Girl, which is part of what makes it so much fun.
Belladonna Of Sadness Is A Haunting Parable Of A Sacrificed Soul
Eiichi Yamamoto’s Belladonna of Sadness is over 50 years old, and it’s still as powerful as ever. This ambitious arthouse anime film adapts the French book, Satanism and Witchcraft, to tell a cautionary tale about innocence, evil, rebirth, and revenge. A female victim makes a deal with the Devil that will help her get revenge on the men who wronged her, but at a terrible price.
Less is more in Belladonna of Sadness and it’s a dark, mature film that’s confident enough to let its haunting visuals speak for itself. Belladonna of Sadness makes the audience feel like they’re lost in a hazy dream with expressionist artwork that looks better than many modern anime.
Mind Game Is A Dizzying Display Of Love & Passion That’s Karmically Reborn
Mind Game operates like an anthology movie, yet its ideas are all tied together by the radical journey that its reincarnated, lovesick protagonist finds himself on. The film’s main character, Nishi, is resurrected and given another chance at life after a grisly, violent death.
Nishi is inspired to live life to its fullest, which prompts a series of ludicrous setpieces. Mind Game is constantly transforming, both on a visual and narrative level. It’s a sight that must be seen to be believed.
It’s an incredibly disorienting way to tell a cosmic love story, albeit an approach that beautifully mirrors Nishi’s erratic and reborn state of mind. If Mind Game‘s weirdness is somehow still in doubt, then all that people need to know about it is that this movie aired on Adult Swim for April Fools.
Neon Genesis Evangelion has a reputation for polarizing and challenging endings that aren’t afraid to go to nihilistic places. The End of Evangelion is still praised as groundbreaking cinema that’s both a fitting finale to the anime, but also a truly weird experience that’s practically Lynchian in its construction.
The End of Evangelion deserves every piece of praise that it receives. However, if films are being judged purely on what’s weirdest then Evangelion 3.0+1.0: Thrice Upon a Time, the fourth and final entry in the cinematic Rebuild of Evangelion series, has it beat. Thrice Upon A Time is set on the precipice of Human Instrumentality and mankind’s undoing while Shinji must figure out if this is a world that he still wants to live in.
These are tremendous questions to tackle and Thrice Upon A Time provides answers in a manner that’s both satisfying to long-time Evangelion fans, but also completely original and a total dismantling of all things Evangelion. The final fight between Shinji and his father, in EVA units, is a beautifully self-aware meta showdown that’s the perfect conclusion to the franchise. Thrice Upon A Time concludes on a considerably happier note than End of Evangelion, but it must first go down a truly unreal journey to reach this light at the end of the tunnel.
Angel’s Egg Explores A Distant Dystopia Through A Delicate Lens
Mamoru Oshii’s Angel’s Egg came out 40 years ago and yet the 71-minute experimental film is still being endlessly dissected and discussed. Angel’s Egg is intentionally sparse with its dialogue in order to create a lived-in experience that the audience gets lost in.
A young girl does her best to take care of a giant egg, which she believes will give birth to an angel. Angel’s Egg creates such a fragile post-apocalyptic world that’s a marvel to look at.
The detailed visuals in Angel’s Egg are a clear highlight. However, Oshii’s symbolic story is a moving metaphor for much heavier ideas. Angel’s Egg is just vague enough with its storytelling that its narrative is open to interpretation and debate, yet there’s also a very clear intention behind everything it does.