Tokyo Godfathers

Cowboy Bebop

A Wind Named Amnesia

The Girl who Leapt Through Time

The Place Promised in our Early Days

Macross Plus (Watch Super Dimensional Fortress Macross to get the background, even though it's not that good)

As for Ghibli, Miyazaki's most moving work is Grave of the Fireflies.

Miyazaki was not involved in Grave of the Fireflies. It was written and directed by Isao Takahata.

For darker stuff pretty much any https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshiaki_Kawajiri film will be good. Ninja Scroll is very violent but worth a watch for the animation at least.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo_Tokyo_(film) is a good 80s compilation.

Otomo has another nice anthology: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memories_(1995_film)

From Oshii related work - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jin-Roh:_The_Wolf_Brigade is fantastic (but slow moving except for a few places)

Since we're talking Oshii works, I feel obligated to bring up Patlabor 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patlabor_2:_The_Movie

It's a good example of extraordinary detail in design and animation around mechs/military vehicles, cityscapes, and retro UI designs, plus Oshii's proven directorial chops.

I also quite like the plot, which is an unexpectedly serious look at things like the JSDF's case for existence and the danger of military/intelligence bureaucracies to democratic governments.

The opening sequence, which these days looks super vaporwave: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsMTpSDAGxM

Quite right, Patlabor 2 is fantastic as well!

It does go well together with synthwave: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=redlketVxn4

Tekkonkinkreet [1] (a truly amazing film), the OST by Plaid [2] is next level too. Here's a nice review that captures some of what it's about [3]

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfQjc2hs34Y

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WixQfMABnFA&list=PLCE193349F...

[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBtaqdXIVv8

Somehow reminds me of Aeon Flux:

https://vimeo.com/147068041

Not the same style, and probably not as good, the films of Makoto Shinkai are really beautiful to watch : https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1396121/

Someone else mentioned Satoshi Kon, and i strongly second that. Every film he made was amazing. Also, if you want to see Mamoru Oshii (director of ghost in the shell) getting real artsy in his debut, check out Angel's Egg: https://youtu.be/YopWyb75G7o

For me at least, that movie's like a bug bite i can't stop itching.

Hadn't seen Angel's Egg, such a spare concept -- TY for that!

PS. For ESL readers curious about itching vs. scratching:

If you have an itching itch which itches, you might scratch it scratching a scratch.

More here: https://www.dictionary.com/e/itch-vs-scratch/

I'd say anything by Satoshi Kon, especially Paprika and Tokyo Godfathers.

I'm partial to Perfect Blue, but those two are great as well.

Red Line - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiFjyqRfkpo

Ninja Scroll - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaXJI339uQs

well then Sword of the Stranger (Stranger: Mukô hadan) must have a honorary mention too for those kickass main characters

Upvoted for mentioning Red Line, most amazing anime you have never heard of.

> Ninja Scroll

Haha oh boy

It's not a standalone one, but I'd recommend The End of Evangelion.

Not sure if "iconic", but I recommend Millennium Actress for an interesting way to weave a story which goes through the evolution of the Japanese film industry.

The screenplay was written by Sadayuki Murai, who put a unique touch on whatever he worked in (he also worked with Satoshi Kon in Perfect Blue).

Also not a film, but I found "Mōryō no Hako" (a short series adapted from a 1995 book) worth watching: at the heart it's basically a crime story, but the execution, with some "hallucinated" scenes, and also the characters are interesting.

Metropolis (2001), directed by Rintaro with screenplay by Katsuhiro Otomo (the Akira director). Phenomenal set illustrations, unusual character animation that intentionally harks back to the 1950s or earlier, and a fab soundtrack. The plot isn't the strongest and the aesthetic is divisive - I know some people really don't like it - but if it's your kind of thing, it's glorious.

Recently saw this video on YouTube about Dragon's Heaven short "movie" but it's one of those super-heavy-detail hand-drawn type animations.

Not a film, but would recommend Attack on Titan

I muchly liked Your Name; quite Ghibli-esque.

makoto shinkai /studio 4c

venus wars