Anime Movie Suggestion

What other movies have you seen? If you enjoyed The Girl Who Leapt Through time, you might enjoy Summer Wars, it's from the same director.

Someone mentioned Makoto Shinkai, and I definitely agree with that. He's a rising name and his movies are incredibly gorgeous.

• 5 Centimeters Per Second was his big breakthrough; it's a love story told in three acts from a perspective of a boy who gets separated from his childhood love. If you're not into love stories, you should watch it just for the sake of visual beauty. Also, it'll make you hate trains.
• Hoshi wo Ou Kodomo aka The Children who Chase Lost Voices from Deep Below is a fantasy story in the vein of some Studio Ghibli films. It was nice but nothing out of the ordinary. Still an eye candy.
• Kotonoha no Niwa aka The Garden of Words is his latest work although it's quite short, only 45 minutes or so. I haven't had a chance to see it yet but it seems to be another love story. As a matter of fact I think I'll watch it today!

Again, it really depends what kind of movies you're into, but late Satoshi Kon made awesome movies as well. Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers, and Paprika are all worth seeing. They each represent a different genre; Prefect Blue is a psychological drama, Millenium Actress is kinda hard to describe but it's a sort of historical adventure with some romance in it (unless my memory completely fails me), Tokyo Godfathers is a comedy and Paprika a psychedelic detective story. Each a masterpiece in my opinion.

And then there's Studio Ghibli. Now I know people dislike Studio Ghibli for being boring or mainstream, and dislike Miyazaki for being an old goat, but the fact is that the studio and Miyazaki have produced some diamond movies, and they continue to do so. Their catalogus is so vast it's hard to say which to see first, but yet again it comes down to your personal preferences. I've enjoyed most of Miyazaki's movies, and other people have directed for the studio as well. Here are some suggestions:

By Hayao Miyazaki:

• Princess Mononoke: A truly epic story of a prince seeking aid for his cursed arm. It took me some time to warm up to but it might actually be one of Miyazaki's finest films.
• Porco Rosso: I don't get why people don't give this movie more credit. It's a hilarious (but not too hilarious) story about a WWI pilot ace turned to pig and his struggle against air pirates, Or something. I like it.
• Spirited Away: I think we all know about this one.

From Takahata, Miyazaki Jr. & others:

• Grave of the Fireflies: By Isao Takahata. Based on a semi-autobiographical novel by someone who actually went through WWII as a child, this movie is a must see. It'll probably make you cry and feel horrible, but it's still worth it.
• Whisper of the Heart: By late Yoshifumi Kondou. I'm having hard time putting my finger on it, but something about this movie makes me love it with all my heart.
• From Up on Poppy Hill By Goro Miyazaki. I had some reservations about this because Tales from Earthsea sucked, but this turned out to be an excellent story! It's a simple movie about an everyday affairs and school life of a young girl, set in 60's Japan.

I tried to not just make it a list of all Studio Ghibli titles. But I think all those are worth watching if you're even a little bit interested. I didn't include My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service because I'm afraid you'd find them too childish, but they're both great movies as well. Also Only Yesterday, but it's "an adult movie" and I think most people would find it too boring.

I hope you'll find something that piques your interest. And I surely hope I didn't mess up the formatting! edit: Apparently I did. Looking into it.

Wow lots of suggestions here. Got copy of Summer Wars and Spirited Away (to watch) .. but way way more I have to read through here. Thanks guys!