New Celebrity Sightings

You will get the same range of anime movies as you do in Hollywood, Bollywood or any other genre or production center. Some will clearly be just plain bad, while others will be obvious attempts to cash in and make money by producing a low-quality knock-off of a better movie. But then you will watch anime movies that stand alone as probably the most creative and captivating animated films anywhere on the planet. Some of these are inspired by anime series, but others tell their own important stories.

Some anime movies are disappointing because they play upon fan devotion to the original series. The final episode of the popular Fullmetal Alchemist anime left many things hanging. It was clear that the creators simply expected fans to fork over money for the anime DVD of Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conquerer of Shamballa, for the resolution of these issues. Most fans did so, but there was a lot of grumbling. On the other hand, movies like the ones based on the Naruto anime, while not spectacular, have been enjoyed because they feel more “honest,” fitting in well with the ongoing series itself.

The real jewels among anime movies, however, are those not necessarily connected to an anime television series, but which stand on their own. The earliest well-known film of this sort was Akira, from 1988. It brought the anime art style to North America, and told an intense, sometimes violent story that demonstrated that anime was not merely a children’s cartoon genre. In more recent years, with the appearance of the top anime films of Hayao Miyazaki, the power of the anime form has taken the movie world by storm. His film, Spirited Away, was the first anime film that won an Academy Award.

Anime movies run the gamut from silly to sublime. The ones associated with actual anime series can rarely stand on their own, plot-wise, yet they often demonstrate great beauty and skill in their creation. But the ones created as standalone works of art are the real exemplars, and exhibit all the beauty of the anime art form, frequently combined with a depth of plot and characterization. Whether one thinks of Vexille, recently acclaimed at several major film festivals, or Miyazaki’s Academy Award, it’s clear that the top anime films can stand on their own, right alongside some of the other great works on film.

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