The concept of animation featuring different styles was largely lost on multiple generations. For many people, especially those in the United States, animation was a homogeneous thing. Animation was viewed as nothing more than children’s entertainment, with no variety or difference.
While that fallacy was never entirely true, even within American entertainment, the stigma persisted due to the widespread prevalence of childhood and cartoons for many decades. That is what made anime so very perplexing for many adults during the rise of Toonami in the 90s.
Even though iconic anime series like Astro Boy and Speed Racer made their way overseas, they were still decidedly childish. Conversely, Toonami series like Dragon Ball Z and Mobile Suit Gundam Wing were aimed at a weird in-between demographic. These anime shows aren’t meant for adults, yet are also decidedly not aimed towards young children either.
Anime was animation marketed more directly to the preteens and teenagers. The concept of non-kid-focused animation felt unique and fresh at the time, but was also confounding to grown-ups for many years.
However, the original Toonami generation has now grown up and continues to watch anime. American adults are no longer confused by the concept of animation not for kids. They grew up with anime and understand what it is.
Anime has been cited as one of the most popular genres on streaming services, likely due to the older generation being raised on anime. There’s also less of a stigma for people to watch things that aren’t clearly marketed in the same demographic as them.
Adults watch Bluey without kids, and it is totally normal. People can now watch anime without being insecure.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle, a continuation of the Demon Slayer anime, is one of the most successful films at the global box office for 2025. Anime is no longer niche and has become mainstream!
Nonetheless, anime is still relatively new to many people, who are still grappling with this medium that is dominating the world.
Want to discover the amazing world of anime, yet don’t know where to start? Here are five beautiful anime films for beginners to start their amazing journey into the world of Japanese animation.
5. Silent Voice
Silent Voice is a sweet, low-stakes feature about growing up and finding redemption. The film is about a former school bully attempting to make amends to the deaf girl he ruthlessly bullied as a child. Silent Voice presents soft colors and innocent-looking character designs, yet it also features some dark scenes.
For example, the moment when the protagonist pulls out his victim’s hearing aid is difficult to stomach. Silent Voice also covers serious themes about depression, suicide, and redemption that make it more mature. The story’s main thesis is that anyone can change, and life is worth living, making it one of the more feel-good films on the list.
4. Your Name.
Your Name. took the world by storm in 2016, becoming the unexpected hit of the year. The movie follows a boy and a girl who find themselves waking up in each other’s bodies. The duo tries navigating living in each other’s shoes and surviving teenagehood.
This film’s evocative imagery and strong execution enhance its simple premise. Your Name. is the high school romance movie people were dying to see for years, with many walking out of cinemas with tears in their eyes.
It’s not overtly profound, but underneath it is a sincere truth about childhood and first loves.
3. Grave of the Fireflies
Whereas the first two entries dealt with high school and coming-of-age stories, Grave of the Fireflies is a decisively tragic war movie.
Often cited as one of the most depressing animated films ever, Grave of the Fireflies follows the dreary adventure of a young brother and sister trying to survive a war-torn Japan after surviving a battle in the Pacific during World War II.
This anime movie rarely has any levity, forcing viewers to endure the horrors and struggles the two leads suffer through. Grave of the Fireflies is a powerful film that showcases the horrors of war and its effects on civilians, not just soldiers. It’s a depressing motion picture, not for the faint of heart, yet it is worth watching for its profundity.
2) Ghost in the Shell
Ghost in the Shell is one of those anime franchises that continues to be reinterpreted and remade. While the series technically began with the 1989 manga by Masamune Shirow, it was the 1995 animated movie that propelled Ghost in the Shell into iconic status.
The film takes place in the near future, where cybernetic enhancements and robotic people are commonplace. It stars Major Motoko Kusanagi, an agent for the Japanese law enforcement who so happens to be nearly completely cybernetic.
Ghost in the Shell covers heady themes within its short run-time, adapting only a fraction of Shirow’s original manga.
Nevertheless, the 1995 movie features some of the most iconic imagery in all of anime, influencing future media, including The Matrix and similar cyberpunk settings. The film’s grappling with what reality is and humanity continues to resonate as we inch closer to the cybernetic future it predicted.
1) Princess Mononoke
Studio Ghibli is often viewed as the Disney of anime for many Westerners. Even if a person isn’t an anime watcher, they are likely to have still watched a Ghibli film.
The studio has become ubiquitous with high-quality anime movies. Although features like Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle are some of the most iconic for viewers in the West, our preference goes to Princess Mononoke.
Princess Mononoke is the darkest and most violent film from the studio, featuring dismemberment abound. It is Ghibli’s angriest motion picture, serving as a heavy critique of industrialization, human greed, and pollution. The movie’s atmosphere is one of the strongest in all of cinema, evoking a strong sense of dread, hopelessness, and camaraderie.
This is the film to show others to prove that animation isn’t just for kids, with its violence and dark themes encapsulating a more mature story. While some may find it too violent for its own good, especially in contrast to other Ghibli movies, it is violent with a purpose.
Even if the pro-nature messaging means nothing to you, Princess Mononoke’s anger is so sincere and palpable that it is hard not to respect it.
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Misael Duran
Misael Duran is a prolofic screenwriter and journalist with nearly ten years of experience. He has a bachelor's degree in Screenwriting from the California State University of Long Beach, and has worked on several of the biggest websites, including IGN, Comicbook.com, TheGamer, and CBR. He adores comics and movies, with an encyclopedic knowlegde with pop culture.