Where to Watch the Best Anime Movies of All Time: A Complete Streaming Guide

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The world of anime has produced some truly remarkable works throughout the decades and choosing the best ones of all time is no easy feat. Use our guide to explore 30 of the absolute best anime titles and where you can stream them right now.

Some of the most beloved and acclaimed anime films include Hayao Miyazaki's masterpieces like Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke, Mamoru Hosoda's Wolf Children and Summer Wars, Makoto Shinkai's Your Name and Suzume and Satoshi Kon's Perfect Blue and Paprika. These films have captivated audiences with their stunning animation, imaginative storytelling and emotional depth, earning them a well-deserved place among the all-time greats of the genre (and beyond the anime genre but that’s for another list).

Anime has a rich history dating back to the early 20th century when the first animated films were originally produced in Japan. The industry experienced a breakthrough in the 1960s and 1970s with the popularity of such TV shows including Astro Boy and Speed Racer which helped to establish many of the stylistic and narrative tropes that still define anime today. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, anime films continued to gain popularity both in Japan and internationally with classics like Akira, Ghost in the Shell and Miyazaki's various works cementing the medium's reputation for complex themes and stunning visuals. In the modern age, anime films have become a global phenomenon, with franchises like Pokémon and Studio Ghibli's works achieving worldwide success and recognition. The anime industry continues to thrive as the years progress, producing a diverse range of films that appeal to fans of all ages and interests.

Audiences connect to these films and are a hit to watch because they transport them to fantastical worlds where anything is possible, allowing them to escape reality and experience something new and exciting. Anime also explores universal themes and emotions that resonate with viewers including love, friendship, loss and self-discovery. The attention to detail in the animation and storytelling also creates a sense of immersion that draws viewers into the story and allows them to intimately experience the emotions and struggles of the characters because they are developed so richly. All of these factors combine to make the greatest anime films timeless classics that continue to capture the hearts of audiences around the world.

Here are 30 of the best anime films ranked and where to watch them.

Netflix
Disney Plus
Amazon Prime Video
Apple TV Plus
JustWatchTV
Apple TV
Hulu
Crunchyroll
fuboTV
Max
Max Amazon Channel
Epix Amazon Channel
Crunchyroll Amazon Channel
Peacock Premium
Kocowa
Google Play Movies
YouTube
Paramount Plus
Paramount+ with Showtime
Paramount Plus Apple TV Channel
Starz Apple TV Channel
AMC Plus Apple TV Channel
Britbox Apple TV Channel
Paramount+ Amazon Channel
Discovery+ Amazon Channel
AMC+ Amazon Channel
The Roku Channel
Paramount+ Roku Premium Channel
Starz Roku Premium Channel
AMC+ Roku Premium Channel
AMC+
MGM Plus Roku Premium Channel
YouTube Premium
YouTube Free
The CW
Hoopla
Fandango At Home
Starz
VUDU Free
Criterion Channel
PBS
FXNow
Tubi TV
Kanopy
FlixHouse
Microsoft Store
Sun Nxt
Crackle
AMC
AMC Theatres
Fandor
Curiosity Stream
NBC
MGM Plus
Freeform
History
A&E
Lifetime
Shudder
Screambox
Acorn TV
Sundance Now
GuideDoc
BritBox
MUBI
Netflix Kids
ALLBLK
History Vault
MyOutdoorTV
WWE Network
Pure Flix
Lifetime Movie Club
PBS Kids Amazon Channel
Cinemax Amazon Channel
Hallmark Movies Now Amazon Channel
PBS Masterpiece Amazon Channel
MZ Choice Amazon Channel
Spamflix
Pluto TV
BYUtv
HiDive
VIX
Night Flight Plus
Retrocrush
Dekkoo
Shout! Factory TV
OVID
Chai Flicks
Mhz Choice
Vice TV
Shudder Amazon Channel
MUBI Amazon Channel
BritBox Amazon Channel
AcornTV Amazon Channel
Fandor Amazon Channel
Screambox Amazon Channel
Sundance Now Amazon Channel
Adult Swim
USA Network
Fox
FlixFling
Bet+ Amazon Channel
Rakuten Viki
TCM
Bravo TV
TNT
Food Network
BBC America
IndieFlix
TLC
HGTV
Investigation Discovery
Science Channel
Animal Planet
Discovery
Travel Channel
Here TV
VH1
DreamWorksTV Amazon Channel
Flix Premiere
TBS
AsianCrush
Revry
DOCSVILLE
Spectrum On Demand
OXYGEN
Hi-YAH
tru TV
DisneyNOW
WeTV
ARROW
Plex
Plex Live TV
Plex Player
WOW Presents Plus
Magellan TV
BroadwayHD
The Oprah Winfrey Network
Filmzie
MovieSaints
True Story
Martha Stewart TV
DocAlliance Films
OnDemandKorea
Darkroom
Hoichoi
iQIYI
Metrograph
Freevee
Public Domain Movies
Eventive
Cultpix
aha
FilmBox+
ShortsTV Amazon Channel
Bet+
Takflix
Klassiki
Starz Amazon Channel
Netflix basic with Ads
Cohen Media Amazon Channel
Popflick
ViX Premium Amazon Channel
Runtime
Fandango
Telemundo
Discovery +
Reveel
Ovation TV
Angel Studios
Cineverse
AD tv
Midnight Pulp
FYI Network
Xumo Play
National Geographic
Atom Tickets
Shahid VIP
DistroTV
myfilmfriend
Cinemark
Outside Watch
Cinepolis Cinemas
Full Moon Amazon Channel
Citytv
Univer Video
GlewedTV
Toon Goggles
A&E Crime Central Apple TV Channel
Acorn TV Apple TV
ALLBLK Apple TV channel
UP Faith & Family Apple TV Channel
Tastemade Apple TV Channel
Sundance Now Apple TV Channel
Shudder Apple TV Channel
ScreenPix Apple TV Channel
OUTtv Apple TV Channel
Lifetime Movie Club Apple TV Channel
Hallmark Movies Now Apple TV Channel
Eros Now Select Apple TV Channel
CuriosityStream Apple TV Channel
Cinemax Apple TV Channel
BBC Select Apple Tv channel
BET+  Apple TV channel
Carnegie Hall+ Apple TV Channel
IFC Films Unlimited Apple TV Channel
HISTORY Vault Apple TV Channel
HISTORY Vault Amazon Channel
Carnegie Hall+ Amazon Channel
Lifetime Movie Club Amazon Channel
Film Movement Plus
Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Troma NOW
Regal Cinemas
Harkins Theatres
B&B Theatres
Marcus Theatres
Kino Film Collection
Tubi TV Live
Pluto TV Live
Cineverse LiveTV
Strand Releasing Amazon Channel
Peacock Premium Plus
ALLBLK Amazon channel
Apple TV Plus Amazon Channel
Motorvision TV Amazon Channel
Stingray Classica Amazon Channel
Stingray Djazz Amazon Channel
Stingray Karaoke Amazon Channel
TV1000 Russian Kino Amazon Channel
RetroCrush Amazon Channel
Filters
  1. Spirited Away

    Spirited Away

    2001

    #1

    A young girl, Chihiro, becomes trapped in a strange new world of spirits. When her parents undergo a mysterious transformation, she must call upon the courage she never knew she had to free her family.

  2. Your Name.

    Your Name.

    2016

    #2

    High schoolers Mitsuha and Taki are complete strangers living separate lives. But one night, they suddenly switch places. Mitsuha wakes up in Taki’s body, and he in hers. This bizarre occurrence continues to happen randomly, and the two must adjust their lives around each other.

  3. Akira

    Akira

    1988

    #3

    A secret military project endangers Neo-Tokyo when it turns a biker gang member into a rampaging psychic psychopath that only two teenagers and a group of psychics can stop.

  4. Princess Mononoke

    Princess Mononoke

    1997

    #4

    Ashitaka, a prince of the disappearing Emishi people, is cursed by a demonized boar god and must journey to the west to find a cure. Along the way, he encounters San, a young human woman fighting to protect the forest, and Lady Eboshi, who is trying to destroy it. Ashitaka must find a way to bring balance to this conflict.

  5. Grave of the Fireflies

    #5

    In the final months of World War II, 14-year-old Seita and his sister Setsuko are orphaned when their mother is killed during an air raid in Kobe, Japan. After a falling out with their aunt, they move into an abandoned bomb shelter. With no surviving relatives and their emergency rations depleted, Seita and Setsuko struggle to survive.

  6. Perfect Blue

    Perfect Blue

    1998

    #6

    Encouraged by her managers, rising pop star Mima takes on a recurring role on a popular TV show, when suddenly her handlers and collaborators begin turning up murdered.

  7. My Neighbor Totoro

    My Neighbor Totoro

    1988

    #7

    Two sisters move to the country with their father in order to be closer to their hospitalized mother, and discover the surrounding trees are inhabited by Totoros, magical spirits of the forest. When the youngest runs away from home, the older sister seeks help from the spirits to find her.

  8. Kiki's Delivery Service

    #8

    A young witch, on her mandatory year of independent life, finds fitting into a new community difficult while she supports herself by running an air courier service.

  9. The Tale of The Princess Kaguya

    #9

    Found inside a shining stalk of bamboo by an old bamboo cutter and his wife, a tiny girl grows rapidly into an exquisite young lady. The mysterious young princess enthrals all who encounter her. But, ultimately, she must confront her fate.

  10. Ghost in the Shell

    Ghost in the Shell

    1995

    #10

    In the year 2029, the barriers of our world have been broken down by the net and by cybernetics, but this brings new vulnerability to humans in the form of brain-hacking. When a highly-wanted hacker known as 'The Puppetmaster' begins involving them in politics, Section 9, a group of cybernetically enhanced cops, are called in to investigate and stop the Puppetmaster.

  11. Only Yesterday

    Only Yesterday

    1991

    #11

    In lyrical switches between the present and the past, Taeko contemplates the arc of her life, and wonders if she has been true to the dreams of her childhood self.

  12. The Wind Rises

    The Wind Rises

    2013

    #12

    A lifelong love of flight inspires Japanese aviation engineer Jiro Horikoshi, whose storied career includes the creation of the A-6M World War II fighter plane.

  13. Ponyo

    Ponyo

    2008

    #13

    When Sosuke, a young boy who lives on a clifftop overlooking the sea, rescues a stranded goldfish named Ponyo, he discovers more than he bargained for. Ponyo is a curious, energetic young creature who yearns to be human, but even as she causes chaos around the house, her father, a powerful sorcerer, schemes to return Ponyo to the sea.

  14. In This Corner of the World

    #14

    Japan, 1943, during World War II. Young Suzu leaves her village near Hiroshima to marry and live with her in-laws in Kure, a military harbor. Her creativity to overcome deprivation quickly makes her indispensable at home. Inhabited by an ancestral wisdom, Suzu impregnates the simple gestures of everyday life with poetry and beauty. The many hardships, the loss of loved ones, the frequent air raids of the enemy, nothing alters her enthusiasm…

  15. The Secret World of Arrietty

    #15

    14-year-old Arrietty and the rest of the Clock family live in peaceful anonymity as they make their own home from items "borrowed" from the house's human inhabitants. However, life changes for the Clocks when a human boy discovers Arrietty.

  16. Belle

    Belle

    2021

    #16

    Suzu is a 17-year-old high-school student living in a rural town with her father. Wounded by the loss of her mother at a young age, Suzu one day discovers the massive online world "U" and dives into this alternate reality as her avatar, Belle. Before long, all of U's eyes are fixed on Belle, when, suddenly, a mysterious, dragon-like figure appears before her.

  17. The Red Turtle

    The Red Turtle

    2016

    #17

    The dialogue-less film follows the major life stages of a castaway on a deserted tropical island populated by turtles, crabs and birds.

  18. A Silent Voice: The Movie

    #18

    Shouya Ishida starts bullying the new girl in class, Shouko Nishimiya, because she is deaf. But as the teasing continues, the rest of the class starts to turn on Shouya for his lack of compassion. When they leave elementary school, Shouko and Shouya do not speak to each other again... until an older, wiser Shouya, tormented by his past behaviour, decides he must see Shouko once more. He wants to atone for his sins, but is it already too late...?

  19. When Marnie Was There

    #19

    Upon being sent to live with relatives in the countryside due to an illness, an emotionally distant adolescent girl becomes obsessed with an abandoned mansion and infatuated with a girl who lives there - a girl who may or may not be real.

  20. Tokyo Godfathers

    Tokyo Godfathers

    2003

    #20

    On Christmas Eve, three homeless people living on the streets of Tokyo discover a newborn baby among the trash and set out to find its parents.