What was the first Japanese anime movie you watched that got you excited for more? For many, that film might have been Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo’s 1988 cyberpunk sensation that revolutionized the industry and showed the world just how incredible anime could be. Japan has delivered countless cinematic masterpieces that have captivated and inspired audiences (and creators) from across the globe. Let’s explore the ten highest-grossing anime films of all time and learn a bit about these awe-inspiring classics along the way. For the sake of simplicity, we have included only box office earnings in theaters.
1. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train (2020) – Worldwide Box Office Gross $507,127,293
Demon Slayer: Mugen Train, Image credit: Shueisha / ufotable / Aniplex
In first place is the 2020 dark fantasy epic Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train, serving as a direct sequel to the first season of the wildly popular Demon Slayer animated television series. Directed by Haruo Sotozaki and written by Ufotable staff members, this film follows a band of motley heroes as they board the Mugen Train on the hunt for a demon responsible for the disappearance of 40 people as well as the slaughter of fellow demon slayers.
Fun fact: Not only is it the highest-grossing anime film of all time, it was also the highest-grossing film in 2020!
2. Your Name (2016) – Worldwide Box Office Gross $405,340,703
Your Name, Image credit: CoMix Wave Films / Toho
In second place is the 2016 romantic fantasy Your Name, written and directed by Makato Shinkai and produced by CoMix Wave Films. Inspired by the frequency of life-altering natural disasters in Japan, Your Name offers a surreal yet heartwarming tale of two teenagers caught in a body-swapping saga beyond their control. The film explores themes of fate, interconnection, and how love can transcend time and space.
Fun fact: One of the main protagonists, Mitsuha, wears a red hair ribbon. This may reference an ancient East Asian legend known as the “red string of fate,” which describes an invisible red thread that connects two souls who are destined to unite no matter the time, place, or circumstance. The thread may be bent, twisted, and tangled by the chaos of life, but it will never break.
3. Spirited Away (2001) – Worldwide Box Office Gross $395,580,000
Spirited Away, Studio Ghibli
Released in 2001, the profoundly celebrated Hayao Miyazaki film Spirited Away held strong as the highest-grossing anime movie of all time until it was surpassed by Your Name in 2016. It masterfully tells the tale of ten-year-old Chihiro after she inadvertently wanders into the world of kami (spirits of Japanese Shinto folklore). While many beloved, timeless characters have emerged from Studio Ghibli’s works of wonder, the lonely, enigmatic spirit known as No-Face is one of the most iconic.
Fun fact: Spirited Away is woven with scenes of quiet stillness, offering viewers a cathartic breath as they take in the vast ocean or the gentle sway of grass in the wind. These are honoring the Japanese concept of “Ma,” a pause in time or an emptiness in space. In an interview, Miyazaki demonstrated this deliberate negative space by clapping his hands: “The time in between my clapping is Ma. If you just have non-stop action with no breathing space at all, it’s just busyness, But if you take a moment, then the tension building in the film can grow into a wider dimension. If you just have constant tension at 80 degrees all the time you just get numb.”
Bonus fun fact: As an avid Ghibli fan, I had to share one more fact that warms my heart. Miyazaki is known for creating strong, vibrant female protagonists who are true to their hearts and do not need saving. Inspired by a real 10-year-old friend to his daughter, Chihiro is no exception. In an interview with Midnight Eye, Miyazaki stated: “It was through observing the daughter of a friend that I realized there were no films out there for her, no films that directly spoke to her.”
4. Suzume (2022) – Worldwide Box Office Gross $323,638,107
Suzume, CoMix Wave Films / Toho
In fourth place we have another Makato Shinkai and CoMix Wave Films fantasy adventure masterpiece that explores the power of connection and memories and how they can triumph over disaster, much like Your Name. This film is driven by the destructive power of nature, a theme that personally meaningful to director Shinkai. After his life was radically altered by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, he sought to create art that honored the reality of Japan, its modern ruins, and the depth of life and loss embedded into these places. Hope and healing shine through, too, and that is one of Shinkai’s goals conveyed in an interview with Vulture: “In the film, if you can feel for Suzume and feel what she feels, you can briefly experience what those who lived through these disasters felt and hopefully heal with her too.”
Fun fact: Not only does Makato Shinkai write, storyboard, and direct his own movies, he also acts out all of the character’s scratch tracks, even down to their footsteps. Following the storyboarding phase, he creates a full-length animatic (a preliminary sequence of all events that includes sound) including voice acting, making it easier for the animators to achieve his vision.
5. The Boy and the Heron (2023) – Worldwide Box Office Gross $294,200,000
The Boy and the Heron, Studio Ghibli
In fifth place is Studio Ghibli’s 2023 film The Boy and the Heron, an epic fantasy tale of a boy who struggles to find peace in a new countryside town following his mother’s tragic death.
I’ll be honest, I have seen all of Miyazaki’s films and all of the top-grossing anime films on the list so far, and this one is my least favorite. While some charmed surrealism is to be expected from Miyazaki’s fantastical films, I found this one to be a bit too disjointed. I do intend to watch it again with a more open mind as I appreciate the essence of the message: you can allow grief and change to consume you, or you can choose to live and thrive in an imperfect reality, even if it hurts. The Japanese title of the movie translates to: “How Do You Live?”, a question that many who suffer a shattering loss contend with.
Fun fact: The Boy and the Heron is believed to be the most expensive film ever made in Japan, surpassing the 2013 Ghibli classic The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (which cost around $34.5 million USD to produce). Production of the movie began in 2016 with over 60 animators creating about one minute of animation per month, all hand-drawn.
6. The First Slam Dunk (2022) – Worldwide Box Office Gross $279,045,965
The First Slam Dunk, Toei Animation
In sixth place we have 2022’s The First Slam Dunk, the first sports film to appear on this list! Written and directed by Takehiko Inoue (who also wrote the manga it is sourced from), this adrenaline-pumping film follows the tragedy-to-triumph trajectory of point guard Ryota Miyagi. In 2023, it scored the Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year!
Fun fact: Not only is it the sixth highest-grossing Japanese anime film, it is also the highest-grossing basketball film of all time. Slam dunk indeed!
7. One Piece Film: Red (2022) – Worldwide Box Office Gross $246,570,000
One Piece Film: Red, Toei Animation
In seventh place we have 2022’s One Piece Film: Red, a fantasy action-adventure film directed by Gorō Taniguchi and produced by Toei Animation. While it is the fifteenth feature film of the One Piece film series, it has by far been the most successful so far. I have not seen this one, but Netflix’s synopsis makes it sound thrilling: “A new adventure begins for Luffy and his crew when mysterious pop superstar Uta unveils her identity — and launches a misguided plan for world peace.” If you love pirates and Japanese pop (there are strong musical elements), give it a whirl! Polygon sings praises for the “musical wunderkind” Ado (who performs all of the music) and describes it as entirely accessible for newcomers to the One Piece franchise.
Fun fact: The film ranked number one in Japan’s box office for eleven consecutive weeks, a feat shared by only three Japanese films in history.
8. Howl’s Moving Castle (2004) – Worldwide Box Office Gross $237,536,126
Howl’s Moving Castle, Studio Ghibli
In eighth place we have my personal favorite, Howl’s Moving Castle, a 2004 fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Based loosely of the 1986 novel by Diana Wynne Jones (great read although a much different experience), Howl’s Moving Castle is set in a vibrant but war-torn world where magic and early twentieth-century technology are interwoven, creating a wondrous and whimsical sprawl of sights and sounds. The power of compassion and the beauty and freedom of aging are among the more heartwarming themes, but it is also shadowed with the senselessness of war.
Miyazaki, who greatly opposed the Iraq War, did not expect the film to be popular in the United States because it was imbued with anti-war and environmentalist sentiments. In fact, he refused to accept an Oscar for Spirited Away because he did not wish to visit a country that was bombing Iraq. Yet, Howl’s Moving Castle has become one of the most beloved animated films of all time for countless reasons, including the peace it advocates for.
Fun fact: After seeing Spirited Away, Howl’s voice actor Christian Bale immediately agreed to play any role for Howl’s Moving Castle. He did not expect to get the titular role, but thank goodness he did!
9. Ponyo (2008) – Box Office Gross $204,826,668
Ponyo, Studio Ghibli
“Ponyo, Ponyo, Ponyo, fishy in the sea
Tiny little fishy, who could you really be?
Ponyo, Ponyo, Ponyo, magic sets you free
Oh, she’s a little girl with a round tummy”
This song pops into my head like a fun little bubble quite often! Studio Ghibli’s 2008 animated fantasy film Ponyo is the 9th highest-grossing Japanese anime film of all time, telling the stirring tale of a goldfish princess that encounters a human boy after she is washed ashore while trapped in a glass jar. As with most of Miyazaki’s works, Ponyo explores themes of love, coping with change, and the importance of harmony with nature. The setting for Ponyo was inspired by Tomonoura, a lush seaside town that Miyazaki stayed at for two months before production.
Fun fact: The opening twelve seconds of the film, a marvelous montage of undersea magic, required 1,613 pages of conceptual sketches to create. Inspiration was gathered from traditional Japanese woodblock prints, in particular the works of ‘The Great Wave off Kanagawa’ painter Katsushika Hokusai.
10. Jujutsu Kaisen 0 (2021) – Box Office Gross $196,290,952
Jujutsu Kaisen 0, MAPPA / Toho
In tenth place we have Jujutsu Kaisen 0, a 2021 dark fantasy film directed by Sunghoo Park and written by Hiroshi Seko. It acts as a prologue to the Gege Akutami’s manga series Jujutsu Kaisen, one of the best-selling mangas of all time. The overarching premise of the manga is fascinating, especially if you appreciate folklore and the occult. All living beings radiate a power source known as Cursed Energy and negative emotions feed it. An uncontrolled accumulation of this energy can lead to Curses, malevolent entities bent on harming humanity. You can imagine the sort of Cursed Energy that would build in a victim of bullying, which is precisely what the film explores.
Fun fact: The original title of the source manga was Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical School.
See also: The Hardest Pokémon Names to Pronounce
Featured image photo credit: Studio Ghibli
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