My Favorite Anime Movies

NOTE:  This post was written before the holidays, I meant to post it but the blogger app was being evil. Anyway, here it is in its original form!

Hiiiiiiii!! I'm baaaackkkk! I finally got a chance between my abundance of work and projects to write a new blog post! I thought why not go back to basics today and since most of my readers enjoy anime I thought why not discuss an anime related topic? If you're like me then you love having movie marathons during the holidays. I love turning on the lights, curling up with a blanket and tea and delving into an awesome movie.

Without further ado, here are my favorite anime movies:

Sailor Moon R: The Promise of the Rose

Let's be real, does this surprise anyone? Out of all of the SM movies, this is my favorite one. I was obsessed with it growing up. I didn't own it myself but I frequently rented the VHS from Blockbuster and borrowed my best friend's copy a lot.  Yes, children before redbox and Netflix we had to venture out to a store to rent movies!

This is the very first Sailor Moon movie. When Mamoru, Usagi, Chibiusa and friends are visiting a botanical garden their day of fun is interrupted by the appearance of a strange man. The man turns out to be the childhood friend of Mamoru's - Fiore...oh yeah and he's an alien. Fiore is obsessed with Mamoru and is extremely jealous of Usagi and Mamoru's relation. So he is determined to wipe out the senshi and keep Mamoru for himself. As usual, Mamoru is kidnapped and Sailor Moon of course has to save him. That's just a very brief summary of the movie.

Why do I love this particular one so mush? I love learning about Mamoru's past, which is something we don't know all that much about. Personally I find this the strongest movie out of the three. Plus one of my all time favorite scenes in Sailor Moon history occurs in this movie. Usagi transforms into Princess Serenity to save Earth from being destroyed by an asteroid. Though I haven't seen it in Japanese...I prefer the English dub of it. The song "The Power of Love" played in the English version of this movie absolutely made it! I wish Viz would do a remake of the song and slip it into their release. 

Nevertheless I can't wait for Viz to release this and sob when I finally have it in my hands, for that day a childhood dream of mine will have been accomplished.

Inuyasha The Movie 3: Swords of an Honorable Ruler

I think every Inuyasha fan can agree that this is the best Inuyasha movie. Inuyasha's father had three swords - Tetsaiga (given to Inuyasha), Tensaiga (given to Sesshomaru) and Sounga. Sounga was a very powerful demon sword. So powerful that its power possesses Inuyasha when he obtains it. The sword was tossed into the bone eater's well and the sheath upon it sealed. The seal however is broken and Inuyasha must re-sheath it. Only the sword ends up in the hands of Takemaru - a human the sword resurrects and posssses who hated Inuyasha and Seashomaru's father. He is intent on killing them both  as well as doing Sounga's bidding. Inuyasha and Sesshomaru must work together to bring down their enemy.

This movie has the best story line out of all of the Inuyasha movies. I love how we get to see Inuyasha's parents and get a glimpse into his childhood. The best thing about it though is the two brothers with a mutual hatred of each other must put aside their differences to work together.

Summer Wars

I first saw this on Toonami a few years ago and immediately loved it. It is a wonderful story and the animation is stunning!

It's about a boy who agrees to pretend to be his friend a girlfriend and accompany her to her grandmother's 90th birthday. While there, he receives a text with a math equation and his attempt to solve it results in a hacking of Oz - a major online platform that not only controls people's social media, but also their finances and their jobs! Think Google if they controlled your bank account. It results in a virtual reality war against the hacker and may result in mass real world destruction.

It is a fun story to get lost in with a good mixture of action and comedy. It shows the bond of family unlike any anime I have ever seen before which is refreshing.

Naruto Shippuden: Road To Ninja

This is actually the only Naruto movie I fully enjoy (save for the one where we get glimpses of Kakashi as an anbu). In this one, Naruto and Sakura are transported to an alternate universe where pretty much everything is reversed. Naruto's parents Minato and Kushina are alive while Sakura's parents died to save the village. Hinata is tough and possessive of Naruto instead of her sweet, shy self. Kiba hates dogs, Shikamaru is an idiot and Rock Lee is a pervert. My all time favorite reversal is that of Kakashi and Gai. Kakashi is basically Gai, but amplified. He is spazzy and over enthusiastic. It's adorable!! On the other hand Gai is lazy.

It is a fun little "what if" type movie, if you're a fan I highly recommend checking it out though it isn't essential to watch.

Howl's Moving Castle

Okay, I could include all of the Studio Ghibli movies here, they're all wonderful. But I narrowed down my choice to just one; my favorite, Howl's Moving Castle.

This movie is about a young girl named Sophie. Her family own's a hat shop and she is seen as the sort of "plain Jane", timid, responsible daughter working at the shop while her sister is gorgeous and adored by men. One day the witch of the waste happens into the shop and Sophie makes her mad, so she curses Sophie - turning her into an old woman.

Sophie goes on an adventure to find the witch so that she can reverse the curse placed upon her. Along the way she finds herself in the moving castle belonging to the "evil" wizard Howl as Howl's cleaning lady. But this isn't a typical fairy tale. A war is ongoing and the king is using magic to win it. Howl must fight for what is right and Sophie must in a way help him to find himself again.

As with all Ghibli films this is a wonderful adventure flick and will surely capture your attention. It's fun and clever too. I just love it so much, even more so than their ever popular Spirited Away.

That's it! I hope you enjoyed this post and that my summaries weren't too horrible. What are your favorite anime movies? Comment and let me know!!

Xoxo

Heather Zombie ❤