Anime movies have found huge success at the box office, but they’ve influenced the entertainment industry in other ways too. Many movies made outside Japan are clearly inspired by anime, and they’ve clicked with audiences worldwide because of that.
Even though these movies don’t technically qualify as anime, they capture all the qualities that make anime so special. Movies like Kubo and the Two Strings can be enjoyed by anyone, but fans of anime won’t want to miss them.
Into the Spider-Verse Feels Like an Anime Marvel Movie
Released in late 2018, the experimental Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was a watershed moment for animation. Introducing Miles Morales to moviegoers, it focused upon the concept of multiversal Spider-Men and Spider-Women as they fought against a version of Wilson Fisk, aka The Kingpin. In many ways, its storyline felt like a shonen anime, complete with epic, fluid battles between the heroes and villains.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is known for its experimental animation, with many of the characters portrayed with somewhat different art styles. A lot of the visual cues and action-based aesthetics were very obviously in the vein of anime. Since then, this animation style has inspired other major works such as Puss In Boots: The Last Wish and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.
Transformers One Was an Anime-Esque Hero’s Journey
The first animated theatrical entry in the franchise in decades, Transformers One showcases the early days of the conflict between the Autobots and the Decepticons. Two lowly energon miners named Orion Pax and D-16 discover the truth about Cybertron’s invasion by the Quintessons, but their different ideologies see them forge an eternal rivalry when they become Optimus Prime and Megatron.
Inspired by different continuities of the franchises, the 2024 animated movie even received promotional imagery from the iconic anime studio Trigger. Transformers One‘s designs and art style took some getting used to, but it evoked both the brand’s Western animation and some of the previous Transformers anime.
Kubo and the Two Strings Still Slaps Nearly a Decade Later
Released in 2016, Kubo and the Two Strings was a modern cult classic that put Laika on many animation fans’ radars. The story is set in feudal Japan, with the titular Kubo using a magical instrument on his quest to defeat his evil aunts. Aiding him are a monkey and a humanoid stag beetle, with the trio looking into the truth behind Kubo’s missing eye.
Kubo is in many ways a kid-friendly equivalent to anime such as Demon Slayer or even Inuyasha, with those stories also set in historical periods of Japan. There’s a strong sense of reverence for Japanese culture, despite the movie not actually being an anime. It took inspiration from anime legend Hayao Miyazaki, with the movie sharing DNA with films such as Kiki’s Delivery Service.
The Last Unicorn Is Almost an Anime
Released in 1982, The Last Unicorn is an animated movie that now has legendary status, despite initially being a box office bomb. Based on a book by Peter S. Beagle (who also wrote the movie’s script), it was perhaps the most well-known Rankin-Bass production besides the studio’s adaptations of the Lord of the Rings franchise.
While Rankin-Bass is the company most credited for the film, The Last Unicorn was actually animated by the Japanese company Topcraft. This studio was headed by a former employee of the iconic Toei Animation studio, and this pedigree might even classify it as an anime in the eyes of some. It has a beautiful art style evocative of 1970s anime classics such as Space Battleship Yamato/Star Blazers.
Big 6 Hero Reimagined Some of Marvel’s Most Obscure Heroes
One of the strangest “Marvel movies” of the past two decades was Big Hero 6, which some don’t even realize is tied to the comic book publisher. Heavily altering characters and concepts from a long-forgotten comic book set in the Marvel Universe, it took a completely unknown group and refashioned them into anime-inspired superheroes.
Big Hero 6 was very obvious in its anime inspiration, and it preceded Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse in this regard. This can also be seen in the setting, which is a mix between Japan and San Francisco. Perfectly uniting Western superheroes with anime sensibilities, Big Hero 6 is the perfect movie for Disney enthusiasts and fans of anime such as My Hero Academia.
Aachi & Ssipak Is One of the Best Korean Animated Movies
South Korean and Japanese media sometimes blur a lot of lines, especially with hit anime such as Solo Leveling being based on Korean novels and Webtoons. One of the weirdest South Korean “anime” movies was Aachi & Ssipak, which was disgusting in all the best ways.
Featuring incredibly strange and even ugly character designs that look like a warped version of Nickelodeon’s Rocket Power, the story focuses on a dystopian world where two street bums sell black-market popsicles to take advantage of human excrement being weaponized into a fuel source.
Aachi & Ssipak has to be seen to be believed, be it for the off-putting designs or the absolutely bonkers storyline. The action scenes feel in line with anime, though some might question what country it’s from if they go in blind. It blurs national and artistic lines with a diarrhea-laced abandon, and those looking for a gross action romp certainly won’t “wipe” left.
The Transformers: The Movie Was G1 at Its Best
The Transformers: The Movie ended the first phase of G1 with a major theatrical upgrade. Handled by Sunbow Entertainment and anime legend Toei Animation, the movie visually looked much better than the Generation 1 cartoon. It introduced the Chaos Bringer Unicron and ended by giving the Autobots a new leader: Rodimus Prime.
Looking more like an anime than anything on American screens besides Robotech, The Transformers: The Movie introduced many of the franchise’s most recurring concepts. Killing off numerous fan-favorites while positioning the cartoon’s story to go in a much different direction, it shocked kids yet became a cult classic that went beyond good, beyond evil, and beyond fans’ wildest imaginations.
G.I. Joe: The Movie Featured the Scaly Skin of an Anime
Much like Transformers, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero had its own animated movie that capped off the cartoon. Introducing several new members of G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe: The Movie featured a controversial origin story for Cobra Commander tied to the science fiction/fantasy civilization of Cobra-La.
Altered a lot throughout production, it was almost set to kill off G.I. Joe field commander Duke, until backlash toward Optimus Prime’s similar death in The Transformers: The Movie resulted in last-minute changes. G.I. Joe: The Movie might have used some contentious plot threads, but its intro is the zenith of the franchise in the eyes of many.
Using the talent of Toei Animation, this intro was a breathtaking, anime-esque battle between G.I. Joe and Cobra, a ruthless terrorist organization determined to rule the world. It’s rather hard to come by today, but this more “Eastern” aesthetic for the Real American Hero set the stage for the much later G.I. Joe: Sigma 6.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Went Even Further Than Its Predecessor
One of the few superhero movie hits of 2023, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse introduced more multiversal variants and even more art styles. Many of the new styles diverged greatly in a way that was far more experimental the second time around. This included an almost Fleischer Superman art style evocative of the Great Depression, a Lego style, and even the classic 1960s Spider-Man cartoon.
The introduction of Spider-Man 2099/Miguel O’Hara also felt like a shonen anime betrayal arc, with the darker hero being similar to characters such as Sasuke from Naruto. While the third and final movie is still a while away, fans loved Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and saw it as an overall improvement over what was already a good first movie.
The CGI Astro Boy Movie Modernized an Anime Legend
One of the first well-received Hollywood adaptations of an anime, the 2009 CGI Astro Boy film expertly revitalized the concept and modernized it for international fans. While it was definitely a Westernized production, it was still incredibly reverent to the source material. Even the CGI maintained the general look of the iconic Osamu Tezuka creations, namely Astro Boy himself.
Though it received somewhat mixed reviews upon release, it’s much more well-regarded now and seen as easily better than previous anime adaptations, such as the same year’s Dragonball Evolution or the previous Fist of the North Star live-action remake. Despite the source material, it’s not an anime, but it is Asian in origin.
Astro Boy was produced by Imagi Animation Studios, which was a Hong Kong-based company. Sadly, the movie’s financial failure caused it to shut down, but it was definitely the best foreign anime adaptation released that year.
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