meta: Recommended

This caustic satire of the meat-market beauty industry works as both a manga and a live-action production, although it is more concise and less distractingly glamorous on paper than it is on a screen

Even if the story's little more than a placeholder, 'REDLINE' seethes with visuals so propulsive and uninhibited, they alone guarantee it a place in anime history

Under 'Cowboy Bebop's rollicking humor and sassy action lives a question borne from the long dark night of the soul: are you living, or just existing?

From a simple premise can be spun any number of stories, and 'A-Jin' unfolds its premise with savage cleverness and whiplash speed

Let's not shy away from calling this not only Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki's greatest achievement, but one of the finest of all films, animated or not

At the heart of Hayao Miyazaki's most effortlessly charming film is a character of equal charm, learning her magic alone isn't what is most important about her

Its story may be straight out of the tattered young-adult dystopia playbook, but 'Patema Inverted' boasts a central visual metaphor so dazzling it begs for IMAX

When five kids get whisked away on an interplanetary adventure, the splashy and spectacular results walk a line between a movie about kids, a movie for kids, and perhaps even a movie by kids

An endearing cast, a creatively elaborated setting, and a strongly character-driven story combine to make 'Chaika' many cuts above the run of the mill

The horror at the heart of this horror story lies in how it toys so adeptly with our understanding of 'human' and 'monster'

Despite some pacing problems and a few fumbled story elements, the first film from Hiroyuki Okiura since 'Jin-roh' is a good-hearted treat

Rare these days is the series with an all-female cast where character, story, and drama are the goals, not titillation or eye candy

Limited and fragmented as it is, this brutal fantasy still achieves wonders, thanks to the sheer strength of its storytelling and the force of its vision

Twenty-five years on, one of anime's seminal groundbreakers remains as alluring, intriguing, confounding, and problematic as ever

Unfairly overlooked by audiences, this engrossing and intelligent adventure fantasy deserves cherishing -- doubly so now thanks to its welcome re-release

After a wave of successors and deconstructions, the sweetness and directness of one of anime's most-beloved magical-girl shows still holds up

Under the clichéd surface of this lively romantic farce run undercurrents of something smarter and deeper

An overwhelming experience, and a finely crafted one, but also harrowing and unpleasant from beginning to end -- even if that's supposed to be the idea

A gem of a show that confronts what it means for Japan and the West to be curious about each other -- and also how 'moé' can be an actual theme and not just a fetish

Despite a meandering plotline, this mini-fantasia about one girl's spiritual powers is still worth the time

Nominally a giant-mecha fantasy, 'Eureka Seven' also explores the awkward pain of young love -- and the even greater pain of trading childhood for adulthood

A gorgeously-designed surface isn't all that's beautiful in this compelling reworking of elements from the classic tale of 'Hakkenden'

The third of the 'Berserk' films brings us to the long-awaited end of the beginning, and reminds us the TV series still did some things totally right

Somewhere between 'Blade Runner' and 'SE7EN' lies this show, which sees its dangerous ideas all the way through to the bitter and brilliant end

After twenty-five years, this seminal anime comedy is still both funny and a reminder of how shows like this are harder to make than it might seem

As money becomes increasingly abstract, from Bitcoin to bubble-bursting financial derivatives, this series becomes all the more prophetic and fascinating

One of 2013's best shows, which manages to both shoot itself in the foot and not be limited by that