Top 10 Anime Movies on VHS

Akira アキラ (1988)

Akira‘s phenomenal animation, hyperviolence, and sheer kinetic energy helped set the standard for anime to come, which is why it’s also in my Top 10 Cyberpunk Movies on VHS list as well. In other words, Akira legitimized anime in the eyes of the West and its aesthetic influenced countless other works all over the world. As a moviegoer in the late 80s, it would have been incredible to have seen this in the theater in 1988, but it’s still incredible today due to the highly detailed hand-drawn animation and mind-blowing science fiction storyline.

Appleseed (1988)

It’s easy to associate this one with lots of other futuristic police manga, anime, and OVAs that were popular in the late 80s. After all, Masamune Shirow was behind this manga/anime as well as New Dominion Tank Police and Ghost in the Shell. The premise is pretty basic: a police officer and her cyborg partner fight terrorism in a vast futuristic city built on the ashes of the third world war. Underneath the surface, however, is a complex and beautiful story that stays with you long after the movie’s over. The line between good and evil becomes blurred when the film explores themes of free will and the utopia.

Ghost in the Shell (1995)

Starting around 1984 with William Gibson’s novel Neuromancer, as well as the films Tron and Blade Runner a few years prior, cyberpunk was invading the zeitgeist of expression on the other side of the world in Japan as well as in the UK and many other parts of the world. In Masamune Shirow’s classic anime and manga, a cyborg policewoman and her partner hunt a mysterious and powerful hacker called the Puppet Master. This film also explores themes of free will and what it means to be human; that is, by defining yourself you limit your ability to progress or be different. An aversion to evolution. Ghost in the Shell remains the pinnacle of what anime could be as a masterpiece of artistic expression and hasn’t been topped since, though many anime have come close.

Vampire Hunter D (1985)

The original Vampire Hunter D, along with the sequel Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (2000) has to be in my top 3 favorite anime of all time. This is a haunting tale about a half vampire, half human hybrid named D who travels the post apocalyptic wastelands of future earth, hunting powerful vampires. While D is a skilled swordsman and a man of few words, the supernatural being that resides in his left hand always has a snide remark and is capable of using his own arcane powers as well.

Wicked City (1982)

Yoshiaki Kawajiri’s beautifully grotesque imagery and engrossing use of atmosphere both repulse the viewer and draw them in at the same time. The story follows two agents who must work together, a human salaryman and a voluptuous demon from the “Black World”, as they attempt to escort an old, ornery signatory to a peace ceremony between the human world and the demon world. The contract that’s renewed every 500 years must never be broken, or it would spell doom for the entire world!

Golgo 13: The Professional (1983)

After killing the son of a powerful oil tycoon, an assassin-for-hire that looks like anime Steven Seagal becomes the target of both American soldiers and superhuman killers. Ok, the CGI helicopter scenes near the end are hard to watch, but it’s not bad for 1983. A lot of the CGI in the 90s didn’t even look that good, but it does distract a little from the hand-drawn beauty of the rest of this amazing action movie. The soundtrack, however, is top notch and fits the tone of the film perfectly.

Ninja Scroll (1993)

This is in my pantheon of 90s anime for a few good reasons: the hand-drawn animation, the no-holds-barred violence, and the fantasy atmosphere are just a few of them! The story revolves around a nomadic swordsman, a beautiful ninja woman, and a crafty spy as they confront a clan of demonic psycho killers. Ninja Scroll is a fantasy action movie that hits every mark and is a prime example of how the anime that were produced in the 90s were of a higher caliber than anything that has come since. As a side note, the English dub is actually very accurate to the original Japanese, if you happen to own that version.

Megazone 23 (1985)

A young street racer named Shogo Yahagi stumbles onto a prototype motorcycle with a hidden function while tooling around the city and hitting on women. Later, he and his new friends figure out that there is a link between the new motorcycle and the true nature of their world. This was one of the films that influenced The Matrix (1999), and very much like The Matrix, Mega Zone was split into 3 movies (the latter of which was in two separate parts). If you’re a fan of the Future Funk aesthetic or listen to music on YouTube, you may be familiar with some clips or frames of this beautiful film already.

A Wind Named Amnesia (1990)

In the near future of 199x, a strange wind blows across the globe which causes total, complete amnesia upon the world’s population. A special young man named Wataru, who was miraculously re-educated and retains his memories, roams the countryside of America in search of survivors and evidence of developing civilization. Deeply philosophical and darkly creepy, this is one that I only recently learned about but it satisfied my desire for a story that would leave an impression on me long after it was over.

Perfect Blue (1997)

A ‘graduated’ pop singer who is now working as an actress has her sense of reality shaken when she is stalked by a ghost from her past in this thriller/horror anime. Perfect Blue is frequently referred to as ‘Hitchcockian’ in its use of suspense, but there’s something else going on in Perfect Blue that reminds us of the works of Alfred Hitchcock, and, most notably, Vertigo (1958). The use of color in both films is used to give the viewer subtext: in scenes where Mima is alone in her apartment, warm colors are used more frequently than cool colors to show “reality”. On the other hand, in scenes where she’s on stage performing as an idol or on the set shooting the TV show, the cool colors being used have a blue tint. The color blue is used to portray the seemingly perfect life that the public sees the idol/actress living, which could be one explanation of the movie’s title as well.