Hundreds of new anime series come out every year on television, but some of the biggest hits with evergreen appeal are the bold feature films that hit theaters. Anime movies can tell completely original stories, but it’s become increasingly common for the most popular anime series to deliver feature film-length events that tell bigger stories than what would have been impossible on TV.
In attempts to not alienate audiences that can’t make it to the movie theater, many of these anime movies will tell frivolous and standalone stories that don’t impact the ongoing series. Ranma ½, Yu Yu Hakusho, and One Piece all follow this formula, for instance. However, that doesn’t mean that canonical anime movies aren’t out there and some of them even irrevocably change their series.
10 Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero
Release Date: June 11, 2022
Dragon Ball has a rich history with anime movies and Dragon Ball Z alone has over a dozen feature films. Dragon Ball and its sequel series both dabble in non-canonical stories that nebulously fit into the series’ timelines. Dragon Ball Super breaks this pattern and has used its movies to canonically extend the narrative after the anime series’ events.
Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero is particularly exciting because it brings back Red Ribbon, introduces new Androids, and gives two characters long overdue transformations, Gohan Beast and Orange Piccolo. Dragon Ball Super: Broly is also a delight and canonically introduces Gogeta, but Super Hero sets up an exciting future.
9 Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz
Release Date: August 1, 1998
Mobile Suit Gundam Wing has become one of the more popular modern Gundam series due to its prominent placement on Toonami's anime programming block. Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz is a feature film finale that's set a year after the events of the anime.
Endless Waltz provides cathartic closure that puts a definitive end to the series, but each character also gains an upgraded Gundam that's allowed to go on one last hurrah before they're put out of commission. Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz is a satisfying epilogue to the series, but it also turns the clock backwards and provides essential information on the mobile suit pilots' backgrounds and Operation Meteor's true agenda.
8 Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Rebellion
Release Date: October 26, 2013
Grim magical girl series that are actually allegories for trauma have become surprisingly common and Puella Magi Madoka Magica is among the finest of these genre subversions. Madoka Magica treats magical girls like prisoners who must fight against monstrous creatures or become them themselves. Madoka Magica's first two movies, Beginnings and Eternal, are compilation films. The third film, Rebellion, is a proper sequel that picks up after the final episode’s reality-altering events.
Rebellion also rewrites the universe in a desperate bid to protect Madoka and all magical girls from repeating the same mistakes. Homura makes the ultimate sacrifice to save her friends. 2024’s Walpurgisnacht: Rising, a sequel movie to Rebellion, will conclude the narrative more than a decade later.
7 Jujutsu Kaisen 0
Release Date: December 24, 2021
Jujutsu Kaisen is one of this decade's biggest shonen series and the anime is playing with non-linear storytelling in fascinating ways. Jujutsu Kaisen actually started as Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical School, which was later rebranded as Jujutsu Kaisen 0. Rather than start Jujutsu Kaisen's anime here, this prologue story gets told as a feature film.
Jujutsu Kaisen 0 ditches the series' protagonist, Yuji Itadori, in favor of Yuta Okkotsu and the Cursed Spirit of his dead childhood friend, Rika. Jujutsu Kaisen 0 separates itself from the proper Jujutsu Kaisen narrative, but Yuta later returns. Jujutsu Kaisen 0 also ends years of conflict between Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto, whose history gets properly fleshed out in the anime's second season.
6 The End Of Evangelion
Release Date: July 19, 1997
Hideaki Anno's anime adaptation of Neon Genesis Evangelion has become a groundbreaking achievement in animation and surrealist storytelling. The nihilistic mecha series taps into the anguish of pain and depression like no other series and The End of Evangelion is designed as the anime's big finish.
The End of Evangelion centers around SEELE's attack on NERV after the apocalyptic Third Impact doesn't come to pass. The End of Evangelion stays true to its name as Shinji Ikari goes on to understand the meaning of human instrumentality. Few films are willing to go out on a note that's this destructive and dark.
5 Gintama: The Very Final
Release Date: January 8, 2021
Gintama effortlessly mixes comedy and genre parodies with tense action and melodrama that's sustained Gintoki and the Odd Jobs crew for over 350 episodes. Gintama's first movie is a retelling of a popular story arc from the anime and the second movie, while technically canon, comfortably exists on its own.
Alternatively, Gintama: The Very Final functions as the definitive end to the series. Not only is the movie canon, but it's made specifically for the anime's fans who want closure and answers, which makes it beyond confusing to anyone who's never watched the series. Gintama: The Very Final puts an end to the immortal Utsuro, once and for all, while saving the Earth in the process.
4 Made In Abyss: Dawn Of The Deep Soul
Release Date: January 17, 2020
Made in Abyss is a surprisingly bleak anime that focuses on a young girl, Riko, who embarks on a dangerous journey down the Abyss. A curse is applied to anyone who descends too deep into the Abyss, with each new layer containing greater horrors. The first two Made in Abyss' movies are compilation recaps of the anime, but the third film, Dawn of the Deep Soul, is a direct continuation of season one.
Made in Abyss: Dawn of the Deep Soul narrows in on the toxic relationship and backstory between Bondrewd and Nanachi, which is essential to the character. The movie also introduces Prushka and Meinya, the latter of which joins Riko, Reg, and Nanachi on their journey.
3 The Last: Naruto The Movie
Release Date: December 6, 2014
Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto has produced more than 1000 episodes between its various series and spin-offs. The Last: Naruto the Movie is the franchise's tenth movie and yet the first to be canon. The Last tells one of Naruto's biggest stories where Naruto’s team prevents the moon from falling and rescues Hinata's sister, Hanabi.
The Last: Naruto the Movie is curiously set before the anime's finale and should be watched between Naruto Shippuden's 493rd and 494th episodes. The Last provides fundamental details that enrich the following handful of episodes, 494-500. The Last: Naruto the Movie briefly teases Boruto, who returns in the canonical sequel, Boruto: Naruto the Movie, which in turn leads into Boruto: Naruto Next Generations.
2 Sailor Moon Crystal: Eternal & Cosmos
Release Date: January 8, 2021 & February 11, 2021; June 9, 2023 & June 30, 2023
Modern reboots of classic anime are popular ventures and Sailor Moon Crystal trims the filler fat from the original '90s Sailor Moon anime in favor of a tighter narrative that more closely resembles Naoko Takeuchi's original shojo manga. Sailor Moon Crystal has three seasons that cover the Dark Kingdom, Black Moon, and Death Busters story arcs.
However, Sailor Moon Crystal announced that its fourth and fifth seasons would instead be delivered in the form of two-part movies, Eternal and Cosmos. Sailor Moon Crystal: Eternal covers the manga's Dream story arc and Sailor Moon Crystal: Cosmos' two films adapt the manga's Stars arc, which deals with the Sailor Starlights, Shadow Galactica, and the end of Galaxia.
1 Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna
Release Date: February 21, 2020
There are over 500 episodes between nine different Digimon anime, but the original Digimon Adventure still conjures the most love. Digimon Adventure was no stranger to movies, but Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna was designed as a feature film series finale to the original Digimon Adventure where its young cast are now grown up.
An initial attempt to do this, Digimon Adventure tri, was met with a mixed reception and Last Evolution Kizuna ends the series on the best note possible that allows its character to grow up and move on away from Digital Monsters. Digimon Adventure 02 is about to get the same treatment in Digimon Adventure 02: The Beginning.
