Anime
Anime is the Japanese word for Animation. In Japan, the animation industry is more in the forefront than in the US, and animated shows covering virtually every genre can be found in the form of television shows, Original Animation Videos and feature films.
Much like any other entertainment medium, anime can range from the very silly to the very serious, and is not necessarily intended for children or any specific age group. Below is a hand-picked selection of titles that Alice's mavens consider the best of the genre on offer.
Right: 'Ghost In The Shell'
Mary and the Witch's Flower (2017)
6.8/10
Director: Hiromasa Yonebayashi
Starring: Ewen Bremner, Jim Broadbent, Kate Winslet, Lynda Baron, Morwenna Banks
Young Mary follows a mysterious cat into the nearby forest and discovers an old broomstick and the strange Fly-by-Night flower, a rare plant that blos... Read more
Le Portrait de Petite Cossette (2004)
6.9/10
Director: Akiyuki Shinbo
Eiri is a talented art student who works part-time in an antique shop. One afternoon he uncovers a delicate Venetian glass that holds a startling secr... Read more
Alive (2002)
5.8/10
Director: Ryuhei Kitamura
Starring: Hideo Sakaki, Ryo , Koyuki , Shun Sugata, Erika Oda, Tak Sakaguchi, Jun Kunimura
Tenshu is imprisoned and sentenced to death for murdering the men who raped his girlfriend. However, he manages to survive his execution and is presen... Read more
Appleseed (2004)
7/10
Director: Shinji Aramaki
After WWIII there's only one habitable city left - Olympus - where remaining humans live an idyllic life under the watchful eye of a supercomputer and... Read more
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004)
7.6/10
Director: Mamoru Oshii
This highly anticipated sequel sees the return of Batou, the Section 9 cyborg cop who has almost nothing of his human self left - just a part of his b... Read more
From Up on Poppy Hill ( Blu-ray ) (2011)
7.5/10
Director: Goro Miyazaki
Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Anton Yelchin, Sarah Bolger, Christina Hendricks
Goro Miyazaki directs this nostalgic coming-of-age animation from Japan's Studio Ghibli. As Japan readies itself for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, fatherle... Read more
Lupin the Third: The Secret of Mamo (1978)
7.9/10
Director: Yasuo Otsuka, Soji Yoshikawa
In this prequel to classic anime 'The Castle of Cagliostro', iconic anime character and master thief, Lupin III, is dead, though the skeptical Inspect... Read more
Porco Rosso (1992)
7.8/10
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
World War I has ended, and peace reigns again. Aviators from around the world circle above the Adriatic Sea, keen to recapture the romanticism of flig... Read more
Death Note: Volume 3 (2006)
9/10
Volume 3 of 9. Episodes 9-12. For genius detective L, Light's behaviour is too perfect to be true, and to get closer to him, he enrolls at the same un... Read more
Ponyo ( Blu-ray ) (2008)
7.7/10
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Aka "Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea". When five-year-old Sosuke finds a fish named Ponyo near his seaside home, they quickly become the best of friends... Read more