There are many worthy works in adult anime, but these works do not always get the attention they deserve.
If you ask the average viewer what anime feature films they know, the first ones that come to mind are the works of Hayao Miyazaki – the beloved My Neighbor Totoro and Castle in the Sky.
But today we are going to tell you about the films of other directors – the ones that many people do not know, but which definitely deserve attention.
1. Mind Game, 2004
The main character dies in a skirmish with the Yakuza: he is shot and goes to heaven. This is where everything begins. In heaven, the man does not find peace, but humiliation: God makes fun of his absurd death and wants to send the loser to oblivion.
The anime is a crazy trip with deliberately primitive animation and a visual mix of real actors' faces, photo collages, animation and computer graphics.
Despite the absurdity of the events, the plot is quite simple, and the idea is completely obvious: will and perseverance are good.
2. Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade, 1999
Kazuki Fuse is a member of an elite paramilitary unit in post-war Japan. The purpose of his work is to counter terrorists who are organizing riots in Tokyo.
On his next mission, he pursues a terrorist woman, catches up with her, but is stunned by her innocent appearance. This delay becomes the beginning of a complicated story about love and the behind-the-scenes games of officials.
If you take Little Red Riding Hood and try to tell it against the backdrop of the political intrigues of the secret services, you get Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade.
3. Metropolis, 2001
Metropolis is a multi-level giant city that exists thanks to the work of robots. Although the city has a formal government, Duke Red really rules everything.
One day he decides to create a robot in the likeness of his dead daughter, but the purpose of this artificial resurrection is not limited to parental melancholy.
This anime is in the style of the classic manga of the 60s, so the characters are reminiscent of old Disney: at that time, Japanese animators borrowed a lot from their Western counterparts.
Another source of inspiration is the German film of the same name, which added elements of cinematic expressionism.
4. Only Yesterday, 1991
Taeko, a 27-year-old Tokyo resident, decides to spend her vacation in the countryside. She begins to remember her childhood: school, first love, teenage tragedies.
This journey, which takes place both in the present and in the past, causes Taeko to reflect. Career, family, future – all of these things have to be reconsidered and reevaluated at the threshold of thirty.
Only Yesterday is a quiet story of an ordinary person, created according to the canons of the aesthetics of mono no aware: the search for beauty in the impermanent and transient. It is also a brief reflection on the relationship between man and nature.