Chill movies are nice once in a while to relax to after a long week, but sometimes it’s also nice to get the adrenaline pumping with some exhilarating thrills and edge-of-your-seat suspenseful stimulation to keep up the excitement. Action-packed adventures, captivating combat, and high-stakes stunts, there’s nothing quite as satisfying as satiating an appetite for some action. But which anime movies are best suited to quench your craving for some action?
While action as a genre tends to be a fairly popular and abundant within anime series, it can actually be rather difficult to find individual films if you’re looking for an exciting pick for movie night. But rest assured, we’ve found the best of the best anime action flicks! Whether you’re looking for some fantastical fights, mecha melees, samurai showdowns, sci-fi scrimmages, feuds with the forest itself, or rousing races, you’re sure to find a favorite in this exhilarating array of choices.
1) The Boy and the Beast
Ren, left with nowhere to go and no one to rely on, takes to hiding himself within the streets of Shibuya, eventually stumbling into Kumatetsu who leads the boy to the beast realm of Shibuten. Although skilled at combat and intimidating in stature, Kumatetsu has struggled to find an apprentice for those very reasons. But in finding Ren, Kumatetsu’s finally found his break to prove himself a worthy candidate to replace the lord of the realm and Ren, now known as Kyuuta, has found a potential place to belong. Although they each initially pursue different goals, as the years pass, the boy and the beast eventually learn that they may have more in common and more they can teach each other than they realized.
Released in 2015 by Mamoru Hosoda, the same director who brought audiences films like Wolf Children, Summer Wars, and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, The Boy and The Beast brought plenty of action to the story of a boy finding acceptance and belonging among the world of beasts.
The Boy and the Beast can be streamed on Crunchyroll where available.
2) Promare
Although the mutant fire-wielding race known as the Burnish poses a threat to humanity, under the leadership of Kray Foresight and thanks to the group of firefighters known as the Burning Rescue, the autonomous republic of Promepolis has shown hope for a thriving future. Equipped with the most advanced technology provided by the skilled mechanic Lucia Fex, Galo Thymos fights alongside his team in their endeavor to quench the monsters’ fire, chiefly against the Burnish terrorist group known as the Mad Burnish causing nationwide havoc. But when Galo encounters their leader Lio Fotia, the truth about the mutants begins to unravel along with a conspiracy surrounding the leader he once thought of as a hero.
If you think this mecha action sci-fi looks and sounds familiar, you’d be correct — including some of the creative team behind Gurren Lagann and Kill la Kill, character Lucia Fex was also voiced by FLCL’s Kari Wahlgren (Haruko Haruhara). Although the film had a long production time between 2013 and 2019, the absolutely stunning finished product was definitely worth it.
Promare can be streamed on Max where available.
3) Sword of the Stranger
Taking place in the Sengoku period of Japan, an orphaned child Kotarou and his dog Tobimaru resort to stealing from villagers to get by, but must constantly flee as they’re hunted by assassins sent by China’s Ming Dynasty. When they try to find refuge at a small small temple in the mountains, they meet the ronin Nanashi. Although the assassins inevitably catch up to them and attack, Nanashi manages to fight them off, but Tobimaru ends up being poisoned. Kotarou, desperate to save his canine best friend, offers the samurai a supposedly expensive gem in exchange for his services as their bodyguard to get Tobimaru to the nearest medicine man. Unbeknownst to the samurai, the trio are destined to stick together for longer as the mysterious reasons behind those hunting the young boy down begin to be uncovered.
Created by Studio Bones, if you love historical samurai action like that of Samurai Champloo or Dororo, you’re going to love this pick. Sword of the Stranger will keep you on your toes just as Kotarou is with this film’s action-packed escort mission and shrouded reasons as to why assassins would be after a mere child.
4) Tekkonkinkreet
Everyone knows that the streets of Treasure Town belong to The Cats; Nothing goes on that they don’t know about. But when the Yakuza come to their town threatening how they do things around there, The Cats aren’t too pleased. Although, the organized crime group doesn’t seem too concerned about two orphan boys named Black and White. Even so, the two brazen boys aren’t afraid either. With no one but themselves to rely on, the young duo are determined to take back their town.
From the same mangaka, Taiyo Matsumoto, who brought audiences the unique art style as shown in Ping Pong: The Animation, Tekkonknkreet shows a gritty reality beneath the incredibly detailed and colorful backdrop of a fictional town.
5) Princess Mononoke
When a demonic boar attacks the village of the Emishi, Ashitaka becomes cursed trying to defend his people. With the curse imbuing him with demonic power while slowly killing him, the village elders are forced to banish their prince, advising him to travel westward to find a cure. When he happens upon Tatara the Iron Town, Ashitaka finds himself in the middle of a battle between humans and the forest. With the fortified town’s encroaching deforestation, the townsfolk face the wrath of not just the forest’s inhabitants and lesser spirits, but its gods and the Forest Spirit, the god of life and death itself. Coming between the town’s leader, Lady Eboshi, and the wolf princess, San, Ashitaka attempts to seek harmony between the two warring factions as his curse grows stronger.
Princess Mononoke gives an action-packed take on the ever-enduring theme of man-versus-nature. With spiritual characteristics akin to the beliefs in Shintoism, this story of balancing the harmony between man and nature creates roots that are far-reaching and endure the test of time.
Princess Mononoke can be streamed on Netflix or Max where available.
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6) Akira
In 2019, years after a disaster launched World War III in the 80’s, Neo-Tokyo finds itself in constant turmoil as the streets are run amok with crime and insurrection against its oppressive government. Shoutarou Kaneda, leader of a rebellious motorcycle gang, finds himself caught in the middle of a government conspiracy when his friend, Tetsuo Shima, discovers his own psychic abilities upon encountering a government esper escapee.
With motorcycle action sequences, body horror, dangerous psychic powers, and a dystopic setting rife with crime and government secrets as this film’s bread and butter, Akira is an absolute classic as an action-packed sci-fi film.
Akira can be streamed on Crunchyroll.
7) Ghost in the Shell
In the technologically advanced near-future, humans have become capable of melding their bodies with machines. Major Motoko Kusanagi of Niihama City’s Public Security force, Section 9, is a police officer with her own cyborg capabilities. While protecting the city by investigating cyber crimes, she becomes more involved in one complicated case in particular more than she’d imagined. While trying to track down a mysterious cyborg hacker known as the “Puppet Master”, Motoko not only begins to question what it means to be truly human in a world where the lines between man and machine blur, but begins to question her own being as a “ghost” in a highly advanced mechanical shell. And the one who may hold the answers may be none other than her target himself.
Ghost in the Shell is both action-packed with cyberpunk escapades and thoughtful as it ponders the philosophical questions when it comes to the prospect of humans becoming so attached to technology that they become the cyborg equivalent of Theseus’s Ship.
Ghost in the Shell can be streamed on Pluto TV and Tubi.
8) Steamboy
As the British Empire harnesses the power of steam during the Victorian industrial revolution, James Ray Steam of the famous Steam inventor family spends his time assisting local factories and nicking parts to create his own inventions in Manchester. But when a package arrives from his grandfather who’d been abroad working in the United States with Ray’s father, the strange valved metal ball Ray’s received catches the attention of the O’Hara Foundation that demands the object. Fleeing to seek refuge at the home of Robert Stephenson, Ray’s grandfather’s colleague, Ray begins to unravel the power and secrets of the mysterious object.
An action-packed sci-fi steampunk adventure? Yes, please! While many action anime may derive much of its, well, action from fights and combat, the action in Steamboy is more so due to its exhilarating chases and escapades that really pick up steam!
Steamboy can be streamed on Prime and Pluto TV where available.
9) Redline
Every speedster is eager to race in the most prestigious competition in the universe that takes place only once every five years: Redline. What really draws in competitors is the all-out thrills of racing with zero rules where anything goes, including driver JP who, upon having just qualified to participate, lives for the exhilaration. Eager for the challenge, JP is especially eager to race against the only other human participating, Sonoshee McLaren, who also happens to be absolutely gorgeous and skilled. With the race to be held on the planet Roboworld, both criminals and the military alike intend to use the race to their own advantage, only really adding to the excitement.
As an action-packed sci-fi racing anime, Redline gives off major Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure and Space Dandy vibes, especially with the film’s bright, shiny cel-shaded style and the main character’s fabulous pompadour. Well, that and the voice of JP, Patrick Seitz, also happens to voice Dio in Jojo’s and the Racing Announcer in Space Dandy.
Redline is available on Tubi where available.
10) Final Fantasy VII : Advent Children
After resolving the previous crisis where Cloud Strife, Tifa Lockheart, and friends defeated Sephiroth upon his plan to crash a meteor into Earth, the citizens of the nearly destroyed Midgar fled to create a new home in Edge. Now, as Cloud and Tifa try to live quiet lives running a courier service and looking after their mutual friend Barret’s adopted daughter Marlene and a young orphan named Denzel, a new threat endangers the children of Edge: a mysterious new illness known as Geostigma and a trio of mysterious men kidnapping the infected children. Now, Cloud must save the fellow children of the city from both the illness and kidnappings.
Even though many tend to turn their noses up at 3D anime, Final Fantasy VII : Advent Children is actually highly regarded and tends to receive high ratings and praise. Made by Square Enix, this movie is like watching an action-packed video game. Oh, wait…
What’s your favorite action-packed anime movie? Let us know your recommendations in the comments!
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