Anime Films to Binge Watch This Weekend

By Therese Aseoche

There’s no one way to describe Japanese animated movies. They’re magical and light-hearted, yet can also be thought-provoking. They’ll make you laugh in the beginning, and then make you cry in the end. They’ll make you love certain characters, hate others, and then suddenly make you love the ones you hate and hate the ones you love. They’ll surprise you, deceive you, delight you, and leave you speechless. It’s no wonder why fans of the genre try their hardest to convince others to watch these films.

To those who’ve never tried watching anime movies or who’ve only known Hayao Miyazaki’s masterpieces, here’s a list of 8 films you can binge watch this weekend!

8. Bakemono no Ko (The Boy and the Beast)

In Bakemono no Ko, a boy who runs away from home finds himself in the realm of the beasts and is taken under the wing of Kumatetsu, a strong yet disrespectful and lazy beast who aspires to be the successor of the Grand Master who is in line to be reincarnated as a deity. Despite their constant bickering, the two train together and find the real strength they’ve been searching for that could be the answer to the looming darkness that threatens both the human world and the beast world.

7. Momo e no Tegami (A Letter to Momo)

Shaken by the untimely death of her father, Momo and her mother move from Tokyo to the remote island of Shio. But as Momo begins to adjust to her new life, she notices strange noises and disappearances around her house and decides to investigate. This leads her into discovering three imps sent from Heaven for reasons that may be linked to the unfinished letter of Momo’s father.

6. Paprika

The visually stunning Paprika explores the possibility of a human person to enter another’s dreams with a special machine invented by a group of scientists. But when the machine is stolen by a “dream terrorist,” a therapist who turns into her alter ego Paprika in this dream world takes on a mission to retrieve the machine and protect the world from insanity.

5. Colorful

In this sad tale that subjects you to a rollercoaster of emotions, a sinful soul is given the rare chance to be reborn if he succeeds in his 6-month “internship” taking over the body of a boy who killed himself.

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