1. Spirited Away ( Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi )
Year of Release: 2002
Overall Rating: 3.3 out of 4 stars
Language: Japanese
Genre: Anime/Adventure
MPAA Rating: PG
Director: Hayao Miyazaki, Kirk Wise
Actors: Daveigh Chase, Lauren Holly, Suzanne Pleshette, Michael Chiklis, David Ogden Stiers, Jason Marsden
Plot: A young girl is whisked away to a world of witches, dragons, gods and spirits when her parents stop at a seemingly abandoned amusement park. When her parents are transformed into pigs, it's up to Chihiro to make new friends and believe in herself in order to find the way back to her own world.
2. Princess Mononoke ( Mononoke-hime )
Year of Release: 1997
Overall Rating: 3.2 out of 4 stars
Language: Japanese
Genre: Anime/Action
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Actors: Claire Danes, Billy Crudup, Billy Bob Thornton, Minnie Driver, Jada Pinkett Smith, Gillian Anderson
Plot: A prince leaves his country to find a cure for a disease that was passed onto him by a possessed boar god. He goes east to find a cure and put a stop to what is angering the gods of the forest.
3. Howl's Moving Castle ( Hauru no ugoku shiro )
Year of Release: 2005
Overall Rating: 3.2 out of 4 stars
Language: Japanese
Genre: Anime/Adventure
MPAA Rating: PG
Director: Hayao Miyazaki, Rick Dempsey
Actors: Christian Bale, Jean Simmons, Billy Crystal, Lauren Bacall, Emily Mortimer, Jena Malone
Plot: A young woman finds herself the receipient of a curse and seeks out the secretive wizard Howl in order to break the spell.
4. Akira
Year of Release: 1990
Overall Rating: 3.0 out of 4 stars
Language: Japanese
Genre: Anime/Action
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Katsuhiro Ôtomo
Actors: Johnny Yong Bosch, Joshua Seth, Wendee Lee, Michelle Ruff, Jamieson Price, Mike Reynolds
Plot: The future and Neo-Tokyo where the leader of a violent biker gang becomes involved with a shady military project that grants him amazing powers that quickly spin out of control.
5. Grave of the Fireflies ( Hotaru no haka )
Year of Release: 1988
Overall Rating: 3.2 out of 4 stars
Language: Japanese
Genre: Anime/War
MPAA Rating: PG
Director: Isao Takahata
Actors: Rhoda Chrosite, J. Robert Spencer, Veronica Taylor, Amy Jones, Tsutomu Tatsumi, Ayano Shiraishi
Plot: During WWII, a brother and his young sister are forced to survive on their
own after their mother is killed in an air raid and they shun their other
relatives.
6. My Neighbor Totoro ( Tonari no Totoro )
Year of Release: 1988
Overall Rating: 3.2 out of 4 stars
Language: Japanese
Genre: Anime/Fantasy
MPAA Rating: G
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Actors: Dakota Fanning, Elle Fanning, Evan Sabara, Frank Welker, Timothy Daly, Pat Carroll
Plot: Two young sisters move to the country to be closer to their sick mother. In the forest by their house they discover Totoro, a forest spirit, and the adventure begins.
7. Castle in the Sky ( Tenkû no shiro Rapyuta )
Year of Release: 1986
Overall Rating: 3.1 out of 4 stars
Language: Japanese
Genre: Anime/Adventure
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Actors: James Van Der Beek, Anna Paquin, Cloris Leachman, Mark Hamill, Mandy Patinkin, Jim Cummings
Plot: A young girl floats from the sky after a shady government agency and a band of pirates clash over a crystal she possesses. A young boy finds her and together they begin an exciting adventure that leads them to a Laputa - the castle in the sky.
8. Ghost in the Shell ( Kôkaku kidôtai )
Year of Release: 1996
Overall Rating: 3.0 out of 4 stars
Language: Japanese
Genre: Anime/Action
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Mamoru Oshii
Actors: Mimi Woods, Richard Epcar (as George Richard), William Knight (as William Frederick), Tom Wyner (as Abe Lasser), Phil Williams, Christopher Joyce
Plot: In the year 2029 the world has become completely information oriented and the world's worst criminals are hackers. Section 9 is formed is formed to combat these criminals, made up of cyborgs with the ability to access any network. When a rogue virtual agent, The Puppet Master, is released it must be destroyed before it gets out into the real world.
9. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind ( Kaze no tani no Naushika )
Year of Release: 1984
Overall Rating: 3.2 out of 4 stars
Language: Japanese
Genre: Anime/Family
MPAA Rating: PG
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Actors: Shia LaBeouf, Alison Lohman, Mark Hamill, Mark Silverman, Patrick Stewart, Uma Thurman
Plot: Far in the future the Earth has been devastated by the "Seven Days of Fire." Now only pockets of humanity survive and in one are, Princess Nausica? works to understand the toxic jungle while preventing war.
10. Ponyo on the Cliff ( Gake no ue no Ponyo )
Year of Release: 2009
Overall Rating: 3.1 out of 4 stars
Language: Japanese
Genre: Anime/Adventure
MPAA Rating: G
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Actors: Frankie Jonas, Noah Lindsey Cyrus, Tina Fey, Liam Neeson, Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon
Plot: Hayao Miyazaki brings to life the story of Sosuke, a 5-year-old boy and Ponyo, a goldfish princess who wishes to become human.
