Anime like MEMORIES

PERFECT BLUE

Also known as Perfect Blue.

Studio: MADHOUSE , Rex Entertainment , ONIRO , Techno Sound , GKIDS
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Horror , Psychological , Thriller

Rising pop star Mima has quit singing to pursue a career as an actress and model, but her fans aren’t ready to see her go... Encouraged by her managers, Mima takes on a recurring role on a popular TV show, when suddenly her handlers and collaborators begin turning up murdered. Harboring feelings of guilt and haunted by visions of her former self, Mima’s reality and fantasy meld into a frenzied paranoia. As her stalker closes in, in person and online, the threat he poses is more real than even Mima knows, in this iconic psychological thriller that has frequently been hailed as one of the most important animated films of all time.



Note: The film received an early premiere at the Fantasia Film Festival on August 5, 1997.

Tags: Dissociative Identities , Denpa , Female Protagonist , Acting , Idol , Primarily Adult Cast , Meta , Work , Philosophy , Tragedy , Filmmaking , Gore , Nudity , Noir

AKIRA

Also known as Akira.

Studio: Tokyo Movie Shinsha , Funimation , Mainichi Broadcasting System , Kodansha , Bandai Entertainment , Toho , Madman Entertainment
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Horror , Psychological , Sci-Fi , Supernatural

It's the year 2019, thirty-one years have passed since the start of World War III. A top-secret child with amazing powers of the mind breaks free from custody and accidentally gets a motorcycle gang involved in the project. This incident triggers psychic powers within one of the gang members, Tetsuo, and he is taken by the army to be experimented on. His mind has been altered and is now on the path of war, seeking revenge on the society that once called him weak.



Tags: Cyberpunk , Post-Apocalyptic , Dystopian , Super Power , Urban , Tragedy , Male Protagonist , Primarily Male Cast , Seinen , Delinquents , Body Horror , Urban Fantasy , Motorcycles , Anti-Hero , Conspiracy , Gangs , Military , Gore , Philosophy , Crime , Orphan , Politics , Mythology , Aliens , Nudity

Meikyuu Monogatari

Also known as Manie Manie: Neo Tokyo.

Studio: MADHOUSE , Kadokawa Shoten , Selecta Visión , Project Team Argos
Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Fantasy , Horror , Sci-Fi , Supernatural

1) Labyrinth Labyrinthos
A girl and her cat fall through a looking-glass into a dark labyrinth full of strange people.

2) Running Man
In the distant future, a tough racer uses his psychokinetic powers against his opponents during his final race.

3) The Order to Stop Construction
A snooty salaryman is sent by his bosses to the jungle to stop a completely automated construction job, and spends several days there arguing with the robots.



Tags: Anthology , Cyberpunk , Circus , Work , Cars , Robots , Body Horror , Episodic , Gore , Male Protagonist , Super Power

Roujin Z

Also known as Roujin Z.

Studio: TV Asahi , Movic , Sony Music Entertainment , APPP , Kadokawa Shoten
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Comedy , Drama , Mecha , Sci-Fi

The Z Project was intended to give the new generation a break from caring for the old. The original intention was to create a machine to care for them without any intervention. At first glance, it looked like an excellent plan, and many of the younger generation approved of its application. But when old Mr. Takazawa became the test subject for the Z-001 machine, Haruko questioned both the tactics of the hospital and the moral implications of the machine. This is just the beginning, as Haruko has not just the hospital, but the odds against her. But then, she discovers an odd quirk about the machine: it uses a biochip, and it eventually acquires a mind of its own!



Tags: Cyberpunk , Artificial Intelligence , Satire , Real Robot , Rehabilitation , Robots , Politics , Primarily Adult Cast , Military , Female Protagonist , Fugitive , Elderly Protagonist , Male Protagonist , College

Mousou Dairinin

Also known as Paranoia Agent.

Studio: MADHOUSE , Asmik Ace , Geneon Entertainment , Tohokushinsha Film Corporation , WOWOW , Techno Sound , Chaos Union
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Mystery , Psychological , Supernatural , Thriller

An elementary school kid dubbed with the title "shounen bat" or "lil slugger" has been going around attacking people with his bent, golden bat. Now, two detectives are investigating so they can stop this kid from making any more attacks, but they will find out soon enough... that this case is much more than they expected.



Tags: Denpa , Crime , Detective , Ensemble Cast , Philosophy , Urban Fantasy , Police , Female Protagonist , Urban , Meta , Episodic , Nudity , Dissociative Identities , Disability , Satire , Suicide , Male Protagonist , Primarily Adult Cast , Prostitution , Chuunibyou , Bullying , Ghost , Cosmic Horror , LGBTQ+ Themes

Robot Carnival

Also known as Robot Carnival.

Studio: APPP , Discotek
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Comedy , Drama , Fantasy , Mecha , Sci-Fi

9 of Japan's leading animators were asked to create a short segment that followed the theme of "Robots," for their inclusion in this film. Essentially, this "movie" is 9 short films, all independent of one another. The common element is human interaction with robots, namely the consequences of creating life with one's own hands, played in nine very different ways.



1: Opening (Atsuko Fukushima and Katsuhiro Otomo)
2: Franken's Gears (Koji Morimoto)
3: Deprive (Hidetoshi Omori)
4: Presence (Yasuomi Umetsu)
5: Star Light Angel (Hiroyuki Kitazume)
6: Cloud (Mao Lamdo)
7: A Tale of Two Robots (Hiroyuki Kitakubo)
8: Nightmare (Takashi Nakamura)
9: Ending (Atsuko Fukushima and Katsuhiro Otomo)

Tags: Robots , Anthology , No Dialogue , Episodic , Post-Apocalyptic , Steampunk , Female Protagonist , Male Protagonist , Urban , Anachronism , Desert , Classic Literature , Heterosexual , Rotoscoping

Animatrix

Also known as The Animatrix.

Studio: MADHOUSE , Horipro , Warner Bros. Japan , Studio 4°C , Square Enix , Square Pictures , DNA
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Psychological , Sci-Fi

Final Flight of the Osiris
The crew of the Osiris discover an army preparing to invade Zion. While one crew member races inside the Matrix to get the message to Zion, the others try desperately to buy her enough time while fighting off an onslaught of Sentinels they can't possibly defeat.

2-3. The Second Renaissance Part 1 and 2
Humans have created the ultimate AI, which is just as smart as they are. But complications arise when these robots and the humans try to exist peacefully, and eventually all-out war breaks out. The humans ultimately lose the war, and become trapped in the Matrix as seen in the live-action films.

Kid's Story
A young man discovers that his world isn't real, that it's a computer-generated fantasy land created by robots using humans for energy. He escapes with the help of the hacker Neo. Based on the Matrix trilogy.

Program
Cis and Duo engage in battle in a virtual recreation of Feudal Japan.

World Record
While running the fastest race in his life, a champion track star breaks free of his computer-generated world for a small period of time. When he goes back to the real world, he has no memories and is placed in a nursing home. Based on the Matrix trilogy.

Beyond
While looking for her lost pet, a young woman meets up with some kids in Tokyo to play in a "haunted house", which is really a glitch in their computer world. Based on the Matrix trilogy.

Detective Story
A detective named Ash is called upon by a mysterious organization to hunt down the notorious hacker Trinity.

Matriculated
A group of scientists capture a robot and place it in a surreal fantasy world. When the robot's friends come in and kill most of the scientists, however, the robot and the last scientist remaining face isolation in the computer-generated world. Based on the Matrix trilogy.



Tags: Anthology , Cyberpunk , Virtual World , Artificial Intelligence , Dystopian , Robots , War , Gore , CGI , Skateboarding , POV , Nudity

Sennen Joyuu

Also known as Millennium Actress.

Studio: MADHOUSE , Genco , WOWOW , KLOCKWORX , Kadokawa Shoten , Bandai Visual , Techno Sound , Chaos Union
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Fantasy , Romance

Millennium Actress blurs the lines between the past and the present, and truth and fiction, when a documentary filmmaker fulfills his quest to find the legendary actress Chiyoko Fujiwara, and learn why she mysteriously vanished at the height of her brilliant career. When Chiyoko grants the filmmaker’s request, he, in turn, presents her with a token – a key she had lost and thought was gone forever. The filmmaker could not have imagined that the key would not only unlock the long-held secrets of Chiyoko’s life, but also his own.



Note: The film received an early premiere at the Fantasia Film Festival on July 28, 2001.

Tags: Acting , Biographical , Historical , Meta , Primarily Adult Cast , Female Protagonist , Work , Unrequited Love , Time Skip , Heterosexual , Coming of Age , War , Snowscape , Filmmaking , Class Struggle , Anachronism , Denpa , Fugitive , Swordplay , Age Gap

JIN-ROH

Also known as Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade.

Studio: Production I.G , Bandai Entertainment , Discotek
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Psychological , Romance , Thriller

In a very different Tokyo from the one we know today, the totalitarian government rules with an iron fist. But a group called "the Sect" is staging demonstrations and challenging the government's martial law. Constable Fuse of the Capital Police's Special Unit is on a mission to stop a Sect demonstration when he encounters a girl in the sewers under Tokyo.

When he fails to shoot as ordered, he is put on trial, questioned, and "re-conditioned" as a soldier. But the dead girl haunts him, both in his dreams and in the face of her sister, whom Fuse has befriended. But Fuse has made himself a target for some very powerful men... And as the world comes crashing down around him, Fuse is continually challenged to decide what is real and what is right.



Note: The film received an early premiere at the Fantasia Film Festival on August 6, 1999.

Tags: Conspiracy , Tragedy , Philosophy , Police , Espionage , Terrorism , Military , Dystopian , Noir , Politics , Seinen , Fairy Tale , Fugitive , Guns , Primarily Adult Cast , Male Protagonist , Gore , Nudity , Body Horror

Genius Party

Studio: Horipro , Studio 4°C
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Fantasy , Mecha , Music , Psychological , Romance , Sci-Fi

An anthology of seven short animated films from Studio 4°C:

1.) Genius Party (directed by Atsuko Fukushima)
A bizarre bird-like creature runs through a barren desert and finds what seems to be a smiling egg lying on the ground.

2.) Shanghai Dragon (directed by Shouji Kawamori)
An imaginative Chinese boy finds a futuristic device that can make his own drawings come to life. After discovering the device, the town he lives in is about to be invaded by spaceships and machines of mass destruction that are all centuries ahead of Earth's time.

3.) Deathtic 4 (directed by Shinji Kimura)
A tale set in a world full of zombies, living their normal zombie lives. A living frog falls from the blackened sky of the zombie world, and a little zombie boy with his friends try to bring the living creature back to its own world.

4.) Doorbell (directed by Youji Fukuyama)
The main character is a ghost in his own world. He must outrun the other versions of himself, or they will take over his life.

5.) Limit Cycle (directed by Hideki Futamura)
An existential examination of the world as seen through the lens of a man seemingly trapped in an endless cycle of work.

6.) Happy Machine (directed by Masaaki Yuasa)
An infant who is happily secured in his own nursery suddenly discovers that everything about the nursery is fake. Soon the infant is forced out of the nursery into the world that exists outside, where adventure awaits, and there are many alien-like creatures to encounter.

7.) Baby Blue (directed by Shinichirou Watanabe)
A small adventure of two young students who decide to go anywhere they can for just one day, to enjoy that day without caring about the rest, and simply be together.



Tags: Anthology , CGI , Zombie , Aliens , Nudity , Episodic , Mixed Media