Anime like Michi

Konohana no Sakuya Mori

Also known as Forest this flower bloom.

Studio: Tomoyasu Murata Company
Status: Finished
Genres: Mystery

A horse puppet wanders into a silver world and pauses before an ethereal flower.

Tags: Stop Motion , No Dialogue , Amnesia , Tragedy , Post-Apocalyptic , Animals , Puppetry

Kataku

Studio: Video Market
Status: Finished
Genres: Supernatural

Many years ago, a young woman named Unai-Otome lived in the village of Ikuta. As she was beautiful it was no surprise that she had two suitors, both deeply in love with her. The girl was torn apart over which one to choose. In her desperation she chose a third option - taking her own life. Although her intentions were absolutely pure, not even in death did she find the solace she desired. Many decades later, a pilgrim walking by her grave meets a beautiful young woman and her story once again rises from the depths of time.... With a plot based on a classic play of Noh traditional theatre, the film presents the peak of Kawamoto’s mastery thanks to its expert mediation of the absurdity of the human condition.

Source: http://www.kviff.com/en/film-archive-detail/20050895-house-of-flames/

Tags: Demons , Historical , Afterlife , Puppetry , Stop Motion

Inaka Isha

Also known as Franz Kafka's A Country Doctor.

Studio: Studio DEEN , Shouchiku
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Psychological

A hapless country doctor describes with breathless urgency a night-time summons to attend a young patient. Events soon take on a surreal aspect as "unearthly horses" transport him instantaneously to the bedside. The doctor, preoccupied with personal distractions and grievances against those he is employed to care for, fails to find what is revealed to be a vile, fatal wound. He is humiliated by the villagers, who are "always expecting the impossible from the doctor," and doomed to an endless return trip, losing everything.



Tags: Philosophy , Rural , Classic Literature , Historical , Medicine , Denpa , Elderly Protagonist

Shisha no Sho

Also known as The Book of the Dead.

Studio: SLOW TIDE
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Supernatural

When a young noblewoman, Iratsume, falls into a trance after copying Buddhist sutras and walks to a remote temple that women are forbidden to enter, she stirs up the ghost of the executed Prince Otsu. Otsu's ghost then mistakes Iratsume for one of her ancestors, a young woman who came to watch his execution. The beautiful face of this young woman was the last thing the Prince saw before he died, and his ghost cannot rest while her face haunts his sleep.

Tags: Religion , Historical , Puppetry , Stop Motion , Ghost

Tenshi no Tamago

Also known as Angel's Egg.

Studio: Studio Gallop , Studio DEEN , Studio Hibari , Tokuma Shoten
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Fantasy , Psychological

In a desolate and dark world full of shadows, lives one little girl who seems to do nothing but collect water in jars and protect a large egg she carries everywhere. A mysterious man enters her life... and they discuss the world around them.



Tags: Philosophy , Dystopian , Lost Civilization , Mythology , Post-Apocalyptic , Tragedy , Religion , Cosmic Horror , Angels , Female Protagonist , Urban Fantasy , Amnesia , No Dialogue , Coming of Age , Survival , Foreign , Fairy Tale , Tanks , Cultivation , Body Horror

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

Shikioriori

Also known as Flavors of Youth.

Studio: Haoliners Animation , CoMix Wave , bilibili
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Romance , Slice of Life

Anthology film for three short stories.
The three shorts in the anthology are titled "Hidamari no Choushoku" (Sunny Breakfast), "Chiisana Fashion Show" (A Small Fashion Show), and "Shanghai Koi" (Shanghai Love), and all three will be set in three different Chinese cities.

The theme of the three stories are food, clothing, and shelter. "Hidamari no Choushoku" is about a youth working in Beijing and a grandmother in his hometown. "Chiisana Fashion Show" is about sisters living in Guangzhou. "Shanghai Koi" is set in 1990s Shanghai and is a homage to Byousoku 5 Centimeter (5 Centimeters Per Second).

Tags: Coming of Age , Anthology , Episodic , Work , Family Life , Foreign , Fashion , Food , Time Skip , Primarily Adult Cast , Rural , Heterosexual , CGI , Restaurant

Gon

Studio: TECARAT
Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Fantasy

A short film based on Niimi Nankichi's masterpiece, "Gon, the Little Fox", with a new story added based on an original interpretation. The film depicts the existence of barriers that man and beast cannot overcome. The stage is natural woodland close to a vllage in Japan, which is home to many small lives. This sad, yet gentle tale that unfolds in the beauty of nature.

Tags: Puppetry , Animals , Stop Motion , Kids , Tragedy

Ginga Tetsudou no Yoru

Also known as Night on the Galactic Railroad.

Studio: Group TAC , TV Asahi , Nippon Herald Eiga , Asmik Ace , Asahi Shimbun
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Fantasy , Mystery

Based on a short story by the popular children’s writer Kenji Miyazawa, Galactic Railroad offers viewers a slow-paced, dreamlike journey through space and time. When Giovanni, a lonely boy in a hill town, goes to get milk for his ailing mother, he finds himself crossing the Milky Way on a faster-than-light steam railroad. The stations he visits in various constellations, like the planets explored by St. Exupery’s Little Prince, offer curious adventures and an assortment of human "types." Reality and fantasy blur aboard the train, and its travels across the light-years sometimes suggests the journey through life. The characters are depicted as cats, presumably to avoid the problems of animating humans.



Tags: Afterlife , Trains , Philosophy , Classic Literature , Anthropomorphism , Primarily Animal Cast , Travel , Astronomy , Space , Animals , Tragedy , Religion , Mythology , Male Protagonist , Kids , Cosmic Horror , Historical , Bullying

Gosenzo-sama Banbanzai!

Studio: Studio Pierrot , Omnibus Promotion , Daybreak
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Sci-Fi

The Yomota family is small and typical: father Kinekuni (42), mother Tamiko (38), and son Inumaru (17). One day, a beautiful girl appears at their front door, calling herself "Maroko Yomota," granddaughter of Inumaru who travels back in time with a time machine to visit her ancestors. Even with Tamiko's strong objection, Kinekuni and Inumaru welcome her to stay with them, and the structure of a happy family has begun to collapse.



Tags: Family Life , Acting , Satire , Meta , Tragedy , Fugitive , Surreal Comedy , Incest , Slapstick , Time Manipulation , Crime , Bar , Inseki , Suicide