A large number of new anime movies are awaiting you in 2023. Almost all of the anime films first premiers in Japan, and selected hits come to the big screen worldwide after a short time. Japanese animations are becoming a more familiar film genre globally since some new anime movies have been simultaneously released all over the world via various online streaming platforms like Netflix recently.
With hundreds of anime series, tens of quality anime movies are scheduled to be newly released every year. Following the smash-hits in the previous year including One Piece Film: Red and Suzume no Tojimari, 2023 is expected to offer lots of worthwhile titles, too.
For all anime lovers around the globe, I’d like to introduce the best anime movies of 2023. It contains a brand new film directed by Hayao Miyazaki from Studio Ghibli and an anticipated movie directed by Naoko Yamada. Check out what to watch and their release dates to build your watch list!
▽Check out the new list of best anime movies released in 2024, too!▽
It seems that 2024 is shaping up to be an incredible year for anime movies. Many highly anticipated films, including tho[…]
1. Blue Giant
Blue Giant is one of the finest drama manga serialized on Big Comic from 2013 to 2016, followed by the sequels Blue Giant Supreme and Blue Giant Explorer. The jazz-themed coming-of-age manga is getting more popular among manga fans and has been decided to be made into the first anime movie adaptation within 2022. Set in Sendai and Tokyo, Blue Giant centers on a high school boy Dai Miyamoto who has a dream to become a superb saxophone player.
Release Date: February 17, 2023
▽How about enjoying the parts of Blue Giant that haven’t been adapted into anime through the manga?▽
Anime with a musical theme are plentiful even in recent times, but has there ever been an anime that faced the genre of […]
2. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba -To the Swordsmith Village- World Tour
Preceding the third season of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba airing from April, a special movie titled Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba -To the Swordsmith Village- World Tour (ワールドツアー上映「鬼滅の刃」上弦集結、そして刀鍛冶の里へ) premiers at the theater worldwide. It introduces all of the six Upper Ranks of the Twelve Kizuki, which consists of Episode 10 and 11 from the anime series second season Entertainment District Arc and the 1-hour Episode 1 from the upcoming third season Swordsmith Village Arc in 4K with remastered audio. After being released in Japan from February 3, 2023, it comes to the big screens in the United States and Canada on March 3.
Release Date: February 3, 2023 (Japan)/March 3, 2023 (North America)
What do you think the best modern anime series is? In terms of name recognition and commercial success, Demon Slayer: Ki[…]
3. Gridman Universe
Tsuburaya Productions, which has made great strides beyond the boundaries of Tokusatsu (a sci-fi genre featuring superhero and kaiju), including the blockbuster success of Shin Ultraman (2022), and Trigger, which is highly regarded for its edgy action and sensitive portrayal of characters, especially in Promare (2019). The two major studios have gathered all their resources to create the two action mecha series SSSS.Gridman in 2018 and SSSS.Dynazenon in 2021. They release a completely original film Gridman Universe (グリッドマン ユニバース), which miraculously crossovers the characters and worldviews of these two works, in March, 2023.
Yuta moves up to the second grade of high school and is placed in a different class from Rikka, and decides to confess his feelings to her. In the peaceful world they live in, kaiju appear once again. Meanwhile, Yomogi and his friends from the world of SSSS.Dynazenon arrive, and in the midst of Yuta’s crisis, Gridman suddenly appears and says, “The balance of this world is about to be upset. Yuta’s extraordinary life begins as he keeps his feelings for Rikka hidden.
Release Date: March 24, 2023
4. The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Who could forecast the popular Super Mario series is made into that high-quality animation movie. The Super Mario Bros. Movie (ザ・スーパーマリオブラザーズ・ムービー) is the second Super Mario themed anime movie following the previous one titled Super Mario Bros.: The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach! in 1986. This 2023 movie is perfect for both beginners and fans of the Nintendo games including Super Mario Series, Mario Kart, Mario Party and so on. Presented by Nintendo, Illumination, and Universal Pictures, it is directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic and written by Matthew Fogel, who is also famous for The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019) and Minions Fever (2022).
Release Date: April 7, 2023 (United States)/April 28, 2023 (Japan)
5. Detective Conan: Black Iron Submarine
As it has become an annual affair since 1997, the year of 2023 receives a new anime movie of the classic mystery series titled Detective Conan: Black Iron Submarine (名探偵コナン 黒鉄の魚影（サブマリン）) in the spring. The Detective Conan manga series, which is also known as Case Closed, written by Gosho Aoyama reached the 100th volume in 2021, and it is approaching the core of the grand mystery. In addition to many key characters, Black Iron Submarine casts a spotlight on Anita Hailey (Ai Haibara) and the Black Organization. Some people think the Detective Conan film series are just spin-offs but they are related to the important secrets of the main story.
Release Date: April 14, 2023
6. Psycho-Pass Providence
Psycho-Pass, an original animated TV series that started in 2012, welcomes Psycho-Pass Providence, the latest and culmination of the 10th anniversary series. This is the episode that connects connects the film “Psycho-Pass: Sinners of the System – On the Other Side of Love and Hate and the TV series third season “Psycho-Pass 3”. The story that has not been told until now will be continued. Directed by Naoyoshi Shiotani, Psycho-Pass Providence is made by Production I.G, which is also famous for the Ghost in the Shell series.
Release Date: May 12, 2023
7. Rascal Does Not Dream of a Sister Venturing Out
Rascal Does Not Dream of a Sister Venturing Out (青春ブタ野郎はおでかけシスターの夢を見ない): A sequel to the popular psychological, slice-of-life anime series Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai was announced to show at the theater in 2023. Based on Hajime Kamoshida’s light novel series published since 2014, the first anime adaptation was aired with 12 episodes in 2018. The first anime movie Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl came next in 2019. Rascal Does Not Dream of a Sister Venturing Out is a new part of the Aobuta series featuring Kaede Azusagawa, the younger sister of the protagonist Sakuta. It has been also announced that it will be followed by Rascal Does Not Dream of a Knapsack Kid in the future. Let’s expect how CloverWorks creates the upcoming episodes!
Release Date: June 23, 2023
More quality light novels have been published in Japan and distributed all over the world recently. Rascal Does Not Drea[…]
8. The Boy and the Heron
Finally, Hayao Miyazaki releases a new Studio Ghibli movie The Boy and the Heron (君たちはどう生きるか) in July 2023 after it was announced he would go into retirement just after The Wind Rises had been released in 2013 and it got cancelled later. A large number of people across the world have expected his first anime movie in 10 years. Its title, which is known as How Do You Live? in Japanese, is inspired by the same-titled novel written by Yoshino Genzaburo in 1937. How Do You Live? tells a fantasy adventure story of a young boy, which is not exactly based on Yoshino Genzaburo’s novel that centering on a 15-year-old boy Koperu.
Release Date: July 14, 2023
If you are interested in anime or Japanese pop cultures, you may have watched some Studio Ghibli movies. Many of the ren[…]
9. Sand Land
You can expect a new animation based on a manga written by Akira Toriyama apart from Dragon Ball in 2023. Sand Land, categorized as science fiction and adventure, was serialized on Weekly Shonen Jump in 2000. All 14 chapters are collected in the only Tankobon volume. In the end of 2022, it was announced that Sand Land would be made into an animation adaptation by three renowned anime studios Sunrise, Kamikaze Douga and Anima. The short manga has been published worldwide, and many international manga and anime fans are looking forward to the adventure of three main characters traveling around the desertified world in search of a water source.
Release Date: August 18, 2023
10. City Hunter The Movie 2023
City Hunter (シティーハンター), a well-known classic hardboiled rom-com series in the 1980s to 1990s, comes back to the modern age as a new anime film in 2023. The manga series of City Hunter has been serialized on Weekly Shonen Jump from 1985 to 1991, written by Tsukasa Hojo. There are four seasons in its anime adaptation: City Hunter with 51 episodes (1987-1988), City Hunter 2 with 63 episodes (1988-1989), City Hunter 3 with 13 episodes (1989-1990) and City Hunter ’91 with 13 episodes (1991). The series also has some anime movies, and The Movie: Shinjuku Private Eyes was released in 2019. All of them were made by Sunrise. The whole series is dominated by the sweeper Ryo Saeba, who works as a hit-man, a bodyguard, and private detective in Shinjuku, Tokyo.
Release Date: September 8, 2023
11. Alice to Therese no Maboroshi Koujou
Alice to Therese no Maboroshi Koujou (アリスとテレスのまぼろし工場) is a new anime movie that took the spotlight in 2023 when its release date was unexpectedly announced at Mappa Stage 2023 in May. It is scheduled to premiere on September 15. The most significant feature of this movie is that it is an original anime film, both scripted and directed by Mari Okada. She is well-known for her work on series such as Toradora! and Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day, and films like The Anthem of the Heart and Her Blue Sky. Furthermore, she released the directorial work Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms in 2018. Alice to Therese no Maboroshi Koujou is made by the currently hot studio Mappa, making it Mappa’s first original theatrical production.
Masamune, a junior high school third-grader, lives in a town where time has stopped, having lost all exits due to a sudden blast furnace explosion. Guided by his mysterious classmate, Mutsumi, he steps into the steelworks, where he encounters a girl who, like a wild wolf, is unable to speak. The meeting of Masamune and the two girls disrupts the balance of the world, and the unstoppable urge to love of them who are bored with their daily lives begins to break the world.
Release Date: September 15, 2023
12. Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 The Last Human
Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 The Last Human (Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 Second Movie) will be released in theaters in 2023, which was first unveiled at the AnimeJapan 2023 Bandai Namco Group booth on March 25. The latest series of the legendary cyberpunk franchise Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 was first released in 2020 and its second season was distributed in 2022, available on Netflix. Like the first anime movie Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 – Sustainable War based on the first season’s story, the second movie is made by reconstructing Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 Season 2. Don’t miss the latest episodes of the modern version of Ghost in the Shell created by Production I.G and Sola Digital Arts.
Release Date: November 23, 2023
13. Rascal Does Not Dream of a Knapsack Kid
It could be said that 2023 is the year for the Rascal Does Not Dream series. Rascal Does Not Dream of a Knapsack Kid (青春ブタ野郎はランドセルガールの夢を見ない) comes as the second feature-length installment in 2023 from the Rascal Does Not Dream series following the previous movie Rascal Does Not Dream of a Sister Venturing Out released in June. The new film is an anime adaptation of the ninth volume of the popular light novel series by Hajime Kamoshida.
As the story enters March, with only one month left of the third term, Sakuta Azusagawa is about to attend the graduation ceremony of his girlfriend and senior by one year, Mai Sakurajima. While waiting for Mai at the Shichirigahama beach, a primary school student who is the spitting image of Mai from her child actor days appears before him. Is this a dream or an illusion? As Sakuta contemplates this mysterious experience, issues involving his little sister Kaede and their mother also arise. Then, there’s the premonition of a new Adolescence Syndrome.
Release Date: December 1, 2023
14. Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window
An incredible movie was released at the end of the year. It’s an anime adaptation of the 1981 novel by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi, titled Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window (窓ぎわのトットちゃん). While watching this new drama movie, many may be reminded of the 2016 masterpiece In This Corner of the World directed by Sunao Katabuchi, which deals with a similar theme. However, the originality of Totto-Chan also stands out.
Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window (窓ぎわのトットちゃん) is set around the time of World War II, a common backdrop for many anime films. However, this movie stands out for its exceptional storytelling and artistic execution. It is directed by Shinnosuke Yakuwa, known for his work on the Doraemon anime movie series, adding a layer of pedigree and expertise to this production. The film is celebrated for its emotionally moving narrative. It offers not just entertainment but also a poignant look at a significant period in history, making it a must-watch for fans of anime and those interested in culturally rich stories. The combination of an esteemed director, a beloved source material, and a compelling historical context makes Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window a noteworthy addition to the anime movie landscape.
Release Date: December 8, 2023
15. Spy x Family Code: White
The first season of the hottest anime series Spy x Family, which consists of the first 12 episodes airing in the spring of 2022 and another 13 episodes in the autumn, just finished in December enjoying high popularity around the world. At the same time, a new anime movie titled Spy x Family Code: White was announced as well as the second season confirmed for December, 2023. The story of the movie is based on a brand new episode written by Tatsuya Endo, who has written the manga series since 2019. Besides the upcoming season of the television series scheduled in October, 2023, let’s look forward to Anya and the Forger family coming to the big screens!
Release Date: December 22, 2023
Recently, the anime adaptations of popular manga have been very successful, and both fans of the original manga and new […]
Kimi no Iro
As one of the most anticipated anime movie released in 2023, you should check Kimi no Iro (きみの色), which literally means “Your Color” in Japanese. It is made by the anime studio Science Saru and directed by Naoko Yamada, who is also famous for K-On! The Movie (2011), A Silent Voice (2016) and Liz and the Blue Bird (2018). It is written by the screenwriter Reiko Yoshida, who has been in charge of lots of renowned anime like Violet Evergarden (2018). The music of Kimi no Iro is composed by Kensuke Ushio, who is also known for A Silent Voice and Chainsaw Man (2022). Set in Nagasaki City, Kimi no Iro presents a coming-of-age story of a high school girl Totsuko, who can see people’s emotions as colors.
Release Date: Autumn, 2023
NOTE: The announcement was made that the release date of Kimi no Iro has been postponed to 2024.
Did you find some of the 2023 anime movies perfect for you? More exciting announcements will await you in the near future. I will add new information to this year’s best anime list regularly. Stay tuned!
If you are interested in anime films more, check this Best Anime Movies of All Time list below next!
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