One night Keiichi, a lovelorn college freshman, innocently decides to order takeout. Instead, he finds himself on the line with a helper goddess service. The goddess Belldandy comes to Earth, and the two fall in love. Their story was captured by the five-part Ah! My Goddess manga series, and this movie picks up where the saga left off. Just as Keiichi and Belldandy are settling down, trouble arises! Belldandy's mentor Celestin returns from prison (where he was sent for rebelling against heaven) and sabotages the goddess system, erasing Keiichi from Belldandy's memory. It's part of his attempt to seize power in the universe. Will Keiichi's love for Belldandy be the thing that conquers all? Or will it be Celestin?
Director Katushiro Otomo's genre-defining Anime feature based on his own comic book series is jarring, provocative, and a landmark display of artistic bravado. Released as a film in 1988, Akira sent immediate and lasting shockwaves through the world of cinema. In 2019, gangs and terrorists run rampant through the post-apocalyptic metropolis of Neo-Tokyo. The government does little to check the power of the military, which preserves a fragile order and hides the secrets of the city's closely guarded past. A motorcycle gang led by two friends, Tetsuo and Kaneda, discovers a covert military operation, and the two begin a dark descent into Neo-Tokyo's rotten core. Tetsuo soon falls victim to a military experiment that unlocks his psychic powers, and threatens to bring on another apocalypse when he begins raging out of control.
Before Ghost in the Shell, Japanese comic book author Shirow Masamune created the popular Appleseed. The 1988 anime movie directed by Kazuyoshi Katayama brought the cult comic to life in a heroic tale featuring future cop Deunan Knute and her cyborg partner Briareos Hecatonchires. This latest 2004 version directed by Shinki Aramaki recreates the classic with new CGI enhancements and a revamped storyline. Not all is well in the metropolis of Olympus. An evil plot threatens the fate of humanity in the post-apocalyptic utopia, and it is up to Deunan and Briareos to uncover the mystery. But time is running out for our heroes as they engage in a series of anti-terrorism missions, robot-suit battles and detective work.
Saya (Youki Kodoh) sits quietly in a dreary subway car. While she may seem like an ordinary student, she's actually an undercover vampire hunter. It's the fall of 1966 in Japan, and the U.S. military is using the Yokota Air Force Base near Tokyo to supply its forces in Vietnam. Meanwhile, a series of suspicious suicides are reported in a nearby village. Wearing her Japanese school uniform and wielding an ancient Samurai sword, Saya must infiltrate the American school within the military compound, uncover the source of the problem, and eliminate it. Youki Kodoh, who plays Saya, recently made her Hollywood debut in the feature film Snow Falling on Cedars.
In 2071, the solar system is crisscrossed with hyperspace gates and trade routes. Roving these space-lanes is the Bebop, a converted fishing ship carrying an unlikely group of bounty hunters. Spike Spiegel is a laid-back martial arts killer with Zen cool. Jet Black is a grizzled ex-cop who also owns the Bebop. The spunky Faye Valentine blows her shares of the bounties on her gambling addiction. Ed is an ever-cheery teenage hacker whiz. Along with an intelligent dog, these anime cowboys scrape together a living hunting down the criminals and fugitives that the police force can't handle. But it won't be easy, because these are the unluckiest bounty hunters in space! The misadventures they encounter are a fresh, cool twist on the anime genre.
It's the year 2071. Human civilization now stretches into space. With that much room to roam, criminals run rampant. Enter the "cowboys," a group of bounty hunters who rove across the galaxy to dispense justice wherever it's needed. None do it better - or angle for a better price - than the cowboys from the good ship Bebop: former gangster Spike Spiegel, former cop (and robotic-armed) Jet Black, vixen and rampant gambler, Faye Valentine, teenage hacker Ed, and Ein the data-dog. The crew's interstellar adventures made Cowboy Bebop one of the most popular anime series of all time. See how it all began with the saga's first five episodes: "Asteroid Blues," "Stray Dog Strut," "Honky Tonk Women," "Gateway Shuffle," and "Ballad of Fallen Angels."
Pandy and Retro, a pair of renegades, awaken on Earth completely naked, their memories empty. The two start wreaking havoc, stealing clothes, food, and transportation. The authorities put a stop to their criminal bender, and the two are sent to the infamous Dead Leaves prison, located on the surface of the moon. The penitentiary, away from watchful eyes, holds more than inmates - it keeps a dark secret. Run by ruthless guards, Dead Leaves doubles as facility that conducts cloning and other twisted genetic experiments. Pandy and Retro join with a band of mutated Dead Leaves inmates to make an ultra-violent escape. An experimental animation style, a pulsing electronica soundtrack, extraordinary characters, and an explosive, chaotic storyline combine into a rattling anime adventure.
Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz begins one year after the action-packed Gundam Wing TV series ends. Earth is serene. The colonies are finally at peace. The hard-fought war is over. The heroic Gundam pilots attempt to start new lives in a return to normalcy. The armored suits that served them so well in battle have been cast into the sun to be consumed, their presence no longer vital. Out of nowhere, a top-level government official is kidnapped by a colony bent on complete domination. The Gundam pilots are called back into action, forced to play the role of heroes once again in the Endless Waltz that is war, peace, and revolution.
Escaflowne The Movie strikes a darker tone than the anime series it stems from, but brings the same mythical action for which the saga is known. The realm of Gaia is ruled by a combination of magic and might. Violence rages and blood flows throughout the kingdom. A teenager, Hitomi (Kelly Sheridan), wishes she could vanish from her world, and does, magically winding up in Gaia. She's thrust into a struggle for power between Van (Kirby Morrow), who leads the White Dragon Clan, and his brother Folken (Paul Dobson), who leads the Black Dragon Clan. Hitomi has a part to play in the battle. She is the Wing Goddess, the one prophesied to have power over the invincible suit of armor, Escaflowne, which is at the center of the coming battle.
It's been two years since we saw Cloud Strife in Final Fantasy VII. A mysterious disease known as Geostigma is spreading across the planet. Unable to shake the demons from his past, the ex-soldier Strife lives a secluded life, isolated from his friends. He runs a delivery service, headquartered at a bar owned by Tifa Lockheart. The bar also serves as a home for orphans sick with Geostigma. Strife gets a call from Rufus, the former president of Shinra, Inc. Rufus wants Strife to protect him from a man named Kadaj. Kadaj, however is also looking for Strife, who he believes possesses some very important information. As Barret travels the planet in search of an alternate source for its energy, Strife and friends must regroup to battle a new enemy.
In the future, Earth is a hostile wasteland dotted with the last dome-shielded cities of humanity. Alien spirit creatures kill with a touch by absorbing the souls of terrestrial life forms. While the war against the invaders drudges on, Dr. Aki Ross (voiced by Ming-Na) is close to unraveling the key to phantoms' power. With Capt. Gray Edwards (Alec Baldwin) and the Deep Eyes squadron, Aki uses a dark secret of hers to try to heal Earth's life spirit. Meanwhile, the conniving General Hein constructs an orbiting beam weapon that will attack the aliens at their nest's core - and will put all remaining life on Earth at risk! The film is directed by Hironobu Sakaguchi, creator of the video game upon which this visually stunning computer-animated film is based.
Director Mahiro Maeda, the creative force behind visual stunners like The Animatrix and Blue Submarine No. 6, puts a unique stamp on The Count of Monte Cristo in this vibrantly colored adaptation of the classic novel. Maeda's 24-part anime saga gives a futuristic twist to the timeless tale of revenge. Aristocratic Albert lives a luxurious but boring life in Paris. He leaves the city with his best friend Franz. The two journey to Luna, a city on the moon's surface and home to the wealthy Count of Monte Cristo. The Count charms Albert, who invites him to Paris. With Albert's help, the Count is soon part of the city's high society. It's then that the Count begins to unspool his calculated plan for revenge.