10 Great Anime Films Of The 21st Century (That Aren't Studio Ghibli)

If there was one non-Ghibli film whose cultural crossover from east to west was truly earned in the last decade, it's got to be this beautifully spellbinding gem from 5 Centimeters per Second and Weathering with You helmer Makoto Shinkai. A bodyswap comedy with hidden depths, its superb fantasia worked from a lush vein of emotional grandeur that proved infectious to audiences worldwide - and arguably remains Japan's defining animation, at home and abroad, of the 2010s.

Following the exploits of two high school teenagers at opposite ends of the country who start to experience unexpected periods inhabiting the other's forms, it progresses with in an almost typical fashion for the genre - until it executes one of the best rug pulls in recent movie history and turns the whole film on its head. Suffice to say, it's best discovered for itself, but the shift is worth the wait.

In Japan alone, it became a box-office sensation upon release, finishing atop the 2016 charts with twice as much money taken as its nearest rival, Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Worldwide, it dethroned Spirited Away to become the highest-grossing anime film of all time, while critics justifiably raved about it. Shinkai confessed to being dissatisfied with the final product, but it seems his personal reflections have fallen on deaf ears - this is undoubtedly an absolute gem of a movie.