10 Most Uplifting Anime Movies

9. Only Yesterday

Certainly not the most well-known of the Ghibli series, perhaps because this isn’t exactly a kids’ film. Not that it has a harrowing Grave of the Fireflies vibe (this is a wholesome list) but because there aren’t any soot sprites, witches, talking frogs or woodland spirits. This isn’t a fairy tale or fantasy at all, but a story about memory, childhood, and growing up.

Taeko Okajima (voiced in the English dub by Daisy Ridley) is a young woman who visits a place she once travelled to as a child. As her memories return, she sees her childhood in a new light. This masterpiece from Isao Takahata only gets better the more you watch it.