The Star of Cottonland

The Star of Cottonland 1984

5.75

After two-month-old kitten Chibi-neko is abandoned by her former owners, she is found by 18-year-old Tokio. Although his mother is allergic to cats and has a great fear of them, she agrees to let him keep the kitten because she fears he is becoming too withdrawn after failing his university entrance exams. Chibi-neko soon falls in love with Tokio. In her own mind, Chibi-neko is a small human who speaks in human words, although people only ever seem to hear her meow, and she believes that all humans were once kittens like her. A stray cat tells Chibi-neko of a paradise called Cottonland, where dreams can come true.

1984

Barefoot Gen

Barefoot Gen 1983

7.44

A story about the effect of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on a boy's life and the lives of the Japanese people.

1983

Cleopatra: Queen of Sex

Cleopatra: Queen of Sex 1970

5.70

Three people from the future, who travel spiritually to the era of the Egyptian queen Cleopatra VII Philopator and her Roman lovers Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, become their closest friends as they try to unravel the nature of the plan developed in their own time by a sinister enemy.

1970

Belladonna of Sadness

Belladonna of Sadness 1973

7.33

An evil feudal lord rapes a village girl on her wedding night and proceeds to ruin her and her husband's lives. After she's eventually banished from her village, the girl makes a pact with the devil to gain magical ability and take revenge.

1973

A Thousand and One Nights

A Thousand and One Nights 1969

6.80

Aldin, a vagabond water vendor, embarks of a series of fantastical and tragic misadventures through the Middle East in search of love, fortune, and power.

1969

Megazone 23

Megazone 23 1985

7.30

A young biker stumbles onto a prototype motorcycle with a hidden function that has a link to the true nature of his world.

1985

Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Overture to a New War

Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Overture to a New War 1993

8.20

Reinhard von Müsel and Yang Wen-li return to their respective homes, one victorious and the other defeated. While Reinhard earns the new name Lohengramm, while Yang and his friends celebrate some welcome news.

1993

Dororo

Dororo 1968

6.70

Before producing a TV series, a pilot film was made to let sponsors and television stations grasp the work's pervasive quality. This is the pilot film for "Dororo" in which the characters are closer to those of the original story compared to the characters in the TV series. The faces and personalities of the characters in the TV series are altered from time to time to gain popularity among its viewers. As a result, sometimes viewers really loved it, but at other times it didn't go over as well. The pilot for "Dororo" was made in color, but the TV series was monochrome due to a tighter budget. The story depicts a journey in which the boy thief named Dororo and a cursed man called Hyakkimaru destroy monsters. Hyakkimaru can be a complete "human" only after he destroys 48 devils.

1968

Song of Raiyantsuuri

Song of Raiyantsuuri 1994

1

An indentured Chinese laborer, brought to Japan to work in a coal mine during WWII, manages to escape his captors. He hides out in the Japanese countryside, so far from human habitation that he does not realize when the war ends, with ultimately tragic results.

1994

Kayoko's Diary

Kayoko's Diary 1991

7.00

Kayoko is a young girl in 1940, just starting first grade. Nothing can prepare her for 1945, and the bleak times that are soon to come.

1991

The Mad, Mad, Mad Monsters

The Mad, Mad, Mad Monsters 1972

9.00

All of Universal's greatest classic monsters gather at the Transylvania Astoria Hotel for Frankenstein's monster and his bride's Friday the 13th midnight wedding.

1972

Jungle Emperor

Jungle Emperor 1966

6.00

The story of a white lion cub growing to become the king of the jungle. The movie is an edited version of the 1965 Japanese television series of the same name based on the eponymous 1950s manga. The first 2 minutes of this film are taken from the Jungle Emperor Leo (1965) TV series, while the rest is all original. Tezuka was very pleased that this film conveyed his story accurately, something he wasn't able to do with the TV series.

1966

Yuki

Yuki 1981

7.10

Up in Heaven, Yuki’s grandparents decide that, having turned thirteen years old, she must go down to Earth to a village that is torn by bandits and intervene to save its people. However if she does not succeed within one year she will become as insubstantial as the wind. Down in the village, Yuki is befriended by a group of orphans whose parents have all been killed by the bandits and who now subsist by begging. Yuki amazes them by taming the wild horse Blizzard. She is instrumental in getting the orphans and farmers to stand up to first the warring bandits and then Goemon, the greedy lord that owns the region. But Yuki must face her greatest challenge yet when the displeased Demon God that lives in the volcano emerges to destroy those who live beneath.

1981

Tales of a Street Corner

Tales of a Street Corner 1962

5.60

The sad and happy times of a young girl and her bear doll, a young mouse and his family, a sycamore tree, an old lamp post, a hoodlum moth and an alleyway full of posters coming to life.

1962

Zôressha ga Yatte Kita

Zôressha ga Yatte Kita 1992

1

During WWII most zoo animals that could pose a danger to the public were slaughtered. Only two elephants survived the war, and trains were arranged to bring children from all over the country to see them.

1992

On a Paper Crane - Tomoko's Adventure

On a Paper Crane - Tomoko's Adventure 1993

1

A young girl named Tomoko visits the Hiroshima Peace Memorial. There she has a mysterious meeting with Sadako, the little girl who was 2 years old when the U.S. dropped the bomb on her city during WWII and 11 when she died from the effects of radiation poisoning. Sadako takes Tomoko on an eye-opening journey.

1993

Memory

Memory 1964

5.90

This is a short, privately produced animated film. While elucidating the mystery and fuzziness as well as merits and demerits of memory in idealizing reality, the story develops into a tale of destruction of human beings, turning the existence of the earth into a memory of the universe. The production, only 5 minutes long, greatly helps expand the viewer's imagination, embodying the enchantment of animation.

1964

New Treasure Island

New Treasure Island 1965

7.00

This was the first episode of Mushi Pro Land, a unique series of 60-minute animated programs. It was also Japan's first 60-minute animated TV program. However, the series never materialized and only this episode was actually aired. The story follows Stevenson's "Treasure Island," featuring characters in the form of animals. For example, the pirate Silver is illustrated as a wolf, where the main character Jim is changed into a rabbit. This has, therefore, nothing to do with the "New Treasure Island," Tezuka's masterpiece Manga.

1965

Adventures of the Polar Cubs

Adventures of the Polar Cubs 1979

5.00

Adventures of the polar cubs is a delightful story of Mushka and Mishka, two polar bear cubs who set out on a series of adventures in the North Pole. Mushka is thoughtful; Mishka is daring. While out on their own Mishka befriends Aura, A prank-playing seal and Mushka stumbles over swan eggs, breaks them and creates havoc in the bird village. The cub's father is Scholar Mu (voice of Joseph Campanella), who is the wise leader of the Great Northern animal kingdom and is in charge of their annual Summer Festival. When Mu is injured by man, the cubs must take on the responsibilities of their father and save the other animals from the hunters.

1979

Red Fang: Blue Sonnet

Red Fang: Blue Sonnet 1989

1.00

Sonnet is a cyborg/esper from a harsh background and now trained to be the ultimate warrior and most powerful weapon in the world. She is sent to Japan to watch Komatsuzaki Lan, who is thought to be controlled by the rage of the esper Akai Kiba (Crimson Fang). Lan is a quiet girl who knows she's different from everybody else and starts to show signs of Crimson Fang after coming into contact with Sonnet. In the course of fighting with Lan, Sonnet starts to rediscover her humanity. At the same time Lan has to fight to retain her humanity and control the Crimson Fang.

1989