The 10 Most Expensive Anime Films Ever Made, Ranked
It’s not cheap to produce Japanese anime, and it’s not cheap to make movies for this medium, either. A great deal of effort, time, dedication, and money must all be poured into a project to make it succeed, and the best anime movies prove it’s all worth it in the end. It may not be surprising that, in general, the most expensive anime movies are also some of the finest, including a few Studio Ghibli productions and tie-ins to huge anime franchises.
Money does not always equal quality or success when it comes to movie budgets, but in the realm of anime, fans can rest assured that a hefty budget usually delivers impressive results. The ten costliest anime movies are, for the most part, familiar and worthwhile titles whom most anime devotees have seen or at least heard of. This does not include CGI or 3-D anime movies, only feature films in the traditional anime format with a known budget.
My Neighbors the Yamadas is a Refreshing Slice-of-Life Feature Film
My Neighbors the Yamadas is the kind of anime movie that devoted anime fans would call a hidden gem, or a symbol of how anime’s penetration in the West isn’t comprehensive. My Neighbor the Yamadas is neither a tie-in to a huge series like Demon Slayer, nor is it a Studio Ghibli production, so it’s easy for Western anime fans to miss. If curious fans do watch My Neighbors the Yamadas, though, they’re in for a refreshing treat.
This anime movie is the 10th most expensive to date, with a production budget of $21 million USD. It’s an ideal pick for fans of the quaint slice-of-life genre, but without the typical anime look found in titles such as Komi Can’t Communicate or K-On!. Instead, this feels more like general animation, period, and that allows fans to appreciate the creative power of Japanese studios in a whole new way.
Arrietty is About Seeing Daily Life in a New Way
A number of Studio Ghibli anime movies rank among the costliest to produce in the industry, with the charming title Arrietty ranking among them with a budget of $23 million. On many levels, Arrietty is a classic Ghibli experience, even if it lacks some of the more famous elements such as flying machines or an anti-war stance. This movie is more about unusual friendships and seeing daily life in a new way.
That’s an essential storytelling tool for Studio Ghibli: exploring daily life and ordinary settings with a new perspective to appreciate everything that makes life happen. In this case, the tiny girl Arrietty is a Borrower who helps her human friend Sho see the house with a fresh set of of eyes. As an aside, it’s so much fun and a great novelty to follow a heroine who’s about three inches tall, giving her unique advantages and challenges alike during her adventures.
Howl’s Moving Castle is a Classic Anti-War Tale
Fans can confidently name Howl’s Moving Castle as one of Studio Ghibli’s most famous and essential movies alongside staples such as My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away. This movie has a few levels to it, starting with its distinct and powerful anti-war stance. When the airplanes drop bombs, viewers see not a successful military campaign, but the devastating tragedy of fire swallowing up the world.
On a more personal level, Howl’s Moving Castle is rooted in the healing power of love, with Howl the recluse and Sophie the hat-maker needing each other when their lives cross. While it’s cool seeing Howl’s trademark castle marching around the countryside, the real adventure is in the heart, with Howl seeing Sophie as much more than a cursed girl who looks like a grandmother. All this was beautifully animated in a movie that cost $24 million to make.
Steamboy Warns of the Abuses of Technology
Fans of the steampunk genre are bound to have already watched the likes of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, so the next stop is the Steamboy anime movie, if they haven’t already seen it. This anime movie’s impressive $26 million budget helped bring the aerial battles to life while also making all the steampunk machines look as realistic and stylish as possible.
Plot-wise, Steamboy tells a grim yet exciting story of how any invention or power source is bound to be exploited or stolen by someone, sooner or later. Technology is just a tool, after all, and whether it’s a marvel of the future or just a weapon depends on who has it and for what purpose. The steampunk setting of Steamboy is the perfect context for this ever-relevant theme, a time when technology was rapidly accelerating, but not everyone knew how to handle it.
From Up on Poppy Hill is a Clash of Old vs New
Plenty of Studio Ghibli movies have a charming mid-century setting, reminiscent of the 1950s and 1960s, and that includes From Up on Poppy Hill, costing $28 million to produce. This movie is set in 1963, not long before the 1964 Olympics in Japan, and that historic setting gives From Up on Poppy Hill distinct flair and a meaningful context. It’s partly about how the old must give way to the new, even if certain people protest that.
The mid-century setting of From Up on Poppy Hill is old enough to feel like a time capsule of a world that no longer exists, but is still recent enough to feel relevant and resonant. In particular, the 1960s were part of Japan’s recovery from World War II and its economic boom, but that didn’t come without a cost. Such is the case for heroine Umi Matsuzaki, who isn’t keen on seeing her beloved school clubhouse demolished in favor of infrastructure for the upcoming Olympics.
Pokémon: The Movie 2000 Starred a Villainous Anime Collector
Two of the tie-in movies for the sprawling Pokémon franchise rank among the costliest anime movies ever made, with the second Pokémon movie being one of them. Looking back, the first few Pokémon weren’t particularly strong as feature films, and they were just more of a good thing for the young intended audience. Still, there are a few neat ways to interpret Pokémon: The Movie 2000.
For the most part, this movie didn’t justify its huge $30 million budget, and it’s odd such a movie was more expensive to make than Studio Ghibli classics. That being said, Pokémon: The Movie 2000 does tap into the overall franchise’s theme of humanity’s relationship with nature. It’s already questionable for people to capture Pokémon and force them to fight, but it’s much worse when a villainous collector captures the three legendary birds and throws the natural world out of whack.
Pokémon: The First Movie Was a Profound Insight Into Self-Identity
The first Pokémon movie failed in a few key aspects, and it even contradicted itself in surprising ways, meaning the Pokémon movie series was off to a rocky start. The central conflict was negated when the villain Mewtwo erased everyone’s memories of the battles and the profound message involved, but at least audiences didn’t forget.
Mewtwo is an impressively deep villain for a Pokémon movie, making him the best part of this $30 million production. Being artificially created, Mewtwo struggled to understand his own nature or destiny, to the point that he made clone Pokémon to give him company and a purpose. Mewtwo ended the tragic, needless fighting when he stated how his own actions and decisions defined him more than his birth, and that’s a lesson a viewer of any age can resonate with.
The Wind Rises Shows What Studio Ghibli Can Do With a Top-Notch Budget
The Wind Rises is one of Studio Ghibli’s relatively recent offerings as a $31 million movie, though its historical setting goes back further than the common 1950s-60s settings in Ghibli films. This time, fans meet the historical Japanese aeronautical engineer Jiro Horikoshi, who falls into deeper despair as war looms for his country. At first, The Wind Rises feels like a fun story about a man trying to advance his career and build something incredible.
Those positive vibes are often undercut by tragedy, from illness to earthquakes to the specter of war, all of which weighs heavily on Jiro as his career marches into the 1930s. By that point, Japan is on the brink of war, and it needs cutting-edge planes like Jiro’s to fight its enemies, much to Jiro’s horror. In that way, The Wind Rises is similar to Steamboy, showing how technology can be either an inspirational wonder or a machine for terrible things, depending on who gets their hands on it.
Ponyo is a New Take on The Little Mermaid
Ponyo ranks among the most popular and most expensive anime films of all, and it may be counted among Studio Ghibli’s best offering as well. With a sizable budget of $34 million, Ponyo is another take on the familiar tale of The Little Mermaid, but without the angle of a teenage girl seeking a prince’s love. After all, Studio Ghibli is reluctant to show female characters depending so heavily on men for support or validation.
Ponyo takes another approach with its youthful characters, the fish-girl dubbed Ponyo and her human friend, Sosuke. What follows is a delightful tale of an innocent friendship unfolding told from the viewpoint of a literal fish out of water in Ponyo herself. in the process, Ponyo’s transformation into a human disrupts the natural balance, which not only challenges the new friendship’s mettle but also touches on Studio Ghibli’s fondness for environmental themes.
The Tale of Princess Kaguya Tells the Story of a Lost Girl Trapped in Nobility
The Tale of Princess Kaguya stands as the most expensive film made in traditional anime style, with a huge budget of $53.3 million. This is another costly and excellent Studio Ghibli movie, though casual anime fans might not realize that at a glance. The Tale of Princess Kaguya may not look or “feel” like a Ghibli movie with its first impression, but it does have plenty to offer, and should feel refreshing even to devoted fans of anime movies.
This movie is a moving epic about a moon princess who can’t easily figure out her place in the world or her own identity, causing her serious distress. While anime viewers can’t relate to being a princess or a moon being, they might know what it’s like to realize their life has turned out much differently than they wanted, and they might have become someone they don’t recognize. A person like Kaguya might still find personal treasures like a good friendship or romance to keep them rooted in who they want to be, however, and that may be good enough.
