🎬 Best Anime Movies of 2025
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1
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - Infinity Castle
Shonen Action - Haruo Sotozaki - ufotable - 18/07/2025 - 16+ The first chapter of the trilogy that closes Tanjiro Kamado's story: the demon slayers venture into the labyrinthine Infinity Castle to face Muzan Kibutsuji and his Upper Rank demons, amid spectacular duels and revelations about their pasts.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - Infinity Castle opens the film trilogy that closes the saga created by Koyoharu Gotouge, bringing Tanjiro, Nezuko, Zenitsu and Inosuke back to the screen for the decisive clash with Muzan Kibutsuji inside the Infinity Castle, a labyrinthine dimension of rooms that flip and corridors that constantly reshape themselves. Directed by Haruo Sotozaki alongside Hikaru Kondo for studio ufotable, the film adapts the manga's concluding arcs by splitting the narrative into several parallel showdowns, including Tanjiro's duel against the Upper Rank demon Akaza, the same demon who killed Flame Hashira Kyojuro Rengoku in the earlier film Mugen Train. Visually, the film builds on the work begun with the Swordsmith Village arc, blending hand-drawn animation with three-dimensional computer graphics into extraordinarily fluid combat sequences, where light, color and perspective turn the castle's impossible geometry into a genuine spectacle. The narrative structure feels tighter than in previous installments, giving emotional room to individual characters without losing the pace of the action. Critics have especially praised ufotable's ability to alternate pure spectacle with more intimate passages exploring the Upper Rank demons' pasts, lending them a tragic dimension beyond their role as simple antagonists. As the first of three chapters, the film deliberately leaves the story unresolved, though its construction still makes it a self-contained experience. Some observers have noted the typical limits of such a dense adaptation, with passages that assume familiarity with the television series. Released in Japanese theaters on July 18, 2025, the film shattered a string of national box office records, becoming the highest-grossing single opening day in Japanese cinema history and surpassing eight hundred million dollars in worldwide receipts, a result that made it the most discussed and celebrated anime of the entire year.
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10votes
2
Chainsaw Man - The Movie: Reze Arc
Dark Fantasy Action - Tatsuya Yoshihara - MAPPA - 19/09/2025 - 18+ A feature film adaptation of the Reze arc from Tatsuki Fujimoto's manga: Denji, the boy who can transform into a chainsaw devil, forms an intense, dangerous bond with Reze, a cafe waitress concealing the identity of a bomb devil.
Chainsaw Man - The Movie: Reze Arc brings to the big screen one of the most beloved storylines from Tatsuki Fujimoto's manga, the relationship between Denji, the protagonist able to transform into a hybrid man-chainsaw devil, and the mysterious Reze, a small cafe waitress revealed to be a bomb devil infiltrating his everyday life. Directed by Tatsuya Yoshihara for MAPPA, the film tells a largely self-contained story, understandable even to viewers unfamiliar with the details of the television series: at its center is a genuine love triangle between Denji, Reze and Makima, built around the protagonist's desire to experience, for the first time, something resembling real affection after a childhood of poverty and violence. The script balances teenage romantic-comedy beats, almost naive in the scenes between Denji and Reze, with the series' trademark bursts of violence, mirroring Fujimoto's ambiguous, unpredictable writing, capable of letting tenderness and horror share the same scene. Technically, the film marks a further leap in quality over the television series, with more cinematic cinematography, color and score, alternating quiet moments with lightning-fast action sequences, particularly in the climactic confrontation involving devil hunter Kishibe. Critics have praised the film's ability to condense a gentle, romance-driven arc into feature-length form without sacrificing its romantic core, along with the animation quality, among the most polished MAPPA has produced for the franchise. Some reservations were raised over the handling of a few supporting characters, pushed to the background to make room for the two leads. Released in Japanese theaters on September 19, 2025 and arriving in North American theaters a few months later, where it topped the box office on its opening weekend, the film reached an audience far larger than its theatrical run alone, establishing itself as one of the year's most discussed and acclaimed titles, with a 96% score on Rotten Tomatoes certifying its near-unanimous praise from international critics.
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8votes
3
Hyakuemu.
Sports Drama - ROCK'N ROLL MOUNTAIN - 09/19/2025 - 13+ Two rival sprinters, one a natural talent and the other relentlessly driven, race each other for years over the 100 meters, in a story about the obsession with winning and the cost of talent.
Hyakuemu., internationally distributed by GKIDS, is the feature debut of studio ROCK'N ROLL MOUNTAIN and follows the years-long rivalry between Togashi, a naturally gifted sprinter since childhood, and Komiya, a classmate lacking the same athletic grace but driven by an almost obsessive determination. The film follows both leads from childhood into adulthood, weaving athletic growth together with personal growth, using the 100-meter dash as a metaphor for facing oneself more than the opponent. Its spare, highly rhythmic visual style favors movement and physical tension over dialogue, with race sequences international critics have called among the most effective ever produced in a sports animation film. The score quietly underscores key moments without ever overpowering the visuals. Screened at international festivals ahead of its Japanese release, Hyakuemu. met with an enthusiastic reception, with several outlets naming it one of the year's best anime surprises, one that speaks even to viewers who don't usually follow sports or Japanese animation.
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6votes
