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Most expensive anime movies are a very interesting topic because it shows the level of belief that a studio or a company has in their project. Animation is something that requires a lot of investment and considering how expensive a film can be is a good way to gauge how much to bet on said project. While it doesn't guarantee quality, it says a lot about how that project was perceived.
On that front, here is a roundup of the five most expensive anime movies ever made along with an overview of their plot, ranked on the basis of the money that was poured into them.
Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for all anime mentioned.
Space Pirate Captain Harlock and four other most expensive anime movies ever made
5) From Up on Poppy Hill ($29,000,000)
Studio Ghibli is very known to even those who don't like anime as a whole, so it's no surprise that some of their films are featured here. After all, this is a studio that works heavily on animation, which is something that has played a big role in their success over the years.
Released in 2011, From Up on Poppy Hill is set in Japan in 1964, and it tells the story of two students that are trying to maintain hope as they keep a very important building from being destroyed for the Olympics. The story is heartfelt, tender, and shows the value of community and union when it comes to human interactions.
With a budget of $29,000,000, From Up on Poppy Hill is the fifth most expensive anime movie ever made.
4) The Wind Rises ($31,000,000)
For a long time, 2013's The Wind Rises was the last film directed by Hayao Miyazaki, famed director and co-founder of Studio Ghibli. And even though he is soon to release a new film this month, titled How Do You Live?, The Wind Rises still holds a special place among the director's finest movies.
It is set in the early 1900s, in the Taisho Era of Japan and tells the story of a young man who dreams of designing a plane that could fly as high and as fast as the wind. The Wind Rises explores the value of dreams and the importance of pursuing your goals while retaining a very realistic and hopeful feel, which has become a defining trait of Studio Ghibli.
In terms of the money invested, the film counted with an investment of $31,000,000, so there was a lot of belief in what Miyazaki could do in what was presumably his final movie at the time.
3) Space Pirate Captain Harlock ($31,000,000)
It is true that The Wind Rises and Space Pirate Captain Harlock both share the same amount of money spent, but the third place goes to the latter simply because of the time it was created. It was made in 1978, and anime was very different at the time, so making a film of this ilk with such a huge investment was groundbreaking.
Captain Harlock has been exiled from planet Earth and has rejected their lifeless way, looking for freedom and adventure. Of course, this leads to him and his crew dealing with the world's government and other threats, thereby kick starting his journey, which forms the core of this story.
The film and the anime adaptation have become cult classics, so it's no surprise that a lot of modern authors have mentioned this movie as one that has had a huge impact on them. Sitting as the third most expensive anime movies ever made, Space Pirate Captain Harlock deserves a lot more attention than what it gets.
2) Stand by Me Doraemon ($35,000,000)
Doraemon is one of Japan's national treasures, so it's no surprise that the 2014 film, Stand By Me Doraemon, is one of the most expensive anime movies ever made, ranking in second place on this list with a $35,000,000 budget.
Nobita is a young boy who fails at everything he does. This causes him to adopt a lackluster outlook on life, but everything changes when he is visited by a robot cat called Doraemon from the 22nd century, who reveals to him that his descendants have struggled with a debt he accumulated during his lifetime. Now Nobita wants to change things with Doraemon's help.
A very tender movie with a very positive message, Stand By Me Doraemon was such a hit that it even helped improve the political relationships between China and Japan!
1) The Tale of Princess Kaguya ($53,400,000)
The Tale of Princess Kaguya by Studio Ghibli is not only the first among the most expensive anime movies ever made, but also by a wide margin, thanks to its whopping budget of $53,400,000.
The story begins when a couple of old country people find a small girl living in a bamboo shoot. They decide to adopt her, call her Kaguya, and call her princess because of her beauty. As she grows older, Kaguya goes through a lot of positive and negative experiences and the film explores how she deals with a lot of those things.
Inspired by the myth of Princess Kaguya, the film has become a modern classic of the anime industry and it was much celebrated by the critics at the time of its release, making it one of Studio Ghibli's crowning achievements.
Fans all over the world are familiar with Studio Ghibli's distinct style of storytelling and animation, which consists of depicting a simple lifestyle and the healing aspect of nature regardless of the genre. However, director Isao Takahata's experimental approach in The Tale of Princess Kaguya, employing a hand-drawn, minimalist, watercolor-inspired art style that deviates from the usual realism, comes as a welcomed change and an ideal fit for retelling this ancient Japanese mythology.
Final thoughts
The most expensive anime movies don't always mean that they are going to be the best in the industry, but these five films have proven over the years that they can live up to the hype. This is rather uncommon in a lot of different mediums but is also a testament to how much the studios in charge worked for the films' success.
