Of all the various animation techniques for anime, CG stands as the most infamous. While Western animation has made great strides in CG animation over the years, anime has a reputation for always having shoddy and all-around ugly CG animation, especially when an anime is rendered entirely in CG, and even a famous studio like Studio Ghibli couldn’t make CG work in the widely contested Earwig and the Witch.
Overall, CG anime deserves the poor reputation it’s gained from fans and critics alike, but there are some notable exceptions to be had. Despite the common criticisms of ugly and poorly executed visuals, many CG anime have used 3D animation to create inventive and all-around gorgeous visuals,
and even when the 3D animation ends up falling short, the stellar writing can still sometimes make up for it. It’s unlikely that the bad reputation of CG anime will go away anytime soon, but at the very least, some anime do a great job of showing that the style can be good.
10 Digital Monster X-Evolution More Than Earns Its Place In The Franchise
Anime film by Toei Animation & Imagi Animation Studios
The first great 3D CG anime to watch is 2005’s Digital Monster X-Evolution. To deal with the overpopulation of the Digital World, Yggdrasil, the God of the Digital World, created the X-Virus to exterminate the vast majority of Digimon, but some survived and were permanently transformed by their new X-Antibodies. The new X-Digimon soon find themselves at war with Yggdrasil and regular Digimon for their continued existence, with the seemingly irrelevant Dorumon caught in the crossfire, all the while.
With clunky visuals and incredibly basic animation, Digital Monster X-Evolution falls short not only of the more mainstream Digimon anime, but a good variety of 3D CG anime, which makes it hard to rate it that highly. However, Digital Monster X-Evolution’s story more than makes up for its lackluster visuals, as the themes of war and prejudice, coupled with the engaging character writing from start to finish, make for one of the most unique and satisfying stories in all of Digimon. There are no other Digimon stories like Digital Monster X-Evolution, and that fact stands in the best of ways.
9 One Piece 3D: Straw Hat Chase Perfectly Captures The Essence Of The Anime
Anime film by Toei Animation; Based on the manga by Eiichiro Oda
For a 3D CG anime film with visuals that do live up to its story, a great one to watch is 2011’s One Piece 3D: Straw Hat Chase. Like other One Piece films, One Piece 3D: Straw Hat Chase is an episodic story centered around the Straw Hat Pirates on another adventure. In this case, the Straw Hats end up chasing after a giant eagle who stole Luffy’s straw hat, and their pursuit leads to them getting involved with an elderly pirate and a local Marine base.
Very surprisingly, One Piece 3D: Straw Hat Chase is one of One Piece’s better movies. In addition to having a story that does a great job of capturing the goofy and heartwarming nature of One Piece, One Piece 3D: Straw Hat Chase has great CG animation that perfectly captures the chaotic nature of the One Piece franchise, all of which is further enhanced by the great camerawork exhibited in the film from start to finish. Overall, even with its short 30-minute runtime, One Piece 3D: Straw Hat Chase does a great job of showing how great CG anime can be.
8 Expelled From Paradise Proved How Versatile Gen Urobuchi Is
Anime film by Toei Animation & Graphinica
Gen Urobuchi is one of the biggest names in modern anime, and a great anime of his that’s also a 3D CG film is 2014’s Expelled from Paradise. In a dystopian future where most of humanity has uploaded their consciousness into the digital server DEVA, a mysterious hacker named Frontier Setter has been repeatedly disrupting DEVA’s servers for unknown reasons. DEVA agent Angela Balzac travels to Earth to track Frontier Setter down with help from a man named Dingo, and the quest leads to far more than Angela could have ever imagined.
From a technical standpoint, Expelled from Paradise is a great film to watch, as not only does the 3D CG animation look consistently good, but the creative camerawork and overall direction always make for gorgeous and exciting shots. Not only that, but Expelled from Paradise’s story has an engaging take on humanity with great character writing for the principal cast, and the fact that it didn’t end on a dark note like Gen Urobuchi’s other works enhanced that even further. Overall, between the great writing and how well it utilizes its animation, there’s plenty to love about Expelled from Paradise.
Underrated CG Anime Film To Receive Official Sequel
Expelled from Paradise is an underrated CG anime film from 2014, and a decade following its release, it’s set to receive an official sequel.
7 Dorohedoro Is Chaotic Entertainment With Surprisingly Good Visuals
Anime series by Studio MAPPA; Based on the manga by Q Hayashida
For a regular anime series that makes for a good 3D CG anime, a perfect series to watch is 2020’s Dorohedoro. Dorohedoro takes place in a world where humans are constantly abused by powerful sorcerers for sport. The protagonist, a lizard-headed man named Caiman, can’t remember anything about his past, but since only a sorcerer could be responsible for his appearance, he spends his days hunting down sorcerers in the hopes of finding the one who cursed him and regaining his appearance and memories.
Studio MAPPA is famous for its fluid and stylistic animation, and Dorohedoro is no different in that regard. Every episode of Dorohedoro has beautifully chaotic and overall good CG animation from start to finish, and not only is that great to see, but it perfectly complements the great writing of the story that combines twisted, black comedy with genuine heart and overall competence. There are very few CG anime like Dorohedoro, and with Dorohedoro season 2 finally in production, that’s bound to be taken even further.
Watch On Netflix
6 Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Is Far Better Than Its Reputation Suggests
Anime film by Square Enix Studio Image Division; Based on the video game by Yoshinori Kitase
Final Fantasy VII is the most iconic entry in the Final Fantasy franchise, and a great 3D CG anime to come out of it is 2005’s Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. Two years following Final Fantasy VII, Cloud is struggling to move on from the events of the game, most notably Aerith’s death, and things only get worse for Cloud when he contracts a fatal illness from the Lifestream called Geostigma. Further compounding things is the appearance of three men resembling Sephiroth, and Cloud will have to overcome his trauma one last time to protect his friends and the world.
Final Fantasy games are known for their cinematic cutscenes, and Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is two hours of that with plenty of visual spectacle. Not only that, but said animation is brilliantly complemented by a story that does a great job of building off of Final Fantasy VII’s ending, and seeing everyone’s character arcs fully come to a close makes for a great conclusion to the original story. Advent Children has a bad reputation for how it handles the original cast, but its writing more than holds up, and with its stellar animation, the film is plenty worth watching.
Rent on Youtube
Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children
A cinematic sequel to the original PlayStation classic Final Fantasy 7, Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children takes place two years after the game’s events after the meteor spell cast by Sephiroth lands on earth with humanity starting to rebuild and carry on. A mysterious disease has begun to affect Cloud and several children throughout Midgar, known as Geostigma. However, when a group of mysterious men resembling Cloud’s former foe begins kidnapping these children, he and his allies must return to battle and discover the truth behind the new threat.
- Director
- Tetsuya Nomura
- Release Date
- September 14, 2022
- Studio(s)
- Visual Works
- Distributor(s)
- Square Enix Holdings
- Writers
- Kazushige Nojima
- Cast
- Steve Burton , Rachael Leigh Cook , Steve Staley , Wally Wingert , Quinton Flynn , Crispin Freeman , Dave Wittenberg , Fred Tatasciore , Steve Blum , Mena Suvari , George Newbern
- Runtime
- 101 minutes
- Franchise(s)
- Final Fantasy , Final Fantasy 7
5 Land Of The Lustrous Proved That CG Anime Could Actually Look Good
Anime series by Studio Orange; Based on the manga by Haruko Ichikawa
One of the most notable 3D CG anime to be made, and one of the best, is undoubtedly 2017’s Land of the Lustrous. In a post-apocalyptic Earth, humanity has gone extinct, and the planet’s sole inhabitants are the titular Lustrous, a group of nonbinary beings made from gemstones. The Lustrous constantly do battle with the Lunarians, an alien race that wishes to make decorations out of their bodies, and while series protagonist Phos is deemed too weak for battle, they find value in their new assignment of creating a natural history encyclopedia alongside fellow outcast and poisonous Lustrous Cinnabar.
In 2017, anime had done very little to shake its bad reputation with CG animation, but that all changed with Land of the Lustrous. The manga’s gorgeous artwork is perfectly brought to life in stunning 3D, and with how Land of the Lustrous consistently has incredibly fluid and inventive animation and direction, the enchanting art style can be expressed with even more life than normal. Land of the Lustrous was hardly the first CG anime, but no other anime before it could express its story with such beautiful visuals, and very few anime since have been able to match it.
Watch On Prime Video
4 Beastars Showed That Studio Orange Was The King Of CG Anime
Anime series by Studio Orange; Based on the manga by Paru Itagaki
Land of the Lustrous made Studio Orange famous for its great handling of CG animation, and that remained true for their next anime, 2019’s Beastars. In a world of anthropomorphic animals, Legoshi the gray wolf and his classmates are shaken by the sudden cannibalization of a herbivore, something that’s not supposed to happen in their modern society. While Legoshi initially has nothing to do with the murder, he still finds himself affected by it as the events force him to reevaluate who he is as a person and, most of all, what he wants out of his relationships with others.
Even with how relatively old the anime and manga are, there are very few stories like Beastars. The story’s narratives of existentialism and a coming-of-age story are always conveyed in a thought-provoking manner, especially when put through the lens of the animal world, and with stunning 3D art and animationthat’s just as sophisticated as Beastars’ writing, every episode is a sight to behold from start to finish. Beastars’ final season is set to premiere sometime in 2024, and with any luck, it will be the perfect sendoff to such a legendary series.
Watch On Netflix
3 Trigun Stampede More Than Lives Up To The Legacy Of The Original Anime
Anime series by Studio Orange; Based on the manga by Yasuhiro Nightow
Another Studio Orange production that serves as a great 3D CG anime is their latest series, 2023’s Trigun Stampede. The series serves as both a prequel and a reimagining of the original Trigun series, as while it deviates from the canon of the manga and 1998 anime in a variety of ways, it primarily exists to tell the story of how Vash became the man he’s known as being in his original debut.
With how beloved the original Trigun is, there was a lot of pressure on Trigun Stampede to succeed, and it did exactly that. Not only does the story excellently flesh out the world of Trigun, but Trigun Stampede’s art and animation are some of the best in recent anime, 3D or otherwise, with the characters and backgrounds always looking gorgeous and expressive and the fight scenes having an unbelievable level of cinematography. Trigun Stampede is nothing but a worthy successor to the original anime, and that fact is bound to become even more apparent whenever it returns.
Watch On Crunchyroll
Trigun Stampede
Based on the original work by Yasuhiro Nightow, Trigun Stampede is a new imagining of the classic Trigun anime/manga series now being done by Studio Orange. Set on a planet called “No Man’s Land,” Humanity struggles to survive in an American wasteland-styled world with harsh conditions and even harsher people. One man, Vash the Stampede, A.K.A. the Human Typhoon, brings accidental ruin wherever he goes due to the massive bounty on his head. What people learn, however, is that this so-called dangerous man is an exceptionally skilled gunfighter who refuses to take lives. In Stampede, Vash travels the land searching for his violent twin brother, Millions Knives.
- Cast
- Yoshitsugu Matsuoka , Maaya Sakamoto , Tomoyo Kurosawa , Yumiri Hanamori , Junya Ikeda , Yoshimasa Hosoya
- Release Date
- January 7, 2023
- Seasons
- 1
2 Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero Makes Perfect Use Of Its Animation Style
Anime film by Toei Animation; Based on the manga by Akira Toriyama
While Dragon Ball typically sticks to 2D animation, a great 3D project to come out of the franchise was 2022’s Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero. A sequel to 2018’s Dragon Ball Super: Broly, Super Hero saw Goku and Vegeta pushed into the background while Gohan and Piccolo dealt with the sudden revival of the Red Ribbon Army. Naturally, the Red Ribbon Army returned with some of the most powerful enemies to appear in Dragon Ball yet, and dealing with them forced Gohan and Piccolo, but especially Gohan, to tap into new power they weren’t even aware they had.
Despite some initial criticisms of the change in animation, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero is an all-around great film to watch. In addition to its lighter, character-driven story being a welcome change of pace, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero’s CG animation makes for some of the greatest visuals in the entire Dragon Ball franchise, with every fight scene having amazing animation and overall cinematography that probably couldn’t be replicated in 2D. It’s unknown if any future Dragon Ball properties will be like this, but overall, the film perfectly shows off just how far the franchise can go with its animation.
Watch On Crunchyroll
Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero
*Availability in US
- stream
- rent
- buy
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Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero is the first 3D-animated movie in the Dragon Ball franchise. It takes a break from Goku and Vegeta’s story to focus on Gohan and Piccolo, who gain new transformations as they face an upgraded version of the Red Ribbon army led by Dr. Gero’s grandson, Dr. Hedo. Although it doesn’t bring up many connections to the main anime or previous movies, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero is set after the events of Dragon Ball Super: Broly.
- Director
- Tetsuro Kodama
- Release Date
- August 18, 2022
- Writers
- Akira Toriyama
- Cast
- Mayumi Tanaka , Christopher R. Sabat , Hiroshi Kamiya , Mamoru Miyano , Yûko Minaguchi , Kyle Hebert , Ryô Horikawa , Bin Shimada , Toshio Furukawa , Kara Edwards , Zach Aguilar , Aya Hisakawa , Sean Schemmel , Masako Nozawa , Miyu Irino
- Runtime
- 99 minutes
- prequel(s)
- Dragon Ball Super: Broly
- Budget
- 36 million
1 Lupin III: The First’s CG Is The Most Gorgeous CG Of Any Anime
Anime film by Marza Animation Planet & TMS Entertainment; Based on the manga by Monkey Punch
The last great 3D CG anime to discuss, and quite possibly the best, is 2019’s Lupin III: The First. The film is another entry into the Lupin the Third franchise and another story of Lupin and his friends taking on a big heist, the prize this time being a legendary treasure that Lupin’s famed grandfather failed to steal. In classic Lupin fashion, of course, things wildly escalate out of control, and in this case, in particular, said escalation involves a conflict with the Nazis trying to revive the Third Reich and possibly bring an end to the world.
There’s very little not to love about Lupin III: The First. In addition to a story that perfectly balances the goofiness and occasional heart of Lupin the Third, Lupin III: The First has 3D art and animation that’s easily comparable to Disney and Pixar; not only is every scene gorgeous to look at, but the film always does a great job of translating the cartoonish nature of the story into 3D with consistently fluid animation and incredible camerawork and direction. Lupin III: The First is a true marvel of animation, and it easily stands as the best 3D CG anime.
Watch On Hulu
