Over the past few years, Makoto Shinkai has easily become one of the most recognizable names in anime. All three of his most recent films —Your Name, Weathering With You, and Suzume — have become some of the most critically and financially successful anime films of all time, and that’s given Shinkai a reputation for being one of the best anime directors of the past decade.
Much of Makoto Shinkai’s success can be attributed to his distinctive style. In addition to his films always having great art and music, Makoto Shinkai, both before and after becoming a household name, has defined himself through stories that focus on love and the intensity of the human condition being focused through the filter of the supernatural, resulting in movies that are equal parts tragic and heartwarming from start to finish.
There’s a lot to love about Shinkai’s works, and for anyone who’s a fan of his, there are plenty of great anime to watch that fill the same niche.
10 She And Her Cat Is a Wonderful Look At Shinkai’s Early Work
Based on the animated short film by Makoto Shinkai
One of the best anime for Makoto Shinkai fans to watch is, naturally, She and Her Cat: Everything Flows. The series was an adaption of one of Shinkai’s earliest short films of the same name, and sure enough, She and Her Cat: Everything Flows does a great job of capturing the bittersweet tendencies of Makoto Shinkai’s work with great visuals and originality. The success of the original short film was what jumpstarted Shinkai’s career as a director, and Everything Flows does a great job of showing how that came about.
Watch On Crunchyroll
9 When Marnie Was There Perfectly Handles Studio Ghibli’s Storytelling
Based on the novel by Joan G. Robinson
Studio Ghibli is known for their emotional and dramatic works, and one film that’s perfect for Makoto Shinkai fans is When Marnie Was There. While it’s one of Studio Ghibli’s more underrated films, When Marnie Was There excels at human drama through its exploration of its protagonist’s lack of self-worth and how she gradually learns to open up thanks to her relationship with Marnie, all of which is conveyed through the very creative use of magical realist themes. There’s a lot of overlap with Makoto Shinkai’s style of storytelling, so any fans of his are sure to enjoy its supernatural themes and deeply emotional story.
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8 Kanon’s Handling Of Romance Makes It a True Classic
Based on the visual novel by Key
Kyoto Animation is another studio famous for their emotional works, and a great show of theirs for Makoto Shinkai fans is the 2006 adaptation of Kanon. The second adaptation of the Key visual novel of the same name, Kanon does an excellent job of streamlining the branching stories of the original visual novel into a singular narrative, resulting in a dramatic love story with supernatural elements and an excellent handling of its characters and their various relationships. That sort of writing is perfectly in line with Makoto Shinkai’s work.
Watch On Crunchyroll
7 Clannad Deserves All The Recognition It Receives
Based on the visual novel by Key
Another Kyoto Animation series, and another Key visual novel adaptation, that’s perfect for Makoto Shinkai fans is Clannad. Clannad covers a lot of the same ground as its most immediate contemporary, Kanon, so Clannad is another story that mixes excellent romance and drama with supernatural elements, and with its great visuals, masterful streamlining of the original story, and surprisingly mature writing, it’s one of the best romance anime a person can watch. Clannad has a lot going on for it on both a visual and technical level, and just like Kanon, it’s perfect for any fans of Makoto Shinkai’s work.
Watch On HIDIVE
6 Violet Evergarden’s Melancholic World Makes It Perfect For Makoto Shinkai Fans
Based on the light novels by Kana Akatsuki
A third Kyoto Animation series that’s perfect for Makoto Shinkai fans is one of their most recent hits, Violet Evergarden. While more grounded than Shinkai’s works, Violet Evergarden excels at drama and its constant exploration into the humanity of Violet and the people she interacts with, and with some of the best art and animation of Kyoto Animation accompanying the story, it’s easily one of Kyoto Animation’s best works to date. That combination of character writing and stellar animation is highly reminiscent of Makoto Shinkai’s style, so any fans of his are sure to get a lot out of it.
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5 Anohana Remains A Must-See Drama Over A Decade Later
Original story written by Tatsuyuki Nagai & Mari Okada
Mari Okada is another director famous for bittersweet character dramas, and an anime of hers that’s perfect for Makoto Shinkai fans is Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day. Like many of Mari Okada’s works, Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day is a wonderfully bittersweet story of tragic people struggling with loss and finding themselves, all of which is beautifully complemented by truly stellar animation and music. Anohana‘s excellent execution of its bittersweet story made it one of the best anime to come out of the 2010s, and it perfectly goes hand-in-hand with the best of Makoto Shinkai’s library.
Watch On Crunchyroll
4 Maquia Is The Perfect Exploration Of Family & Loss
Original story written by Mari Okada
Another Mari Okada project that’s perfect for Makoto Shinkai fans is the anime film Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms. Much like Makoto Shinkai’s works, Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms is a wonderful fantasy story wrapped around an exploration of human drama, in this case, family and loss, and it’s accompanied by animation, music, and overall direction that always sells the emotional beats of the film to an incredible degree. Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms easily stands out as one of Mari Okada’s best original works, and it stands as a perfect complement to Makoto Shinkai’s best work.
Watch On Crunchyroll
3 Ride Your Wave Strikes A Perfect Balance Between Tragedy & Surrealism
Original story by Masaaki Yuasa & Reiko Yoshida
Another great film for Makoto Shinkai fans based on its exploration into loss is Masaaki Yuasa’s Ride Your Wave. As with many of Yuasa’s and Science Saru’s works, Ride Your Wave is an incredibly surrealist story with unique art and animation to match, and not only are said visuals always great to look at, but they always perfectly accompany the movie’s thoughtful exploration into love and how people move on from loss. While not one of Masaaki Yuasa’s more famous works, Ride Your Wave still has a great deal of charm, and it’s perfect for any diehard Makoto Shinkai fan.
Watch On Max
2 Belle’s Animation & Writing Make It One Of Mamoru Hosoda’s Best Films
Original Story By Mamoru Hosoda
Mamoru Hosoda is another director who’s been earning a lot of praise over the years, and a film of his that’s perfect for Makoto Shinkai fans is his latest work, Belle. With gorgeous art and animation in both 2D and 3D balanced by a wonderful story about coping with loss and learning to find value in yourself, Belle was quick to become one of Mamoru Hosoda’s best films and one of the best anime films of recent years. It’s a wonderfully touching story, and anyone who’s a fan of Makoto Shinkai is sure to enjoy every moment.
Watch On Max
1 The Girl Who Leapt Through Time Is Teenage Drama At Its Finest
Based on the original novel by Yasutaka Tsutsui
The last great anime for Makoto Shinkai fans to watch is another Mamoru Hosoda film titled The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. With Mamoru Hosoda’s always stellar art and direction perfectly enhancing a touchingly bittersweet story of first love mixed with time travel themes, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time excels at drama and the fantastical to a greater degree than even some of his later works. All of that makes for a film with heart and charm that easily matches Makoto Shinkai’s works, and that, in turn, makes it one of the best anime for Makoto Shinkai fans to watch.
Watch On Crunchyroll
