The anime community was blessed by some of the Best Sequels, New Adaptations, and Original Anime of recent years in 2021. Not only did we get some truly extraordinary anime series but we also got some of the Best Anime Movies of recent times last year.
With the likes of Attack on Titan dominating the television landscape and Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba: Mugen Train breaking Box Office records domestically and globally, Anime reached new heights of popularity last year.
2021 was truly the year when it felt like every anime fan had more than enough shows going for themselves despite their varying tastes. And in the midst of all that, either all of our favourite anime titles hit the big screens or got a movie announcement that is in the works for the upcoming year.
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The Quintessential Quintuplets will be concluding its story with a movie that is scheduled to be out in May 2022 in Japan, while That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime will be continuing its story on one that is going to be released in Fall 2022.
Black Clover will also be coming out of hiatus with an anime film this year, while beloved Shonen Jump title, One Piece, will be getting a movie centred around Shanks. There is so much to look forward to for this year, and there was so much to relish from the last one when it comes to Anime on the big screens.
Jujutsu Kaisen Movie 0 Among the Best Anime Movies of All-Time in the Domestic Box Office.
2021 was the year when the world got to experience the final film from the Evangelion Rebuild series, which was eight years in the making. The movie was a massive success in the box office and among the critics, as you’d expect from the Eva franchise and is also probably on everyone’s list for the Best Anime Movies of 2021.
Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time is currently the highest-grossing film in Japan for 2021, making over 10.28 Billion Yen in the Japanese Box Office.
Meanwhile, after five weeks in the domestic box office, Jujutsu Kaisen 0 Movie, has moved to Second position and could overtake the Shin Evangelion movie as early as next week. The film has already grossed 9.6 Billion Yen in the Japanese Box Office and has sold over 6.8 million tickets.
The film is a prequel to the Jujutsu Kaisen anime series and is based on Volume 0 of the manga by Gege Akutami that follows Yuuta Okkotsu in his first year at Jujutsu Tech.
At the same period of time, Evangelion: 3.0+1.0: Thrice Upon A Time had sold 4,513,374 tickets for 6,898,613,200 yen.
Jujutsu Kaisen 0 has also entered the Top 50 for Best-Performing Anime Movies of All Time in the Japanese Box Office.
Meanwhile, Detective Conan still remains as popular as ever. The latest movie in the franchise, Detective Conan: The Scarlet Bullet, made over 7.6 Billion Yen in the domestic box office and was the third biggest blockbuster of 2021 in Japan. Detective Conan also took the 10th spot in the list, with The Scarlet Bullet’s predecessor, The Scarlet Alibi making over 1.24 Billion Yen in the box office.
Belle, which has also been nominated for Best Anime Movie of 2021 alongside Evangelion: 3.0+1.0: Thrice Upon A Time in the Crunchyroll Anime Awards 2022, is the fourth highest-grossing Anime Movie in the Japanese Box Office for 2021 and is the first anime film on the list that doesn’t have a television anime adaptation. The fantasy film comes from Studio Chizu and acclaimed director, Mamoru Hosoda, who also brought us 2012’s Wolf Children.
The movie which made over 6.6 Billion Yen in the Japanese Box Office has been praised by many as one of the Best Anime Movies of recent times.
Both Jujutsu Kaisen as well as Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time are also set to compete for the coveted Anime of the Year Award alongside Belle on this year’s Japanese Academy Awards. You can watch the trailer for Belle below.
My Hero Academia is 5th on the list with its recent film instalment, World Heroes Mission. Unlike Jujutsu Kaisen and Evangelion though, World Heroes Mission doesn’t exactly tie in with the events of the anime series and exists as its own thing. The film has made over 3.3 Billion Yen at the domestic box office and has also made over $12 Million (1.4 Billion Yen) in the United States.
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The final Gintama movie, which is quite literally titled Gintama: The Final, is seventh on the list, making over 1.87 Billion Yen in the Japanese Box Office. And the latest entry in the Sword Art Online franchise, Sword Art Online The Movie: Progressive – Aria of a Starless Night, took the 9th spot grossing over 1.43 Billion Yen domestically. The movie was also released in the United States and Canada alongside other western countries earlier in December and made over $2.1 million (240,000,000 Yen) outside of Japan.
Free! The Final Stroke: Part 1 also made it to the Top 15, making over 540,000,000 Yen at the domestic box office. The movie doesn’t have a US release date as of yet. But the second and final part of the film is scheduled to come out this Spring in Japan.
You can see the full list below.
Top 15 Highest-Grossing Anime Movies of 2021:
- Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time; ¥10,280,000,000
- Jujutsu Kaisen 0; ¥9,604,000,000
- Detective Conan: The Scarlet Bullet; ¥7,650,000,000
- Belle; ¥6,600,000,000
- My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission; ¥3,390,000,000
- Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway; ¥2,200,000,000
- Gintama: The Final; ¥1,870,000,000
- Crayon Shin-chan: Shrouded in Mystery! The Flowers of Tenkazu Academy; ¥1,770,000,000
- Sword Art Online The Movie: Progressive – Aria of a Starless Night; ¥1,432,000,000
- Detective Conan: The Scarlet Alibi; ¥1,240,000,000
- Tropical Rouge Pretty Cure The Movie: Snow Princess And Miracle Ring!; 560,000,000
- Free! The Final Stroke: Part 1; 540,000,000
- Girls und Panzer: The Final Chapter Part 3; 470,000,000
- Healin’ Good Pretty Cure: GoGo! Big Transformation! The Town of Dreams!!; 400,000,000
- Ryouma! The Prince of Tennis; 400,000,000.
Source: Pixiin.
READ MORE: Top 20 Most-Watched Anime of 2021 in Japan, Demon Slayer Ranks First
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How many of these movies have you already seen and what do you think are some of the Best Anime Movies of 2021? Comment below and let us know your picks for Best Anime Movies of the past year.