The 40 most popular 2000s japanese movies, ranked. Click any film for ratings, reviews, trailers, and where to watch.


Spirited Away
2001 · 2h 5m · JP
A young girl, Chihiro, becomes trapped in a strange new world of spirits. When her parents undergo a mysterious transformation, she must call upon the courage she never knew she had to free her family.


Howl's Moving Castle
2004 · 1h 59m · JP
Sophie, a young milliner, is turned into an elderly woman by a witch who enters her shop and curses her. She encounters a wizard named Howl and gets caught up in his resistance to fighting for the king.


Ponyo
2008 · 1h 40m · JP
When Sosuke, a young boy who lives on a clifftop overlooking the sea, rescues a stranded goldfish named Ponyo, he discovers more than he bargained for. Ponyo is a curious, energetic young creature who yearns to be human, but even as she causes chaos around the house, her father, a powerful sorcerer, schemes to return Ponyo to the sea.


The Cat Returns
2002 · 1h 15m · JP
Young Haru rescues a cat from being run over, but soon learns it's no ordinary feline; it happens to be the Prince of the Cats.


Zatoichi
2003 · 1h 56m · JP
Blind traveler Zatoichi is a master swordsman and a masseur with a fondness for gambling on dice games. When he arrives in a village torn apart by warring gangs, he sets out to protect the townspeople.


Nobody Knows
2004 · 2h 21m · JP
In a small Tokyo apartment, twelve-year-old Akira must care for his younger siblings after their mother leaves them and shows no sign of returning.


Paprika
2006 · 1h 30m · JP
Dr. Atsuko Chiba is a research psychologist who uses a device called the DC Mini to enter her patients' dreams, wherein she adopts the alter-ego "Paprika". When the device is stolen, she must stop rogue elements from merging the dream and waking worlds.


Tales from Earthsea
2006 · 1h 56m · JP
As crops dwindle and dragons reappear, mankind stands on the verge of total chaos. Lord Archmage Sparrowhawk, a powerful wizard, and Arren, a troubled young prince, search for the force behind this mysterious imbalance that threatens to destroy the land of Earthsea.


Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust
2001 · 1h 43m · JP
Legendary dhampir D competes with a motley family of bounty hunters to track down Charlotte Elbourne, a young woman seemingly abducted by undead nobleman Meier Link.


Battle Royale
2000 · 1h 54m · JP
In the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill each other under the revolutionary "Battle Royale" act.


Memoirs of a Geisha
2005 · 2h 26m · US
In the years before World War II, a penniless Japanese child is torn from her family to work as a maid in a geisha house.


Departures
2008 · 2h 10m · JP
Daigo, a cellist, is laid off from his orchestra and moves with his wife back to his small hometown where the living is cheaper. Thinking he’s applying for a job at a travel agency he finds he’s being interviewed for work with departures of a more permanent nature – as an undertaker’s assistant.


The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
2006 · 1h 38m · JP
When 17-year-old Makoto Konno gains the ability to 'leap' backwards through time, she immediately sets about improving her grades and preventing personal mishaps. However, she soon realises that changing the past isn't as simple as it seems, and eventually, will have to rely on her new powers to shape the future of herself and her friends.


Brother
2000 · 1h 53m · JP
A Japanese Yakuza gangster's deadly existence in his homeland gets him exiled to Los Angeles, where he is taken in by his little brother and his brother's gang.


All About Lily Chou-Chou
2001 · 2h 26m · JP
Charts the troubled teenage years of students Yūichi Hasumi and Shūsuke Hoshino, exploring the shifting and complex power dynamics of their relationship against the backdrop of Yūichi's love for the dreamy and abstract music of pop star Lily Chou-Chou.


Resident Evil: Degeneration
2008 · 1h 37m · JP
Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield must battle a rogue warrior seeking revenge after unleashing the deadly G-Virus, whilst a mutated monster goes on a rampage.


Doraemon: Nobita's New Great Adventure Into the Underworld - The Seven Magic Users
2007 · 1h 52m · JP
Nobita wishes the world into a magic-reliant one with Doraemon's Moshimo-Box, and, along with his friends, must stop an asteroid from hitting the planet with help from a sorcerer-in-training.


Ju-on: The Grudge
2002 · 1h 32m · JP
When a social worker is sent to check on a traumatized elderly woman whose family have moved in at the site of a notorious murder case, she unwittingly unleashes a cycle of terror that transmits via its victims.


The Twilight Samurai
2002 · 2h 9m · JP
Seibei Iguchi leads a difficult life as a low ranking samurai at the turn of the nineteenth century. A widower with a meager income, Seibei struggles to take care of his two daughters and senile mother. New prospects seem to open up when the beautiful Tomoe, a childhood friend, comes back into he and his daughters' life, but as the Japanese feudal system unravels, Seibei is still bound by the code of honor of the samurai and by his own sense of social precedence. How can he find a way to do what is best for those he loves?


5 Centimeters per Second
2007 · 1h 3m · JP
Three moments in Takaki's life: his relationship with Akari and their forced separation; his friendship with Kanae, who is secretly in love with him; the demands and disappointments of adulthood, an unhappy life in a cold city.


Audition
2000 · 1h 55m · JP
Seven years after the death of his wife, widower Shigeharu seeks advice on how to find a new wife from a colleague. Taking advantage of their position as a film company, they stage an audition. Interviewing a series of women, Shigeharu is enchanted by the quiet Asami. But soon things take a twisted turn as Asami isn’t what she seems to be.


Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
2004 · 1h 40m · JP
Cyborg detective Batou is assigned to investigate a series of murders committed by gynoids—doll-like cyborgs, which all malfunctioned, killed, then self-destructed afterwards. The brains of the gynoids initialize in order to protect their manufacturer's software, but in one gynoid, which Batou himself neutralized, one file remains: a voice speaking the phrase "Help me."


Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone
2007 · 1h 41m · JP
After the Second Impact, Tokyo-3 is being attacked by giant monsters called Angels that seek to eradicate humankind. The child Shinji’s objective is to fight the Angels by piloting one of the mysterious Evangelion mecha units. A remake of the first six episodes of GAINAX’s famous 1996 anime series. The film was retitled “Evangelion: 1.01” for its DVD release and “Evangelion: 1.11” for a release with additional scenes.


Summer Wars
2009 · 1h 54m · JP
Teenage math whiz Kenji Koiso agrees to take a summer job at the Nagano hometown of his crush, Natsuki. When he arrives, he finds that her family have reunited to celebrate the 90th birthday of their matriarch. His job: pretend to be Natsuki's fiancé. Meanwhile, his attempt to solve a mathematical equation causes a parallel world's collision with Earth.


Pulse
2001 · 1h 59m · JP
In the immense city of Tokyo, the darkness of the afterlife lures some of its inhabitants desperately trying to escape the sadness and isolation of the modern world.


Pokémon: Arceus and the Jewel of Life
2009 · 1h 35m · JP
When the creator of the world, Arceus, comes to pass judgement on humanity for the theft of the legendary Jewel of Life, Ash and his friends are sent back in time to possibly reverse the events that led to Arceus' vendetta.


Wasabi
2001 · 1h 34m · FR
Hubert is a French policeman with very sharp methods. After being forced to take 2 months off by his boss, who doesn't share his view on working methods, he goes back to Japan, where he used to work 19 years ago, to settle the probate of his girlfriend who left him shortly after marriage without a trace.


Death Note
2006 · 2h 6m · JP
Light Yagami finds the "Death Note," a notebook with the power to kill, and decides to create a Utopia by killing the world's criminals, and soon the world's greatest detective, "L," is hired to find the mysterious murderer. An all out battle between the two greatest minds on earth begins and the winner will control the world.


Cowboy Bebop: The Movie
2001 · 1h 55m · JP
The year is 2071. Following a terrorist bombing, a deadly virus is released on the populace of Mars and the government has issued the largest bounty in history, for the capture of whoever is behind it. The bounty hunter crew of the spaceship Bebop; Spike, Faye, Jet and Ed, take the case with hopes of cashing in the bounty. However, the mystery surrounding the man responsible, Vincent, goes deeper than they ever imagined, and they aren't the only ones hunting him.


Naruto the Movie: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow
2004 · 1h 22m · JP
Naruto is thrilled when he is sent on a mission to protect his favorite actress, Yukie Fujikaze, on the set of her new movie, The Adventures of Princess Gale. But when the crew ventures out to film in the icy, foreboding Land of Snow, Yukie mysteriously flees! Naruto and his squad set off to find her... unaware that three Snow Ninja lie in wait, with a sinister purpose that will force Yukie to face her hidden past!


Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa
2005 · 1h 45m · JP
Munich, Germany, 1923. Two years have passed since Edward Elric was dragged from his own world to ours, leaving behind his country, his friends and his younger brother, Alphonse. Stripped of his alchemical powers, he has been all this time researching rocketry together with Alphonse Heiderich, a young man who resembles his own brother, hoping to one day find a way back home. His efforts so far had proven fruitless, but after lending a hand to a troubled gipsy girl, Edward is thrown in a series of events that can wreak havoc in both worlds. Meanwhile, at his own world, Alphonse Elric ventures deeper into the mysteries of alchemy in search for a way to reunite with his older brother.


Naruto the Movie: Guardians of the Crescent Moon Kingdom
2006 · 1h 35m · JP
Naruto Uzumaki, Kakashi Hatake, Sakura Haruno, and Rock Lee are assigned to protect the prince of the Land of the Moon, Michiru, during his world trip; other escorts had been hired, but quit due to being treated poorly. The Land of the Moon is a very wealthy nation, so Michiru tends to buy whatever he wants, and has a very materialistic worldview. His Hikaru, also acts in much the same manner.


Tokyo Godfathers
2003 · 1h 32m · JP
On Christmas Eve, three homeless people living on the streets of Tokyo discover a newborn baby among the trash and set out to find its parents.


Naruto Shippuden the Movie: The Will of Fire
2009 · 1h 35m · JP
Ninjas with bloodline limits begin disappearing in all the countries and blame points toward the fire nation. By Tsunade's order, Kakashi is sacrificed to prevent an all out war. After inheriting charms left by Kakashi, Naruto fights through friends and foes to prevent his death while changing the minds of those who've inherited the will of fire.


Dark Water
2002 · 1h 41m · JP
A woman in the midst of an unpleasant divorce moves to an eerie apartment building with her young daughter. The ceiling of their apartment has a dark and active leak.


Metropolis
2001 · 1h 47m · JP
In the midst of societal conflict in the futuristic city of Metropolis, Kenichi and his uncle Shunsaku Ban set out to uncover the mystery behind the first human-like robot, Tima.


Black Belt
2007 · 1h 35m · JP
Set in 1932, amid the rise of militarism after the establishment of the Manchukuo colony in Northeast China, the story centers on a trio of karateka. Studying under their aging master in a small dojo in the woods of central Kyushu, Choei, Taikan and Giryu face a company of kempeitai military police come to requisition their dojo for use as a military base.


Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance
2009 · 1h 52m · JP
Under constant attack by monstrous creatures called Angels that seek to eradicate humankind, U.N. Special Agency NERV introduces two new EVA pilots to help defend the city of Tokyo-3: the mysterious Makinami Mari Illustrous and the intense Asuka Langley Shikinami. Meanwhile, Gendo Ikari and SEELE proceed with a secret project that involves both Rei and Shinji.


Godzilla: Final Wars
2004 · 2h 5m · JP
Humanity finally rids themselves of Godzilla, imprisoning him in an icy tomb in the South Pole. All is peaceful until various monsters emerge to lay waste to Earth's cities. Overwhelmed, humanity is seemingly saved by a race of benevolent aliens known as Xiliens. But not all is what it seems with these bizarre visitors. If humanity wishes to survive, they must reluctantly resurrect their most hated enemy, Godzilla.


Detective Conan: The Phantom of Baker Street
2002 · 1h 47m · JP
Noah's Ark, the latest innovation in VR technology, is set for a showcase to Japan's privileged children. However, their carefree fun is cut short when a company employee is found murdered, with his dying message pointing to a clue hidden within the Ark. Along with the Detective Boys and Ran Mouri, Conan Edogawa enters Noah's Ark to solve this mystery and ensure the perpetrator is caught.
The 2000s ran on digital transition: DV cameras democratized production while CGI reached the point of photorealism. It's also when the fantasy epic and the modern superhero film established their commercial dominance.
Japanese cinema gave the world Kurosawa's samurai epics, Ozu's domestic dramas, Godzilla and the kaiju film, and the J-horror wave that Hollywood spent the 2000s remaking. It also sustains the most developed animation industry on earth.