But note that while most of them can be found on Netflix, they’re mostly only available in European markets. This list features the twenty best films of the Generation Y that you should definitely see. While these problems might seem banal compared to the annihilating monsters of earlier movies, this is the generation who carries the difficult task of finally shaking off the shadows of the war and finding a way to live on. Their greatest challenge is to find a way to cope with the problems of everyday lives: the loss of a father ( Wolf Children, A Letter to Momo), the uncertainties of teenage life and lack goals ( The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, 5 Centimeters Per Second), or the difficulties of finding one’s own identity ( Spirited Away, The Cat Returns). The children of these anime, the representatives of the Generation Y, appear to be fighting a different battle from that of their ancestors.

While some of the anime produced after the millennia appear to be a resumption of this topic ( Metropolis, The Wind Rises, Ghost in the Shell: Innocence), the bigger picture offers more hope than the movies of the ‘80s and the ‘90s. At the same time, the self-reflective topic of a hyper-technocratic society also emerged, setting the question whether the quick absorption of Western technology will lead to the birth of a new demon to finally demolish what once was the Land of the Rising Sun. The most remarkable pieces of the previous century, Akira, Ghost in the Shell, The Grave of the Fireflies, and Nausicaa from the Valley of the Winds were in one way or another, engaged with the nightmare of the Second World War, the shadow of which was overcast on Japan’s national identity, as well as the responsibility humanity played in the invention of weapons of mass destruction. However, after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan had to face the truth that there was a bigger power than its god-like emperor–the United States.

A country that during the Second World War believed in the irrefutable military power of the state and the myth of the “divine wind” –the self-sacrifice of the kamikaze pilots. These films offer an insight into the subconscious of Japanese society.

Japanese anime are often about children, but they are certainly not primarily for a young audience.

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