Animated movies have been some of the most successful and critically lauded films this year, and that fact is even more official now that the Oscars announced its list of films eligible to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Right off the bat, among the many nominations are multiple anime and anime-inspired films.
The list, shown in its entirety below, lists global smash KPop Demon Hunters along with modern classic anime movies Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle and Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc, and even Hatsune Miku mobile game tie-in film Colorful Stage! The Movie: A Miku Who Can’t Sing. Other anime films on the list include ChaO and The Legend of Hei 2.
- All Operators Are Currently Unavailable
- Arco
- The Bad Guys 2
- Black Butterflies
- Boys Go to Jupiter
- Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc
- ChaO
- Colorful Stage! The Movie: A Miku Who Can’t Sing
- David
- Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle
- Dog Man
- Dog of God
- Dragon Heart – Adventures Beyond This World
- Elio
- Endless Cookie
- Fixed
- Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie
- In Your Dreams
- KPop Demon Hunters
- The Legend of Hei 2
- Light of the World
- Little Amélie or the Character of Rain
- Lost in Starlight
- A Magnificent Life
- Mahavatar Narsimha
- Night of the Zoopocalypse
- Olivia & las Nubes
- 100 Meters
- Out of the Nest
- Scarlet
- Slide
- The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants
- Stitch Head
- The Twits
- Zootopia 2
If you ask me, Chainsaw Man definitely deserves a nomination. It somehow manages to be both brutally emotionally resonant through its abject weirdness, and the animation, especially in the last half, is absolutely stunning.
Oscar nominations are expected to be announced in January ahead of March’s ceremony. For more, check out our picks for the 25 best anime shows to watch in 2025.
