Highest-grossing anime movies of all time

Anime films have proven to be box-office blockbusters more than ever before, and giants in the industry such as Demon Slayer, Ghibli, and Makoto Shinkai are paving the path. The world has responded to emotional storytelling, compelling animation, and adherence to franchise with outlandish box office receipts.

Even the average anime film that finally cracks the international highest-grossing anime in excess of $200 million nowadays, a level that demonstrates the medium has found a way not only to appeal to niche fandom but to the mass market as well. In fact, new films like Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle are already demonstrating the potential to beat decades-old records on a real-time basis already.

In the last several decades, anime movies have gone through the process of changing their statuses since they used to be releases and became a box office giant. These films are now competing worldwide against cinematic behemoths in terms of revenue and critical success.

The perfect combination of artistic guidance, emotional intensity, and the fact that most anime follow universal themes have allowed the anime cinema to open itself up to the rest of the world. These are no longer perceived by audiences to be mere animated tales but strong narratives that bear deep-rooted cultural imprints. The highest-grossing anime films show that anime has now become a strong, permanent aspect of the world pop culture.

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Highest-grossing anime movies

10. Jujutsu Kaisen 0 (US $196.3M)

One of the hits, this movie is a kind of prequel to the series; it tells about the trouble Yuta Okkotsu has due to the curse of Rika. It made approximately 2.694 billion yen (23.5M USD) during its opening weekend in Japan and eventually grossed more than 26.5 billion yen (195.9M USD) globally. It is now the sixth highest-grossing anime series movie in the world and has demonstrated that the adaptation capability at MAPPA is as good as any studio that has worked on anime throughout the history of this industry.

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9. Ponyo (US $204.8M)

Miyazaki presented his lighthearted fantasy about a fish-girl coming into a human world, and it turned out to be one of the first Ghibli stories to make more than 200 million. Its calm narrative and its characteristic watercolor art struck a chord that was much more inclusive than the viewership of children, becoming a cultural reference point among the highest-grossing anime films.

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8. Howl’s Moving Castle (US $237.5M)

War, identity, and transformation are at the heart of this fantasy romance, funnelling the previous rich visuals of Mizyazi. Nominated for an Oscar, winning three Academy Awards, and credited for its deep emotional value, it grossed approximately $237.5 M internationally and is currently figuring out in the original list of anime movies which move the most.

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7. One Piece Film: Red (US $246.6M)

This film, which is a musical featuring Uta, the daughter of Shanks, was a record-breaker in the history of the One Piece franchise. It sold over 14 million tickets domestically, generating more than ¥20 billion (US $246.6 million), becoming the most sold-out One Piece film and one of the highest-grossing anime films ever.

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6. The First Slam Dunk (US $279M)

This sports anime reboot centered around Ryota Miyagi and managed to convey the feeling of teamwork and heritage. Its contemporary animation and emotional appeal launched it to near about US $279M in worldwide box office earnings, which ranked it comfortably within the ranks of the highest-grossing anime movies.

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5. The Boy and the Heron (US $294.2M)

The film, which is a kind of re-entry to directing by Miyazaki after almost 10 years, is a combination of surreal fantasy with loss and maturation. It grossed approximately US $294 M worldwide, and the emotional maturity and hypnotizing animation confirmed the director to be one of the creators of the most successful, highest-grossing anime films.

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4. Suzume (US $323.6M)

Under the direction of Makoto Shinkai, the movie chronicles the exploits of a young woman named Suzume as she tries to seal the portals of supernatural forces throughout Japan. Its balance of apocalyptic concepts and infernal plot earned the film worldwide box office receipts amounting to an estimated US $318M to 324M, securing its place among the highest-grossing anime films.

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3. Your Name (US $361M)

Shinkai became famous after this body‑swap romance. Timeless ideas of desire, time, and connection allowed it to achieve US $361M in gross revenue and to go down as one of the most popular and monetarily successful entries in the list of the highest-grossing anime movies to date.

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2. Spirited Away (US $395.6M)

The Academy Award-winning masterpiece by Miyazaki carries a young girl to the world of spirits that is both wondrous and hazardous. With storytelling and animation as lauded as it is, it grossed almost $396M worldwide in 2001, cementing it into the status of one of the biggest-grossing anime films ever.

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1. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train (US $507M)

This anime film occupies the lead position in the highest-grossing anime movies list by a fair gap. It grossed over US $507 M globally, with more than 41 million admissions, making it the most profitable movie in Japanese box office history. It was breaking the box office records of the fastest gross and took over the charts in the theaters week after week, even in the pandemic times. The emotional investment, animation quality, and fanbase it has already established launched Mugen Train into a worldwide phenomenon.

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In a display of the diversity of stories and genres that anime can provide, this top ten of the highest-grossing anime in the world of anime films features everything, including the touching drama, the supernatural fantasy, and more reiterations of classics. Every movie made an impact on the world, and it could be represented as an interrelation of emotional power and aesthetics, reaching the box-office success.

The films had their own place in the list of highest-grossing anime films due to original storytelling, aesthetic delight, and sentimental touch. Be it by breaking franchise records or ever-relevant storylines of love and change, they demonstrate how anime movies have come to grow and conquer new fans worldwide. Anime lists will continue to grow and evolve as anime productions expand, with some new records potentially appearing in the future. In the meantime, however, new records might emerge and perhaps dethrone the current leader, Mugen Train.