Anirban BhattacharyaWith the advent of technology, we see a lot of progress in the world of entertainment. And it’s very evident when you look at some of the modern day animation. Just like how 3D has made significant inroads into mainstream cinema, it has also left its mark on anime. Though, just like movies, there are detractors who don’t like the use of 3D in anime – you can count me among them as well. For today’s list, there was not a lot of choose from, considering there haven’t been many great 3D anime made yet. With all that said now, here’s the list of top 3D anime ever made. You can watch several of these best 3D anime on Crunchyroll, Netflix or Hulu.
11. Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (2005)
The events of ‘Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children’ takes place two years after Cloud Strife and his friends defeated the evil Sephiroth. Sephiroth’s plan was to crash a huge meteor on Earth but thanks to our heroes, his plan was thwarted. But even though the good guys won, it wasn’t without a huge cost: Midgar, a city with high population, suffered the repercussions. Thankfully, many citizens were evacuated and now they live in a new place they call Edge. Cloud and Tifa are trying to adjust to the new life in the city. They own a courier service now and have to take care of two young kids. But there’s a problem the kids in the city are facing: they suffer from a sickness by the name of Geostigma. As if this wasn’t worse already, it seems that someone is kidnapping the infected children. Cloud wants to put an end to it and catch the kidnappers while trying to find a cure for Geostigma. But the kidnappers might have some connection to their nemesis, Sephiroth. Now, Cloud and his band have to save the world again.
10. Steamboy (2004)
‘Steamboy’ is an entertaining anime movie. The total runtime of the movie is around 2 hours and 6 minutes. This movie is what you would call based on ‘alternate history’. The anime takes place in Victorian England and revolves around a child prodigy named Ray who is great at inventing stuff. He is young and full of bright ideas. But his life takes a drastic turn when he receives a mail from the United States. The package is from his grandfather Lloyd Steam. He has sent Ray a steamball, a device that has the ability to become the limitless power source for any machine which runs on steam. Lloyd wants Ray to protect the steamball and not let it fall into the wrong hands like for example in the hands of O’Hara Foundation who want to use this brilliant piece of technology for their own selfish needs. Now, Ray has to use his brains to outsmart the goons of the corporation to fulfill his grandfather’s wishes and save the future of mankind.
9. Batman Ninja (2018)
Look, I know the 2018 anime movie ‘Batman Ninja’ was not such a great delight but since I am a huge fan of ‘The Dark Knight’, I decided to include this anime movie on this list. Also, the visuals of the movie were decent enough, making the movie an enjoyable affair. The main antagonist of the movie is Joker but the one who kickstarts the events is Gorilla Grodd. He uses a time displacement device to transport all of Batman’s worst enemies to Japan during the feudal era along with Batman and his allies. The enemies end up becoming the feudal lords’ themselves and start ruling the people. Since this is going to change what had happened and it is unwise to change the course of history, Batman decides to step-in and then take care of the situations while trying to defeat Joker and finding out a way to return back to present day. You might wanna watch this movie for the visuals and animation.
8. Biohazard: Degeneration (2008)
‘Biohazard: Degeneration’ or ‘Resident Evil: Degeneration’ is an anime movie which is around 1 hour and 27 minutes in length. By now, it is given that everyone knows about ‘Resident Evil‘. The highly popular franchise is about a zombie apocalypse which happens due to the outbreak of a virus which is called the T-virus. The story of this movie takes place in the years 2005 during the autumn season. It is sort of a follow up to ‘Resident Evil 4’ game and the events in the movie take place one year after the events of the game. This time, an airport by the name of Harvardvile falls victim to the outbreak of the T-virus. Also, it seems that a terrorist is threatening to release the T-virus throughout the United States. Yup, our main characters will have to prevent a zombie apocalypse yet again.
7. God Eater (2015)
If you want a taste of ‘Attack on Titan’ in a different setting with different dope weapons, then you need to check out ‘God Eater’. The premise of the anime is kind of same. This time it is future and the anime takes place in the year 2071. This the year when humanity is slowly being pushed towards the brink of extinction by man-eating monsters by the name of Aragami. These monsters destroy everything on their path. The only way humans can stop them is via God Eaters, who are special humans fused with the oracle cells. This fusion gives these special humans weapons or God arcs, which are the only things that can hurt the monsters. Lenka Utsugi is a new-type of God Eater. He needs to stop the Aragami and so he must master his God Arc to exterminate the monsters.
6. Tiger and Bunny (2011)
Now, it’s time to look at an anime from the superhero genre. Most of the superhero genre anime are comedies. ‘Tiger and Bunny’, too, is a comedy and is also sort of a parody of the genre. The anime takes place in a city by the name of Stern Bild. Here, humans with special abilities have the name NEXT. These humans can either use their powers for good or evil. There’s a TV channel by the name of Hero TV, where a group by the name of NEXT appear regularly and catch the evildoers so that they can advertise their sponsors and become the next King of Heroes. One such person is Tiger, a veteran hero whose performance has not been great for some time. This is mainly because of his inability to cooperate with other heroes. After having another bad season, he gets a new partner who uses his real name as his superhero name i.e. Barnaby Brooks Jr. Tiger decides to give him the nickname of Bunny. Soon, it is clear that they are quite different and do not mix well. But they need to find a way to work together if they are to advance their career and keep the city safe.
5. Captain Harlock (2013)
‘Captain Harlock‘ is a sci-fi, action anime movie which has a runtime of about 1 hour and 55 minutes. The anime takes place sometime in the future when human have become advanced enough to spread across the vast expanse of space. But every species reaches their own pinnacle, and this was mankind’s pinnacle. Things begin to go downhill from here as the resources of the universe slowly deplete. Due to this, some 500 billion humans decide to return to Earth but this starts a war among various human factions who want to control the planet.
An authoritarian government by the name of Gaia Sanction wants to prevent the re=-population of Earth and tasked Captain Harlock to stand guard. He does his job diligently but when Gaia Sanction allows an elite diplomat to immigrate to Earth, he gets angry and attacks the diplomat. He also uses dark matter to make Earth inhabitable but ends up being affected himself, which makes him immortal. 100 years after that day’s events, Gaia is still trying to control Earth while trying to hide its true state. Captain Harlock is still at large and continues to fight the Gaia Sanction and is preparing for a final showdown with the organization.
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4. Ghost in The Shell 2: Innocence (2004)
‘Ghost in the Shell’ is one of the most popular franchises to come out of the anime industry. The second instalment to the franchise is ‘Ghost in The Shell 2: Innocence‘. The animation style of the movie is noticeably different due to the addition of 3D elements and just like its predecessor, the movie is a visual treat. Major Motoko Kusanagi is missing and the investigation job falls at the hands of Section 9’s Batou ho. He must investigate a series of gruesome murders. It seems that these murders might be the act of faulty gynoids or sex robots.
However, there might be more to this than what meets the eye, which Batou understands after receiving a cryptic message from a faulty gynoid. It seems that their fault might not just be a coincidence and suspicions of politically motivated murders start to surface. As the movie progresses, Batou and his partner Togusa get deeper into a web of conspiracies where boundaries between man and machine do not seem clear anymore. Will they be able to solve the case in a world filled with machines and dolls and humans but having zero traces of humanity?
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3. Sidonia no Kishi (2014)
‘Sidonia no Kishi’ is a sci-fi action anime which takes place in the space. The alien race by the name of Gauna has been the harbingers of humanity’s extinction. But thankfully, there are some survivors who have been able to escape via the help of giant seed ships. One such ship is Sidonia. Nagate Tanikaze, the protagonist of the anime, decides to exit his life of seclusion at the lower levels of Sidonia. He decides to explore the upper levels of the ship in search of food. But he ends up becoming a part of something much more important: humanity’s last struggle at survival. It seems that the Gauna have been able to find Sidonia and have come back to finish the remaining humans. Tanikaze must rise to the occasion and defend the ship, Sidonia. He and his friends are the only ones who can save humanity from imminent extinction. There are a total of 12 episodes in this anime with each episode being 24 minutes in length.
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2. Paprika (2006)
Well, people who have been reading my stuff know about my love for anime movies. That is why I try to include many anime movies on my lists. ‘Paprika’ is an entertaining sci-fi, dementia, horror anime movie. The movie revolves around the concept of dreams and what they say about a person’s psyche. Two developers, Atsuko Chiba and Kosaku Tokita, are working at a company by the name of ‘DC Mini’, which has been developing a device that lets you access other people’s dreams. This can be of many uses; for instance, they can help in curing psychological disorders. But at the wrong hands, the device can become a formidable weapon for psychological terrorism. Unfortunately, the inevitable happens as the device is stolen and soon various people start having a mental breakdown. Now, the developers must enlist the help of Officer Konakawa, who has been using the device for experimental therapy, to catch the perpetrators before the situation gets out of control.
1. Houseki no Kuni (2017)
‘Houseki no Kuni’ is a really entertaining and fun anime. The series takes place in a world where all of its inhabitants are gems. The gems are under constant attacks by the Lunarians who want to shatter them and use them as a piece of decoration. But of course, the gems are not going to give up without a fight. So each gem receives a role by fulfilling, which they can contribute to the survival of their species. Phosphophyllite is a gem who go by the name of Phos. They want to be able to aid their friends in their fight against the Lunarians but due to their fragile nature get a job of compiling an encyclopedia. They end up meeting Cinnabar who have the task of patrolling the isolated island because of their bodies creating a poisonous gas. Seeing them unhappy, Phos decide to find a role both these gems can enjoy while serving a purpose.
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