| Row # |
Title |
Image |
Description |
| 1 |
Uzumaki (2000) |
 |
In a small Japanese town, its inhabitants become increasingly obsessed with and tormented by spirals. Uzumaki is also known as Spiral. |
| 2 |
Tomie (series)
|
 |
Tomie is a Japanese horror film series based on the manga of the same name. The first two films in the series, were from 1999, and the next six were in the years relevant to this list. It is about a demonic girl with the power to regenerate her cells (allowing multiple Tomie clones to exist) and the power to drive her admirers to madness (often resulting in her own death).
|
| 3 |
Ichi the Killer (2001)
|
 |
After a Yakuza boss disappears along with a large sum of money, his devoted masochistic enforcer Kakihara (the character shown in the movie posters) and the rest of the mob go looking for him. Soon they encounter Ichi, a mentally disturbed young man with great martial arts skills who has been conned into killing Yakuza. Directed by Takashi Miike.
|
| 4 |
Blue Spring (2001)
|
 |
Blue Spring is based on Taiyo Matsumoto's manga of same title, and tells a tale of school students at a run down Tokyo high school for boys.
|
| 5 |
Love Ghost (2001)
|
 |
Love Ghost (Shibito no koiwazurai) is a supernatural horror film about a teenage girl who moves with her family back to the city where she lived as a child.
|
| 6 |
Eko Eko Azarak (series)
|
 |
Eko Eko Azarak is a series of films which follow the character Misa Kuroi, a high school student who is also a witch with magical powers.
The movies:
Eko Eko Azarak I: Wizard of Darkness (1995)
Eko Eko Azarak II: Birth of the Wizard (1996)
Eko Eko Azarak III: Misa The Dark Angel (1998)
Eko Eko Azarak IV: Awakening (2001)
Eko Eko Azarak: R-page (2006)
Eko Eko Azarak: B-page (2006)
|
| 7 |
Kakashi (2001)
|
 |
Kakashi (Scarecrow) is about a girl searching for her missing brother, who encounters a cursed village where the insane villagers are mesmerised by the power of the kakashi (scarecrow).
|
| 8 |
Kewaishi (2001)
|
 |
|
| 9 |
The Princess Blade (2001) |
 |
The Princess Blade (Shurayuki-hime) is an action movie set in a dystopian future Japan ruled by an absolute monarchy. The story follows Yuki, a member of an assassin group hired by the government to suppress a rebellion. |
| 10 |
Samurai Girl 21 (2001)
|
 |
Samurai Girl 21 is about a young woman in present day Japan, who was trained to be a samurai by her grandfather.
|
| 11 |
Wangan Midnight (series)
|
 |
Wangan Midnight are a series of live-action movies based on the manga of the same name, which was about street racing on Tokyo's Shuto Expressway Bayshore Route. The two movies made during this list's decade were Wangan Midnight Return (2001) and Wangan Midnight The Movie (2009).
|
| 12 |
Stop the Bitch Campaign (trilogy)
|
 |
A black comedy series based on a manga.
|
| 13 |
Ping Pong (2002)
|
 |
Ping Pong is about the friendship of two very different high-school ping-pong players.
|
| 14 |
Doing Time (2002)
|
 |
Doing Time is a drama/comedy about Japanese prison life, and told through a series of vignettes.
|
| 15 |
Alive (2002)
|
 |
A sci-fi horror film about a man who survives his execution, and offered the choice of either another execution attempt or to participate in a bizarre experiment. He chooses the latter.
|
| 16 |
Oldboy (2003)
|
 |
Oldboy (2003) is a South Korean movie about a man who is kidnapped and held prisoner for 15 years. Upon his release (by his captors), he attempts to find out who his captors are and their motivations.
|
| 17 |
Iden & Tity (2003)
|
 |
A movie with a story about a Japanese punk rock band that debuted in the 1980s.
|
| 18 |
Sky High (2003)
|
 |
Sky High is about a detective who hunts a serial killer who is removing girls hearts. When the detective's own fiancée falls victim to the killer, he discovers the otherworldly intentions of the killer and is helped from beyond the grave by his fiancée.
|
| 19 |
The Soul Odyssey (2003) |
 |
|
| 20 |
Azumi (2003)
|
 |
In war-torn Japan, the Tokugawa Shogun, orders the assassination of three hostile warlords. The story follows Azumi, a young woman who is raised from birth with nine other orphans, to become an assassin. Based on the manga of the same name.
|
| 21 |
Azumi 2: Death or Love (2006)
|
 |
The sequel to Azumi (2003).
|
| 22 |
Lover's Kiss (2003)
|
 |
A romance movie about six teenagers.
|
| 23 |
Otakus in Love (2004)
|
 |
Otakus in Love (Koi no mon) is a live-action adaptation of a manga about art, opposites, love and cosplay.
|
| 24 |
Umizaru (series)
|
 |
Umizaru (Sea Monkeys) are a series of live action films (plus a TV drama series, and two NHK high-definition specials), based on the manga series of the same name. It is about a group of rescue divers from the Japan Coast Guard. Umizaru means 'sea monkey'; a derogatory label slapped on the rescue diver trainees by locals due to their excessive and uninhibited behaviour during off hours.
The films:
- Umizaru (2004)
- Limit of Love: Umizaru (2006)
- Umizaru 3: The Last Message (2010)
- Brave Hearts: Umizaru (2012)
|
| 25 |
Last Quarter (2004)
|
 |
Last Quarter (Kagen no Tsuki, or Last Quarter of the Moon) is a film based on the supernatural themed manga of the same name.
|
| 26 |
Cutie Honey (2004)
|
 |
Cutie Honey (Kyuti Hani) is a Japanese tokusatsu (live-action) film adaptation, produced by Gainax, of the 1970s manga and anime series of the same name. The film loosely retells the story of Cutie Honey's battle to defend humanity against Panther Claw and avenge her father. Honey's professor father had saved her from an accident, by transferring her mind over to an android body. The android body allows her to transform into the pink-haired super hero 'Cutie Honey'.
|
| 27 |
Casshern (2004)
|
 |
Casshern (Kyashan) is a Japanese tokusatsu (live-action) film adaptation of the anime series of the same name. It is set in a dystopian Earth with an alternate history. After a war between the Eastern Federation and Europa ends, the Earth is left diseased and polluted. In an attempt to regenerate mankind, a scientist accidentally unleashes a race of savage mutants into the world. It is up to the warrior, Casshern, to stop these mutants.
|
| 28 |
Nin x Nin: Ninja Hattori-kun, the Movie (2004)
|
 |
Nin x Nin: Ninja Hattori-kun, the Movie' is a live-action film based on the Ninja Hattori-kun manga. It is about a blue-costumed ninja who befriends an 11 year old student.
|
| 29 |
Koibumi-biyori (2004) |
 |
Koibumi-biyori (A Perfect Day for Love Letters) is based on the manga short story series of the same name, where each story depicted a relationship that involved the use of love letters. |
| 30 |
Premonition (2004)
|
 |
Premonition (Yogen) is based on the manga Kyoufu Shinbun (Newspaper of Terror) by Jiro Tsunoda, published in Shonen Champion in 1973. It is a horror film about a university professor who finds a scrap of newspaper that predicts a future tragedy in his family.
|
| 31 |
Kekko Kamen (series)
|
 |
A series of live-action movies about a nude female superhero dressed only in a red rabbit-eared mask, with matching gloves, scarf, and boots.
|
| 32 |
Nana (2005)
|
 |
Nana is about the friendship between two very different young women, who are both called Nana.
|
| 33 |
Nana 2 (2006)
|
 |
The sequel to Nana (2005)
|
| 34 |
The Neighbour No. Thirteen (2005)
|
 |
The Neighbour No. Thirteen (Tonari no hito 13-go) is based on Santa Inoue's manga Rinjin 13-go. It is a psychological horror film about a man who starts a new job as a construction worker, and finds that his supervisor is his middle-school bully. His supervisor doesn't recognise him.
|
| 35 |
Yaji and Kita: The Midnight Pilgrims (2005)
|
 |
Yaji and Kita: The Midnight Pilgrims (Mayonaka no Yaji-san Kita-san) is loosely based on the comic novel series Tokaidochu Hizakurige which was published in 12 parts from 1802 to 1822. The original comic novel was about two Edo-era men travelling from Edo to Kyoto on their pilgrimage to the Ise Shrine. The comic was primarily for entertainment, but seconded as a tourist guide. The movie however, is a crazy musical about two gay Edo-era men who get a 20th century motorbike and witness other post-Edo-era phenomena during their journey.
|
| 36 |
Initial D (2005)
|
 |
A tofu delivery boy becomes a drift-racing legend.
|
| 37 |
Touch (2005)
|
 |
Touch (Tatchi) is based on the 1980s manga (and later anime series) of the same name. It is about a Japanese high school baseball team.
|
| 38 |
Cromartie High - The Movie (2005)
|
 |
A live-action adaptation of the comedy manga Cromartie High, which is about a class of students at a Japanese high school for delinquent boys (which also includes a robot, a gorilla, and Freddy (Mercury) as students in the class).
|
| 39 |
Tetsujin 28 (2005) |
 |
Tetsujin 28 is a remake of the 1960s anime TV series Tetsujin 28-go (which was based on a manga from 1956), and is about a boy with control over a giant robot. |
| 40 |
Tokyo Zombie (2005)
|
 |
Tokyo Zombie is about two slackers who work in a fire extinguisher factory, and spend their lunch hours training to fulfil their dreams of being jujitsu champions. They murder their boss and dump his body on a Tokyo toxic waste dump. An army of the undead rises from the waste dump and begin to attack the living. The pair will have to use their limited jujitsu skills, to either help or escape Tokyo.
|
| 41 |
Angel (2005)
|
 |
Angel (Tenshi) is based on the manga Angel Nest (Tenshi no Su). It is about an angel that only lonely-hearted people can see.
|
| 42 |
Death Note (series)
|
 |
The Death Note series is a duology (Death Note (2006) and Death Note: The Last Name (2006)) followed by a spin-off movie (Death Note: L Change the World (2008) which focusses on the character L from the first two movies). In the first movie, A university student stumbles across a 'death note', a magical artefact that allows its wielder to kill anyone they know the name and face of, simply by writing the victim's name in it. The student attempts to kill all of Japan's criminals.
|
| 43 |
Cat-Eyed Boy (2006)
|
 |
Cat-Eyed Boy (Nekome kozo) is a live-action adaptation of Kazuo Umezu's manga from the 1960s about a boy who was the child of a cat spirit named Nekomata, but got rejected by other spirits for looking too much like a human.
|
| 44 |
Love My Life (2006)
|
 |
Love My Life is based on the Ebine Yamaji manga of the same name. It is a lesbian love story about two university students.
|
| 45 |
Bugmaster (2006)
|
 |
Bugmaster (also known as Mushishi, and Mushi-Shi: The Movie) is about a traveller who dedicates himself from protecting the population from supernatural creatures called Mushi.
|
| 46 |
God's Left Hand, Devil's Right Hand (2006)
|
|
God's Left Hand, Devil's Right Hand (Kami no hidarite akuma no migite) is based on the violent horror manga of the same name. It is about a six year old boy with the ability to see the horrific images of other people's evil acts. This ability puts him in a coma, but has the ability to communicate with his sister via a broken cellphone, to help her stop a killer.
|
| 47 |
Sukeban Boy (2006)
|
 |
Sukeban Boy (Oira Sukeban) is a Japanese comedy (based on the manga of the same name) about a teenage boy with the face of a girl, who is sent to an all-girls high school by his biker father.
|
| 48 |
Honey and Clover (2006)
|
|
Honey and Clover (Hachimitsu to kuroba) is based on the manga of the same name (and was also adapted as an anime series). It is a drama about a group of art-school students.
|
| 49 |
Lovely Complex (2006) |
 |
Lovely Complex (also known as Love Com, or Rabu Kon) is a romantic comedy based on the manga of the same name. It is about the relationship between a tall girl and a short boy. |
| 50 |
The Prince of Tennis (2006)
|
 |
The Prince of Tennis (Tennis no Ojisama) is a live action sports movie based on the manga series of the same name.
|
| 51 |
Romance of Darkness (2006)
|
 |
Romance of Darkness (Mizu ni Sumu Hana) is based on the supernatural manga of the same name.
|
| 52 |
Tokyo University Story (2006)
|
 |
Tokyo University Story (Tokyo Daigaku Monogatari) is based on the Japanese manga series of the same name. It is about a pair of high school students who date and both worry about their upcoming university entrance examinations.
|
| 53 |
Yo-Yo Girl Cop (2006)
|
 |
Yo-Yo Girl Cop (also known as Sukeban Deka: Kodo Nemu = Asamiya Saki) is the third film based on the Sukeban Deka anime. It is about a girl who is recruited by a clandestine police organisation, and must stop a plot by student radicals, using her high-tech steel yo-yo weapon.
|
| 54 |
Sakuran (2006)
|
 |
A historical drama about a young kamuro.
|
| 55 |
Arakure Knight (2007)
|
 |
|
| 56 |
Kitaro (2007)
|
 |
Kitaro (Gegege no Kitaro) is about a half-human/half-yokai (a general term for creatures and supernatural beings), orphaned as a child and dedicated to keeping the peace between the human and yokai worlds.
|
| 57 |
Terebi bakari mi teruto baka ni naru? (2007)
|
 |
Also known as 'Watching TV All the Time Makes You Stupid'. It is based on a one-shot manga by Naoki Yamamoto.
|
| 58 |
Dororo (2007)
|
 |
Dororo is a live action adaptation of the Japanese manga series from the 1960s (that was also made into an anime TV series in 1969). Dororo was filmed in New Zealand. Unlike the manga/anime, the live action film's story has Dororo being a young woman, who assumes the identy of a man. She joins a young samurai's quest to recover 48 of his body parts from 48 demons and to avenge her parents death.
|
| 59 |
Happily Ever After (2007) |
 |
Happily Ever After (Jigyaku no uta) is a drama about a husband and wife, who are a lazy gangster and hard working noodle shop worker respectively. |
| 60 |
Prodigy (2007)
|
 |
Prodigy (Shindo) is about a 13 year old piano prodigy who helps a 19 year old to enter a conservatory to study the piano.
|
| 61 |
Yunagi City, Sakura Country (2007)
|
 |
Yunagi City, Sakura Country (Yunagi no machi sakura no kuni) is based on the manga Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms (Yunagi no Machi, Sakura no Kuni). The manga had two connected stories:
- Town of Evening Calm, which is set in Hiroshima ten years after the atomic bomb was dropped, and is about a young woman who survived the attack.
- Country of Cherry Blossoms, which is set in 1987 and 2004 in Tokyo, and is about the woman's niece.
|
| 62 |
Sundome (series)
|
 |
A series of four live action movies released from 2007 to 2009, based on the manga of the same name. It is about some teenagers who are members of their school's 'Roman' club (a club for investigating ghosts, UFOs, and the paranormal).
|
| 63 |
Crows Zero (series)
|
 |
Crows Zero is a series of Japanese action movies based on the Crows manga. In the first film, the son of a Yakuza transfers to an ultra-violent all-male high school for delinquents, and sets out to take over the school and prove he is the toughest.
The films:
- Crows Zero (2007)
- Crows Zero II (2009)
- Crows Explode (2014)
|
| 64 |
20th Century Boys (trilogy)
|
 |
The 20th Century Boys trilogy is based on the manga of the same name. The story spans from 1969 to 2017. In 1969, a group of young boys play together and imagine a future where an evil cult tries to destroy the world. They write down their story and call it the 'book of prophecy'. Flash-forward to the late 1990s, now grown up they find current events resembling the story they wrote.
The films:
Twentieth Century Boys (2008)
20th Century Boys: Chapter Two - The Last Hope (2009)
20th Century Boys: The Last Chapter - Our Flag (2009)
|
| 65 |
Ikigami (2008)
|
 |
One in every thousand citizens aged 18 to 24, are randomly selected to die for the state, as part of a government policy known as the 'prosperity law'.
|
| 66 |
Antique (2008)
|
 |
A South Korean film based on Fumi Yoshinaga's manga, Antique Bakery.
|
| 67 |
Boys Over Flowers: Final (2008)
|
 |
Boys Over Flowers Final (Hana yori dango: Fainaru) is the third and final chapter of the Boys Over Flowers romance/drama trilogy (the first two parts being jdrama TV shows) based on the Japanese comic series Hana Yori Dango.
|
| 68 |
Detroit Metal City (2008)
|
 |
A young man with dreams of becoming a pop musician, ends up being the frontman for a demonic death-metal band.
|
| 69 |
Pussy Soup (2008) |
 |
Pussy Soup (Neko Ramen Taisho) is based on the four-panel comic strip Neko Rahmen. It is about Taisho (meaning 'boss' or 'chief'), a cat who is a ramen chef and owner of the ramen restaurant 'Neko Rahmen'. |
| 70 |
Words of Devotion (2008)
|
 |
Words of Devotion (Ai no kotodama) is about a young gay (male) couple whose relationship is disrupted by a girl who takes an interest in one of them.
|
| 71 |
SS - Special Stage (2008)
|
 |
SS - Special Stage (Esu esu) is about a middle-aged family man and former rally driver, who fixes up his Mitsubishi Starion 4WD (a Group B rally car which was banned at the end of the 1986 season), and becomes a boy-racer.
|
| 72 |
The Cherry Orchard: Blossoming (2008)
|
 |
The Cherry Orchard (Sakura no Sono) is about the members of a drama club of an all girl high school, who would be performing the play The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov for the anniversary of their school's founding. Another live-action film adaptation was made in 1990.
|
| 73 |
Dark Love: Rape (2008)
|
 |
Dark Love: Rape (Daku rabu: Rape) is about a young woman who moves into an apartment that is rigged with hidden cameras. A voyeur, watches her every move and begins a strange relationship with her.
|
| 74 |
Be a Man! Samurai School (2008)
|
 |
Be a Man! Samurai School (Sakigake!! Otokojuku) is a comedy about a hidden academy that teaches wimps how to be 'men'.
|
| 75 |
Eiga: Kurosagi a.k.a. The Black Swindler (2008)
|
 |
The Black Swindler (Eiga: Kurosagi) is about a swindler who swindles swindlers.
|
| 76 |
Sasori (2008)
|
 |
Sasori is a remake of the 1972 film, Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion; the first film in a series of 'women in prison' films.
|
| 77 |
Tamami: The Baby's Curse (2008)
|
 |
Tamami: The Baby's Curse (Akanbo Shojo) is a Japanese horror movie based on a manga by Kazuo Umezu. A teenage girl discovers that she is not really an orphan when her wealthy but very strange family welcomes her home to a mansion that many claim is haunted.
|
| 78 |
Orochi: Blood (2008)
|
|
A movie about two sisters born into a cursed family.
|
| 79 |
Speed Racer (2008) |
 |
Speed Racer is a live-action big-budget American movie based on the anime and manga of the same name. |
| 80 |
Air Doll (2009)
|
 |
Air Doll (Kuki ningyo) is a comedy about a life-size blow-up doll that develops a soul and falls in love with a video store clerk.
|
| 81 |
Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl (2009)
|
 |
Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl (Kyuketsu Shojo tai Shojo Furanken) is about a vampire school girl and a Frankenstein's monster-like school girl, fighting over a boy.
|
| 82 |
Gokusen: The Movie (2009)
|
 |
Gokusen: The Movie, ties in with the television drama which is an adaptation of the Gokusen manga series. The story follows Kumiko Yamaguchi, a teacher at an all-male private high school who is also the granddaughter of a yakuza boss.
|
| 83 |
Miyoko (2009)
|
|
Miyoko (Miyoko Asagaya kibun) is based on the comic strip by Shinichi Abe which was based on his own life, while living in a tiny apartment in the Asagaya District of Tokyo during 1970s, where he drew inspiration from his then model girlfriend Miyoko.
|
| 84 |
Dragonball Evolution (2009)
|
 |
A big budget (mostly) American, live-action Dragon Ball movie.
|
| 85 |
Yoko Namino: On Special Assignment (2009)
|
 |
|
| 86 |
Hop Step Jump! (2009)
|
|
Hop Step Jump! (Hoppu suteppu janpu!) is based on the manga of the same name.
|
| 87 |
I Give My First Love to You (2009)
|
 |
I Give My First Love to You (Boku no hatsukoi wo kimi ni sasagu) is based on the manga of the same name. It is romance/drama movie about a young man with a heart condition and isn't expected to live past 20.
|
| 88 |
Hana no Asuka gumi: Neo! (2009)
|
 |
A live action film based on the Hana no Asuka-gumi! manga, about sukeban (delinquent girl or boss girl in Japanese). There is also an OVA, TV drama, and live-action movie all from the 1980s.
|
| 89 |
Ecchi o nerae! Inu-Neko (2009)
|
|
Ecchi o nerae! Inu-Neko is a Japanese romantic comedy based on the Inu-Neko manga by Kyo Hatsuki.
|
| 90 |
Kaiji: The Ultimate Gambler (2009)
|
 |
A member of the working-poor is given an opportunity to go on a cruise to potentially pay off his debt through gambling.
|
| 91 |
Kamui Gaiden (2009)
|
 |
Kamui Gaiden is a Japanese film based on the manga series of the same name. It is about a runaway ninja who has abandoned his clan and his now pursued by assassins.
|
| 92 |
Nodame Cantabile: The Movie I (2009)
|
 |
The first of the live action movies based on the Nodame Catabile (Nodame Kantabire) manga. There are also two TV dramas and an anime series based on it. It is a romance/drama about a couple of classical music school students, who eventually travel to Europe together after graduating.
|
| 93 |
Nonchan noriben (2009) |
|
A recent divorcee moves back to her Tokyo-area hometown with her daughter, and starts her own bento (lunch box) shop. |
