2025 Will Be Legendary for Anime Films

If you’re an anime fan, there’s probably at least one film coming out this year that you can’t wait to see, whether it’s Chainsaw Man the Movie, the beginning of Demon Slayer‘s final arc, or both. 2025 will see some major franchises heading to cinemas, between hotly anticipated adaptations of their next arcs, to payoffs for some legendary stories more than a decade in the making.

2024 was no slouch either, from the dazzling My Hero Academia: You’re Next to Naoko Yamada’s newest film, The Colors Within, to bold adaptations like Kiyotaka Oshiyama’s Look Back. Looking ahead, the new year stands poised to outshine even that impressive lineup, including a few exciting projects coming this very season that might not even be on your radar yet.

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The Big Four of 2025

Chainsaw Man the Movie: Reze Arc

Under the command of a new director, the ultra-violent adaptation of Tatsuki Fujimoto’s acclaimed manga series is finally back. Chainsaw Man the Movie: Reze Arc follows Denji’s continued mission to get with a girl while surviving his job as a Devil Hunter, unaware that his personal and professional lives are about to collide… violently. Emboldened with a fresh art direction, this film looks armed to win over fans and detractors of Season 1 alike.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle

It’s funny that Chainsaw Man‘s movie is dropping the same year as Demon Slayer‘s finale since the latter truly jumpstarted this new trend of canon anime films for manga adaptations. 2020’s Mugen Train changed the game, and now Infinity Castle is getting the Fate/Stay Night: Heaven’s Feel treatment; Ufotable is going all out with a cinematic trilogy. Whether you’re a die-hard fan or not, it’s hard not to get hyped for such a grand sendoff.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie – Walpurgisnacht: Rising

It’s been over a decade now since Madoka Magica the Movie: Rebellion, but like the Evangelion Rebuilds before it, this franchise – mercifully – did not stay in limbo forever. There’s little to be said that hasn’t been said over the past decade already, but to know that the next chapter exists and to see it leaves a fan speechless. Grand, beautiful, yet haunting imagery and Yuki Kajiura’s powerful score alone should secure anyone’s seat in theaters.

Lupin the IIIrd the Movie

Speaking of long waits, were you aware that Lupin III hasn’t had a feature-length 2D in nearly three decades? Few anime are as classic as Lupin, and fewer have withstood the test of time to be so timeless, but this film, in particular, is unique. It is a continuation of Takeshi Koike’s rather mature take on the anime classic, and will hopefully tie up the loose ends left hanging after his previous three short films.

Add These to Your Watchlist

The Rose of Versailles

This shojo classic follows Marie Antionette and her bond with the captain of the Royal Guard, Oscar Francois de Jarjayes, a woman raised as a man to carry on her family’s military legacy. The Rose of Versailles was a monumental manga that created a surge of interest in French culture and tourism among the Japanese, and the new film looks to honor that legacy with gusto. It hits theaters in Japan at the end of the month, with an international release hopefully not far behind.

Make a Girl

Make a Girl is worth mentioning purely based on the story of its creation. Created by a small team led by director Gensho Yasuda, this crowdfunding success is a feature-length expansion of an animated short from 2020, sporting an impressively realized 3D CG art style. The story follows a scientist who designs a robot girlfriend whose rapidly developing sentience begins to conflict with her programmed feelings, leading to a cyber love story filled with twists and turns.

Mononoke the Movie: Chapter II – Fire Rat

This is the second part of the Mononoke film trilogy that began with last year’s Phantom in the Rain, a colorful and thrilling piece of supernatural suspense and horror. After having exorcised one Mononoke dwelling in the Ōoku, the Medicine Seller realizes that more than one spirit dwells within, forcing him even deeper into the bowels of the harem to lure it out.

Hateshinkai Scarlet

Mamoru Hosoda recently announced his newest film, with a projected release toward the end of 2025. Not much is known about Scarlet, but Hosoda has stated that the film will have a “completely new look beyond 2D anime or Hollywood CG animation.” Interestingly, he also teased that the film’s story is “based on a globally known classic,” while also hinting that the project will be something of a departure from his previous works. Hosoda previously directed The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Summer Wars, Wolf Children, The Boy and The Best, and Mirai.

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Best Winter 2025 Anime, Ranked (So Far)

Solo Leveling, Sakamoto Days, and Apothecary Diaries are airing as part of Winter 2025’s anime lineup, and some series are better than others.

Source: Crunchyroll

Release Date

October 11, 2022

Seasons

1

Studio

MAPPA

Based On

Manga

Creator

Tatsuki Fujimoto

Number of Episodes

12

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